How much do I need to spend to get a preamp that sounds better than no preamp?

direct drive amps for my ESLs.

Yes yes now your talking clio09 , I would like to do this myself on my Monoliths, have all the right tubes, tranny’s ect, but it’s dangerous to own such a amplification/speaker wire weapon.
Like the 805 set monoblocks I built with 900v on the top cap, definable no beers and a good night sleep before doing any bench work on them, lethal.

Cheers George

wow, quite the pissing contest

Back to the OPs question

How about the newest Gain Cell

Of course I do, don’t be ignorant, if you increase the gain of an active stage you increase not just the signal what’s coming in but everything else including noise, rf ,hum any tube or transistor noise is also amplified when you add more gain to an active stage.

George, the only way this statement can be partially true is if a Baxandall-style volume control system is used. Since that employs opamps, the statement is thus false on account of the inclusion of the words 'tube or', although a Baxandall control usually employs some sort of RF filter at its input.
So its not clear where you are going with this, but clearly it fails to address my prior post if that was your intention.

kalali


Ill take your bet

My system is balanced throughout

Oppo 105> Parasound P5 (the XLR circuit is separate from the RCAs) > 2 Emerald Physics 100.2SEs 

I bought the P5 a couple years ago because 

* it has true balanced I/Os
* a separate bass management circuit for my SVS powered subs. 
* it was affordable

A few months back Paul McGowan did a YT video saying the best way to connect subs is not with interconnects, but piggybacking off your amp/s speaker binding posts. And boy, he was right. So, thought I needed a better preamp. The closest balanced pre I found without spending a King's ransom (even used) was a used W4S STP-E, with passive/active volume, but IMHO, it's butt ugly.

I decided to run the 105 direct to my amps. I cannot imagine a preamp bettering what I am enjoying now, but the passive Lightspeed is intriguing. I wouldn't buy one without trying one as I am so overjoyed using the 105 variable VC direct. Now, a couple things are the  likely reason for my joy

1. my system is plugged into a CPT 1800 > 20 amp dedicated line
2. I added a couple aftermarket ebaye 105 mods; replaced the oem iec with a Furutek Rhodium + silver wires and replaced the oem power board with a Linear Power Module, the toroid is big enough to handle a lot of amps/preamps