Do I really need a pre-amp?

Thanks for everyone's (except Cornfedboy who seems to be a rather unpleasant person); note I don't necessarily have the time to cross-reference every single post) response. I am taking my first baby steps in the world of high-end audio and I'm trying to decide where to start my acquisitions. The posted comments were quite helpful. All the best. JS

...i want to finish what Doug did not
...and the surprize can be a blown speaker(s)!

I do believe a system which preamp always sound better.But experience yourself to find out the sound that you like(your taste).Good luck.

If your cdp is good enough and matches your amp, look in to a passive volume control or a passive pre.

Jpshinn- don't mind cfb, sometimes he gets a little grouchy if he hasn't won a lawsuit or two in the last week. He's actually a pretty good guy and very knowledgeable. He does has a good point- lost in the archives to search, and there is a thread exactly on point running right now under "old threads with new posts in last 12 hours" titled Passive pre-amps-jumping ship or something like that. Give it a look see. No would ever call me a passive kind of guy, so I have no first hand knowledge to pass on, but it appears from what I've read that its HIGHLY system-dependent, and clearly NOT as simple as just hooking the variable output from any old CDP to whichever amp you have lying around.