CD player straight into amps?

I was one of the few who preferred running my APL Denon 3910 through a preamp. The preamp added body and musicality I thought was otherwise missing.

I'm a preamp fan.

I'm listening to a Linn Genki running directly into a Linn LK-85 right now. Sounds great. I've read here that a higher end Linn pre would improve the sound. No hurry here.

Not all CDPs/External DACs come with volume controls.
Not all volume controls on these are of top quality either.

Its easy to say no preamp is the best preamp but each system is different and you need to decide what works best for you.

A friend of mine has a Bel Canto Dac 3 which has a volume control but still prefers to use it with a Bel Canto Pre3.

If you can run it direct then why shouldn't you try it !? At least you will learn how good or bad your pre is, or what you like or not about your pre. It learns you to understand what each component adds to the whole.

I have had a Wadia 830, 850 GNSC, and now a Camelot Uther, all of which were run directly into the amps with great success. I used to own pre amps, like BAT, Sonic Frontiers, B&K, that were nice, but the sound directly seems more refined and accurate in the mids in my system.
Give it a SHOT!!!!