yeah i tend to think the preamp is just a reflection
of what you record with normally.

a 1500 dollar preamp wont do much good if you have a 5o dollar mic, cant sing, and record outside.

but average mic, average pre, average singer, average room treatment, tends to equal average everything.

Most of the time I record I get a sound that lacks volume. No matter how you eq or compress it, it still sounds like a good sounding live vocal. Not a tight roomed, punchy, fat vocal.

same for all instruments really, even drums from a drum machine dont sound overally big.