I don’t care about the preamp mode as long as Yamaha continues to sound awesome, operates at a cooler temperature and remains reliable, compatible and consistent.
Squeezing out the best SINAD is for audiophiles to worry about. It doesn’t prove anything about improvements in technology, other than SINAD numbers.
This reminds of how Honda tried to “improve” cabin noise by resorting to “noise-cancellation speakers, while Toyota just used better insulation.
Or how Honda tried to improve fuel economy by resorting to shut down engine cylinders (like from 6 cylinders down to 4 cylinders) at cruising speed.
And here’s a thought, if people want to “shut off the internal amps”, just do what I do - buy a pre-pro, just don‘t buy anything like the AVP-A1HDCI.