What Pre/Pro do you recommend?

The Parasound JC-2 gets an A rating in Stereophile's recommended components and dollar signs for exceptional value. If you bought a used one without bypass (JC-2 BP), Parasound can addd that capability for $500, IIRC, for unity gain through selected channels of the preamp. For surround and HT, the Oppo controls the volume.

The Oppo 105 does speaker and bass management, with an easy menu.

db

Emotiva XMC-1: $1995, Dirac room correction, fully balanced, 5 year warranty, 30 day in-home trial. Check it out...

-RW-

Guys, we all have recommendations, but like Z said, he has to figure it out. There are a ton of great options used that have pass throughs and sound great for what he wants to accomplish. I redid my system last year and was going to go the 5.2 route, but when I went to listen I couldn't find anything that even came close to a decent 2 channel set up and I just didn't want to go the separate processor route. Since you like to have that set up, going with a 2 channel pre with HT pass lets you save money when you want to upgrade your processor. Go give some pre amps a listen and let us know what you think sounds good to you.

I suspect the idea of going out and listening to a bunch of processors is over-rated, unless you can take each home in install it in your setup for a good insitu evaluation.

db