HT pre-amp/proccessor advise.

Try the Rotel 1066 pre/pro. Its exactly what your looking for. You can get one for around 800-900.00 used.

The Pre-2 DSP is a really great processor. It may not do all of the whiz-bang things that Sony's and the like will do but it does do what it was designed to do very well. My only gripe is that the remote absolutely sucks. This can be amended with a $35 Sony learning remote. After the thing is set up properly all you need is the ability to switch inputs and change the volume.

Good luck!

If you don't care about DPLII and ok with 5.1

consider Bryston SP1 as well

I guess the only further information I could give concerning the Pre-2 DSP would be to again point out that the pre-amp portion is top notch. Forget the processing for a moment. It does audio VERY well! The sound is natural and very detailed - it has almost a "tube-like" characteristic. It is not cold or analytical like so many "all-digital" pre-amps can be.
You will get many recommendation in this price range and several will be everything they are made out to be. In the end it will be what works best for you.
For what it's worth, I can tell you that I auditioned only 2 preamps - mainly because switching them out was a pain in the A@#! - I rolled the dice on the AR never having heard it or owned any other AR gear. It was a fortunate (lucky) move on my part as it is the best peramp I have ever owned!

PLII is available on the Pre-2 DSP. I don't know that this would be a selling point but it is another stinsled logo that can adorn the faceplate. But if we were looking to maximize our processors logo bearing potentiality we would all have Sony's.

What I have found the Pre-2DSP to provide is a minimilistic approach to surround sound while maintaining the integrity of the two channel playback. If you have a very large room that could possibly benefit from 6 or 7 channel surround sound this may not be the processor for you.

In your price range there is a nice processor from NAD that does a good job, has very intuitive set-up menu and is just plain easy to use. It is not going to touch the AR in sound quality though.

Good luck!