How to get 2 Channel and Home theater in one packa

I totally disagree with these guys.
They end up processing music through a mediocre receiver and then run it on a really nice 2 channel rig-it degrades the sound.
Also, you really should have equal sound/speakers/amplification through your front 3 channels to get a really nice sound field and imaging for theater. You'll never get good theater sound the way described above (lousy dvda & sacd also).
That's why I'd recommend a really nice pre/pro (lexicon, anthem, B&k...). Great stereo & theater in one package. Some of these will even have 2 channel pass through to avoid any degredation of sound quality.

I dont think any system with a Sony / Harmon or antything like that would be of any interest at the moment.
Lexicon / Anthem are of some ideas, I am also including Meridian but at the asking price I am not going to be that lucky but does Krell make a HT Pre that has a 2C option linked to its KAV Power amp? Any suggestions on that would be highly appreciated.

Cheers

Rapogee

I use a Proceed PAV/PDSD preamp/processor combination, but a AVP-2 would do as well. I use balanced outputs to Proceed 2 and 3 channel amps. For stereo, only the 2 channel amp is used to drive a pair of bi-wired KEF 104/2s with a Velodyne HGS-15. Center channel is a KEF 200C, surrounds are KEF 102/2s. I'm pleased with this system both for sterero music and movies.

I currently use a Sony S9000ES CD/SACD/DVD player, but expect to move to a Sony SCD-1 CD/SACD player and Blue-Ray (or HD-DVD) in the future. For CD, I use the Sony digital output with the Proceed DAC.

This stuff used is probably in your price range.

db

Elevick,

You totally missed the point of a combo system when you said "They end up processing music through a mediocre receiver and then run it on a really nice 2 channel rig-it degrades the sound.".

In the system I described there is ZERO possibility of the music getting processed as the receiver (processor) doesn't even need to be turned on in order to listen to music. You simply listen to the 2-channel rig, independant of any of the components involved in the HT/multi-channel portion of the system.

I'm not saying a combo system is the way to go for everyone. It's not. If you have a goal to also have excellent multi-channel music, a quality multi-channel pre/pro and multi-channel amp is possibly the better bet. However, if the goal is excellent 2-channel music reproduction and a system that will also do a decent job with HT, then a combo system could be the best bet.

Ultimately, a combo system likely cost less, does a better job of 2-channel music reproduction and does an adequate job with HT. It is also extremely flexible as you can upgrade the 2-channel portion of the system without incurring the huge depreciation associated with high-end HT equipement.

But ultimately, I get back to the point of checking out the Linar model 10. Here you get a quality 2-channel and multi-channel analog integrated amp. You don't pay for useless surround modes and processors, just a quality 5.1 channel analog pre-amp and 5 channels of amplification, in one box. Let your relatively inexpensive Universal player do any required processing (heck, you already paid for the processor in the player, you might as well use it). Check out the couple of reviews available. In one, the Linar was comapred to a $14,500 ARC multi-channel combo and it was superior in some respects. BTW, Linar is owned by the founder/ex-owner of SimAudio. He knows his stuff.

Enjoy,

TIC

To get the best of both worlds you must separate systems in part. What I mean: Get a good two channel preamp, either ss or tube, with a multichannel amp and an HT processor. I use Cary cdp into a belles 21A preamp with HT pass through. I use a cambridge audio processor into the belles and then the stereo outs from the belles into a 5 channel Cary amp. I then use the center and 2 surrounds from the processor directly into the amp. This way I have a quality stereo system with a quality HT system utilizing the same amp. However, the processor doesn't degrade the quality of my stereo listening. Try this out as it is the only REAL quality option to combine the two systems. Several preamps make units with HT pass and you can use most preamps without one if you don't mind resetting the vol. each time. I moved to this from a meridian 568 pre/pro I used for 2 channel/HT. BIG improvement in 2 channel with only a slight degredation in HT. Hope this helps.