I have another pre/pro based on the Sherwood-Newcastle P-965--the Boston Acoustics AVP7. I haven't heard or compared it to the Yamaha you're asking about. But I concur with Javachip that the Sherwood-Newcastle P-965 is clean and quiet. I've had mine for 1-1/2 years; it replaced an Outlaw 950 and outclasses it in every possible way. Fundamentally, it's a very good-sounding unit with excellent d/a conversion and digital surround decoding. It's also nice that it has 7.1 analog inputs and outputs. I use them, and it makes the unit usable with the new lossless audio with the right HD DVD or Blu-ray player.
The only thing is, it's last generation's technology. It doesn't provide any HDMI switching, let alone decoding, nor does it decode Dolby TrueHD, DD+, or DTS Master. I'm already bumping up against this limitation with an HDMI-output cable tuner/dvr, HD DVD player, and Oppo 980. But I'm hanging onto the AVP7 for now because 1. it sounds really good and 2. I don't have the cash to burn on an HDMI 1.3-capable pre/pro right now. I *may* get a Panasonic Blu-ray w/7.1 outputs to use with it.
The only thing is, it's last generation's technology. It doesn't provide any HDMI switching, let alone decoding, nor does it decode Dolby TrueHD, DD+, or DTS Master. I'm already bumping up against this limitation with an HDMI-output cable tuner/dvr, HD DVD player, and Oppo 980. But I'm hanging onto the AVP7 for now because 1. it sounds really good and 2. I don't have the cash to burn on an HDMI 1.3-capable pre/pro right now. I *may* get a Panasonic Blu-ray w/7.1 outputs to use with it.