processor that could serve as a good preamp


HI everybody
I wonder after how many years does processor start having troubles, like lost of channel, stop working, etc.

What's your personnal experience: which processor and after how many years did they start giving you trouble, if any?
Or maybe you have your processor since many years and they have been flawlessly since then.

It could give me a guidelide about which used processor to look for.
should I look, or stay away from Classe ssp-60, moon attraction 7.1, krell hts...

I don't really need hdmi, I can still connect my dvd's hdmi to the tv set.
My Oppo dvd player does have an HDMI output, and my tv set too.
Right now, finance does not permit high price processor with HDMI and I don,t want to go back to low end component for the sake of HDMI input-output. I suppose I will eventually, maybe in a few years, buy a blue-ray player. Wharn this happen finance will permit to buy whatever processor I wish, brand new ( no more car payment or mortgage.
Application:
Watching lcd tv ( not a 1080) and dvd,
listening to cd ( sometime) and vinyl.

I don't need a phono preamp, I already have a lehmann phono preamp.
It's ok if there's also a tuner, but I don't really care if it's there or not.

Other components:

simaudio amp
B&K reference 20 preamp (defective, no surround, only stereo. This is the one that would be replace. So it must be an upgrade, not a side step).
Oracle delphi 4 turntable, claraudio cartridge.
oppo dvd player (also used as a cd player).
Martin logan Vantage loudspeaker.

I'm interested in any suggestion that you can provide.
Thank you
Dan
ph0361
Thanks a lot. For the Krell I had exactly this type of question hts 7.1 or hts 2? You answered them before I had to ask.
Other suggestions, which have no video, but excellent audio, analog and digital are the Cary Cinema 11 (not 11a) and the Bryston 1.7 preamp-processors. I have not reviewed the Krell but I can personally vouch for these two.

Kal
I would also recommend the EAD Theatremaster line of pre/pro's. I own a Ovation-8 and it has worked flawlessly for almost ten years now. An even better recommendation for you though, seeing as you already have a Sim amp,is it multichannel, would be the Moon pre/pro's built by Sim and based on the EAD platform, either the Stargate or the Attraction. Both of these units along with the newer EAD pre/pro's are capable of very good two channel sound as well as handling all of your surround sound needs.The great thing about either of these processors is that Noble Electronics, who are manned by former employees of EAD ,are there to repair or update, or upgrade your processor whenever you want.
The moon pre/pro are also the possible choice, but the moon attraction 5.1 is not. Everything is digitized, even analog signal from a turntable.
Noble Electronics can install an extra 7.1 analogue pass-through that utilizes the RCA analogue inputs. They can also configure them to be four separate stereo analogue inputs that bypass all of the digital circuitry. These use a very high quality silver internal wiring harness and sound much better than the db-25 based analogue pass-through. Last time I checked this upgrade was only $250, but you would have to check with Noble for the latest pricing. They advertise that they can perform upgrades on both EAD and Moon pre/pro's.