Surround processor recommendations

The Adcom GTP Series is downright terrible having poor (2) channel and a noisy background. The B&K Reference 50 is great for HT full of Bells & Whistles; however, it comes up short in (2) channel also. I have not listened to the specific Parasound Pre-Pro so I cannot comment on its performance.

I was in the market for a similar processor and decided on the EAD TheaterMaster 8000. Pared up with my Theta Dreadnought it excels in both (2) channel and HT. You may want to look into the Ovation if you wish to take it up to the next level. The three you mentioned are not known for great (2) by any stretch of the imagination.

EAD was my second choice as the Theta Casablanca II was just a little out of my reach at this time, having spent several thousand dollars on my HT this year already. It was hardly a compromise.

Good Luck,

Michael

Try Lexicon Mc8 or MC 12 awesome pieces. Also the mc1 is very good and can be had for very good prices here on Audiogon.

IMHO all surround processors are compromised when it comes to 2-channel audio. Since you state 2-channel is your priority, I think you will be better off buying a good preamp and a moderately priced receiver, like a Denon 3803, and only using the receiver when playing movies. (Run the front pre-outs of the receiver to a preamp input.) HT sound quality is not as demanding as 2-channel sound quality.

I have to second the Lexicon stuff, I have owned thier last three generations of processors. The DC-1, MC-1 and now the MC-12. They were always very good for movies, but have come a long way in the others areas as well!

Do NOT go with the Adcom GTP series. I purchased a GTP-760 which was supposed to be a huge improvement in QC over the 740 and 750. Ha! Mine died 48 hrs later. I went with a Lexicon DC-2 and haven't looked back since. The quality issues with Adcom processors are WELL documented. Users who have units that perform well are exceptions! Beware!