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Best Pre/Pro for 2-channel stereo sound?

Instead of me building a new system all together, what would be the best Surr Proc/Pre to give me excellent 2 channel stereo reproduction? I will use it for movies with DD/DTS, but without very critical listening. on the other hand i want the best sound possible for 2-channel stereo/SACD. I would like to keep it under $2000 new or around $1000 used. any opinions would be appreciated.
128x128kray
rap
58 posts
 
Theta Digital (Casanova/Casablanca) get high marks for thier audio. Prices vary depending upon options. They do volume control in the analog domain, not digital. Lexicon is another good choice. I'm not sure if the volume control is digital or analog for the Lex. THe Casanova and the Lex DC-1 will probably be close to your price used.
rsuminsby's avatar
rsuminsby
152 posts
 
I use a Proceed AVP, and am very pleased with it's 2-ch performance. (Contrary to what you may read in some places, it does offer analog pass-through for 2-ch.) I plan to upgrade it to AVP2 configuration, which uses the same DACS and software as the Mark Levinson Mk 40.
orind
27 posts
 
I found the Audio Refinement Pre-2DSP to have a very clean 2 channel bypass mode (equal to the Audio Refinement Pre-5 all analog pre), but have since moved to a Pass X1 for stereo, and it has a bypass for theater processor. Now I can have whatever processor I chose without worrying about its 2 channel performance. At a lower price, the Adcom GFP-750 also has a processor loop.
keithr
1,306 posts
 
Not so sure why everyone thinks Bryston when they want 2 ch sound out of a pre/pro. No one buys there preamps. They may be better than some alternatives, but i would think a quality 2 ch preamp will give you much better sound.
kray's avatar
kray OP
229 posts
 
Actually after all my research i decided on a Consonance M99 2 channel tube integrated. I am totally happy with it. Just decided i'm more interested in 2-channel stereo than HT. I can always just get a basic HT receiver later if i really wanted to... There's something about that tube sound that is just hard to beat....
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