What's Good 5.1 pre/pre with DD, DTS, DPL II

Addendum:
Bryston is a great unit but is primarily known for fine stereo not HT. If you want both go with Meridian or Theta.

JWH

I'm surprised no one mentioned the studio choice for processors "Lexicon". In your price range you may have to go used, but the Lexicons will blow the socks off of most processors. There is a trade off however, for pure music pleasure they are not the best. Picture quality and effects they can't be beat. So all and all they build some of the best units. You also may consider that if you get a 7 channel even if you don't use it for now you are future proof. I have a DC1 couple years old no problems really impresses my friends while watching things blowing up

Well, yes, the Bryston is great for stereo but.....about 1/3 of the DVDs currently on the market have been QC'd or mixed with a Bryston in the chain. No other brand is even close to having as many professionals relying on their gear. Bryston is widely accepted as "the" standard for audio quality control in the Movie industry.

That being said, I still believe that HT performance is very close among all the top competitors. I have practically heard them all and liked a lot of them. Along with Bryston, and Meridian, I would look at Lexicon, Anthem, Rotel, and EAD, as well.

Thanks guys,

Meridian 561, Bryston SP1, Lexicon MC1 looks nice,

Questions:

Mdridian 561 - I heard that it's DAC is only 20bit as opposed to 24bit on others... is it true? what does it mean?

Bryston SP1 - Beside those extra featurs and bells & whistles, is there differece sonically sounds quality performance etc compare to SP1.7?
Also, Bryston's website says "Easy Upgrades" with bold face under feature section(http://www.bryston.ca/sp1_m.html), What does it mean? Does it mean I can get it upgraded with DPLII - Is it supported?

Based on what I have read -- I have not done an A-B comparison between the SP1 and SP1.7 -- the SP1.7 is an upgraded SP1 that provides 5.1 SACD/DVD-A analog inputs, 6.1 and 7.1 formats, and several updated HT processing formats (Dolby ProLogic II, etc.). There may also be an upgrade to the DAC chip. For more info, I suggest you read comments on Bryston's web site (www.bryston.ca), or send an E-mail to James Tanner, Bryston's technical guru. (You can send an E-mail by going to the web site, and clicking on the link that says "Contact".) Tanner is great about giving prompt replies -- I have never waited more than 4 hours to get an answer from him or one of his staff.