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

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.

The 20 bit has less processing power than the 24 bit. I use the 561 and had the 568 for about six months. Like yourself, 5.1 is all I required, so I saved some cash and sold the 24 bit 568 in favor of the 561. Honestly, I cannot tell a huge difference.

JWH

Bryston is a chip based software upgrade. I upgraded my SP1.7, it was $50.00 and included two chips, a chip tool, and all new case screws. It was easy.

The SP1.7 is devoid of bells and whistles, really straight forward, and downright easy to use. No video switching though!

I think the only difference between the two is the 5.1 input. I dont know about the SP1 and DPLII. I like it(DPLII) and wouldnt want to do without it, or DTS:Neo 6, for that matter. You better check with Bryston to see if those are available through chip upgrades in the SP1.