Still lost on my pre amp, can anyone help?


I've had a few posts in the past and it's reccommended that I change my pre amp and potentially power amp to get the sound I'm looking for out of my Studio 100's (Pre amp is Pioneer SC27, Power Amp is B&K 200.3).

Here's my question:
Are there any pre amps that sound great for music, but can also be good for HT? Or do I need to get a dedicated 2 channel pre with HT pass through? I'm more interested in music (80/20), but my room is used for both music and HT since I don't have space to separate the two.

My current setup sounds terrible for 2 channel music. Everyone says I need to ditch the Pioneer, but I'm not exactly where to go from here.I'm not able to listen before I buy so I'm relying on your experience. I've got my power amps narrowed down to Bryston 4b-ST, Odyssey Stratos, or maybe Anthem.
chad329
What's your budget here? for under $1000, nothing will do better than Proceed AVP. The only concerned you might have is the age issue. For 2-channel music, the Proceed outdone a lot of Pre-Amps out there, look up the reviews. I used it for a number of years before upgraded to APV2. I am willing to give up HDMI processing and stick with it until Today.
Why not keep the Pioneer for movies, and find a good pre-amp (or integrated amp to simplify) with a Hometheater bypass/pass-through?
Not sure what your budget is, but I had at one time a Cary SLP-98 that had home theater pass thru. Never used it in that capacity but you generally can pick these up used for under $2000 and IMO it would help "warm up" the sound of the Solid State amps you listed. I thought the Cary was a good value for the money.
Modwright SWL 9.0 SE. Used. Roughly fits your budget, great for two channel, has HT bypass.

You'll be happy. Really.