Proceed PAV as a two channel preamp..

I have a Proceed PAV and a PAV/PDSD pair. The PAV is analog, the PDSD digital. They need to be purchased as a pair for surround sound. The sound quality is excellent. You may be able to have a PAV repaired by other than Harmon, even locally. My units, although no longer in use, served reliably for decades, and still sound fine when I fire them up. I replaced the PAV/PDSD pair with a Cary Cinema 11a to get the lossless codecs and HDMI. I soon gave up on HDMI. I replaced the Cary with a Parasound JC-2 analog stereo preamp, and use an Oppo BDP-105 for surround and the latest codecs. Stereo from the Oppo, a Sony XA5400ES, and JC-3 phono stage go through the JC-2, surround from the Oppo goes directly to the amps.

I wouldn't as leery about the PAV as the previous posters.

db

You need to remember that a major price factor when the PAV was new is that it had SOTA video switching that is now mostly obsolete. IIRC, Stereophile claimed it would be rated B as an audio preamp, whereas it was rated A as an AV processor. I thought the sound with the Cary Cinema 11a in the link was not quite up to that with the PAV.

The AudiogoN blue book prices are all over the map, but with more recent sales trending below $500. They come nicely packaged with a comprehensive manual that you might consult before playing. The PAV has great flexibility so you can assign inputs and outputs. It's not as easy as plug and play. You need to specify input and output. The PAV has a nice video menu.

db