Outboard surround decoder?


Hey all,

Can anyone suggest a good outboard Dolby Digital / DTS / Pro-Logic II decoder?

I know there's a lot of these from the late 90's that might work for me, but wasn't sure if there was something more contemporary that could be used.
hudsonhawk
There are some cheepies that pop up on eBay but they are few. I would suggest an old one from a standard brand (and I have one in my closet, too).

Kal
Yamaha made a very good one in the late 90s that allowed RF, TOSLink and S/PDIF inputs with 5.1 RCA outputs. The model number does not come to mind but I owned one in 1996-1999 and remember its performance very fondly. It did DD 5.1 and Dolby Pro-Logic; I do not know if it did DTS.
You might have to get one that also includes a preamp also. I bought a B&K Reference 20 and it looks and sounds well. You might have to go to the 30 to get DPII.
I used to have a Pioneer decoder that I used with my Proceed PAV before I bought a PAV/PDSD pre/pro. My recollection was lots of cables, but I'm not sure why that recollection would be accurate, but it caused me to try a Sony 444ES for simplification. Unfortunately, transparency was sacrificed. The PAV/PDSD restored transparency.

db