Need help in picking a good preamp/processor

imo, the greatest bargain in the upper high end for a pre/dac is the boulder 1012 (plus, you get a very good phono stage). it's what i use for my digital side, which also includes an mbl transport and nagra vpa monoblocks.

Ramesh,

I am very pleased with my Proceed PAV/PDSD. They serve as the preamp/processor for a Proceed Amp 2 and Amp 3 that drive a pair of KEF 104/2s, KEF C 200, and a pair of KEF 102/2 surrounds. All biwired. A Velodyne HGS-15 takes everything below 80 Hz.

The sound is open and transparent, with a large soundstage and precise imaging.

Reviews suggest a Krell HTS would be a good choice also. Either the Proceed or the Krell would be a cost effective solution to excellent stereo and 5.1 sound.

db

I will chime in with the B&K REF 50.

All,

Thanks again for all your help. It is great to know that I have so many choices. I am familiar with all of the choices except boulder and Anthem. I will learn about them before making my choice.

Donbellphd,

Thanks for the specifics on Proceed/Krell. How would you compare PAV/PDSD with AVP? Do yuo think the D/A and Analog 2ch performance between PAV/PDSD and AVP are similar or is one significantly better than the other?

Also how do you compare Classe SSP50 with PAV/PDSD or HTS?

Based on the original prices I notice that PAV/PDSD is 1.5 to two times as much as the other two. HTS and SSP50 seem to be around same price range. Do you thing I should read more into the price difference or it is just an artifact of two box vs. one box solution?

Regards
Ramesh

Ramesh,

I've never compared the Proceed PAV/PDSD side by side with the AVP, but I suspect the AVP is a bit inferior. The AVP2, OTOH, is probably at least equal and may be slightly superior, but it is more expensive used.

What I can say is that I've listened to many high-end systems, and, of course, they all sound a little different. People talk about warmth or coolness as their preferrred form of distortion, but I listen for openess and transparency, along with a large, well defined soundstage. The PAV/PDSD has not been wanting.

At one time, I thought I should try the convenience of a receiver, and it was OK for movies and HDTV, but that openess and transparency I look for in stereo was missing, so I went back to the Proceed stuff.

You should be aware, though, that the Proceed units do not handle component video, so if that is important to you, you might look elsewhere.

db