Some high-end preamps do come with a dedicated SSP by-pass circuit for the kind of system you are comtemplating. This feature is showing up on more high-end preamps every year since there is clearly a market for it (many audiophiles can't afford 2 dedicated hi-end systems). In addition to the CJ mentioned above (don't know about the ARC LS25 but no doubt exceptional), other "A" class audio preamps with SSP bypass include the Sonic Frontiers Line 2 and 3 and the Adcom GFP-750. According to Mark Obrien, Rouge Audio sells an inexpensive add-on device ($50 I was told) for their lovely tube preamps (66 and 99) to provide SSP bypass. The Audible Illusions M3a and L1 don't have a SSP bypass circuit, but they advised me to use the buffered tape loop for this purpose. This presumably can be done for other 2-channel preamps as well (assuming you aren't using that loop for something else). This isn't a true SSP pass-through though it would probably work well enough for HT without compromising your preamp's 2-channel performance. If you don't want to buy a separate "A" class preamp and "A" class SSP-AV controler, there are a handful of nice pre/pros out there that serve both purposes pretty well. I auditioned the Classe SSP-50 a while back and thought it had very good 2-channel audio preamp performance (close to "A" IMHO) as well as exceptional SSP performance. I thought it was better as a "preamp" than the Proceed, Theta,.... Surprisingly, the Nakamichi CA-1 (now discontinued) is a very nice pre/pro and has a clean analog/audio by-pass circuit; it's pretty bare bones in terms of SSP modes, and isn't quite "A" performance as a preamp, though I think it is still surprisingly good compared to the competition in its price range (maybe Nak's last real high-end device). If you go shopping for a combined pre/pro, however, be careful to inquire about the circuitry because most of the current "high-end" SSPs (e.g., Lexicon) are designed for the HT market and do not have pure audio pass-through; instead, they convert all analog inputs to digital before sending them to the D/As and output stages, thus degrading the signal. I've heard Bryston recently put out a pre/pro; if true, I suspect it has pure analog pass-through and very good preamp performance (just speculation based on the quality of their other products). If you'll be using your system for a lot of 2-channel listening, it's also good to have a dedicated 2-channel amp for the front L&R and a separate 3-channel amp for HT. This way you won't have to compromise the exceptional signal coming from your "A" class preamp by sending through a less than stellar 5/6-channel HT amp. There are some good HT amps on the market, but you can still get better performance from a dedicated 2-channel amp. This also lets you keep the HT power off when listening to music. For HT, I use a McCormack DNA-HT1 for my rears and center and am pleased with its performance. Hope this info helps. Don
