In very much the same boat. I want great 2 channel SQ from my HT system. I upgraded gradually (but quickly) from B&W 9NTs to B&W N803's (along with ctr and surround upgrades). Was powering with Pioneer vsx47tx (with rm correction), their $4000 flagship of a few years ago. When I made this change, noticed that some Cds were unlistenable. Got new Sunfire TGA5200 amp (200x5, 400x5 in 4/8 ohms) on closeout, plugged in using Pio as preamp and WOW, what a difference. Assume that's what the Proceed is doing for you. Next got Sunfire TGP5 processor (no room correction), and sound improved again, but not exponentially like the amp. Got a modded Denon3930ci which really improved sound further. I still want to see if I can improve further so I read a bunch of threads, including a very long one on this subject over at AVS forum, and there was a dual consensus (two camps):
1) the Proceed AVP and Cary Cinema 11 are about the best pre/pro values out there for analogue/2 chanl , with BelCanto and Classe pre/pro units considered very good as well. Some also liked Parasound C1/C2, and Bryston SP2. I think both Parasound and Classe only allow balanced input for complete analogue bypass for pure 2 channel. I was going to buy a used AVP2, but couldn't pass up a 55% off deal on a new sunfire, figuring I could use difference later.
2)Others said that even the best pre/pro cannot sound as good as even a good preamp in 2 chnl analogue. Some of them had tried the AVP, BC, etc and sold and went to preamp. What I've learned in the preamp threads, for my budget (1500-3000 used), the best "giant killer" preamps seem to be the Aesthetix Calypso, Modwright SWL 9.0 SE signature (they also have a 36.5 that may run a little more but may be killer), Dodd preamp, and RedWineAudio Isabella (which is relatively new at 4-5k, so may not see used one for a while). CJ, Bryston, Cary all seem to make really god preamps as well. Obviously, there are dozens of candidates, but in my own extensive research, these are the best values I've come up with.
Ultimately, although I've been toying with idea of replacing Sunfire with AVP, I think I will stick with sunfire and concentrate on preamp with HT Bypass, then maybe try an even better amp (need cool running and small, so thinking about NuForce or Spectron, both of which seem like killers). My ratonale is that pre/pro world is constantly changing, and since I'm satisfied with HT SQ, I can play more freely with (and put more money into) separate 2chnl components. Sorry for the lenghty reply.
Hope this helps, and feel free to email me directly if you want to chat more. Jeff
1) the Proceed AVP and Cary Cinema 11 are about the best pre/pro values out there for analogue/2 chanl , with BelCanto and Classe pre/pro units considered very good as well. Some also liked Parasound C1/C2, and Bryston SP2. I think both Parasound and Classe only allow balanced input for complete analogue bypass for pure 2 channel. I was going to buy a used AVP2, but couldn't pass up a 55% off deal on a new sunfire, figuring I could use difference later.
2)Others said that even the best pre/pro cannot sound as good as even a good preamp in 2 chnl analogue. Some of them had tried the AVP, BC, etc and sold and went to preamp. What I've learned in the preamp threads, for my budget (1500-3000 used), the best "giant killer" preamps seem to be the Aesthetix Calypso, Modwright SWL 9.0 SE signature (they also have a 36.5 that may run a little more but may be killer), Dodd preamp, and RedWineAudio Isabella (which is relatively new at 4-5k, so may not see used one for a while). CJ, Bryston, Cary all seem to make really god preamps as well. Obviously, there are dozens of candidates, but in my own extensive research, these are the best values I've come up with.
Ultimately, although I've been toying with idea of replacing Sunfire with AVP, I think I will stick with sunfire and concentrate on preamp with HT Bypass, then maybe try an even better amp (need cool running and small, so thinking about NuForce or Spectron, both of which seem like killers). My ratonale is that pre/pro world is constantly changing, and since I'm satisfied with HT SQ, I can play more freely with (and put more money into) separate 2chnl components. Sorry for the lenghty reply.
Hope this helps, and feel free to email me directly if you want to chat more. Jeff