The advice so far is pretty good. At the $1200 range, you have several choices, and two of them are Adcom: 1. Adcom GFP-750 - an outstanding preamp at retail price of $1250, or around $900 used. 2. Adcom GTP-750 pre/pro, which can be gotten used for around $1300. This unit is all-digital and has Dolby Digital, DTS, and Pro-Logic built in, plus other DSP features. Has 3 digital and 6 analog inputs. 3. Bryston BP-20 or BP-25. Bryston builds great gear, and all their stuff has a 20-year warranty. You couldn't go far wrong with any of these units.
