California Audio CL-2500 SSP

A complete system review was done by Richard Hardesty of Widescreen Review in issue 38. The complete article is on the Widescreen Review website. That review looked at the Preamp Processor, the Video Switcher and the Home Theater Amplifier. I own the preamp processor, and it is at the shop for a warranty repair at the moment. The two channel is one of the best for a hometheater processor for the price. The only one that may have an edge is the top of the line Theta. I have had mine for about three months now and am still finding out what it can do. It has some of the best 24 bit processors for all six channels, the noise level appears to be very low, and each component can be customized according to user preferences. If you are primarily interested in two channel, you may find better sound with a dedicated two channel preamp.

Widescreen Review did a review of the CAL SSP, VSW video switch, and MCA multichannel amp(http://www.widescreenreview.com). I think Audiogon users don't regard them very highly as reviewers, but that's the only review I've seen. Because the SSP and VSW are separate units, it works out to be a relatively expensive setup (list ~$7k). I have the article and a product sheet on the new 2500 DVD player in PDF format, if you'd like to e-mail me.