I used to have a Rotel RSP-980 prepro in my system a while back and it was good but could not match the tonality, weight, and soundstage dimensionality of a good stereo preamp. In fact I'm now using a Bryston BP-6. If you're upgrading your amp you should demo a couple good stereo preamps as well just to see what you may or may not be missing. Preamps are one of the most critical components in a system so it's worth some effort to get it right imho. Best of luck.
