Preamp strategy advice for 2 ch. HT


My current system includes the following:

Denon AVR3300
Parasound CD/P1000
NHT 2.5i
NHT 1.5
NHT AC1
Bryston 4B-ST (for the 2.5i)
Sony DVD

My objective now is to get a pair of NHT 2.9 (move the 2.5i to the rear and lose the 1.5's), get a new preamp, and then new amplifiers (Bryston), thereby losing the Denon. I would like to do this piece by piece. My question: should I get a 2 channel preamp with a HT passthrough (Adcom GFP750, Bryston BP-25, or the like) now, and then lose the Denon later, or should I look into getting the Bryston SP-1 Preamp/Processor, which includes the BP-25, but also serves the HT role. From what I understand, Bryston intends on supporting the future formats once new ones become mainstream. I gues my question is should I go separate 2 ch. pre, or look into the dual role unit?

Thanks

Lee

Any thoughts?
mhuffak3736b

Showing 1 response by kthomas

First off, you'll definitely love going from the 2.5i's to the 2.9's, especially driving them from the Bryston - I made the same upgrade once. The 2.9's are an excellent speaker, IMO, and a really great choice for a combo HT/music system.

As for the preamp question, I think it's determined by how much you value convenience and how you use the system. A separate 2ch pre would allow continued flexibility of upgrades and, possibly, better performance on music reproduction. It also means more cables, more switching, etc. - if you have others in a family that are using the system, you'll probably get more complaints. I also don't think you're going to be able to avoid future upgrades regardless of which way you go - pre/pro's will continue to evolve rapidly for years to come, as I see it, so regardless of whether you buy today, tomorrow or in a couple years, there will always be a compelling reason to wait.

My advice, which I have followed myself in this fabulous pursuit, is to buy the best pre/pro you can justify knowing you'll want something better in 3-5 years and research the purchase with an eye on 2-channel performance (analog pass-thru, etc.) I think this approach maximizes performance for $$$ spent. -Kirk