+1 newbee
@onehorsepony, regarding your post above, did you listen to the combination of pre and power before you purchased it? If so, was the mismatch between the two components not obvious at that point?
Not being presumptive on the specifics here, but as a general observation, I've come across numerous instances where people put together systems based on positive reviews of individual components and came away dissatisfied because of lack of synergy or downright incompatibilities.