What are my chances

I just spoke to my dealer and one more to consider is the LINN EXOTIC which he feels in analogue form beats hands down the Bryston and Anthem offerings. The beauty is if I go with the LINN I can later upgrade the unit to include multi-channel duties for HT. The price for the upgrade will bring the unit to the level of the Bryston and Anthem. The real test will be when I test all three pre-amps with my CDP,JoLida JD100 with a level-2 mod, and my speakers which he also carries. I'll also be looking at the amps which he carries Bryston,Anthem,and LINN anythoughts on which will mate well with my Paradigm Studio 60 ver3.

Any thoughts on what you guys think of LINN products.

Cheers

Sure you can.

The easy way is to look for a pre that has an HT pass-through (a/k/a unity gain pass through). It takes the front L & R analog feeds from your processor and sends them on to the two channel amp as usual, without effecting gain. This keeps your carefully matched gain levels intact.

If your pre doesn't have a pass through, you could carefully check levels with an SPL meter while setting up the multichannel playback. Note the setting on your pre's gain control that works and always put it there for multichannel play. Less precise than a pass through but maybe good enough?

I dont know whether either of the pre's you're considering has a pass through but I'm sure you could find out easily enough.