What's Good 5.1 pre/pre with DD, DTS, DPL II

Well, yes, the Bryston is great for stereo but.....about 1/3 of the DVDs currently on the market have been QC'd or mixed with a Bryston in the chain. No other brand is even close to having as many professionals relying on their gear. Bryston is widely accepted as "the" standard for audio quality control in the Movie industry.

That being said, I still believe that HT performance is very close among all the top competitors. I have practically heard them all and liked a lot of them. Along with Bryston, and Meridian, I would look at Lexicon, Anthem, Rotel, and EAD, as well.

Bryston is a chip based software upgrade. I upgraded my SP1.7, it was $50.00 and included two chips, a chip tool, and all new case screws. It was easy.

The SP1.7 is devoid of bells and whistles, really straight forward, and downright easy to use. No video switching though!

I think the only difference between the two is the 5.1 input. I dont know about the SP1 and DPLII. I like it(DPLII) and wouldnt want to do without it, or DTS:Neo 6, for that matter. You better check with Bryston to see if those are available through chip upgrades in the SP1.

SD, thats true and I didnt mean to imply that. Sorry. The chip is a software upgrade only. The 5.1 inputs and the 7.1 outputs are unique to the SP1.7 or factory upgraded SP1's.

I am still not sure you must have a SP1.7 in order to upgrade to the newer surround software decoding/encoding (DPLII/DTS:neo 6). Currently my setup is 5.1. It seems logical that the SP1 "could" handle DPLII with the proper software. I digress, that logic could be flawed. For instance, the SP1's boards may not have the proper configuration for the DSP engine.

I would like to add that, not only is James Tanner extremely attentive. Ann Forbes with Bryston (who handled my chip purchase) is just as attentive and professional.