whats pre/pro ? + HELP..picking a pre amp

thanks Vicdamone,
you just nailed me, i went to a magnolia room and after a 45 minute audio demonstration which the guy explained to me how they get sent away to learn about there equiptment they sell, we go to leave and he realized he just burned the F#@k out of a 50' plasma. i went home and found most of the stuff online for half the price new and even less used. i lost all faith in them. i turn to online which led me to a audio engineer in Mass. (i live on long island, n.y.) who was no nonsense. before spending BIG bucks on equiptment i've been buying used gear online to get a better idea of which way to go.
thanks for your response,
don

i used my dvd player to play cd's which i could only play one at a time so i got a 5 disk cd changer and hooked it up. at first i was upset that the sound quality of a devoted harmon karon cd player(fl8385) was inferior to a $20 polaroid dvd player realizing my receiver only has one coaxal input for a dvd, i removed the dvd player and hooked up the cd player in it's place using the "digital"(rca) out on the cd player and plugged it into the coaxal input on the receiver for the dvd, that was the trick. for me this gives me a fuller sound than just the audio inputs. so now i'm looking for a pre amp to support two systems or split them into two seperate systems. it seems if i try to support both i'll have to get a amp for the surround sound and get rid of my receiver.
thanks,
don

Sounds like you've been shopping at Magnolia, yes? There is much more diverse help online. There are a couple of other sites that may offer faster responses and there is also a VideoGon which focuses on Home Theater.

There are three main disciplines in audio reproduction: Two channel stereo, multi channel audio (five channels of unprocessed audio only, speaker selection and placement is as critical as stereo), home theater (multiple processed audio channels generally diffused by the presence of a video display and a dedicated center channel speaker of a different design).

Being new to this stuff it's important to slow down and learn as much as you can about your particular application. There are many low cost and used products available that can take your audio experience far beyond what's offered at the mass market store. You touched on one of the most important components in any audio system, your room. Before you spend any money you should locate a two channel system that's properly setup so you can experience soundstage, width and depth first hand. Locating an audio club near you would be an ear opening experience as well as a chance to meet some unique people. This first hand knowledge is very important even if your interest is in multi channel or H/T. While there are audio shops that have listening room's they're typically not realistically set up, your home is not a post production studio.

Typically, most people put the stereo in front of the H/T (setup wise). Many newer preamps have a feature sometimes called 'pass through' which allows the signal from the stereo preamp to feed your H/T preamp/processor/reciever. Unfortunately I have been unsuccessful at integrating a two channel system with a home theater and I've happily settled for a satisfying two channel system and a mediocre H/T

i have a hafler dh-500 to power the logan's and the receiver i have does not have a pre out, unless theres a trick to it, i'll have to get a seperate pre amp. the receiver puts out 100wpc and the logans handling is 80-200w.

Depending on your cd player why do you need digital inputs (coax or fiber optic?) any pre amp will accept your RCA left and right from your disc player to pre amp of your choice (try tubes!), only thing is....... what are you going to use for an amp?