Sunfire Theater Grand ll

If you're serious about 2-channel I'd recommend getting a decent Denon receiver for surround processing and use a higher-end 2-channel preamp with a home theater pass-through for stereo listening. The home theater pass-through will allow you to seemlessly integrate the receiver with the stereo preamp so you don't have to worry about volume matching issues. This combo will give you better 2-channel performance for less cost than a pre/pro and reduce your risk of obsolescence as the new formats evolve over the next year or two and prices come down. When you're ready you just swap out the Denon instead of having to buy an expensive new pre/pro, and you can still use the 2-channel preamp for critical stereo listening.

I don't buy the upgrade thing with so much up in the air right now--it'll probably cost a lot to upgrade a pre/pro and there are likely to be compromises even if you do upgrade because they can never forsee everything. Upgradeability has not historically been a strength of the audio industry and I wouldn't put my money on it this time either.

Some recommendations for stereo preamps with an HT pass-throughs are: Adcom GFP-750, McCormack RLD-1, Sonic Frontiers, Rogue, Conrad-Johnson, and PSE. If you want to enjoy movies but are more serious about 2-channel I think this is the best sounding, most cost-effective and lowest risk option. Best of luck.

Tim

I don't have any personal experience with the Sunfire unit, but have read several very positive reviews and can't imagine it's not at least "good" with 2ch music. I think it's when you want it to be "great" that you might run into problems. "Great" tends to cost a lot of money, as we all know, so ultimately upgrading the pre/pro in the pursuit of great sound may not be that daunting a proposition. No question, with the technological advances in progress and on the horizon, HT in particular is an area that you have to expect to upgrade on a fairly regular basis

All that said, I agree with Tim's advice on the HT-pass-through functionality as a practical way to use one system effectively for two different purposes - he's given you good advice in that regard, since the approach offers the most flexibility down the line. However, as much as I love great audio performance for music, I love it for movies as well, and I'd be willing to bet that a lower-cost Denon receiver for HT will be markedly less performing, and therefore less enjoyable, than the Sunfire for movies and I personally wouldn't be willing to make that sacrifice permanently. You don't give a lot of context for your question, and budgets etc. factor in a great deal, so if it was part of a bigger plan, an affordable Denon A/V receiver coupled with a nice two-channel preamp with HT pass-through might be an excellent start, but if you're really into doing HT right, you're going to want something better than the Denon long-term. -Kirk

I upgrade from Version I to Version II six month ago. I feel Sunfire Theater Grand II is excellent in 2 channel music as well as for movie. It is a big improvemnet over the Version 1. In two channel stereo mode it make you feel like your center speaker and surround speaker is working too. Vocal is right as from the center speaker.

Furthermore, if you are using digital output of you dvd or CD player, you can save money by using the internal D/A converter of the Pre/Pro rather than buy an external one or buy an expensive CD player with excellent D/A converter. I am using a SONG DVP-300.

I pair my Sunfire Theater Grand II with 6 channel AMP from ADA PTM-6150 and Definitive Technology BP-30, LRC-2000 (Bi-amp & Bi-Wire), BPX, and PF-1500. Interconnect is JPS Supercondustor 2, speaker wire Tributaries SP-5 (bi-wire), Audio Power power conditioner.

I can improve the dept of stereo sound more by purchase another Amp and bi-amp my front BP-30.

Manuel