Looking for a preamp to be used primarily with a stereo setup

[lattiboy]

Hi all,

I run a split system that does home theater Duty and stereo Duty. I use a second generation Chromecast with an HDMI extractor/splitter currently. I've been running the optical out to a dedicated DAC, but almost no music specific DACs can decode multi channel audio.

I'm looking for a quality preamp that can decode most common digital movie streams and has a high quality DAC. A phono input wouldn't hurt, but is not critical. Same for HDMI (the splitter works fine for me)

I generally have a vintage stereo amp hooked up to two large speakers, but on occasion I may add a center channel with a dedicated mono block amp. I use this system 80% for music, so I'm more concerned about the DAC then being able to decode 17.1 Atmos signals or whatever.

I almost never purchase new, so I'm looking for a 5-10 year old higher end model I can pickup somewhat inexpensively.

I see a lot of nice looking Rotel preamps available on ebay, is that generally considered a good choice?

 

[lattiboy]

My basic complication is that the speaker's I like are generally very power hungry and I like to switch out amps often. Having a permanent digital preamp would make my life much easier.

 

[Audiofreak71]

I would suggest an oppo player , they have about everything your looking for except the phono preamp . I’m using a udp 203 currently and have owned almost all of there players the bdp 105 being the last one I owned before the 203 . They have excellent dacs and can accommodate a chrome cast (I use one as well ) Xbox PlayStation etc if you want , has 7.1 inputs so you can change out as many amps as you wish . Only problem is there a bit hard to come by now and people are raising there pricing, I think I saw a 203 for sale here on BT though .

Audiofreak71

 

[lattiboy]

I would suggest an oppo player , they have about everything your looking for except the phono preamp . I’m using a udp 203 currently and have owned almost all of there players the bdp 105 being the last one I owned before the 203 . They have excellent dacs and can accommodate a chrome cast (I use one as well ) Xbox PlayStation etc if you want , has 7.1 inputs so you can change out as many amps as you wish . Only problem is there a bit hard to come by now and people are raising there pricing, I think I saw a 203 for sale here on BT though .

Audiofreak71

Very interesting! I wouldn't have thought of a Blu-ray player as a preamp!

My projector is only 1080p, so the super Advanced features of the Oppo might be wasted on me. Is there a similar product that is perhaps slightly less expensive? I'm fine going the used route.

 

[Audiofreak71]

Very interesting! I wouldn't have thought of a Blu-ray player as a preamp!

My projector is only 1080p, so the super Advanced features of the Oppo might be wasted on me. Is there a similar product that is perhaps slightly less expensive? I'm fine going the used route.

You could use the bdp 103 the same way or If you want a higher end dac the bdp 95 or 105 would be a nice choice however come in at a higher premium, all sound outstanding though from personal experience.

P.s. you can pick up a bdp 95 or 103 for around $200-$350

Audiofreak71