Price Paid:  $235.00 from audioreview.com

Summary:
I listen to more music than HT. My main priority was to obtain a pre-processor that would allow me to listen to my music and get great HT for my 10 year old son. Truthfully I didn't think it could be accomplished.
Orginally I had used my reference Apt Holman pre-amp and run it through a Yamaha add on DPL-E1000. This set up gave me great Dolby Prologic but did not allow me to get to the DD and DTS (DVD that the world is going to.) I listen and am not swayed by price or name brands, this unit combined with a Rotel RB-976 ----- 70 watts a channel into five channel which I bought after reading and studying has a truly a rich sound.
I sat with my son last night and listened to a VHS of HappY Gilmore which does not have a very good Dolby Surround Sound Track, but when the sounds kicked in they were truly independent of the the other channels.
I found myself saying this is so much cleaner than the last system that astounded my friends.
Anyway, the Rotel does it all, I do not have to go into what the DD and DTS sound like, the pre-amp for audio and the state of the art Prologic decoder are enough to make me happy.
I also e-mailed other owners of this unit, and they were all music people rather than HT....... they truly loved the unit....
remember this unit has only 5.1 inputs for DD or DTS and no decoders.....but it has pre-amp that is extremely good for the price...
I wish you could A/B this unit against what you have sitting in your living room and you would see what I am talking about.
e-mail me for questions!
thanks, a
Rotel believer

Jack

Strengths:
Stereo pre-amp, clarity, Rotel quality!

Weaknesses:
Manual not as simple as the reader would like it to be!

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Onkyo, etc

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Ebay

Summary:
One word sums up the audio quality this pre-amp... Stunning! I was set on buying an Adcom 750 with 5.1 decoding, but upon auditioning the older (store demo) Rotel RSP970 I forgot the idea. I auditioned Dennon, Sony, Adcom, Parasound, and Rotel before I made my final choice and the CLEAR winner was the Rotel. Match this pre-amp with a dB-25 5.1 connect on the back with either a Rotel RB976 or RB985 power amp and you have an amazing combination! (Do yourself a favor and skip any pre-amp with internal AM/FM tuning like the Adcom GTP series and Rotel RTC series- it does make a difference!!!)
The only drawback to this unit is that you have to select the 5.1 input manually each time you wish to use it for dvd players. I think that problem is fixed if you are using the Rotel 5.1 decoder.

Strengths:
Simplicity of design, overall reproduction of sound.

Weaknesses:
None comparied to others of the same price range.

Similar Products Used:
Adcom GTP 500, various other pre-amps under $1000.00.