I have spent the last 10 years putting together a stereo and home theater system. I went with separates to get the most out of each component of the system. I recently upgraded my old stereo preamp & Lexicon CP-2 with a Marantz AV-9000 Dolby Digital, DTS preamp. I considered the B&K REF10/20, and the Harman Kardon Signature 2. Here's a list of the components used in the system:

• Marantz AV-9000 Preamplifier (recent addition)
• B&K ST-1430 3 X 100w amplifier
• Denon POA-800 2 x 50w amplifier
• Sony KV32S10 32' television
• Sony K677ES CD player
• Sony C67ES tape deck
• Pioneer DV 414 DVD player
• RCA DRD480RE DSS (recent addition)
• Mitisubishi HS-U56 Hi-Fi VCR
• Infinity Kappa 6.1 main speakers
• Infinity Kappa Center speaker
• Infinity RS-225 surround speakers
• Velodyne FSR-12 subwoofer
• A variety of Monster and AudioQuest cables

This diagram shows the configuration with the new Marantz component.

Prior to the Marantz, the surround sound components of the system consisted of the following:

• Denon DAP-2500 preamplifier
• Lexicon CP-2 Dolby Pro Logic processor
• Denon TU-600 tuner

The biggest problem I had was where to put the surround processor (before or after the preamplifier). I connected the CP-2 surround sound processor before the preamplifier, between the VCR and the preamplifier. This was the easier and most straight forward way of connecting the CP-2 into a two-channel preamplifier. All I had to do was select VCR mode on the preamp and the main channels are already decoded for surround sound. That said, when I added the DSS to the system, I was forced to move the CP-2 into a more traditional configure--a tape loop

Checkout the diagram which show how all the components were connected.