Charles Epstein wrote:
Hello. I'm just beginning my research on home theater. The goal is to
preserve as much of my existing system (specifically the M&K sat/subwoofer
setup, the NAD preamp, etc.) in upgrading to a home theatre system. I am
looking to do this in phases. I'd like to first purchase an amp (e.g., the
Bryston 3B) that would use the existing NAD integrated as a preamp.
Question: if I want to make the jump to home audio, does it make sense to go
with a multichannel amp? Or is multichannel home theatre more a function of
a preamp/sound processor?

Both. You must have a processor to decode the signals coming from a
typical DVD. You also require each speaker to have its own surround
channel.

Personally, I'd keep the NAD unit for a bedroom or second system or
for music only and get a nice integrated 5.1/6.1 amplifier. NAD makes
several, but the real deal for the money, IMO, is Rotel. Bit better built,
no major fluff you don't need, and a lot less money than a 5/6 channel
Bryston or simmilar. Seperates are nice, but not really required for
home theatre. Most 100wpc amps will be more than fine for your
needs. My father's $800 Denon 3802 can drive his 6 ohm Tannoy Saturns
to shockingly loud levels when they are in 2-channel mode. It's not
half the amplifier the bigger Rotel is.

IIRC, the price of their second from the top A/V receiver is roughly
what Bryston's starts at.

Of course, if you DO want to spend more money, Bryston does make an
excellent multichannel amplifier. Very capable and built like a tank.
Requires a preamp, but here's the skinny - preamps are all about processing
and such for home theatre, so a plain vanilla Sony or Denon at $299 receiver
will be more than adequate. Bypass their amplifier section and send the
pre-outs to the Bryston. No need to spend $1500 or more on Bryston or
some other company's unit when the standards keep changing every few years.

Wait until HDTV is fully implimented - that means new DVD types and
encoding and whatnot. 5-10 years at most.

Keep the amp. Swap the processor every few years to keep current.

Some budget amplifiers allow this, some do not, but it's easy to check
for by looking at the back panel. There will either be pre-outs or a
series of jumper blocks connecting the two component areas.

The recommendation of specific brands and
components is welcome...I'd like to keep this within a reasonable budget,
though I'm flexible since whatever I do will likely remain in place for
years to come (at least that's the plan).

Well, we do need a budget.

If it's under $2000, then get the Rotel and enjoy. Around $4000, get
the Bryston 9B SST and a processor/budget receiver.
(NOTE - they do sell the 9B SST with 2 channels as well - you can
plug in the other channel modules as you require)

Also, a nice DVD player - $200-$300 these days. Some of the better ones
also play SACD and DVD-Audio and other formats. Mine even does MP3s
and karaoke - go figure. Just wait until my son figures out what
the karaoke mic input is for - lol.

Lastly - the speakers - I take it you have a 2.1 setup? Then you'll
need some surround speakers. Probably get more M&K surrounds to
match the front speakers. They need not be full-range, though - nice
bookshelfs will do.