Home Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

IMO not good at all for 2 channel, here is my experience...

I have a B&K 1030AVP Pre-pro, the early Dolby 5.1 from 1998. When I was redoing my stereo in January, I called B&K to see if there were any upgrades or differences between my 1030 and the Ref. 20 that followed, or the Ref. 30 that followed that. They told me (twice, 2 different calls to their engineering dept.) that the stereo bypass remains the same across the models beginning with the 1030 to present. I could have gotten an upgrade in the processor to include DTS, etc. but I didn't need to spend $1500 to get DTS capability.

I find the stereo bypass function in this unit does something to the sound that makes it bright and harsh. I was told on this board that there are opamps in between the rca-in and the rca-out of this unit and most units that introduces degradation. This in contrast to the guy who sold it to me who swore that his Sony 707ES through the 1030 and into his amp and into his Martin Logans was a beautiful mix.

So I say you need to trial this combo. I ended up only using the 1030 for DVD, and output that into a good passive preamp for movies. For stereo, I go from cdp to passive pre, and not through the B&K. So I have two preamps.

If you only need a processor for Dolby Digital, there are now units under $300 that only do that, and you can invest in a quality passive or active preamp that will do justice to stereo.
Larry Dunn


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