After reading Mr Peabody findings on seperates Vs Receivers ,and the constant rants on how bright Yamahas are I thought I would post my findings...The system is a Acurus a200x3 amp,Yamaha RXV 1400 Receiver,Rotel 1070 2ch preamp,Denon DCM 380 cd player,Paradigm Studio 100 v2s.In this system I run the L/R front preouts from the Yamaha to an aux input on the Rotel.For HDTV ,and DVD I select the aux input calibrate the volume (to 12 oclock).For CD and TT I turn the volume down and use either input as needed..The Denon CD player has a digital and a analog output.I run the analog to the Rotel and the Digital to the Yamaha..Testing is only using direct on the Yamaha.Setting a volume level on the rotel to about 70 dbs then change inputs and set the Yam to about 70dbs..At this point it is a matter of going to and from the AUX input to CD input on the 2ch pre..I have had 9 people that I did this with and not one could say the Rotel was better than the Yamaha..And when done blind no one came close ..I am not an EE but if there is a flaw in this test it would seem to be on the Yamaha...