OK I continue to have problems that I suspect are due to the 663 (an instance of wild popping, let's move on and skip the whining, and for the sake of moving forward accept it is most likely a weak link) so I desperately need to replace it as a pre/pro, making my plan of using the 663 as a stand in until the 997, 972, or UMC (? new emo) are finally released and evaluated completely un-viable.
Disappointing but hey I have Axiom speakers and I'm happy about that.
In the interim I have become even more impressed by the 3808 especially the feature upgrade which I suspect will hit the sweet spot of what I am looking for even if it may not be the absolute cutting edge, hey there is no such thing anyway, except for a few seconds if I'm not mistaken.
Not too sure if 6ave will honor the avs forum discount anymore in any shape or form, yet I am pretty much bound and determined to purchase the 3808 (damn the torpedoes and my poor credit cards) mainly because at this point I desperately need a reference point to rule out the processor as contributing to these problems (and hope for divine intervention to eliminate them all so I can happily progress from seemingly endless troubleshooting to the domestic bliss of pure enjoyment in combination with the inevitable disease of tweaking, yes I remain a realist, despite all indications to the contrary).
My question, finally is this: are there any other preamp/processors I should be considering at this point to run my system, keeping in mind that I like what I see in the 3808 feature set and desperately need something that is absolutely GUARANTEED (sorry I needed that shout) to work with Axiom.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
SK
