Last year I replaced a malfunctioning 17 year old 250 wpc GFA 585 stereo amp with the 2200's
My system never sounded better.Now my Adcom GFP 565 pre amp is 17 years old and I am considering a replacement with an under $1k pre amp. Something like NAD, Adcom 715, Vincent, or Parasound.Any ideas? Any ideas as to whether age and use necessarily have degraded the sound of the old pre amp. It still sounds pretty good , but you can get used to degraded sound without realzing it.
TRW

Take a look at the new 997 as a pre-pro. The 990 would also be a great choice. They are both full featured and have many bells and whistles. If you are a vinyl fan, the 990 has a phono stage also.

The 990 would be a good candidate for the under-$1,000 price range if you want some surround capability, but it is a surround unit. Would you want something with a digital input (like the 990), or would you want a purely analog pre-amp (like the RR2150 receiver)?

Based on my own listening, I don't think the age of a preamp degrades the sound at all.
I've got a Sherwood s-7100A that'sprobably older than most of the forum members that still sound as good to me as it ever did and I don't think I've just gotten used to it as it's not in my primary system.
Vintage gear has a lot of fans.

The beauty of the 990 is that it can go analog or digital for audio and if you want to go HT later you can with no issues. I have a 35 years old Yamaha integrated amp which still rocks in 2 channel. It is built like a tank and sounds fantastic. A few years ago I had a guy go through it and clean all the switches and its like brand new.

I think the upshot of all of this is that a lot of features have been added, but for a 2.0 system, a 30 or 40 year old preamp is about as good as anything currently offered.
That's really kind of sad when you think about it.

For a purely analog system, we are dealing with principles that have been well understood for decades - it's only when you get into concepts such as surround processing, D/A conversion, or video that you see really significant changes in available technology. At the same time, the market for products that omit all those newer technologies has changed significantly. The RR2150 is comparatively cheap for the modern analog two-channel marketplace, and the fact that the 990 can compare well with purpose-built analog products speaks pretty darn highly of a product that exists to be the focal point for a modern home theater.

i seem to remember so one requesting an Outlaw 2 channel preamp. this proves there is a market. and if one was on the market it might just stir even more interest.

long live STEREO!

As far as straight 2 channel stereo goes, the old amps are still state of the art. What was high quality 35 years ago still is high quality. I have used my iPod with my Yamaha CA-800 and it sounds great through 4 large Advents with no sub involved. Although a lot of fans love 2 ch stereo, they don;t necessarily want to spend big $$$ for equipment which is very narrowly focused.

well im more thinking the entire frontend in stereo, including a quality DAC which is an evolving beast and not something older pre's have, and more sub crossover control also, w/ a phono stage to complete a good 2 channel pre. seems silly to a 2 channel person to pay for all the SS processing when your not using it. that money could go toward all of the above mentioned. i did it because i had the chance to listen to someone elses 970 and got a taste for its sound in 2 channel fashion, and i realize aside from all the crap i didnt need it did the trick, & it fit my current budget so i jumped.

im a bit annoyed that my 970 keep switching to PL II when i never use it...

and their certainly is a market for it. at the Outlaw price point they would make a serious dent too.

HT might be the curret fad but lots of audiophile with mortal budgets loom quietly.