£12,000 worth of loudspeakers and you're wanting to use a reasonably priced pre-amp/processor? Fair enough!

Can't fault Rotel's offerings. The RSP-1069 is a very good receiver. I would still want to be using a better receiver however.

I think your best bet would be a BeoSystem 3. You're going to have fun and games getting everything to integrate otherwise...

wonderfulelectric:

  I do recommend a Parasound which has the latest digital equalizer and do have a high quality video processor built in anyhow, this will balance out the in room sound and picture quite nicely. BTW with the Digital equalizer activated, you should restore the Beolab 5s to it's original sound settings because you don't want the built in bass equalizer in the 5s conflicting with the full-band digital equalizer in the Parasound. 

I see. You would really want to do this? Like replace one of the core functions BL5's because it is so adequately obsolete and there are a whole raft of systems that can now do it better?. Guess it must be the use of HMDI that makes the Parasound so much better.

All we need now is to throw the BL5's out and replace them with the more-up-to-date Pioneer SV50 active loudspeaker system so the HMDI chain is not broken all the way to the output. Perfect.

Me? Well I would stick with a BS3. also and for the record, the BC2 (Pioneer btw) with the BL5 playing old-fashioned CD's is not a bad combination and you will find that there are not so many packages out there of source/amp/loudspeaker that are as good.

10%

You have to remember it is a surround set-up so equalizing the system as a whole will be more ideal than just having a pair equalized no? Besides I am not saying that the Beolab 5s are outdated but since it is gonna be used in a surround set-up.... it makes sense. 

A BeoSystem 3 would be your best bet, if you wish to have B&O integration throughout. If you want to consider an option to that, then I'm of the "You don't say?" school when it comes to claimed excellence for various surround-sound processors/amps.

The Parasound comment above, about setting the BL5s to neutral, isn't really necessary. We've had Dave Moulton here earlier stating that there is a factory calibration reset, but this just sets the speakers to interact with a room in Struer, and isn't a "neutral" setting. The Parasound would just measure the output from the speaker-array, and then just calibrate each speaker's signal accordingly, no matter what the BL5s were set to.
If the BL5s were wildly off-target (which is unlikely, as they are adapted to the room), then you might get issues.

I have found that the acoustic lenses of the BL5s, and their exquisite resolution, make a centre speaker unnecessary in my case. I'm using a non-B&O processor which allows me to send the Low Frequency and centre-channel information to the front speakers.

Remember that your B&O speakers have in-built amplifiers. All you want to send them is a properly resolved and defined signal, and they'll handle the rest. Surround-Amps are judged on their ability to drive speakers, which will not be an issue in your case.

When I purchased that processor, the dealer knew I had been considering getting one from Classé and when I bought the one I now have, he said that I wouldn't be coming back for the Classé. And he was right - my Cambridge 540R surround processor does an excellent job with standard surround, whether from DVDs, AppleTV or other sources. Of course, it's way too cheap to be taken seriously by the home theatre cognoscenti. 😁

However, my next processor should be capable of handling multi-channel, high resolution audio - and the 540R isn't. Look for that if you're going non-B&O in your choice of processor.