If you had to make this decision....

Good God man, get ye a Lamm! They are the most musical preamps out there, not for lovers of hi-fi, but since you obviously know the difference between hi-fi and music, based on your desire for a stereo preamp in addition to your multichannel digital preamp (Meridian 568), then I feel confident in recommending the Lamms--there's nothing better. They do NOT have remote control, but they DO handle surround sound inputs. Well worth your consideration--hell, I'd say buy it sound unheard, they're that good. BTW, I went through tons of auditions and several purchases of surround sound preamps last year, so congrats on the 568. I did like the flexibility of the Lexicon's, and the bass management options of the Theta Casablanca are astounding. But the Meridian is much more musical than the competition, I love 'em! Also auditioned Proceed, Linn, and Krell....

as a melos 333 owner (music director version), i'm glad it fared ok in such company! :>) while it has remote, it doesn't have a ht loop. not sure about the others you mention.

hi-end preamps that *do* have ht loops include sonic frontiers, vtl, arc. i'm sure there are others. if you have a chance to hear the vtl tl-5.5, i'd be interested in what ya think...

I would recommend auditioning the Levinson 380S. I had a 38S and upgraded it. The two aren't even close in comparison--I probably would have gotten rid of the 38S had I not upgraded it.