$7000 preamp vs $700 receiver - Is the difference THAT significant?


Current setup:
Marantz SR5005 (AV Receiver) + Peachtree Amp 500 + BluSound Node 2i + GoldenEar Trition 2+ = Current Setup

I'd like... no, want... no, desire... to add "Blue Meters" to my setup.  McIntosh haunts me.  For dozens of years.

My quandary:
Acquire a McIntosh C52/53, maybe C2600/2700... vs something like a Marantz AV7705 (or AV7706 appears it was just released).  Yes I know I'm comparing brie cheese and cheddar.  I'm more concerned with the notion that I can get "as good" sound out of that Marantz preamp, as I can from those McIntosh units... (ignore the multi-channel notions for the moment)

Is my sonic happiness "that much better served" by a McIntosh $7K unit vs a Marantz $2-3K unit?  How much difference can I expect?  
rabbottmke
@rabbottmke

So there are three camps here.
1) Those that say the difference is significant, but your ears probably suck so don’t bother.

pls don’t misread or misinterpret what we are saying on the above - we don’t know you, your system, your room, your hearing

the SQ upgrade will be there if you upgrade to a high quality 2 channel preamp from the AVR as you are considering... we simply don’t know whether ’your ears suck’ as you say - so we can’t promise you will hear it -- but we are confident to say, given a decent room and setup, with your gear, the improvement will be there to be heard...

good luck
Let’s be real. You can do better than Mac, much better. But if that’s where you have set your bar, then go for it. The Mac will be much better than what you have now and better than what your dealer is trying to dump on you. If you don’t believe it, have him lend you that Marantz AVP and the Mac for a weekend. Listen to each in your system for a day and then make up your own mind.
Depends on the room acoustics and listening environment honestly.  If you are in a crappy room... it’s not worth the price of admission.
You might want to try an Anthem STR Preamp and then team that up with either the STR power amp or the P2 power amp, or just get the Anthem STR integrated amp.I currently have 2 of the P2 amps in 2 different systems and these things are built to last and can drive any speaker that you can buy no matter how much or how little they cost, or how low the ohms drop they will play it down to 1 ohm without shutting down and they do not get hot just barely warm.