Which is why my old B&K Amp has been my solid choice after trying a Nelson Pass Adcom (to ‘cold’ with my Yamaha AV receiver). The B&K, using my AV receiver as a pre/pass-thru, warmed everything up, sounds sweet as can be, and improved the soundstage by a lot. It was like ‘night and day’.
Would I prefer a separate pre and dedicated 2-channel system? Absolutely, but my current set-up (eventually purchasing a separate DAC, phono stage, and the Ifi mini tube2 between the amp and receiver) really does sound pretty darn good when running In two channel mode. I can listen for hours without a hint of listening fatigue, and it sounds warm, detailed, and full with my 2CE Sigs. And I still have the option to switch to HT where, for me, the quality of the sound isn’t as critical. In fact I don’t even over analyze it in HT, only my 2 channel sound. It’s amazing how much difference a good sounding separate amp can make to a mediocre AV receiver, and you can do all of it quite reasonably in cost.
Not spending a fortune was important to me at this time, so think the compromise was well worth it vs the money spent.
Would I prefer a separate pre and dedicated 2-channel system? Absolutely, but my current set-up (eventually purchasing a separate DAC, phono stage, and the Ifi mini tube2 between the amp and receiver) really does sound pretty darn good when running In two channel mode. I can listen for hours without a hint of listening fatigue, and it sounds warm, detailed, and full with my 2CE Sigs. And I still have the option to switch to HT where, for me, the quality of the sound isn’t as critical. In fact I don’t even over analyze it in HT, only my 2 channel sound. It’s amazing how much difference a good sounding separate amp can make to a mediocre AV receiver, and you can do all of it quite reasonably in cost.
Not spending a fortune was important to me at this time, so think the compromise was well worth it vs the money spent.