System Upgrade Recommendations

jl35,

Amp for sure But with Spotify as source it won't really matter.

I'll change my source from spotify in the next 6-12 months, I just wanted to know if I should allocate my money towards changing my source now or put more money on an amp now and
change my source in 6-9 months.

terry9,
Bryston SST amplifiers work beautifully with Magnepans.

Has anyone heard the Bryson SST amps with a Tube pre-amp.  Is this a route worth exploring in the future?  If the warranty were still transferrable I would definately jump at one of these.  That would be a huge selling point.  But if I can get a used one at 50% off, I could save some of my money for repairs.

soix,
Think your approach of a dedicated stereo amp/pre or integrated is an excellent one assuming your Marantz has preamp outs.

My Marantz does have preamp outs.  I just purchased it and the Maggie's 2 weeks ago.  I haven't received the Maggie's yet, but I'm super happy with the preamp-outs.
The Maggie dealer said not to hook the Marantz preamp-outs to an integrated amp without HT bypass, because you will be sending the audio signal through 2x pre-amp sections which will add to any distortion caused by either of the pre-amp sections.  He said the advantage of the HT bypass is bypassing the preamp section of the amp, not just bypassing the volume control.

Bryston warranty is transferable. For new gear you need the original sales receipt from an authorized dealer. Almost everyone who sells newer Brystons on A'Gon have this receipt. When you send amp for repair you need to send the original receipt.

Older Bryston amps (I believe 2006 and older) do not require the original sales receipt for warranty coverage. I think the SST line may fall into this group. You can check the following 2 links to get exact details,

http://www.bryston.com/pages/warranty.html

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=57.0

The newer Bryton amps, the Cubed line, are supposed to be quite tubey. I previously had the SST line and I would not classify that product line as soft.

Given that you have the pre outs on the Marantz, I would purchase an amplifier that better drives the Maggies, and as you plan, purchase the preamp at a later date. I believe it would need to have the HT bypass to use the Marantz for HT processing. 

Im going to disagree a bit with your Maggie dealer, although technically speaking he may have a point. I highly doubt running the preamp outs from your Marantz to a high quality stereo preamp is going to degrade the sound meaningfully if at all, especially since this will be in HT mode where purity of the signal is relatively less critical. Plus, the lion’s share of any signal degradation is coming from the preamp section of a $1000 audio/video receiver, not a good stereo pre. Suffice it to say, from my perspective the flexibility and increase in the number of options open to you for a good stereo pre without HT bypass far outweigh any signal degradation you’re likely to experience in HT operation. And more options also means you’re more likely to get a better deal. All else being equal I’d prefer having an HT bypass for the convenience of it more than anything else, but in audio all else never seems to be equal.

BTW, there is a nice McCormack DNA1 amp with Steve’s silver level mods available here now for about $1300 that should drive your Maggies nicely and sound great. Might be worth a look along with Bryston.  I'd look at the SSTsquared Brystons as I found them to be more refined sounding than the original SST.  A tubed pre with a solid state amp can be a great combo (I'm going this direction myself), but keep in mind in most instances you'll be burning through your tubes while watching TV since you'll likely need to have your stereo preamp turned on in this configuration. 

Anyway, that’s my $0.02. Hope it helps and best of luck.

If your end goal is to have both a 2 channel High fidelity system and a Home Theater system than you should seperate them to get the best out of each system. You have a pair of great speakers, but you will not hear what they can do through the preamp section of a HT receiver! And we you combine hi-fi speakers with home theater speakers when listening to your home theater (movie) you will not have matched speakers (tonally).
Build your 2 channel listening system with the best components you can (Bryston, Parasound or another brand) and the Maggies. Keep the Marantz for HT, that is what it is designed to do! The Rel might be used for 2 channel if you blend the low freq correctly to the Maggies....