Affordable Processor with Fabulous 2 Channel ?

I also have the Classé Signa SSP and am real happy with it.  You mentioned it is geared more for 2 channel as opposed to HT.
i have the B&W HTM2 D3 center speaker.  At times when watching movies, it is hard to understand some of the diologue.  Is this due to the limitations of the Sigma?  Would going to the larger center make much of a difference?  Or do I just need to increase the volume of the center channel even more.  I currently have it at 7.5 DB above the mains.  The center and surrounds are powered with the Classé 5300 Delta amp.

@bwguy

I do not have the Sigma SSP at home. I’m currently using the SSP 800 with all Classe Delta series amps. I’m using the Classe CAM-600 monoblock amps driving my front B&W 800 D3 speakers, CAM-300 monoblock amp (single) driving my B&W HTML1 D3 center speaker, and CA-5300 five-channel amp driving my surrounds. The movie dialogue is excellent have no problem understanding dialogues. The SSP 800 is indeed superior to the Sigma SSP for surrounds (HT).

I have heard the Sigma SSP multiple times at the dealer paired with the Classe Sigma Amp5 driving B&W 803 D3 front, B&W HTML2 D3 center and B&W 805 D3 surrounds. I mostly listened to the Sigma SSP in stereo for music playbacks fed via its USB DAC input with PEQ turned off. But I also did try the Sigma SSP for surrounds (HT) but the movie dialogues seemed clear and precise. I had no problem hearing movie dialogues.

I think yours probably weren’t set up right? Did you activate the manual PEQ cause the manual PEQ isn’t plug n play. You will have to know what you’re doing otherwise the results will be a disaster.
I would suggest that you hire a pro or acoustician or a certified Classe dealer to perform manual calibration using its manual PEQ.
You will have to download XTZ software and conduct measurements based off it. Something might have been off with the way yours was set up.

Indeed the Classe Sigma SSP is optimized for its stereo performance for music playbacks but IMO its multi-channel performance is still very good if it’s set up correctly or properly.

Yes, perhaps that is the reason.  My dealer had calibrated it when I first purchased it but the settings were lost when it had to back to Classé for repair. I have been unable to get my dealer back to re-calibrate it again.  I will pursue this again.

i will add that I have reset the distance settings.