Is Marantz AV8805 good enough pre amp for McIntosh MC8207


In the market for a new preamp to hook up to my MC8207 and was wondering if the Marantz AV8805 is worth the investment. I was gonna go with the McIntosh MX-122 but that thing is already outdated when it comes to new features and it costs twice as much. I don't have a store to go to to listen to the AV8805 and this is gonna be a blind buy for me this time. This setup is gonna be for my new home theater room that I am about to start building and planning to add another McIntosh amp down the road for the rest of the speakers and probably it's gonna be another MC8207 to be able to fully use the 8805.
tomiiv30
If I were you I would get the Marantz AV8805 over the Mac MX122. If you want to go with Mac I suggest you look at the MX160 as this will be a step up sonically than the AV8805 or the MX122. However, the Marantz & the Mac MX122 are very good for HT but aren’t good enough for 2ch music playbacks IMO.
The MX160 might be good enough for your 2ch listening needs depending on your expectation when it comes to stereo listening to music. Another processors that will perform well in 2ch will be the Classe SSP 800 & Classe Sigma SSP, Krell Evo 707, 1200U and possibly the Krell Foundation series, Cary Cinema 12, Bryston SP4/SP3, Meridian Reference 861 v8.

The Mac MX122 was based on the Marantz AV8802. They only shared same base platform, HDMI boards, GUI, OSD & firmware as well as remote. But Mac built its own power supplies, DAC, clock, digitall and analog audio circuitry, analog audio output stages, voltage regulator, etc.

If 2ch is important to you I suggest you look at a high end stereo preamp with HT bypass feature. But you should also get a good dedicated stereo or monoblock power amps for your front 2ch speakers if 2ch listening is of important to you.
While your Mac MC8207 seven-channel amp is fine for HT but it isn’t good enough for 2ch listening to music.
I did go with the Marantz AV8805 for my HT because I could not pass up the deal I got from the authorized Marantz dealer. I wanted to have a preamp that had all the latest technology built inot it and be of a good brand with a good reputation(also I grew up having Marantz) so little nostalgia there. 

As for the Amp which is the MC8207 that is rated at 200W into 8 Ohms, wouldn't it give me the same 2 ch listening as to having a dedicated 2 channel McIntosh Amp that is rated at the same in power? Even though I don't think Mac has any new 2 channel amp that is 200w x 2, it's either 150x2 or 300x2 so no doubt that the 300x2 would be better than the mc8207

For your stereo listening you can get a high end very good stereo integrated amp. Doesn't have to be stereo separates. Really good stereo integrated amp such as the Gryphon Diablo analog integrated amp (expensive) but you will need a very good front end source components to go with that. There are other countless options out there. 
Do you have a turntable? If you only had a digital front end source components you should consider getting either a PS Audio DirectStream DAC with a very good streamer and transport, various Naim DS, either Linn Akurate or Klimax DS, etc.
Again there are countless other options out there. 
@tomiiv30 - How do you like the AV8805?  As I have said in multiple other threads, I tested the 8805 and thought it was very good, but with slightly rolled off highs.  If you want more high frequency resolution, I recommend upgrading the fuse to 2A SMALL Hi-Fi Tuning Supreme.  This will likely increase the video quality as well, because the video was a little grainy in my opinion.  The Marantz is excellent design, but they use very slow op amps in the DAC I/V section to create the Marantz "warmth".
@caphill Do you think it is worth getting that expensive amp to drive my less expensive or entry level B&W 683’s S2? I mean I like this speakers for what they are but I would not think that they can handle the kind of amps like the Gryphon Diablo and such. What’s your take on it?