Add the McIntosh tube preamp that has Dac built in, and connect the bluesound to it, and set up the HT passthrough on the McIntosh. Unless you had a high-end HT processor like a Theta Casablanca III HD/IV with Extreme 2 Dacs which has an outstanding preamp for 2 channel the Marantz is going to be your bottleneck. There is no substitute for an amazing preamp. Also, run Balanced XLR to your 501’s.
My audiophile friend is running that McIntosh tube/dac preamp with 275 Mac tube amp and bluesound 2i into the Dac section and it really improved his system and he has owned Mcintosh solid state amps before
My audiophile friend is running that McIntosh tube/dac preamp with 275 Mac tube amp and bluesound 2i into the Dac section and it really improved his system and he has owned Mcintosh solid state amps before