Best multi channel amp and processor good for 2 channel listening.

Hi Audiotroy,

My apologies for not being so clear on the dac situation. A dac is not priority since I listen to cd’s mostly but I may consider streaming in the future. When I do decide, would it be to my advantage to purchase an exterior dac due to advances in technology? Please advise.....

Also you did not address the HT side of this. If the Audio Control and the Plinius can accomplish both worlds, I am certainly interested.

Thanks again,

Maguiar yes the 2500R is $12k retail, our best advice would be to seek out the correct product first, rather than shopping based on what is available on the secondardy market.

Very rare to find a used 2500 R most dealers don't sell their demos the only used ones were from Sunny components and those pieces are so old many of them don't have any factory warranty left and very few customers sell there T+A gear, the brand makes keeper products.

We would of coursse work with you if we have products that you would want to get. 

Personally the Plinius Oden pllus the Audio Control with a good analog preamp would be one fantastic HT and 2 Channel Music rig

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ T+A dealers

A little off topic but auxinput, what would be the earlier generation Marantz processors that you would recommend that have the quality/voicing characteristics of the Marantz AV8805?

Hi Maguiar,

Those are all great integrateds, each with a their own sound signatures.  For me, the Luxman was the biggest bang for the buck, not only did I like the sound and matching with my ML 11As, it was the cheapest by a couple thousand.  Also, I really like that it's completely analog with less chance of something going wrong (like touch controls, DAC board, etc.).

I really like the Marantz, it's well build and has the Denon/Marantz A/V engineering, firmware updates, reliability, and features.  In my opinion they have mastered the A/V side of things.  You pretty much setup and it works, with firmware updates coming in somewhat regularly.  It is one of the few processors that has all the latest surround support (ATMOS, IMAX, etc.). With the Marantz you get discreet analog output boards as well.  Sound quality is fantastic, particularly with movies.  It tends to be on the warmer side for music.

I don't know much about the Audio Control Maestro, other than it's a tweaked Arcam, so I imagine you are reliant on Arcam's firmware updates.  All are amazing products in terms of sound quality.  It comes down to which room correction and features.  One thing to note, I have seen Arcam crash during demos, but in all honesty that could have just been random one offs.