Does my setup need a phono stage?

Clearaudio Nano would definitely upgrade your sound for $450!

@big_greg

I have been looking for a phenomena 2+ as well, but they are pretty pricy. can you explain home theatre bypass ? Why is it different than pure direct? I have been wondering about my preamp. I love the home theater, but I mainly listen to 2 channels. The way I have it set up now is kind of unique. I have a six channel amp just for my home theater which is a Mcintosh Mc7106 and I have a two channel Mcintosh ma5200 integrated amp (for my two channel set up. When I press the pure direct button on my Marantz, it’s only sending 2 channels to my Ma5200 preamp in. Marantz states “This mode is for playback with higher sound quality than in Direct playback mode.

This mode turns off the main unit display and analog video circuit. Doing so suppresses noise sources that affect sound quality.”

When I’m eating a movie , I put it in Dolby atmos and it sends out the remaining six channels to my Mc7106 amp. I’ve been happy with the Marantz, but i definitely want to know if I’m missing out on something. It was my understanding that it’s basically the same as using a Mcintosh mx160 but thousands less and without the sexy McLogo.

Thoughts?

@big_greg

Andrew,

A good preamp or linestage is going to have a less negative impact on sound quality than a home theater receiver or processor. There are a lot of electronics packed into your Marantz and it can’t help but degrade some of the signal being fed to it, even in Direct mode.

The way a home theater bypass works is that instead of connecting your amp to your Marantz, you connect it to the preamp. For a preamp that has a home theater bypass feature, you run an interconnect from the bypass outputs on the preamp to the left and right inputs on your processor where you currently have the amp connecting to the processor.

You connect your turntable and any other sources you have (CD player, streamer, etc.) to the preamp. When you’re listening to music, the preamp controls the volume and selects the source. When you want to watch a movie, you engage home theater bypass on the preamp and the signal bypasses the preamp and volume is controlled by the Marantz.

In my case I use a Modwright LS-100. It sounds much better than the Marantz. It has a built in phono stage (which is an add on option), but I use an external phono stage that is even better, a Manley Chinook. You might consider saving up and looking for a preamp with a decent phono stage and home theater bypass and you could kill two birds with one stone.

Having said all that, it looks like the Mac has a phono stage, although after a quick look at the six moons review, it doesn't get high marks.  There's more than one way to skin a cat.  Perhaps a separate two channel amp or two monoblocks and a decent preamp with HTBP would take you further in your quest for better sound quality.  I'm not that familiar with the Mac and am not sure if there's a way you could leverage it better than you currently are.  Maybe someone who owns one could comment on your current setup.

Some integrateds also have HTBP (my Peachtree Nova 300 for example) so if you like the idea of an integrated you could move to one with HTBP and use it much the same as I described above - use the integrated's amp and preamp for 2 channel listening and also drive your main speakers with it for home theater.

@big_greg 
i wonder if I can use my mc5200  integrated in home theatre bypass and use two empty channels I have on my Mc7106 for the front speakers....  it does preamp out and power amp in rca jacks on the back. Maybe I can hook everything to the ma5200 and use the Marantz just for theatre.... I’m gonna call Mcintosh!  

I also run a dual purpose AV system but have found that there is no way an AV preamp sounds as good as a dedicated audio preamp. 

I have listened to my system both ways, using my video amp - Marantz AV7702 Mk 2 (the last unit they had that allows proper setup for a really good home theatre - your 8802a is a more expensive unit of the same generation) into a Roland 5 power amp.

I switch the speaker cables over to my audio pre/power to do serous listening to music and the sound is significantly better. You might consider trying out a different preamp with your existing power amp and see what you think.

I'd agree with the Black Cube as an affordable phono stage that is priced very reasonably.  If you do that, do report back on how it compared with the Marantz (maybe you can borrow a demo to try before you buy).