Home Theater Bypass , why am I hearing this now.


I have a Home Theater and when I upgraded my Onkyo to a Marantz it was a true Upgrade I was impressed, anyway like any other hobby I wanted to make improvements on top of what I just gained. The more I read the more I realize AVR HT receivers will never get you a tru HIFI experience because of the processing that takes place and a dedicated 2 ch is the only way to go ask Millercarbon he will surly be all over this one. I only have one room in my house that doubles as a home theater and listening room. I was ready to pick up a Prisma NP5 streamer (to move to my rack and network ) and a Denafrips ares Dac thinking I would get an upgrade to my source that is Tidal over my phone over the air currently( anything is better than this method). Im wondering if its a waste of time and money since I plan on using it with my AVR, then I stumbled onto guys talking about HT bypass for this reason. I haven't read or herd HT bypass yet on this Forum and wanted to know what you all thought, at some point i wanted to get a 8k marantz Processor and dedicated Amp but before I drop $7k I want to make sure I figure out this HT bypass because I want better High Rez audio from my HT system. 
ngiordano
Digital
I have a Vivaldi stack playing the front 2 speakers via my own made preamp
I have a Bryston sp3 playing simultaneously into the sides and rears (the front L&R are muted). The sp3 splits various signals very well (it is not just surround sound) so I have a whole room experience. 
Analogue
The phono stage goes into the preamp so it goes both into the L&R (as per normal) but then the line in/out goes into the sp3 for signal splitting around the room - as per digital
Sounds great - any knockers will comment with ignorance as they have not heard it
You will never attain a true awesome 2 channel experience when you are starting out of the box with a handi-cap, that being HT system. It should be left to just that, reproduction of dvd/blu ray etc sound. Why anyone would want to go this route is beyond me. 
I've been going through this dilemma as well (new guy, one year deep in this hobby. Although I've loved music forever).  I separated the two entirely, yesterday, so I am delighted to see your post this morning.  And I agree with that millercabon dude... he speaks the truth. 

I have a Denon x4500 AVR (similar to your Marantz I think, and had great reviews for music listening) and bought speakers last year thinking I'd get the best of both worlds... However, after setting up dedicated 2-channel listening in the den with with suggestions from audiophile forums like this for a year, my super awesome HT setup did not sound so awesome anymore for music, and that was becoming my priority.  I upgraded power cords, RCA cables, separate amp for the 2 front towers... it all helped but it was still missing something truly musical (not sure how else to describe it). 

To confess, I was trying to force 2-channel perfection through a pair of Def Tech BP9060 towers.  I know, NOT great speakers for what I want from music... I lived and learned. But for HT... THEY ROCK with the Denon. 

So, as of yesterday, I am now sitting in front of a new pair of Wharfedale EVO 4.4's, connected to a new, separate 100 wpc Yamaha integrated amp, with a CD player and music streamer hooked up to that.  I still have the entire Def Tech/Denon set up as well, but only my Blu-ray and TV are connected. (And if I want, I can hook up the TV via optical to the integrated amp for Christmas morning fire place jazz on youtube :))

NIGHT and DAY difference.  I couldn't be happier and I did not spend all that much money, comparatively speaking, to get the best of both worlds. 

I think knowing what I know now, I'd have gone this route from the beginning.   Playing music is easy. Less buttons and settings to press/adjust, and one less interconnect from music source to speakers. 

I'd look into separating the two "experiences" as much as you can. 

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" sounds more beautiful and alive this morning than I've ever heard in my life.   Mission accomplished!  And everything is just getting warmed up. 


Have fun with it.
Brian

OP - you can have great HT and 2 channel listening in the same room sharing some of the same gear.  I started out really into HT and 2 channel was an afterthought. 
I have tweaked, swapped equipment more than my better half would like!  I’ve settled on an integrated amp for 2 channel with HT bypass, Lumin D2 Streamer / DAC for 2 channel.  The majority of speakers out there will work for both 2 channel and HT.  Focus on their 2 channel performance, the need to match / voice the entire HT system is never something I found to be true in my HT set ups, meaning if you swap your fronts and they aren’t the same brand / model but you love them for 2 channel, the impact on tour HT set up should be minimal.  I’ve experimented quite a bit.  The notion that the Home Theater experience is baloney, garbage is absurd.  A nice AVR HT receiver with room correction and proper speaker set up will blow you away while you watch movies and no 2 channel will take the place of that experience, period.  Same way you can’t get the same 2 channel performance out of the AVR receiver and made for HT front speakers.  Many, many people have a set up that does both, don’t listen to the noise that your set up has to be dedicated to one or the other.  A great set up that does both extremely well is very attainable.