Combining home theater with two channel

jdub39, a stereo version of the JC 1 makes much more sense. I don’t know what I was thinking. The number after JC has had nothing to do with the number channels. JC 2 is a preamp, JC 3 a phono stage. At 85 I may have been exhibiting a senior moment.

My setup is similar to that described by bkeske. For surround, a Bryston SP3 processor sends balanced front LR to an Ayre preamp by-pass, balanced center to the JC 1, and balanced surround to pair of NAD 268s. For stereo it’s just Ayre preamp & amp. Speakers are KEF Reference 1s, 204/2C, 4 LS50s, and a pair of Velodyne HGS-15s with bass management.

@dbphd 
That is one impressive setup and the perfect way to have the best of both worlds. Sounds to me the Ayre and the JC1's are a good match? I'm still largely undecided when I add a 2/ch preamp, if I remember correctly didn't you once use the Jc2?

jdub39,

It's hard to tell how well the JC 1 matches the Ayre KV-5 Twenty, because the speakers they drive are so different.  The KEF Reference 204/2C the JC 1 drives is a five speaker array, with a center uni-Q, and was designed to match the big 207/2s.  The KEF Reference 1s the KV-5 drives are 3-way stand-mounts.  What I can say is that the sound of the complex blends seamlessly. 

I used a JC 2 with three JC 1s and a JC 3 the same way I do the Ayre gear, using JC 2 by-pass for surround. The main speakers were KEF Reference 107/2s. The setup sounded great, but I got hooked on the sound of an Ayre C-5xeMP disc player and I like to keep components in the same family, thus the shift to Ayre. The C-5xeMP has been replaced by a DX-5 DSD; two of the JC 1s, the JC 2, and JC 3 are in boxes waiting for me to list them for sale.

I have been on this same journey. In fact, with Covid etc it has truly saved my life to have something that brings joy.   I switched from a HT mindset to a 2 channel mindset and it has made all the difference in the world.   The two mindsets are totally different. 
My only advice it to get as musical and revealing main speakers as you can afford.  And get a good pre-amp with home theater bypass. 

If you can get the stereo sound you want passing through your Marantz, then use identical amplification and the same brand of speakers for all channels. Certainly don't mix and match. The best test is to select stereo through all speakers. The least variation between channels the better. Levels and speaker distances must be set accurately. Room correction takes reflections into account, so these settings should be ignored. Rather than use a tape measure, get a laser measurement for each speaker from the primary listening position.

When doing room correction, cover your seating with wool blankets to stop measuring reflections from the seats.