Combining home theater with two channel

I'm totally late in the discussion here, but I've got comments.  I am thinking your Emotiva XPA-3 differential is the latest "Gen 3" series of Emotiva amps here.  Sure, the specs say they can output 450 watts per channel, but you take a big hit because of the switching power supply.  The Gen 3 just does not have enough current to give you full deep bass punch.  That's a major problem.  I have two Gen 3 amps that i had to add 120,000uf in capacitors to the main power supply output to give it enough oomph for decent bass.  Even then, the switching power supply is not going to be as good as a big linear power supply.  If you want a multi-channel like this, you're better off looking at the Monoprice Monolith.  Or step up to a better amp with ATI AT4003 or AT6003 series (much more expensive).

That being said, the Parasound amps have incredibly clean midrange, decent bass, but the high frequencies are somewhat dry and not super high resolution.  The Parasound is voiced slightly in the warm side of neutral with a slightly warm/tangy type of texture.  The Krell K300i integrated is colored in a different way.  The new Krell sound is a very smoothed over, almost lush, type of sound and it is not a super high frequency resolution amp, but it is cleaner sounding than the Parasound.  I think it may have cleaner deeper bass as well (compared to Parasound).

Oh, I would not discount the Marantz 7706 processor as being bad.  It has excellent power supplies, excellent bass response and a full sound in midbass and midrange.  The high frequencies are softened and rolled off (the Marantz sound).  If you want that high frequency resolution, a better option would be the Anthem processors.

I wasted a good two years of my life trying to do this. That is how long it took me to face reality: sound quality standards of what is "good" for HT are nowhere near as good as stereo. What really is the point of HT? To enjoy a compelling motion picture experience? Or to have lots of speakers and amps and stuff? 

It seems to me the definition of HT has been twisted from Home Theater being a cinema quality experience at home to HT being 7.2 channels. 

Don't make this harder than it is. Give up on the multi-channel part, watch movies in stereo. All problems disappear.

+1 millerC, I wasted 10 years. Some take longer to realize what's in front of their noses. If you want possible success in both systems, check out Trinnov. 

I don’t understand Millercarbon’s point unless he means a preamp with by-pass capabillity is inadequate for stereo, or speakers used for stereo are inadequate for the front LR of an HT setup. I use an Ayre KX-5 Twenty preamp and KEF Reference 1s augmented with a pair of Velodyne HGS-15s for stereo. The only change is the Ayre DX-5 DSD sends digital HDMI to a Bryston SP3 for surround instead of balanced analog to the Ayre preamp for stereo; the SP3 sends balanced front LR to the preamp by-pass. The same Ayre VX-5 Twenty is the amp for stereo or front LR. Where’s the harm?