Combining home theater with two channel

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?