HT Bypass from Parasound or NAD?

Thanks for the response @carsbad. Must admit I've not heard of kinki studios. I'll have to research them a bit more. Looks like a Chinese-made product that just recently picked up US distribution, is that correct? Are you satisfied with the support or service of the product? In what ways did the A21+ fall short? 

I tried my Parasound preamp for running two channel but preferred my Marantz processor because the Parasound lacks room correction. The same holds true for every other bypass I have tried, my Marantz does great double duty of both two channels and MCH. I did add an external DAC for music and that was a significant upgrade.

Good point @kota1. I have Dirac on my AVR but for whatever reason, didn't like the sound after doing the correction so I don't use it. But, after seeing your comment, it would make sense to re-run the correction and try it again strictly for two-channel listening. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

@rongvk 

It's nice when you get more use out of the equipment you already own. I am using Audyssey Pro and I went in and tweaked the settings after running it to get it just right.

So, to improve on my music listening I need a good stereo amp with HT bypass.

No, you don’t need a stereo amp, you need a stereo integrated amp.  Why?  The preamp section of your AVR sucks, so just replacing the amp only gets you halfway there.  Buy a good integrated amp with HT bypass and run the front L/R preouts from your AVR into it and you’ll get a much better result.  Also, no stereo amps have an HT bypass — only stereo preamps or integrateds can do that.  Best of luck.