Marantz pm8006 vs Denon PMA-1700NE for combined home theatre and music room

@soix

In my setup I use a Sony Signature DAC/pre for my two channel setup while using the exact same speaker/amp configuration for L-C-R channels. When you use an immersive format you need that center to match seemlessly. I agree with using a dedicated pre-amp for stereo but not a different amp.

@kota1 While I agree in principle, in practice I’ve found using the AVR to power the center works well.  To use the same amp across the front would entail buying a separate stereo preamp and a 3-channel amp that will cost A LOT more and add another box and set of interconnects.  To me it’s just not worth all that for the potential benefit, but the OP could certainly do that if he wishes. 

I guess we have had different experience. In a movie the center is the MOST important speaker, to cripple it with the lowest performing amp would not be something I would do. The OP is looking at a 6 channel amp and the Fyne speakers are biampable. The used prices for that amp and are under $1K so it won’t bust the budget. He would have dedicated channels for both low and high frequencies of each speaker (4 channels total) and the F500 channel for the center is also biampable. So, all 6 channels are biamping the front 3 speakers, it will be able to squeeze every bit of performance from those speakers. He also gets the benefits of separates when he adds a dedicated two channel pre with HT bypass in the future, right?

OP, I do agree with Soix about keeping the two channel separate from the receiver. Once you get the Rotel installed and the other room setup you will be able to get a dedicaated preamp with HT bypass. When you listen to stereo the preamp with be able to use that same rotel amp, here is an example of the type of pre I am referring to:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-y4lHat37gwF/p_313P6B/Parasound-Halo-P-6-Black.html?cnxclid=16806364556292155308910080301008005

@kota1 I think it really depends on the OP’s priorities. If he really wants to squeeze the nth degree of performance for HT I could see going with a 3-channel amp and stereo pre, but I think bi-amping is unnecessary and he can just use bi-wire speaker cables. The Yammy integrated I recommended is no slouch, and the Fyne speakers are a fairly easy load as well so high-power amps are unnecessary. Yes the center channel in HT is critical, but especially for movies the center is usually doing something very different from the L/R speakers, which is probably why having an AVR driving the center channel hasn’t bothered me very much and still find the presentation very enjoyable. I think having the same amp across the front is more important for something like surround music but not sure that’s a priority for the OP. Bottom line — I think the OP will be perfectly happy using a good stereo integrated with the Denon handling the center, but if he wants to up the HT performance higher than that for what to me are marginal gains, that’s totally up to him. There is functionally no added benefit to using a separate stereo pre versus an integrated, although if he spends more on a better stereo pre and 3-channel amp there could obviously be some additional sonic benefits to be had, but this will come at a price. It really just comes down to priorities and budget and how far he wants to go. To me, he’s already got a dedicated stereo system so there’s not as much of a need to go further with this system, but that’s up to whatever the OP wants. Just my $0.02 FWIW.