Advice on AV Receiver versus Separates


Starting from scratch here guys on my first Home Theater. Any advice would be appreciated.

I picked up a Marantz AV7005 pre-amp receiver from Best Buy for $705 (open box). I can also probably pick up the MM7055 for about $800.

Is this combo a good option for a 5.1 setup?

Should I rather go for a receiver instead?

I have heard great things about the AV7005, but not as much about the MM7055. Are there other separate combinations I should be considering?

I would like to spend around $1.5k for the receiver / amp&preamp so I have enough left over for speakers, etc.

Thank you.
aman4kr4
My negative comment on biamping is based on the assumption that it will be accomplished in the most common and least effective way: feeding a full-range signal to two amps which are wired to the two pairs of terminals on a speaker with an internal non-active crossover. That is the type of biamping that is offered by AVRs and (most) prepros. It is also to be distinguished from the biamping involved in bass management and, I believe, the OP was not equating the two.

I do acknowledge that biamping using an electronic crossover feeding amplifiers wired to speaker drivers (and what is found in active speakers) has definite benefits. However, the uninformed associate those benefits with the more common biamping described above.
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Aman4kr4,
I think you have two great amps at a great price;

Two years ago I bought a Marantz SR7005 - the top-of-the-line av receiver at the time; I bi-amped the two front main channels (you can configure the SR7005 to do that if you're not running 7.1) with my B&W 805's, and it sounded wonderful.

I've been bi-amping systems for years now, and in my opinion, the sonic improvement is quite real. I would heartily encourage you to do it, and enjoy your two fine pieces of equipment.

Jeff
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