Affordable Processor with Fabulous 2 Channel ?

Just wanted to throw in my $.02 worth...  I have an original Classe Sigma SSP with optional phono stage/Linn LP12, a BAT VK 500, Nordost cabling, Sigma Amp 5 for surround, B&W surround speakers (7.1), Proac CC2 center, Proac ER-1 sub (only used for home theater), Oppo Blu Ray and most importantly... Aurender N100.  Primary speakers are ProAc Response 5.  I prioritize 2 channel quality over HT but I spend more time with HT.  I find that the Sigma really captures a great balance point between the 2... Really excellent music quality with USB input (huge difference between feeding from my dedicated Mac Mini music system vs. Aurender) and very good HT experience.  I preferred the manual setup of the channel levels/distance/EQ.  I find I need to vary from strictly what the dB meter says different channel levels should be but feel the overall is a very immersive experience.  I appreciate the value proposition choice that Classe made of fully balanced operation for L/R and single ended for all other surround.  As the SSP is a fully functional Pre/Pro system plus DAC for $5K new plus a $500 phono.  An original SSP can be purchased for around $2500 and with it's functionality, I would suggest you are looking at far more money to significantly beat the quality...  Some day I will but it will likely be a minimum of $10-20K more, although my next jump may very well be to upgrade Aurender N100 to A10 and then use passthrough on Classe.  A couple notes of caution...  while the Amp 5 is a very nice, efficient surround amp, I absolutely would not recommend it for primary front left/right even in the balanced configuration.  Going from Amp 5 to BAT was absolutely revelatory for music!  Secondly, the Sigma remote is absolute crap, plan on figuring in cost of Logitec Harmony (around $100) or other universal remote control.  iphone/ipad control app. is solid, but I prefer to have more immediate feed back from Harmony for normal operations.  I hope this helps in your quest!

@bwguya,
‘are you using balanced connections (XLR)  for l/r?  If so, then single ended connections (RCA) will all need to be elevated.  I’m sure many people more knowledgeable than I can predict the theoretical amount but my recollection from when I was running a 5 channel amp is that l/r was 0 and center was +6 or 7. I have found this to be the case with 2 different ProAc center speakers (cc1 and cc2) as well as 3 different ProAc l/r speakers (response 2.5, 3.0 and 5.0...  yes, at one time I owned all 5 models... )  I recommend doing a careful setup with test tones (preferably supplied from a Blu-ray test disk) and a decent dB meter.  The internal tone generator on the SSP is inadequate, although it has been improved. Differences of 1 dB between center and front channels significantly impact clarity and intelligibility of dialog.  I also found cable choices to be important.  But really obsessing over channel levels really pays off!