Are you saying you put your receiver into bypass mode for music? (you wrote it as if you put the SF into bypass, which I doubt.) Why not simply try this experiment...
Try directly wiring your high end stuff into your speakers for music - see if there's a difference from bypass.
If so, you have a clue about your receiver.
Also consider room treatments. The room means so much and is so often ignored 'for what it is' but there are things you can do to improve sonics (REAL TRAPS, RPG, etc.) Odds are, the room can be tweaked for better sound in both applications! At least consider this.
Research the receivers with automatic room EQ and delay - some are said to be better than others, esp. with music, if you go that route. Your speakers should be revealing enough you'd hear a setup which wouldn't be quite 'there.' The expensive Denon has what's supposed to be a good setup program.
Beware lipsync receiver problems. Not all gear does a good job with that.
Frankly, you might just want to cool it for a while and let tech get just a little farther along - HDMI receiver switching, etc. is coming to more boxes everyday.
Read about video processing just to get an idea what can be done in THAT arena. http://www.greatHomeTheater.com/videoprocessing.html
Good luck!
Bob Wood
Try directly wiring your high end stuff into your speakers for music - see if there's a difference from bypass.
If so, you have a clue about your receiver.
Also consider room treatments. The room means so much and is so often ignored 'for what it is' but there are things you can do to improve sonics (REAL TRAPS, RPG, etc.) Odds are, the room can be tweaked for better sound in both applications! At least consider this.
Research the receivers with automatic room EQ and delay - some are said to be better than others, esp. with music, if you go that route. Your speakers should be revealing enough you'd hear a setup which wouldn't be quite 'there.' The expensive Denon has what's supposed to be a good setup program.
Beware lipsync receiver problems. Not all gear does a good job with that.
Frankly, you might just want to cool it for a while and let tech get just a little farther along - HDMI receiver switching, etc. is coming to more boxes everyday.
Read about video processing just to get an idea what can be done in THAT arena. http://www.greatHomeTheater.com/videoprocessing.html
Good luck!
Bob Wood