Been an avid HT listener

Is this the case with multi channel source material?

I could be that your Rotel simply didn’t do decent multichannel decoding, and that it is now defaulting to 2 channel.

  If you like what you are hearing now, why change?

I don’t really understand the question.  A good dedicated stereo integrated amp will do well for movies and better for music.  An AVR is a bad idea if 2-channel performance is important. 

Well, I think the improvement has more to do with a mediocre center channel.

However, I have found after a lot of testing that in the home a center's main benefit is when you are moving around the room.  If your listening location is static it doesn't help very much, and a bad center is worse than no center.

@eric_squires ..."Well, I think the improvement has more to do with a mediocre center channel."

+1

I agree. There was something wrong with the center channel. Perhaps the center had been malfunctioning all the time, and finally went out. 

Most of the sound on HT comes through the center channel. It is primarily responsible for dialog. That is where the clarity comes from. When I use my home theater without the center channel the dialog looses weight (big time) and clarity. 

I recommend looking at this as if you have had a center channel problem long before the center died. 

Hi @dennis041992   I had several dedicated 5 channel AV systems, but found that I liked listening even to TV in Stereo.  Now I have high end two channel and the center image and vocals are spot on better.  It may be, as @erik_squires states, that the center image is more dependent on where you sit, but that is where you sit right?  Any high quality two channel set up will, in my opinion, beat most multi channel set ups.  Just shop for the best two channel integrated, preamp / amp combo you an afford, with any features you desire.  Of course the helicopters don't appear behind you and to the left, but oh well.

Agree with others that your center speaker may be the problem, and many of them are not very good IME especially those prevalent MTM designs without a dedicated midrange driver. 

Help ....Suggestions......just got a Dennon 7 channel receiver...just using 5 channels....can't understand the dialogue on Netflix

I seem to have not clarified my dilemma. My center speaker, a Kef, is good. It's my Rotel 985 that has failed in the center channel. Checked the fuses as replaced but no success. So have been listening to TV and music in 2-channel with my B&W monitors and the vocals, in my opinion, are clearer and more to my liking. My question is if I should replace this old system with a better 2.1 channel stereo receiver. My immediate choices are the the Denon 900H ($470) or the Marantz 70s (699) refurbished on accessoried4less.  Denon has 100w per channel but the Marantz has a better warranty (2 yrs for Denon and 5 yrs for Marantz) Know my speaker adapt well with Marantz but is it worth losing 30w per channel for 3 more years of warranty?

i guess I support to s a point.

'

If you like what you are hearing currently, tell me again why you feel the need to change?  

I haven’t heard a 2 channel receiver since 1998 so I can’t help you there.  My bias would be to get an integrated amp unless you really need the analog tuner.  Rotel still makes them, I believe.  You seem to like their house sound.

  Another way to go would be to get a separate amp for the center channel and use the pre out on your current AVR .  You might find that works better yet as I suspect that the output from your AVR to the center channel was faltering for a while before it stopped completely 

I have a Marantz 8055 at the center of my HT system.  It has a button on the front panel labelled "Pure Direct" which is for two channel listening.  It turns off all the video functions (including the panel video), which are electronically noisy, and outputs only the two channel stereo.  I'm guessing the Marantz 60 or the Denon units would be similarly equipped.  My HT has a 20dB noise floor and the difference in sound quality is very noticeable.

The 8055 also has a feature that will "upmix" the stereo input to surround sound and this is my preference for vinyl listening.  I lose the noise reduction benefits of Pure Direct, but it is not noticeable when output is coming from multiple speakers.