Emotiva MC-700 audio imaging

Rasiahm, to get good imaging and instrument placement out of a multichannel preamp is not easy.  First off, most music is based on 2 channels, right and left.

most budget avr preamps have just too many compromises which degrade the signal in the analog domain.  And employing digital processing gives results which are entirely different than what the artist intended.

Bottom line, what is your goal?   Two channel bliss out of a multi channel set up?  Or would you be happy with a good rendering in the digital domain?

Both can be pleasing, but to get both in one unit will probably cost you dearly.  I’d also suggest the above mentioned Outlaw unit, or a Marantz prepro.  Since you have Bryson amps, upping your budget could yield much better results over the budget Emotiva stuff.

For 2 channel audio bliss, I have a separate 2 channel set up just for music, but that might not be possible for you.

Thanks for all your responses. I ended up ordering the Emo MC700. Connected to cd player with optical interconnect. Been listening in stereo mode for a couple of days. It images much better then my UMC200. But not impressed with the rest. Agree with Auxinput2: Instrument separation/clarity is not as good, audio is soft. I may return it. Will check video and surround sound quality first.

+1 @213runnin 
For clarity stay away from Emo pre's period. The only thing Emo worth having in a system IMO is their DR2 amp which doesn't sound bad at all.

I was in your same dilemma a few years ago with a really good HT set up Yamaha 3080 with 9.2 polk lsim series speakers that also did music, or so I thought. I bought a Peachtree Nova 500 2ch integrated which is by no means super hi-end. But the stereo dedicated integrated upped my 2ch sound quality 100 fold I couldn't believe it even with the polk 707s. I've since scored a mint set of B&W N803s and the music just keeps getting better. What I learned is if you want sublime 2ch you have to pay and build for it, HT AVR will never cut it, it's just not made too. Although you could "settle" for good enough......