I have a very good music system that also does HT. I tried buying a high-end HT receiver(B&K AVR202), and it couldn't match my 15 year old budget audiophile system for music, so I started over with a different plan. I build a good music system using the Arcam Alpha 10 Integrated Amp. The Arcam, like many other quality pre-amps/integrated amplifiers, has an HT bypass which will allow you to connect a HT processor or receiver for HT duties. I bought a cheap used Denon AVR3300 for the HT duties. It provides the three additional channels of power(center,surrounds), LFE/HT bass managment and the digital inputs and tuner for my system.
This setup works well for music because the cheap HT receiver is not in the chain when listening to music, but you can hit the HT bypass switch and have great HT anytime you need it. Works great, is relatively cheap and provides very good 2-channel music.
This setup can be used with any 2-channel pre-amp or integrated that has an HT bypass.
This setup works well for music because the cheap HT receiver is not in the chain when listening to music, but you can hit the HT bypass switch and have great HT anytime you need it. Works great, is relatively cheap and provides very good 2-channel music.
This setup can be used with any 2-channel pre-amp or integrated that has an HT bypass.