Mcintosh MX170 2-Channel Sound

Thanks for the comments, and for explaining the Samra reference, I had no idea.

I currently have a 5.2, I have a sunfire amp powering Kef LS50’s for my rears at the moment.  I want to get a pair of full range, possibly SF Olympica III’s or something.  

i have a mx132 that i use as a 2 chanell setup!

I wish I could hear the MX170 in my set up while listening to music and compare it to a good preamp.  I am not sure how much better the MX170 will be in movies over my Yamaha but I am guessing a dedicated preamp will beat the MX170 in 2-channel enough to make me pick the preamp first.  

I think it is likely that a high end 2-channel preamp will still be better than the MX170.  While the MX170 is going to be a very excellent HT processor, it still uses op amps for all analog stages (both input and output stage).

I think the only HT Processor that I would consider being in the 2-channel analog preamp level is the Bryston SP3.  It uses their fully balanced and fully discrete analog stages for BOTH input stage and output stage.  That being said, it is my opinion that the DSP/DAC board is compromised and is not to the level of other devices (such as Krell, etc.).  The SP3 has just about the strongest and fullest bass I have ever heard from a processor, though.