Need advice on media player and or dacs

Im building a home theater system and value music quality as much or more than theater quality.

One of the first things you need to do to improve 2-channel performance is to get that AVR outta the stereo signal path altogether. Get a good stereo preamp with a HT bypass and connect the front L/R preouts from the AVR into the HT bypass input on the stereo pre. This way when you play 2-channel music the AVR is completely out of the signal path, which is definitely what you want because a preamp is critical and the pre in your AVR sucks. Trust me here, it just does.

Not sure if i need a dac as the marantz allegedly has a good one built in.

No, it doesn’t. A good separate DAC will give you much more and very good ones can be had for only around $800.

As far as media players, can they really improve quality? Wheres a good place to start?

Not sure exactly what you mean by a “media player,” but I’d highly suggest you get a good streamer and subscribe to a good online music source like Qobuz, and rather than having to “compile” a library of music you’ll have worlds of music at CD and hi-res quality at your fingertips. Decent streamers can be had for around as little as $200 - $400 or so.

If you get a stereo preamp along with a good streamer and DAC your 2-channel performance will be at a higher level entirely. I know this is a little daunting at first, especially the streaming part, but it’s SO worth doing — just keep asking whatever questions you have here and you’ll get there. The good thing is you don’t have to do it all at once and can just do it in individual pieces over time, and each piece you add will give you a meaningful performance bump. Hope this helps at least somewhat.

You shouldn’t worry yourself with 2 channel DACs or streamers. If you use any of the Marantz’s features such as bass management, peq, etc, a purist DAC’s analog output will go through a ADC conversion inside your Marantz unit. Besides, your unit with all its features can beat the crap out of most of them in execution, if you can set it up right.

@deep_333 Horse hockey! And +1 @ghdprentice This is a statement from someone who has no concept of a high-performance, 2-channel audio system and even less of a concept of the importance of a preamp in that chain. Nor does he have any idea of the importance of a good DAC and that it should NEVER be processed through an AVR or even an AVP. As evidence, I’ve never seen one high-end manufacturer use an audio/video processor or AVR in any audio showroom exhibit at any audio show EVER. Why do you think that is???

What pre amp would pair well with my paradigm founder 100f’s and my anthem mca325 without breaking the bank. 2-3k range....?

Really depends on what improvements and sound characteristics you’re looking for. Also, what’s your budget and are you looking for new or used?

And do i understand it correctly that a stereo preamp can have a bypass to isolate from my speakers from the avr, but when im watching movies i can switch my L/R channels back to my avr?

Yes. You can toggle between stereo and HT by just pressing one button, and it’s really a best of both worlds thing because it’s like having two separate systems in one. It’s a beautiful thing. I did it this way for a couple years before we moved and got a dedicated listening room in the basement for 2-channel and it was great.

@ddgtt So lemme get this straight — the OP has about $8k invested in both his stereo amp and speakers total, and you’re recommending spending $26k on a streamer and DAC?  

If that puts you a bit over budget, then substitute the Grimm for an Auralic Aries streamer

A bit over budget???  So then keep the $14k DAC and downgrade the streamer and that makes it somehow doable or more reasonable???  Dude, get a clue here cause you’re on another planet entirely and clearly put no thought/effort into this — this helps the OP in no way whatsoever.  Jeez.

Just sincerely hope you end up happy whatever path you ultimately choose.