Picking an amplifier

Thanks for that link on the McCormack.  Yes, I thought that the McCormack might have the best sound quality.  I think at this point, you will need to decide what kind of sonic signature you want.  The McCormack will have a very sweet and engaging sound.  However, the Outlaw will still have more power supply and be able to hit the bass much harder - there would be a lot more impact and attack in the sound with the Outlaw (like "punch you in the chest" kind of sound).

On the Bryston, yeah some of their amps are heavy weights.  The 9B ST you mentions only comes in at 59 lbs. (similar to Parasound).  I heard a set of original Gen 1 7B monoblocks once.  The sound was okay, but it was somewhat on the dull sounding side.  I also heard a Gen 3 Bryston.  I think it was a 2B SST model.  It was definitely faster/brighter with a lot of detail and attack, but the amp just did not sound engaging.  It did not reach out and grab you.  I tended to lose interest.  Some people love the Brystons.

I had an original Sunfire Cinema Grand 5-channel amp a long time ago.  It was a significant step up when I was first getting into home theater.  However, over time, I discovered it was somewhat sterile sounding.  I upgraded to a B&K Reference 200.5, which was a HUGE improvement in sound - strength, detail and warmth.  The amp just was really engaging and exciting.  However, in the end, the B&K turned out to be too warm for my tastes, which caused me to move onto more neutral amplifiers.

@2psyop - totally agree.

Generally, neutral means sound without additional coloration.  Warm can add a rich/lush/laid-back/smeared character.  Cold can be too fast/bright/harsh.  Neutral is more like "accurate".  However, "sterile" means it could be too clean and not any bite/grittiness and also it can mean dull / uninteresting - the sound is just not engaging.

Your Eric Clapton video is the best recording out of all, but I love Johny Cash as well.

Jazz is my primary listening when I'm working or at the computer.  I love Melody Gardot.  If you like jazz, get her Live At the Olympia bluray.  It is the absolute best recording of her (as well as the best jazz live recording I have heard).  The Youtube videos do not compare at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb3lTVL7qM8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NrNI9Qr-KE

I also love Diana Krall, Lyn Stanley, Jane Monheit.  If I'm not listening to jazz, I'm actually listening to metal. lol.

I only have the bluray, but I'm sure the DVD sounds great as well (if that's the only media you can use).

I hear you.  It's difficult to get a really good 5-channel amp for under $1,000.  Hard to get the best of both worlds (for what you want).

The Parasound A23 is a fine choice and would have the sound quality and impact you are looking for.  It's okay to mix manufacturers, but keep in mind that the sonic signature is going to be different.  I don't know the sound of NAD, but I have read it's warm.  The Parasound is going to be slightly on the warm side, but still very detailed.  You might have less resolution on the center channel if you use the NAD.  Also, when sounds pan across the screen, the difference in sonic signature between left/center/right speakers could be noticeable.  I don't know how critical home theater is for you.

Ah, you could check out Diana Krall's latest album "Turn Up the Quiet".  It's one of the most excellently recorded albums I have heard (even on CD).  There's always Norah Jones.  Michael Buble?

If you can do hi-res music, these artist are available at HDTracks also.

@kalali - I couldn't find the Krell amp you're talking about.  However, for $1600, you are probably looking at the older KAV stuff from the late 90's.  This is the older D'Agostino stuff and was voiced warm.  It also did not have the detail and attack that the 2002+ generation did.

@shalmaneser - Can you tell us what your source equipment is?  Preamp/processor, CD player?  This may help us guide an amp.  The Anthem is a very nice amp, but it is going to be very fast and high resolution.  It would be well matched to a warmer preamp/processor, such as Marantz or NAD.  You can't go wrong with the Parasound A23 amp, but it will be more forgiving if you have a fast/bright sounding preamp/processor.

I would say there definitely is a difference between DVD and bluray.  On DVD stuff, I can definitely hear the audio is grainy and dirty compared to bluray.  However, your equipment may or may not have enough resolution to reveal this difference.

Wow, that Sony DSP-EP9ES is a really interesting device.  It's also really old and doesn't even support DTS (which is a major limitation in your ability to use media).

I know you want to keep it until it dies, but at this point I would highly recommend you dump it anyways.  Based on your budget, I would say to get the best AVR (audio/video receiver) that you could buy.  It would solve your problem for an amplifier and also give you much better capability to handle current formats.  You can search for "receiver" in audiogon.  Here are a few choices:

Anthem MRX-710 $1,000 - supports all latest bluray audio formats (Dolby True HD / DTS-HD MA).  Sound quality very good for home theater with high detail.

Marantz SR6011 $999 - supports all latest bluray audio formats.  Voiced to be on the warm side.  Probably better for music if you like the warm sonic signature.

Denon AVR-5803 $798 - this is a best of a receiver at 70lbs!  And will have much better sound quality than the above 2 items.  Bigger power supply, better amp boards.  But it is older and does not support HDMI or bluray audio.  It will do Dolby Digital / DTS from COAX digital input.  It will likely sound better than the above two options.

----

I would also recommend that you get a very low cost bluray player as a transport and use either HDMI or COAX digital for audio.  Such as Sony BDP-S1700 for $59 from Crutchfield.  If you choose the Denon receiver above, you can use the COAX digital output when playing anything.  The Sony bluray will automatically downconvert bluray audio to normal Dolby Digital / DTS.  This is still SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER than regular compressed DVD audio.  I recommend you get the Blue Jeans Cable Beldon 1694A COAX digital cable at 6 feet for $20.  It's the best for the money.

Let me know your thoughts.

Heyo, these are all just ideas.  You can always say "I don't want to do that", and that is totally okay.

If you're looking for well produced recordings of live music, the "Hall & Oates: Live at the Troubadour" concert in bluray is very excellently recorded and produced.  It does use the center channel to add some fill to the concert sound, but it does it very well and it's seamless.  It also uses the surround channels to add "audience ambience" the experience.

It looks like the Sonance was made by ATI for Sonance company.  The older ATI amps tended to be very strong muscle in the bass, but tended to be somewhat bright.  I have also heard that you need to turn on the volume pretty high before you get the dynamics.  My gut feeling is that the Sonance will not be as good as the Outlaw in sound quality.

Quick question.  You said you are connecting from a computer using digital optical cable.  Are you using the toslink output from the computer motherboard?  Or are you using a toslink output on a soundcard?  If it's a soundcard, what is the exact brand/model of the soundcard?  Also, what operating system are you running?  (i.e. Windows 7, Linus, Mac OS 10).

Neutral amp to a warm speaker will obviously be somewhat warm.

Warm amp to neutral speaker will be the same.

Warm amp to warm speaker will indeed cause an even more warm sound.

Different pieces of equipment can compensate for each other (like pairing a bright/cold preamp with a warm amplifier).  With a warm preamp you can start to lose resolution in the sound waveforms.  It is important to know that once you start losing resolution, you can never get it back.  For example, if you have a very warm preamp, putting a high-resolution amplifier and speakers will not "magically" bring back the resolution in the original waveform.

@shalmaneser – Thanks for responding with all that detail!  If you want to stay with using your computer, that’s totally find.  I can respect that.  Though, I will say that I have been there with you.  Many years ago, I used to run an HTPC for all my audio/video processing, with custom modified video cards using BNC RBGHV outputs and specialized sound cards.  I have then moved on to dedicated components, which just worked so much better.

That being said, I have experience with what you are doing.  I will say that the optical outputs on these motherboards are really poor.  The reason is lack of good digital clock and lack of good local power supply filtering.  Also, the optical interface is lacking when compared to digital coax.  I would highly recommend getting a good sound card with spdif output.  Since you are running Windows 10, the only one I can see that supports Windows 10 drivers is the Xonar Essence ST / STX / STX II.  Any one of these will work.  They all have two crystal clocks that are based on the two primary audio sampling rates (which are 44.1/88.2/176.4 or 48/96/192).  I think I read the older ST PCI card had better digital clock section but they would require an open “PCI” slot.  The STX models are the newer PCIE cards.  These are going on ebay for $50-90.  Then get that 6 foot Blue Jean Beldon COAX cable.  I’ve tested the motherboard optical outputs and they just sound weak in comparison.  The idea that “it’s just data until it hits the DAC” is not an accurate statement here.  The VLC player should have a configuration that allows you to send “spdif passthrough” on the digital spdif output of the sound card (even for AC3 and DTS movie bitstreams).

At this point, I think you will need to decide if you are wanting to keep your Sony processor and get an amplifier, or look for a really high-end receiver.  Just keep in mind that Sony is definitely a limiting factor because it won’t even do DTS (which is the format that is most used nowadays).  The Bluray DTS-MA HD will be automatically downconverted to normal oldschool DTS before it is sent out on the spdif digital output.  The only digital connection that supports hi-res bluray is HDMI.  You could get a video card with HDMI output and run it through a new receiver with HDMI inputs if you wanted to truly decode hi-res bluray audio.  Though, it may not sound better unless the receiver was up to par.

Yeah, you would think that COAX and optical should sound exactly the same.  Based on electrical engineer point of view, it should be the same and it's just data.  But from an audiophile listening standpoint, the COAX will just sound better.  The optical can get very good if you use a high end glass fiber cable such as Lifatec or Wire World Supernova, but the COAX will just sound better in the end.  The COAX also has a more natural ambience to the sound.  You can read up on it if you wish.

The Anthem 5/50 amps are nice choices.  The MCA 50 has a power supply that is 50% larger than the MCA 5.  The MCA-50 has 150,000uf capacitance, where the MCA-5 has 100,000uf.  This means the MCA-50 may be a more refined sound and it will also have a bit more muscle for the bass/midbass (even at lower volumes!).  Obviously, the MCA-50 costs more.  The Anthem amps will be a lot cleaner/faster/detailed sounding than the NAD, and probably more power/muscle in the bass.

Okay, I remember the reasoning behind why the PCI version of the Xonar Essence card (ST version) was better.  It had to do with the PCI bus clock speed, which is 33Mhz.  For audio data, you really don't need a super fast bus.  The PCIE bus clock speed is in the gigaherz range (2.5Ghz / 5.0Ghz / 8.0Ghz).  I think this created much more problems for jitter in the data.  The 33Mhz PCI interface just worked better and was more forgiving for sending audio bitstream data.

Ah you posted almost at the same time.  A while back I did some research on toslink cables.  The Audioquest diamond is extremely expensive.  I don't know if it is really worth it.  lol.  Looking at the other top toslink cables I found:

Lifatec - 470 Audio Data Silflex Glass Fiber Optic strands polished ends.  3 foot cable $81

Wire World Supernova 7 - 338 strands Borosilicate Glass polished ends.  1 meter cable $200.

Audioquest Diamond - 280 Narrow-Aperture Quartz (Fused-Silica) Fibers polished ends.  0.75 meter cable $499.

From my research, the Lifatec was the absolute best cable for the money, and probably compared to higher priced cables.  Lifatec makes fiberoptic cables for medical grade devices.  The Wire World was the only other one I would have considered as the Audioquest is just insanely expensive.

Wow, that last link is some interesting stuff!  I'm glad to have my statements substantiated.  A couple quotes from that page that are interesting:

"the TOSLINK interface of red led is not fast enough"

"That square directly from Toslink receiver is bad bad bad. It is a miracle the DAC reads and understands this crap."

"TWEAKING OF A CD PLAYER to make it a killer transport...Changing the sockets from RCA to BNC or much better to XLR on both the transport and the DAC while changing the resistor from 75 Ohms to 110. "

I have also read feedback that BNC coax is highly superior to RCA coax.  That's a given.  However, many of our equipment is limited by RCA only connections. lol.  I have also read from a posting that the XLR AES/ABU interface is still not as good as a proper BNC COAX.  That was based on listening tests and well as some technical justification.  I can't remember what exactly they said.

It's proven that there are differences in digital COAX cable.  The solid-core silver or silver-plated cables are highly superior because the silver is able to charge/discharge much faster than just copper and it allows better accuracy in the extremely high speed digital square waveforms.  One cable I have heard is excellent is the DH Labs Silver Sonic D-750, but at $200 or so for a 2-meter cable, it can be above your budget.  I always recommend the Blue Jean Cable Beldon 1694A because it's an excellent digital cable for the money (much better than others if you don't want to spend much).  It's documented that 1.5 meter is the minimum/best length because shorter cables will cause signal reflections back to the transmitter and distort the waveforms.  I generally recommend 6 feet (which I use).

That is not the Xonar card I was recommending.  The Xonar "DS" model is a 7.1 audio gaming card.  It does have an spdif output, but you will have to do a mod to wire it into an RCA output, like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7CLneUAnRw

By the way, this guy is a total amateur with regards to soldering.  I'm cringing just watching him do those solder points! ack.  The "DS" model does not have the two crystal clocks for the proper audio sampling right timing. It can be used, but the Xonar Essence "ST" model is highly superior.

It does not look like there are any Xonar Essence "ST" cards on ebay right now, but they do come up for sale fairly often (there have been 3 sold in the last month).

There are some "STX" PCIE cards available right now on ebay, such as this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-Xonar-Essence-STX-/253196117652?epid=77162604&hash=item3af3aa2694:g:rokAAOSw6HJZ2RY-

---

Take a look at the details on this page:

https://www.asus.com/Sound-Cards/Essence_STX_II_71/

This is the newest version of the card, the "STX II".  It appears that it uses TCXO clocks, which are highly superior to the normal crystal clocks in the older ST/STX versions.  But it's a new product and it's going for about $250, such as this:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132072&cm_re=sound_card-_-29-132-072-_-Product

Hope all this info helps.

I would probably jump on that Anthem if you were interested.

I have posted this statement in other thread, but the HT Processors really don’t keep their value at all because of the perception that you need the latest and greatest digital decoding / HDMI2.0 / Atmos, room correction, etc. etc. As a result, the value drops like crazy the older they get (this is not like 2-channel audio!!!)

Another one you could look at is Krell HTS 7.1.  There’s one on audiogon for $850 (original retail $8500).  I used one of these for about 12 years before it died.  The Krell uses fully discrete Class A analog stages with all linear power supplies (shunt type power supplies).  It sounds absolutely beautiful and it beat newer HDMI processors in sound quality, even though it was limited to oldschool Dolby Digital / DTS through DIGITAL COAX.  It also has all 7.1 XLR balanced outputs (where the Meridian only has left/center/right).

There are many older HT pre/pros that are of excellent sound quality, but don’t support the new HDMI / bluray stuff.

Sounds like you got a great deal on the Anthem 50!

By the way, did you get one of the Xonar Essence cards?  Or are you waiting for a used "ST" to come up for sale?

I do see that B&H Photo has a used "STX II" PCIE with the better TCXO clocks for $149

---

I think you are poking fun at the Krell when you say "only does 24-bit/88MHz".  Heh.  But you gotta remember that this was engineered as a HT processor (where the sampling rate from DVDs were 24 bit / 48Khz).  The Krell does have some behavior quirks and I have noticed that it down-converts anything on the COAX input to 48Khz, but it is not engineered as a 2-channel DAC and this was back in 2002 where the idea of hi-res audio (96khz and above) was in infancy. :)

Hey there, I totally understand wanting to wait and do things one at a time.

It appears that the card holds its own in most catagories, but comes up short in catagories such as soundstage.

You might be reading about the card's analog output.  I am guessing this is due to the op amps used (STX II uses the MUSES op amps, the original ST/STX used the LM4562 op amps).  The soundstage would be improved by upgrading them to something like OPA2211 or AD797, but that's not what you would be using the card for.  You would only use the card for digital COAX output.  As far as I know, this is the best solution that supports Windows 10.  There are other cards, but they are older and limited to Windows 7 (such as M-Audio) or they might not have a proper COAX (using a 1/8" plug for spdif), or they are insanely expensive like the RME Audio card at $1,000.

Secondarily will be Bluray formats - still getting up to speed on how who is releasing what music formats on bluray.

No problem.  As I said, you would need an HDMI interface for the bluray audio formats.  HDMI is the only licensed interface that will support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA formats.  You could do this by getting a video card with HDMI output.  I read a little that VLC will support audio through the HDMI output.  Other players, such as JRiver or PowerDVD, should support it to.

If you used COAX or optical output, the player software would have to down-convert the Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD MA to the older compressed Dolby Digital or DTS formats before sending the bitstream data out.  COAX will still support 2-channel PCM audio up to 24/192.

Wow, that Asus Xonar HDAV looks like a good find!  The “Deluxe” version has good power supply sections and looks to have good TCXO clocks.  However, it appears that Asus only developed drivers up to Windows 8 for this.  (Windows 8.1 and 10 are not supported).  The card was discontinued a while ago.  If you are running Windows 10, the ST / STX / STX II are still supported with new drivers.

I read that article “Why Audio formats above 16/44.1 don’t matter”.  This has been a controversial subject in the industry.  I will say that several years ago I did some testing.  I took a 16/44.1 version of a song (CD audio) and compared it with a 24/48 version of the same song from the same album through my Krell HTS 7.1 processor.  I did definitely hear a difference.  The CD version with lower bit depth / bit rate sounded a bit messier.  The 24/48 had a cleaner and more solid sound and the resolution of individual instruments was definitely better.  I will say that it needs equipment with very high resolution.  Otherwise, you probably will not notice any differences.

I also have done some testing recently comparing both 2-chanel PCM audio and 5.1 DD/DTS through different transfer mechanisms. 

When playing a movie, the Dolby Digital / DTS is an encoded bitstream that is sent to the processor through a digital cable such as COAX, optical or HDMI.  The processor will then decode the data and split the data into individual PCM channels (such as 5.1 channels).  It will then clock the individual PCM words at the proper sampling rate (such as 48khz) and then sends it to the DAC chip.  So, ultimately, there isn’t much difference between COAX/optical and HDMI for this transfer.  It’s really just data at this point.  However, if you want to be able to decode and play the bluray hi-res audio formats (Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD MA) you must do this through an HDMI connection (licensing restricts any player/software from transmitting this through old spdif coax/optical).  If you do use a COAX/optical, the player will automatically down-convert to old compressed DD/DTS formats.  There is a difference in sound quality here.  The compressed stuff sounds very rough in comparison.  The hi-res TrueHD/DTS-MA will have a smoother and more realistic sound.

When playing 2-channel PCM audio, such as CD or 24/96 hi-res, the player/transport will take the raw PCM data and clock it at the proper sampling rate (such as 44.1 / 48 / 96).  It will then send this “clocked” data over the digital cable.  The COAX/optical works well here.  However, this is where HDMI cable will be severely compromised.  The HDMI transfer is not raw bitstream data.  It is done in data packet format, which means these “clocked” PCM frames will be spread across and combined into multiple HDMI packets.  This means the “clocking” of the audio is already compromised when the processer/DAC tries to “un-wrap” these HDMI packets and send it to the DAC chip.  So, as a comparison:

2 channel 24/96 through digital COAX.  One weird behavior of the Krell processors is that it down-converts anything coming in from digital spdif to 48khz.  I don’t know if other processors do this, but this has been normal Krell behavior for a long time (they must think it is a licensing restriction).  Even though my 24/96 songs are down-converted to 24/48, the sound is still amazingly excellent.  The sound from COAX just sounds so much more “natural” and has excellent dynamics and excitement.  I love listening through this mode.  SIDE NOTE: I have tested my Oppo player connected to a DAC through digital COAX and the DAC is receiving and playing 24/96 and 24/192 just fine.  It’s the Krell that is down-converting to 48Khz through COAX/optical.

2 channel 24/96 through HDMI (i2s) interface.  On my Krell, this was the only way to get the Krell to play true 24/96 or 24/192 at those proper sampling rates.  I can hear that the resolution of the audio is better than 48khz through normal COAX.  However, the sound is more “controlled” or “flat” sounding.  There is no real dynamics or excitement to the sound.  Also, the upper mids are “shouty” and have “blare” which can sound a little painful at times.

So, to sum it up:

Digital COAX/optical – compromised bluray audio, but excellent 2-channel audio

HDMI – excellent bluray audio, but compromised 2-channel audio

I have used JRiver for several years now and I love it.  It is highly configurable.  If you have a weird driver/pc/audio situation, odds are that JRiver can be configured to work with it.  It supports kernel streaming modes (which may or may not work for you).  I currently use Kernal streaming to the Asus Xonar Digital coax output and it sounds better than other modes.  These modes will bypass the Windows DirectSound driver layer (which is bad and it forces all audio to one sampling rate output).

It also supports playing audio through asio4all driver, which I needed to do when I was outputting to USB.  I'm sure you can do other configurations.  The DSP stack is awesome, if you need it. 

I have heard that JPlay is also has great performance, but since I started with JRiver, I never looked at other software.

I wonder where you will end up with all this. lol.

That’s an interesting find. It’s hard to know for sure from the description if those RCA sockets are COAX SPDIF or if the card only supports toslink. You are paying for 7 analog channels, however. I think the Xonar Essence will still be better, but it’s your budget.

You could also look at this (I found this earlier this year when I was looking at alternate SPDIF interfaces -- there aren’t many):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Musiland-digital-times-Sound-Card-PCI-S-PDIF-optical-Computer-PC-Internal-/272176487072?hash=item3f5efb9aa0:g:T2cAAOSwT6pVrVRu

I suspect it would perform better than the SEDNA card, but once again is the question of driver support in your O/S.  Personally, I would still pick the Asus even though it is much more expensive.

Just googling around.  Not sure if you found this, but the Musiland digital times does indeed have a Windows 10 driver:

http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/50430/musiland-digital-times-transport-review

I may have to try this card out sometime.

....further investigation on google translate shows that it's only engineered for up to Windows 8:

http://www.musiland.cn/index.php/Download/show/id/75

Jasmine / Digital Age Driver [1.0.7.0] 

 Resource Category: Driver Download

Finishing date: 2012-10-25 

File size: 14848Kb 

Operating environment: Windows XP, WinVista 32-bit, WinVista 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit, Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 8 32-bit, Windows 8 64-

Okay further analysis. The Musiland has TRS85812NL on the RCA and BNC outputs. These are transformers for digital audio data transmission (which is the proper way to output SPDIF):

http://www.microchip.ua/trxcom/telecom/np97-100.pdf

It does not appear that the Xonar Essence or SEDNA cards have output transformers.

It does have a 24.576 crystal clock. Looks like good power supply filter support. Though, if those are through-hole capacitors, I would be pulling those out and replacing with some nice 220uf polymer caps (along with some .1uf MKPs soldered on the back side for high-frequency stabilization).

No extra DSP or analog stages. Just a non-nonsense well engineered SPDIF card (based on pictures). It also has a real BNC output (which performs better than RCA for spdif). Technically speaking, this is an excellent option and could very well be better than Xonar Essence. The proof is how well the software drivers actually work and real world listening tests. :) At $60, I may pull the trigger on one of these.

Ebay item has extended handling times, but it looks like it is in stock at Shenzhenaudio for $9 more:

https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/musiland-digital-times-24bit-192khz-pci-sound-card-spdif-toslink-bnc.html

Maybe worth trying?

Found a better spdif card:

http://www.triplemaudioshop.nl/index.php/pink-faun-spdif-bridge.html

It's about $350 USD though. lol.

I would go for the Yamaha in these two options.  The Anthem runs only from a switching power supply.  The Yamaha at least uses a linear power supply for analog sections (it still looks like a switching power supply for digital sections, which is very common).  To this day, I have only found that Krell and Bryston use purely linear power supplies.  Everyone else I have seen (even Classe Audio) used switching power supplies for digital.  There could be others.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/musings-on-switching-power-supplies-lps-for-oppo-directv-radiance

Not sure if you've ready my switching power supply thread above, but it's food for thought.

those 1/8" audio outputs are stereo line outputs and will need something like this:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=666

or this:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=5598

See page 1-22 of your MOBO manual.  The lime/green jack outputs the left/right channels.  This is likely going to be lower than SoundBlaster audio quality (which is fine if you are just running basic computer speakers or don't care about audio quality).  I think that old Sony processor you have is still going to sound a whole lot better.

The Marantz SR6011 is a receiver. I would not recommend spending you money on a receiver since you bought that MC50 amp.  That's when I was recommending a "one size fits all" item for under $1,000.  Since you bought a nice MC50 multi-channel amp, a receiver would be a waste of money.

If your interested in the Marantz "warm" signature, I would recommend looking for the AV7702, or the AV7702mkii if you want the latest 4K HDCD 2.2 support. The processor is going to have much better power supply and analog stages. Plus it also has balanced XLR outputs for the MC50 amp. The receivers will only have RCA.

Both the Marantz AV7702 and the Yamaha CX-A5000 are going to be good choices for you. Marantz is going to have more of a warm sonic signature. The Yamaha will be more neutral sounding.

My experience with Sony was a long time ago. I remember thinking their receivers were very bright/cold/harsh. I think the "ES" level help smooth stuff out, but I always thought they were somewhat sterile, but very clean sounding. I suspect that the Sony fully discrete analog circuits, such your Sony DSP-EP9ES and also like those in the Sony HAP-Z1ES network player will be significantly better.  However, I don't think circuits like those would be in the Sony Receivers.  Also, Sony only makes receivers.  They do not make HT Processors.  I do not have any recent experience with Sony, so I could not comment directly.  Only theorize.

One of the things I like about Marantz processors is that they have fully discrete output stages for their audio with a significant power supply to back that up.  The DAC I/V stage is done through an op amp with relatively slow slew rate (further contributing to the Marantz warm signature).  It is warm, however, lol.

Nope, I did not order the Musiland. Yes, I am currently running the Xonar Essence ST PCI version. I think I'm going to wait until next year and get these items:

https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/l-k-s-audio-mh-da004-dual-es9038pro-flagship-dac-dsd-input-coaxial-bnc-aes-ebu-for-dop-usb-i2s-optical-audio-decoder.html

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pink-Faun-I2S-bridge-LKS-audio-Model-IV-Pink-Faun-IL3-I2S-HDMI-to-RJ45-cable-/281933158086?hash=item41a48696c6:g:wu0AAOSwUuFWvK9v

Based on everything I have read, the i2s interface is superior to COAX spdif. Since I don't care about DSD, this i2s card should work out really well. It's the only computer i2s card I know of and it does not support DSD direct. (I think I can still use DOP through Jriver).

Guess you'll just have to take a chance with your decision. On one hand, the Musiland has some pretty good hardware design approaches.  On the other hand, Xonar is excellent as well and uses power directly from the power supply (via a hard drive plug) instead of drawing power from the PCI slot like the Musiland does. With the Xonar, you are also paying for the DAC and analog stages of the sound card.  In any event, I'm sure it will be much better than toslink from the MOBO.

Bright / neutral / warm has more to do with how the power supply and analog stages are engineered. The choice of DAC chip has almost nothing to do with this. :)

Blue Jean Cable.  Get the Beldon 1695A cable at 6 foot.  It's $29.25 plus shipping.

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm

Otherwise, you need to spend a lot more to get something better.  Like a DH Labs D-750 or Wire World Starlight for something like $200.  Don't bother with anything stranded.

this one for $872?

http://www.tmraudio.com/product/ew-371

I think the Yamaha will be really nice for you, if you get it.   I bought both my Krell processor and Oppo player from TMR Audio.  They are excellent for service/support of customers.

Yeah, don't bother with the daughter card.  It's just more DACs and analog outputs that you don't need.

Yeah, the whole evolution of computers is the goal to transfer as much data as possible in the fastest possible way.  Throughput has always been the bottleneck.  This is definitely critical when graphics rendering and GPU processes came into play.  Now it is also pure data I/O when you look at database servers and such.

With audio, we have surpassed the bandwidth limitations a LONG time ago.  Audio quality (even digital transfer from SPDIF) is entirely reliant on accuracy of clock signals and smooth voltage from power supply.  Switching power supplies (such as in computers) will introduce noise into the signal and also cause electrical resonance in the signal (making the audio not as solid sounding).

If you are building a new "audio" computer in the future, these are a couple things you could look at if you chose to:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TeraDak-350W-Toroidal-transformer-PSU-linear-computer-power-supply-PC-PSU/222531593988?hash=item33cfeaa704:g:VccAAOSwopRYfhhw

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TeraDak-600W-R-type-transformer-PSU-linear-computer-power-supply-PC-PSU/322543529946?hash=item4b1917afda:g:IgEAAOSw9GhYflOv

Teradak has a range, but these are the cheapest and most expensive "full computer power supplies".  You are not there yet.  Still have to get a HT processor, lol.  You may be fine with what you have.