I "somewhat mistakenly" found the Marsh MSD-P2000 to work exceedingly well with my Sunfire Signature. I had sold my HT processor and needed something that was "handy" i.e. "had a remote" to temporarily fill in. Since i had the Marsh and it fit the bill, into the HT system it went. Quite honestly, i was utterly and completely blown away when i fired it up and listened for a while. One of those "magic combo's" that is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Music has a very natural and "correct" timbre, excellent bass extension without sounding either TOO "wet" ( bloated ) or too dry ( overdamped ), female vocals are as liquid as i've ever heard, highs are clean and clear without any sense of stridency, etc.. When my brother first heard it, i was playing Diana Krall's "Love Scenes". He commented, "it sounds like we are in a night club sitting relatively close to the stage" i.e. it was SO "real" sounding, as if you had direct sound coming off of the stage from un-amplified instruments.
I have held off buying an HT processor simply because this set-up sounds so good on music and does a very credible job watching non-DVD movies in two channel ( my DVD has a built in processor ). As of today though, i am "negotiating" on a deal for a Pre/Pro, so that will all change. I really, really hope that what i end up with does as good of a job on music and also produces "magic", but i doubt it.
I warn you that the Marsh seems to take FOREVER for the high end to settle in though ( sounds noticeably splashy out of the box ). This may be due to the "exotic" caps that are in the unit, as Richard Marsh is responsible for much of what we know about "audiophile grade" caps. It also has some type of built in Power Line Conditioning (PLC), as he is the designer behind the Monster PLC's. One other ( possibly major ) thing is that it it does not have a phono stage. This may not be a big deal though, as you could easily run a seperate phono section into one of the extra inputs.
The overall unit is quite convenient though, as it does have dual RCA outputs should you ever want to passively bi-amp and a FULL function remote control. Anything that you can do from the faceplate, you can do from the remote. No programming, since it is a very simple and plain remote. The preamp is also not a "fancy gadget" either, just a bare bones unit with plenty of switching, tape loops, volume and balance. I never turn the unit off ( all of my gear stays turned on ), so i don't know how the unit is effected by "cycling" off and on in terms of warm-up and best sonics, etc...
Keep in mind that this is the SS version, not the hybrid tubed version. I think that the tubed model is called an MSD-P2000T, signifying the tubes with the T at the end. The T does not offer a remote and sounds a little darker in my opinion.
Keep in mind that the usual disclaimer applies i.e. different systems, personal tastes, cable combinations, etc... may provide various results. I just thought that you might be interested in the results that i had, especially since you can typically find these used for about $600 - $750 or so. Good luck and keep us posted... Sean
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I have held off buying an HT processor simply because this set-up sounds so good on music and does a very credible job watching non-DVD movies in two channel ( my DVD has a built in processor ). As of today though, i am "negotiating" on a deal for a Pre/Pro, so that will all change. I really, really hope that what i end up with does as good of a job on music and also produces "magic", but i doubt it.
I warn you that the Marsh seems to take FOREVER for the high end to settle in though ( sounds noticeably splashy out of the box ). This may be due to the "exotic" caps that are in the unit, as Richard Marsh is responsible for much of what we know about "audiophile grade" caps. It also has some type of built in Power Line Conditioning (PLC), as he is the designer behind the Monster PLC's. One other ( possibly major ) thing is that it it does not have a phono stage. This may not be a big deal though, as you could easily run a seperate phono section into one of the extra inputs.
The overall unit is quite convenient though, as it does have dual RCA outputs should you ever want to passively bi-amp and a FULL function remote control. Anything that you can do from the faceplate, you can do from the remote. No programming, since it is a very simple and plain remote. The preamp is also not a "fancy gadget" either, just a bare bones unit with plenty of switching, tape loops, volume and balance. I never turn the unit off ( all of my gear stays turned on ), so i don't know how the unit is effected by "cycling" off and on in terms of warm-up and best sonics, etc...
Keep in mind that this is the SS version, not the hybrid tubed version. I think that the tubed model is called an MSD-P2000T, signifying the tubes with the T at the end. The T does not offer a remote and sounds a little darker in my opinion.
Keep in mind that the usual disclaimer applies i.e. different systems, personal tastes, cable combinations, etc... may provide various results. I just thought that you might be interested in the results that i had, especially since you can typically find these used for about $600 - $750 or so. Good luck and keep us posted... Sean
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