Classe SSP-800 - Time to move on?

I highly suspect that you would be losing sound quality if you moved from SSP-800 to an AVM 60.  Sure, you would be getting the new sound formats, but I think there is a distinct difference in what's put into the analog audio stages.

You might look into the Krell foundation.  With that, you would get 4K and Krell's ARES room correction.  I think it may be somewhat of a lateral move in sound quality from the SSP-800 (or maybe a little bit different signature).  Of course, you would not get Atmos and DTS:X.  Honestly, to me, the new Atmos/DTS:X modes wouldn't really make a difference unless you had the extra speakers (such as height/ceiling).  Even so (and I've said this before), I would rather have an ultra-realistic sounding 5.1 system than a decent sounding 9+ channel system.  :)

If you had your heart set on Atmos and DTS:X, I would look hard at the Marantz AV8802a to get the most out of sound quality.

Just for your information, for many years I continued to use a Krell HTS 7.1 until about a year and half ago when it finally died. Keep in mind this is a product that was released in 2002 (much older than your SSP-800). I had tried several other home theater processors that used HDMI and bluray hi-res audio (including a couple that were very expensive). None of them could reproduce what the HTS 7.1 did in sound quality!! Ya know what, I ended up putting in a new Krell S-1200U (which is about the same generation as your SSP-800).

I did try out the Emotiva XMC-1, which is --probably-- on the same par as the AVM 60. I would say that it gives you an excellent amount of performance for what you are paying. However, even the HDMI audio could not compete with the HTS 7.1 down-converted digital COAX audio! The resolution and separation-of-instruments just wasn’t there and the Emotiva sounded a bit closed in.

@denny001 - I think what you are looking for is to have an HDMI switcher that will switch/process 4K video and send it to your display, while at the same time being able to send your digital audio to your SSP-800 processor. The problem with HDMI switcher/splitter (or matrix) is that an HDMI switcher device will query for every possible display device connected (EDID) and then select the minimum capable resolution. In this case, everything will be downconverted to 1080p even though your hdmi switcher and source are 4K capable. This is because the SSP-800 is not 4K capable and is a target device in the HDMI chain.

On product that -might- be able to do what you are looking for is the Lumagen Radiance Pro. This supports 4K UHD sources and 4K UHD displays. The Lumagen has 2 HDMI outputs. The HDMI 2 output is usually connected to the display. The HDMI 1 output can be connected to an AV Receiver (your Classe SSP-800 in this case) for audio only. In addition, the video for HDMI 1 can be disabled in the Radiance so it might ignore the 1080p limitation of the SSP-800. However, the big advantage of the Radiance is that it has a 21-point greyscale and a 4913 point color cube calibration. You can have an AV engineer calibrate it for your display (this is a significant improvement in color accuracy and impact). The downside of this is that the Radiance Pro is very expensive, starting at $4500.

http://www.curtpalme.com/Radiance.shtm

You can investigate HDMI Matrix switchers. I don’t know if they will do what you want, but they are also expensive. Gefen has a 4K UHD 8x8 Matrix switcher (GTB-HD4K2K-848-BLK) for $2,699.

Another downside of putting an HDMI matrix switcher before your SSP-800 is that you will not be able to see any on-screen menus from the SSP-800, since it is no longer in the direct video chain.

Looking at the Aurender:

https://cdn3.volusion.com/zfaej.gfcbd/v/vspfiles/photos/04DD-AURXA10-7.jpg?1470856254

4 completely independent power supplies, each with its own transformer. One for digital transport, one for each of the analog output stages and one for digital/dac. Looks like a fully balanced/differential configuration. I can totally see where the Classe bypassed would work better because the Classe doesn’t have as much into its audio stages. Classe is a very good HT processor, but like all processors, shared power supply for 8 analog channels.  Shared transformer for everything.  Switched power supply for digital.

I highly doubt that the Lyngdorf will do better than either the Classe or the Aurender, since it now has 16 analog channels to deal with (twice as many as the Classe). Unless your just looking for a higher end HT processor that will support all the new standards and 4K. Also, the Lyngdorf has no analog inputs.