You'll likely have to look to the higher end AV pre-pro's for better quality 2 channel stereo, analog bypass, and general preamplification sections and such, If you're looking for all in one processor for you movie/music needs. That said, I think it's a widely agreed position here that you'll still be likely looking at some compromises, in ultimate terms, going that route. And, in fact, you can probably end up getting better quality 2 channel premplification performance from a stand-alone preamp, perhaps looping in an dedicated separate AV processor into it for movie duties ..leaving the stereo for the better dediated 2 ch preamp.
Then, I would then simply look for a quality, clear sounding, up to date AV pre/pro that's detailed and clear sounding, that offers super dynamics (and of course, has all the latest decoding, video pass and scaling, and connections you need) for movie and bluray decoding, and you should be getting best of both worlds, for the best budget considerations! Spending hard on the most expensive Theta, Krell, Meridian, etc for your AV/music needs, and you'll still easily get arguments from audiophile purists about how your stereo music is likely bettered by doing 2 separate systems, with a quality digital or analog source, instead.
I vote find the preamp that floats your boat, and then use some Emotiva 7.1 channel AV prepro to loop in for movies...then forget all about finding that $12000 AV processor just to wow your friends with glowing blue lights and a huge sticker price! ((not to mention what if the next new processing format comes along, and you already spent a fortune to "have it all in one expensive box" approach?!!))
That's my position anyway..
Then, I would then simply look for a quality, clear sounding, up to date AV pre/pro that's detailed and clear sounding, that offers super dynamics (and of course, has all the latest decoding, video pass and scaling, and connections you need) for movie and bluray decoding, and you should be getting best of both worlds, for the best budget considerations! Spending hard on the most expensive Theta, Krell, Meridian, etc for your AV/music needs, and you'll still easily get arguments from audiophile purists about how your stereo music is likely bettered by doing 2 separate systems, with a quality digital or analog source, instead.
I vote find the preamp that floats your boat, and then use some Emotiva 7.1 channel AV prepro to loop in for movies...then forget all about finding that $12000 AV processor just to wow your friends with glowing blue lights and a huge sticker price! ((not to mention what if the next new processing format comes along, and you already spent a fortune to "have it all in one expensive box" approach?!!))
That's my position anyway..