Moving From AVR to Amp

I am concerned about 2 channel performance. That is what sold me on the Forests and is the main reason I am looking to upgrade. For my purposes, the HT set up is satisfactory. The Forests sound good to me but not as good as when I heard them in the store (which I expected). My thought is that a 5 channel amp now would improve overall performance and then I can add a separate 2 channel amp in time, better suited to maximizing the 2 channel. I know I have to listen carefully and compare, but was thinking of something like the Parasound Halo A51 to start with and then adding a separate 2 channel in a year or so. On that note, what is the best way to audition amps. Assuming the store I bought from still has the Forest on display, should I expect them to make several amps available to audition or is that not how it is done? How do you go about auditioning amps?

Theclam, I think that approach is good. For auditioning amps, working with your local dealer (ie. buying new), I suspect that they would only lend you one at a time, but would probably allow you to bring your speakers in (take a day off of work and do it on a slow day). The way I buy amps and want to determine between 2-3 that I have researched is to buy several of them used at the same time, at decent to good prices. This gives you more time, sell the ones you don't like as much. Yes, this requires more cash upfront, but my experience is that there is less second guessing when you have finally chosen. If you buy them at good prices used, then selling them for the same amount of money is not very hard to do. Worse case, if you buy 3 used, pick your favorite and sell the other 2 you may be out $200-$300, but at least you will be confident in your end decision.

Also, when you are ready, start another post and state where you live. You wouuld be surprised how helpful members are and I wouldn't be surprised if somebody was willing to lend you an amp for a week.

I have owned several pair of Totems (Arro, Hawk, Manni), the are very good speakers. With a decent amp they really can sound great and you do not need to spend a fortune on an amp to make them perform very well. Though I have found that a mediocre amp can really weaken their performance in the HF/treble area and at sound staging (one of their real strengths).

for digital audio the DAC is the most important component. Check the forums here, it's where your sound will eminate from.

personally, i'd (at least initially) keep the onkyo and your very good existing speaker config and get a three channel amp to power the fronts and center--perhaps something like a parasound or wyred4sound--i think you find signicancant improvement + save some $$. you can always change out pre/pro and/or add an additional amp later.

I also started with a Marantz AVR, moved to B&K Surround Processor plus a Gemstone 7-ch amp, and finally added a set of 2-ch gear. I have the same Velo SPL-1500R subwoofer. I concluded that I couldn't be happy with muti-channel gear for 2-ch music.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have just kept the AVR and added the 2-ch gear as the L/R channels since I cannot have dedicated rooms for HT and 2ch music. I am a music lover and I also like movies. I found most sound comes from the L/C/R channels for HT. If you off load the L/R channels to the 2-ch gear, the AVR is likely to be sufficient. Additionally, the Velo sub is 1,000W RMS (2,000W peak!), further reducing the demand to the AVR.

A key in this integrated HT/2CH is isolating the noises from the HT gear to the 2-ch gear. But that is another subject.