Ajaybhai, if you had room for only one set of speakers but liked music as much as movies what would be your solution?
BTW a similar discussion is gong on here
http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/26634-nad-vs-yamaha-vs-harman-kardon-vs-2.html
In my case, I was noticing that my wife was not using the stereo setup simply because too many buttons had to be pressed (the DAC had to be switched on, the power amp, etc.). Thus, even though I only had two TL type floorstanders (
Carnegie Acoustics CST1), I wanted the convenience and HDMI/TV integration of an AVR, but wanted the grunt and power amp section of a stereo amp.
With my budget constraints (and the fact that I have placement constraints and a kid anyway), I ended up with a Marantz slimline AVR that I am using as a preamp (it has preouts), and a slightly modded Dayens Ecstasy 2B stereo amp that I am using as a power amp. The Dayens is a very interesting amp. Minimalistic, no-nonsense, affordable, but also built with fairly high quality internal components (all Mundorf caps, Alps Blue pot, etc.).
This is only an entry level setup, but I do like the pairing enough to listen to music and movies/TV. Yes, I do feel the sound quality can be further improved but I am also happy enough with the sound.
Navin, in your other thread, you never got around to posting your impressions about your setup. With two Yamaha AS-2000 and the rest of your components, you must have one beast of a setup! Please do share details and pictures!
On a side note, I am following a
very interesting thread on another forum about using Crown XLS as a power amp. This really is a beast of an amp, especially for its size, and even more especially, for the ridiculously low price. I used to feel very negative about Class D and PWM amps, but with more and more positive reviews about high end Class D like Hypex nCore (and uCD), and now Crown XLS, this looks like a very interesting alternative. And because of their design, their extremely high power levels and ability to drive low impedance speakers is really attractive.