Affordable Processor with Fabulous 2 Channel ?

@bwguy 

You said earlier that your Classe Sigma SSP went back to Classe for repair lately. Just curious, what was wrong with it? Cause Sigma SSP is somewhat new product and it first came out in early 2015. It made me think that the Sigma SSP might have reliability issue?
I do not own the Sigma SSP but I do own the Classe SSP 800 still and it is 8 yrs old now, so far it only went back to Classe once for service. 

@bwguya,
‘are you using balanced connections (XLR)  for l/r?  If so, then single ended connections (RCA) will all need to be elevated.  I’m sure many people more knowledgeable than I can predict the theoretical amount but my recollection from when I was running a 5 channel amp is that l/r was 0 and center was +6 or 7. I have found this to be the case with 2 different ProAc center speakers (cc1 and cc2) as well as 3 different ProAc l/r speakers (response 2.5, 3.0 and 5.0...  yes, at one time I owned all 5 models... )  I recommend doing a careful setup with test tones (preferably supplied from a Blu-ray test disk) and a decent dB meter.  The internal tone generator on the SSP is inadequate, although it has been improved. Differences of 1 dB between center and front channels significantly impact clarity and intelligibility of dialog.  I also found cable choices to be important.  But really obsessing over channel levels really pays off!

Caphill,
Very long explanation for the Sigma going in.
i am using the Classé Delta 2300 for my mains and a 5300 for the center and surrounds. Sometime in early 2017, Something happened with the 5300 and it just died. No idea why. Heard a pop and it just died. So it went back to Classé for repair. It took about 2 months but got it back and life was good. Forward August 2017 and the 5300 died again. I wasn’t driving it hard, but evidently something caused it to overheat inside.
Returned to Classé again. This time they wanted to look at the Sigma to see if this could be causing something. This was right when Classé announced they were closing. As a result, both the 5300 amp and the Sigma sat until B&W figured out who and where repairs would be made. Needless to say I was not happy during this time. FRUSTRATED!  While the unit was there, I had them put the 4K board in, which caused me to lose my settings. I finally got everything back around January of this year. I never did hear if the Sigma was the cause of anything but so far so good (knock on wood).

Psnyder149
Yes, I am using XLR connectors  on the mains.  My center is currently set at 7.5 DB above the mains.

@psnyder149 

I just want to comment on the built-in phonostage (optional) in your Sigma SSP. Since you mentioned in your earlier post that you decided to add an optional built-in phonostage in your Sigma SSP for your Linn LP12 turntable. Linn LP12 is a great turntable and deserves a really good quality dedicated external phonostage pre IMO. You should get a good quality external phonostage pre for your Linn LP12 turntable. Linn makes great quality phonostage with an external PSU. Btw, what tonearm, cartridge and external PSU do you get for your Linn LP12? Are you using Linn's ? 

In regards to your comment on the Classe Sigma Amp5 class D five-channel amp, I totally agreed with you. The Sigma Amp5 is a great amp when used for HT but when used for stereo music playbacks I felt like it lacks warmth, midrange and mid-bass bloom and overall musical expressions and liquidity. It is a great amp, the sound was very resolved, fast, clean, transparent and dynamic and very suitable for HT use especially those lossless HD surround sound formats from bluray and 4K UHD discs.