Quote Originally Posted by MusicHead View Post
At the cost of sounding a snob, I do not think that low cost receiver would do justice to the Luna.

Plus, if the goal is a 2-ch system, why spend money on features (and whimpy amps with an overtaxed and designed for cost power supply) you'll never use?

Accessory4less is a great option, but then why not one of their 2-ch amps? There are many at a very affordable price. Any of them I bet would run circles in 2-ch around a receiver in the same price range:

https://www.accessories4less.com/?ty...tore_price.asc
I agree with this completely. Not only is their amplification lacking as others have stated, but most AVR preamp sections are also not transparent enough. I had been using a Denon AVR-X4100W (which retailed for $1500 when it was new) with external amplification and external Dirac Live room correction, so I was using it as a preamp/DAC only. The review of the Anthem MRX 720 in this thread (https://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-re...nt-stereo.html) got me curious. I swapped out the Denon for the Anthem, still only using the Anthem as a DAC/processor, and the difference was immediate. That AVS thread describes the difference much better than I can but the Anthem made instruments sound much more convincing and real.

Amplification requirements definitely depend on the room, speaker distance to the user, user listening preferences, and whether or not bass management is being used with a subwoofer, but I did hear a noticeable difference in impact when upgrading from the Outlaw 7140 (7 x 140W) to the Anthem Statement P5 (5 x 325 W) in my large room with Sierra RAAL Towers (which are more efficient than the Lunas) positioned about 10ft away from my ear. Personally I wouldn't skimp on amplification for the Lunas unless you have them positioned near field or don't listen very loud.