There is no need to match the brand of the AV receiver to the stereo amp.
Many people who play stereo music do not like the use of a subwoofer, but I use one to supplement my bookshelf front speakers.
As for subwoofer, if yours has a high level input (e.g. REL that I use), it’ll work. (If you use a REL subwoofer, avoid class D amp unless you get confirmation from REL that the amp you chose is known to be compatible.)
I bought a Musical Fidelity M6si to use for music and is fed as HT bypass from my Onkyo AV amp. Great amounts of power in a pseudo dual mono design.
All music sources are fed directly into the M6si and the Onkyo’s pre-outs for FL and FR are used over RCA to connect into the “AUX1/HT” line-in on the M6si.
I paid about AUD 4.5k-ish for the M6si - I think the US retail is in the USD 3k ball-park.
To be fair though, if I made my choice again today, I’d probably go with @Rockhound’s choice; Hegel are boss bits of kit for analogue amplification.
TBH I hate subs in a stereo set up - my bias tells me that if you think you need a subwoofer, you just need bigger amps and better speakers. But lots of people use one/like it. Generally, I’d advise against changing more than one thing at a time and just see how one change impacts your enjoyment of listening over a few weeks/months. In your case, get a really good dedicated stereo amp with HT bypass. Live with it for a while and then figure out if/what you need to change in addition to that. It could be your room, could be your speakers, could be your source. Personally it would not be a sub - although I certainly would not be without my JL Audio sub for movies etc.
@ElTel makes a good suggestion which I should have included in my suggestions, that Musical Fidelity is excellent value, although it doesn’t have a built in DAC like the Hegel range.
The M6si does have an inbuilt DAC… There is only a single USB input though; no LAN, no coax, no Toslink/SPDIF, etc.
Like most inbuilt DACs/phono stages etc, it is built down to a price rather than up to a quality and is just about adequate (if not particularly convenient due to limited connectivity options), but I get far better performance from my RME ADI-2 DAC FS. Integrated amps are always cost vs convenience vs compromise and it’s unsurprising for anyone that a specialist separate box will usually outperform the sub-component in an integrated.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the punch and dynamics of the M6si, but like most of us, the only constant is change or the desire for change hence my comment around going for Hegel if I had another go around the block.
It may be worth looking at the secondhand market too - I suspect when Roon Ready is finally announced on the Hegels there will be even more of their previous generation amps on the market - I know for example that the H360 has an HT bypass.
A MF M6-500i here, which I picked over the Hegel. I use only the DAC from the T2 and have no theater added to my system. Adding the comment because MF surprised me in combination with Lumin. If you have the chance to compare both brands, or more, do.
That’s a lot of power; you planning on invading a country, or starting a revolution? 
Did you try the Lumin with both the M6-500 and a Hegel before you decided? I think the Lumin could be the deciding factor as so many people rave about the T2 in conjunction with a multitude of amps.
Not sure as I have commented on this Lumin thread before count me as another raver…
Lumin T2 fed into a Mark Levinson 585 integrated…mind blowing.
And my previous streaming/dac solution was no slouch but this beats the pants off it.
Very happy camper!
Lovely piece of kit.
Power to the people ;)-
Yes, tried both with Lumin(D2 with sBooster). In combo with my ML ESL X the 500i made them come more alive. Even at low volume I feel the music, literally. And for listening to music this is the sound I love.
Dealer had no T2 to demo, but reading a lot and my experience with the DAC’s chip brand in my LG V phones made me spend the extra money.
Thank you!
Yes it is but has taken quite a few years and saving for upgrades to get there.
Quite a number of integrated amps have come and gone before the 585.
So, I ended up going with the Rotel RA-1592 and I am thoroughly delighted with it. You were right - the amp gave me better clarity, more power, more punch. I was tempted by the Hegel H190 but (a) just a little more than I was hoping to spend; and more importantly, (b) since I listen via streaming exclusively, Rotel’s DAC takes me up higher than 24/192 (though the more expensive Hegels do that too). That and the ability to harness my sub and the USB connection made the Rotel a perfect fit. Thanks for everyone’s advice!
I thought you said you have a Topping D90, why would you use the amp internal DAC instead of the standalone DAC?
Well, that’s to be determined. If I prefer the Topping, I can feed it via RCAs, but if (as I believe I do) I prefer the internal DAC of the Rotel, I have a nice Topping D90 I can sell. I may end up not having needed the internal DAC, but we’ll see.
I’m finally a week into T2 ownership, and hopefully past my break in period. T2 sounded magnificent out of the box but had a slight edge. It could have been the tubes in my Leben 600x too, but I left the T2 on for a week of endless playback, and swapped in a different set of NOS tubes in the line stage and let those burn in. Now everything is sounding cohesive, warm, detailed, and super transparent.
So glad I made the upgrade from the D2. I’m not currently tempted (beyond my OCD nature) to upgrade the power supply either, a good sign. Not finding any faults at this stage.
Nice to read, enjoy.
After my second week op burn in I was pleasantly surprised it still improved. Keep it buning;)-
Interestingly, Rotel today announced the RA-1592 MK II. The big change seems to be the substitution of the original 1592’s AKM chip with a Texas Instruments chip with MQA capability.
Putting aside the MQA debate (please!), does anyone know if the TI chip has any advantages? I’m in a return window and, all things being equal, would probably exchange and get new gear.
Sorry if this is a bad place for this discussion - please feel free to move as appropriate; I just wanted to continue the conversation.
There’s a John Dario on YouTube today about the Rotel