Stereo amp recommendations
Discussion
I have recently moved house and now my 5.1 AV system resides in a dedicated cinema room with a new projector.
My 50" Panasonic plasma is now getting by on it's own built in speakers which are a bit rubbish.
I'm after a stereo amp to pair with some floor-standing speakers to give better TV sound in my main living room, as the TV gets it's sky signal over coax it's stereo only so no need for a full AV receiver.
In addition to a tv audio input I'd like the amp to support airplay, bluetooth and spotify connect (or some variation of those) so that I can play and control music on the system with my mobile. An FM aerial input would also be nice.
If the amp could switch on/off with the tv that would be ideal but, I think the only way this can work is with HDMI-CEC and I know most amps won't have hdmi at all let alone support CEC.
Budget is not set so would depend on what's on offer but I probably wouldn't spend more than about £300 on an amp. Floor-standers are a separate issue all together and will be considered later.
Any recommendations please?
My 50" Panasonic plasma is now getting by on it's own built in speakers which are a bit rubbish.
I'm after a stereo amp to pair with some floor-standing speakers to give better TV sound in my main living room, as the TV gets it's sky signal over coax it's stereo only so no need for a full AV receiver.
In addition to a tv audio input I'd like the amp to support airplay, bluetooth and spotify connect (or some variation of those) so that I can play and control music on the system with my mobile. An FM aerial input would also be nice.
If the amp could switch on/off with the tv that would be ideal but, I think the only way this can work is with HDMI-CEC and I know most amps won't have hdmi at all let alone support CEC.
Budget is not set so would depend on what's on offer but I probably wouldn't spend more than about £300 on an amp. Floor-standers are a separate issue all together and will be considered later.
Any recommendations please?
I had a similar dilemma, but I went with a Yamaha RXV479 AV receiver rather than a stereo amp, works fine with just stereo and gives the option to upgrade later if that be with a sub or more speakers. Also fully kitted with bluetooth, airplay, internet radio etc. Also switches on and off automatically with the tv and has an audio return channel from the TV meaning no optical/coaxial cables required.
As the stereo amp market has shrunk so much it makes more economic sense (in my view) to get an AV amp.
As the stereo amp market has shrunk so much it makes more economic sense (in my view) to get an AV amp.
Edited by ecotec on Saturday 6th February 21:26
ecotec said:
I had a similar dilemma, but I went with a Yamaha RXV479 AV receiver rather than a stereo amp, works fine with just stereo and gives the option to upgrade later if that be with a sub or more speakers. Also fully kitted with bluetooth, airplay, internet radio etc. Also switches on and off automatically with the tv and has an audio return channel from the TV meaning no optical/coaxial cables required.
As the stereo amp market has shrunk so much it makes more economic sense (in my view) to get an AV amp.
Fair point, it just seems like overkill to have a decent AV receiver and not use the video connectivity at all. As the stereo amp market has shrunk so much it makes more economic sense (in my view) to get an AV amp.
Edited by ecotec on Saturday 6th February 21:26
The other option I have is to upgrade my cinema room AV receiver and move that to the living room.
AC43 said:
Do you actually need Airplay?
If you plus in a Chromecast Audio through an optical in you can cast Spotify to it.
No, but, I like to be able to control as much as possible from my mobile and I like to have as many connectivity options as possible because you never know when your needs will change.If you plus in a Chromecast Audio through an optical in you can cast Spotify to it.
I don't want to go down the route of a Chromecast audio for this because there are so many products available that have the connectivity options I want built in.
As it happens, with the release of Sky Q I suspect my needs have changed. I am only getting stereo TV sound in my living room at the moment but when I get Sky Q I will be able to make use of full Dolby Digital from the Sky box so an AV receiver is likely to be the best option.
I will probably go with a nice pair of floorstanding speakers for my music listening and some smaller more discreet centre and surround speakers.
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