What AV Amp?

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Discussion

Mr_Yogi

3,279 posts

256 months

Thursday 14th February 2008
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There are some very good deals (Super-Fi I think, amoungs others) on the Audiolab 8000AV (and soon to be released 8000AP) processor and 7.1 Power Amps at the moment, and while not as good as the Tag items that went before them there are supposed to sound quite good and at a fraction of the cost of the Tag items.

If you want the system for music from what i've heard most AV amps aren't that great considering the costs envolved.

I've also heard good things about some of NADs range.

JustinP1

13,330 posts

231 months

Thursday 14th February 2008
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Mr_Yogi said:
There are some very good deals (Super-Fi I think, amoungs others) on the Audiolab 8000AV (and soon to be released 8000AP) processor and 7.1 Power Amps at the moment, and while not as good as the Tag items that went before them there are supposed to sound quite good and at a fraction of the cost of the Tag items.

If you want the system for music from what i've heard most AV amps aren't that great considering the costs envolved.

I've also heard good things about some of NADs range.
Thats right, AV systems generally arnt suited to music. Firstly, pound per pound, of course you can get better quality if you are only spreading your budget over two channel audio, and of course only two speakers compared to 5, 7 or more.

Secondly, at the lower end of AV, less focus is on maintaining the 'purity' of the sound and more is put towards literally the most 'bang per buck'. Thus often these set-ups have bass that goes slam, and a sharp top end, but not much in between which is not the best for music.

That said, at the top end things are different. My current system is a 7.1 surround system which I auditioned specifically for music first, and AV second. It cost more, but it is comfortably better than my old two-channel system for music.

The AV amps now have pretty good DACs in, if you are only utilising the first two channels for music, then there isnt a huge amount of difference in this stage at a budget to a budget music system. This is especially so if the amp, like mine has a specific 'direct' function to that literally all that is happening is the digital signal is converted to audio, amplified and sent out to the speakers. That way you can bypass all of the other processing circuits. That makes a real difference musically.

If you have a good power amp, and use front speakers that would not be out of place in a 'music only' setup, then you really arnt losing much out when it comes to enjoying music.

furtive

4,498 posts

280 months

Thursday 14th February 2008
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JustinP1

13,330 posts

231 months

Thursday 14th February 2008
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furtive said:
As with all audio stuff, it is all a guess without listening to it!

Its 6.1 not 7.1 however, that said there is only a limited amount of proper discrete 7.1 channel soundtracks out there at the moment. Decent amps to a good job of 'matrixing' the sounds between the other speakers though when there is not a specific channel for them.



telecat

8,528 posts

242 months

Friday 15th February 2008
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furtive said:
I'd be wary and check speaker matching with Cambridge Audio Kit. I have a friend who bought a 640 Stereo amp and found JBL Control One's tripped the "clipping" circuit. I know they aren't an easy load but that's a bit much.

pmanson

13,382 posts

254 months

Friday 15th February 2008
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VEX said:
I had a visit to Onkyo yesterday and was very impressed with their offerings.

Setting up a 605 this afternoon.

Will post my feelings later.

V.
Picked up a 605 back in August/September time and couldn't be happier. Highly recommended from me