Av Amp ( and Zone 2 )

[nw28840]

Hi ,

Current setup is a 10 year old Onkyo Amp (AVR-3806) without Zone 2 capability. Sky , CD/DVD run through the Amp and Bose Acoustimass 10 speaker set provides the surround sound for movies and the audio sound for cds.

Have just purchased a set of speakers for Audio only.

So I need a new Amp with Zone 2.

Spoke to Richer Sounds - looking at an Onkyo or Yamaha AV Amp. Considerable price increase +- £500 to +- £1000 if I want digital out from Zone 2 ( as I understand it ). I realise they are other plusses with the more expensive Amp, but to be honest I can't see me using the other functions.
The current Amp was a top of the range at the time and other than plugging in a DVD-RW a few years back and an XBox / Wii occasionally - any other buttons on the Amp or remote are hardly touched.

So what would be the benefit of the digital out in Zone 2 ?

Thanks,
Nick

[hyphen]

What do you mean by digital out? do you mean hdmi out? Then advantage is you can run video in two places.

Mainly used for people who have both a TV and a projector so can switch between two, but you could also run to a bedroom or kitchen.

Yamaha aventage have 3 zones with 2 hdmi outs. Denon Marantz high end have 3 hdmi outs.

If you want any resale value in the future, make sure it has as many of latest features such as Atmos/dts:x/hdmi 2.2/4k/hdmi2/arc as the game has moved on in last couple of years and even really good amps have dropped in value heavily since they didn't have these.

The new Aventage XX70 range has all been announced and the denon/marantz will also be getting some new modelsin the next months so expect some discounting on the current ones soon.

Edited by hyphen on Thursday 8th June 08:03

[nw28840]

Yes apologies for the verbiage, I'm so far behind in the AV game nowadays.

I can't see me actually using / needing this feature then - everything is in the same room.

I basically just want to watch movies using the surround sound and then listen to music using Zone 2.

Thanks,
Nick

[hyphen]

More than you need, but a well regarded amp from the yamaha flagship range. http://www.themovierooms.co.uk/used-graded-ex-demo...

All the big companies have clearance sections on their websites as well as Ebay listings of open box/ex-demo. I would just look through and find one you like with a return policy.

Edited by hyphen on Thursday 8th June 08:28

[nw28840]

Perfect , thanks.

[NorthDave]

nw28840 said:

Yes apologies for the verbiage, I'm so far behind in the AV game nowadays.

I can't see me actually using / needing this feature then - everything is in the same room.

I basically just want to watch movies using the surround sound and then listen to music using Zone 2.

Thanks,
Nick

Maybe look on AV forums at the second hand market? If you don't actually want Atmos you can probably pick up something very good for not much money.