TV stereo sound output

[john_1983]

I bought a TV to hang in the garage last year, to replace a projector I used to use. The projector was connected to an old Denon M40 all-in-one box, and a pair of old floorstanders.

The TV doesn't have an RCA output, so I've currently got the optical audio output through a converter, to the Denon. I'm now wondering if I'd be better with an amp with either an optical, or HDMI-ARC input so I don't need the converter.

I'm pondering something like these:

https://www.richersounds.com/tangent-ampster-bt-ii...
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-mc351-blac...

One has optical, the other has optical and HDMI ARC. What would I be best with? Previously I've had issues with small amps not going loud enough in there - it's a 3-car garage, so fairly big and I need the volume up enough to hear the TV over the top of the treadmill when I'm on it.

I don't need an amp with loads of features, just the ability to put the TV sound in stereo

[Oberheim]

I'd go the HDMI ARC route, so the Tangent Ampster would be my pick of those two. 50 watts into 4 Ohm isn't particularly powerful though; given you're listening to the TV/amp/speakers in a largeish space with treadmill noise, you'd likely going to want to crank the volume pretty high (depending to an extent on the sensitivity of your speakers) to have decent volume, which could lead to clipping/distortion with a relatively weedy amp.

The Wiim Amp Pro, though more expensive, also has an HDMI ARC input and significantly more power for your speakers, along with great streaming/Bluetooth functionality for times when you might want to have music in your garage rather than TV sound.

[john_1983]

Oberheim said:

I'd go the HDMI ARC route, so the Tangent Ampster would be my pick of those two. 50 watts into 4 Ohm isn't particularly powerful though; given you're listening to the TV/amp/speakers in a largeish space with treadmill noise, you'd likely going to want to crank the volume pretty high (depending to an extent on the sensitivity of your speakers) to have decent volume, which could lead to clipping/distortion with a relatively weedy amp.

The Wiim Amp Pro, though more expensive, also has an HDMI ARC input and significantly more power for your speakers, along with great streaming/Bluetooth functionality for times when you might want to have music in your garage rather than TV sound.

Thanks. I've actually got a WiiM ultra at the other end of the garage, connected to an amp and a set of B&Ws for music stuff - the layout the way it is, I can't use the one amp to do both jobs as the speakers are in different places due to the garage being L-shaped.

The floorstanders used for the TV are an old pair of Acoustic Energy Aegis 2. The current setup works, so I don't want to spend too much just making it a bit more convenient without the optical converter

[Oberheim]

A quick search tells me your Aegis 2s are easy to drive, so the Tangent amp should be fine at 50 W into 4 Ohm. I prefer HDMI ARC to optical for AV systems because it supports more audio formats, but for sound output from the TV into a simple stereo amp, optical connectivity is all you need and HDMI ARC doesn't really offer any advantages in your use case. I'm now thinking that the Fosi amp might be the better bet, as it has more power than the Tangent.

[john_1983]

Oberheim said:

A quick search tells me your Aegis 2s are easy to drive, so the Tangent amp should be fine at 50 W into 4 Ohm. I prefer HDMI ARC to optical for AV systems because it supports more audio formats, but for sound output from the TV into a simple stereo amp, optical connectivity is all you need and HDMI ARC doesn't really offer any advantages in your use case. I'm now thinking that the Fosi amp might be the better bet, as it has more power than the Tangent.

Thanks, appreciated

[mk2 24v]

Why not just optical from the TV straight in to the Denon?
The M40 has 2 optical inputs on the back

[john_1983]

mk2 24v said:

Why not just optical from the TV straight in to the Denon?
The M40 has 2 optical inputs on the back

It might be an M39 I have, I've had a few over the years so I'll need to check - I noticed the M40 had an optical input when I did a quick google

[mk2 24v]

I only mention, as I've a M38 and that has toslink optical input

[john_1983]

mk2 24v said:

I only mention, as I've a M38 and that has toslink optical input

Turns out it is an M40, and has optical input. I hadn't noticed as I originally had an old NAD amp connected up which I needed the optical/RCA connector to use, and I just connected the Denon up the same way, never looked too closely at the back of it.

That's saved me buying a new amp, happy days