Amp or Receiver

[admin_exported]

So I am thinking of buying an amp with a set of bookshelf speakers. I live in a small apartment and will be playing primarily my music that is on my hard drive (mp3 - higher quality). I have been narrowing down my choices to a marantz or a denon (other recommendations are welcome!) with probably the B&W 686 or the Monitor Audio BR2s.

However, a friend of mine got me thinking about whether or not to buy a receiver instead of just an amp, in case I want to upgrade to home theater in the future. If I choose to go with the receiver instead of just the amp, which models would you recommend, keeping in mind that my budget is only between US$1000 - $1200? I'd be buying the receiver along with one of the pairs of speakers mentioned above.

Cheers,

Keith

 

[hifikrazy]

First, I must say that your choice of media ie. mp3 hardly makes buying hi-fi amps or those hi-fi speakers you mentioned necessary. However, should you still wish to go ahead with those purchases, rather than just playing through some decent multimedia speakers, then my thoughts about the subject is this:

My listening experience has indicated that an AV Receiver is only comparable to a hi-fi amp of about half (or less) its price. So unless you are certain that you are going to use the Receiver's AV features, then I suggest that you save yourself some moolahs (or dosh, if you're British) and go for the hi-fi amp.