An audio integrated amp or AV amp.. What will work for my requirements?

[nomadicbry]

Hi all,

Back in the market for a new amp after my arcam shorted yet again.

all the kit is pretty old now but served me well.

so I currently have a set of Rogers LS55 floor standers with an Arcam CD (model escapes me about 6 years old bottom of range)

i also now after a TV upgrade have a Samsung D6900 with 3D plasma 1080 smart ethernet connected TV with no audio outs but optical and hdmi in and out connections

Also have a panasonic BR with HDMI, ethernet and audio outs

The amp will be used for watching Digital TV/movies/BBCiPlayer as well as to listen to music (probably AV 70% Audio 30%). very occasionally CDs and vinyl but mostly music from my laptop recorded in both flac and MP3

I have no intention of seting up surround sound in the living room and the sound will only be stereo

Music taste ranges across the full spectrum.

So, can an integrated audio amp cope with the inputs above and sound better than an AV amp if used in two channels only or do i need to get a AV amp to do everything required?

Budget is roungly £400-£500. Have been reading good things about the new ONKYO TX-NR609 for an AV amp and still need to research integrated hifi amps.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Bryan

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Bryan,

For convenience, you would be better off buying an AV receiver, as your componets will just plug straight in and all switching will be done automatically.

For sound quality, you would be better off buying a decent stereo amplifier. Your problem is going to be making the connections to your existing gear.

For a 2 channel setup, you will need to buy a DAC and an integrated amplifier. I have just changed my Arcam AVR350 for a Dacmagic and Marantz PM6004 and the sound quality on both TV and music is much improved.

The downside is convenience, as I now need to manually switch the Dacmagic input over to change from music to TV.

The other option is to buy an amp with digital and analogue inputs - effectively a 2 channel AVR.

I think that there are a couple of integrated amps with digital inputs available now Onkyo tx-8050 or maybe this one at £660

http://www.audiosanctum.co.uk/Integrated-Amplifiers/XTZ-Class-A-100-D3-Integrated-Stereo-Amplifier-Black.html

I hope this helps,

Martin