Moving from stereo to full AV setup

[Kyle]

Hi all,

I need some advice regards to purchasing an AV amp.

I've always had a stereo setup, but have now decided to take the plunge into multi channel. What I don't want to do though is spend a fortune on it as I'm still more interested in music than movies.

I have a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 6's and I've already decided that I'm going to buy the rest of the bronze line up to create the 5.1 setup. I've set myself a budget of £300 (ish). but even with that small budget, it needs to be future proof enough to last me a while, which means I need a few features...

I want the AV amp to have pre-out so I can keep the front speakers connected to my stereo amp & still use that amp for CD & turntable. I'd also like 4K upscaling, 3D, wifi (for NAS streaming) & ideally AirPlay too...!

I'm not fussy about any new audio formats like atmos or the like as I'll never have more than a 5.1 setup. But a separate stereo second room might be useful too...

any advice on what would fit the bill? New or used...

Cheers!

 

[Kyle]

Would that give me Pre out and multi room together?

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Depends on the receiver you buy.

You need to do your own research and decide what's best for you.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Hi all,

I need some advice regards to purchasing an AV amp.

I've always had a stereo setup, but have now decided to take the plunge into multi channel. What I don't want to do though is spend a fortune on it as I'm still more interested in music than movies.

I have a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 6's and I've already decided that I'm going to buy the rest of the bronze line up to create the 5.1 setup. I've set myself a budget of £300 (ish). but even with that small budget, it needs to be future proof enough to last me a while, which means I need a few features...

I want the AV amp to have pre-out so I can keep the front speakers connected to my stereo amp & still use that amp for CD & turntable. I'd also like 4K upscaling, 3D, wifi (for NAS streaming) & ideally AirPlay too...!

I'm not fussy about any new audio formats like atmos or the like as I'll never have more than a 5.1 setup. But a separate stereo second room might be useful too...

any advice on what would fit the bill? New or used...

Cheers!

Most receivers will have pre-amp or Zone 2 "outs" so you can connect the "outs" from your receiver to the "Aux" or "AV" inputs on the back of your stereo amp.

After that the choice is yours, but I would look at receivers that have Dolby Digital HD Pro or newer, and if you can stretch to it buy one that is 7.1 (Dolby HD parlance) or 5.1.2 (Atmos parlance).

I would look at an Onkyo TX-NR636 as a modest starting point, and there's two or three used ones going on, ahem, "a well known internet auction website" for under 200 quid right now. The 636 is Atmos compatible, has 4K pass-through and is HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2. compliant, so pretty future proof. You can use the "Zone 2" outs to feed into your "proper stereo" amp.

No doubt others will suggest Pioneer Marantz, Denon, etc. etc. alternatives. I just like Onkyo stuff.

EDIT - I read on a review somewhere else that the Onkyo receivers aren't 100% HDCP 2.2 compatible, but use some sort of half-way fudge. Be careful what you buy or wait until the 2016 models come out, in, erm, 2016.

 

[Leeps]

Would that give me Pre out and multi room together?

For multi-room options, there are a number of different ways to do this.

Many receivers have a Zone 2 option, but look carefully at the specs for this with each machine. Most AV receivers will not play HDMI sources to the zone 2. That may or may not be important to you. Zone 2 solutions do involve running speaker wire from your AV receiver to your second room: not everyone would want that.

Another option is Yamaha's MusicCast system. Look out for the MusicCast logo on their products. It offers a sort of Sonos-like functionality to a wide variety of their products. So you could have a MusicCast enabled AV receiver in your living room, a small MusicCast boombox in the kitchen and a MusicCast mini hifi in the bedroom for example. All comtrolled to work separately or in unison by a smart-phone / tablet app. This is a music-only option for secondary zones.

Alternatively (and this option could go well over budget for you) get a Sonos Connect for any make of AV receiver, which would add multi-room functionality with Sonos products in other rooms. This is also a music-only option for secondary zones.