MT-30:Which AV Receiver???

[admin_exported]

Hi, Any suggestions as to which AV amp I should go for to match my B&W MT-30 speaker set-up? I've just moved in and the kit is in a room more or less 3m x 3m square. TV is Philips 42PF9831 full HD and there's a Sky HD feed. Ideally I would get 3 HDMI in plus 2 out to allow me to drive a spare TV in the next room. Any suggestions gratefully considered.

 

[Andrew Everard]

We were doing so well until you mentioned the need for two HDMI outputs. To achieve that, you're looking at a very few receivers, the Onkyo TX-NR905 being the obvious example at about £1400.

The way round this is to use an HDMI splitter, allowing the signal to be fed to two displays - it might be much more cost-effective to spend £70 or so on a unit like this, which will take one HDMI input and feed it to two TVs.

But bear in mind that HDMI isn't great over long cable runs - if your other TV is more than about 10m from the AV receiver you may be pushing things a bit, unless you slot in a repeater or equaliser such as those here somewhere down the cable to boost the signal. Otherwise you may well get 'sparklies' - little glittery bits of interference on the picture - or the cliff effect, where the signal gets so weak you simply get no picture at all.

Anyway, use a splitter such as this, and you could use much more affordable receivers, which would drive the MT30s well. Obvious contenders are the Sony STR-DA5200ES and the Onkyo TX-SR875, which sell in the £800-£1000 range

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick response. Your comments on the second HDMI out are
certainly making me think, and I'm encouraged by the Sony
recommendation. I know it's been reviewed as a good piece of kit. I'll check out the splitters and have a re-think...

Thanks again!