[western120]

@ obobskivich: is there any specefic 2.0 standard amplifier that you have in mind?

 

[Bmac]

My advice would be look for a cheap integrated amp. Here are all IA's at Audiogon under $150.

Search results

They're almost all sold right now so it looks like if you want one of these you would have to move quickly, but there is (was) a Carver and Arcam there that would probably sound way better than any similarly priced receiver. If you want vintage there is a vintage Pioneer and Marantz there for $50 that would probably fit the bill.

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif Onkyo's entry level stereo receiver can be had for around 150$ or so. I think thats the best option in that price range.

I heard their entries aren't very good

 

[gevorg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why buy av amp for just stereo system? If he's not getting home theatre system. A standard amp will blow the doors off av amp for sound quality.

These generalizations are not always true, especially at the low price range. A receiver gives more flexibility and features so you don't have to buy more equipment later on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by western120 /img/forum/go_quote.gif the specification states: Power: 75 W + 75 W (8 ohms, 20 Hz-20KHz) The speaker state Power Output: 120 Watts @ 8 Ohm so would the amplifier be able to drive the speakers...???

Yes, the 120watts on the speakers is their max not min.

 

[iriverdude]

Quote:

These generalizations are not always true, especially at the low price range.

Even more relevant, low end av amps are even more cheaply made. Forget high quality components. Bottom of the range av amps are suitable just to get you going but if he's spending a couple of hundred quid on speakers, I think should match it with something better.

At least with a budget integrated amp they're still half decent. I think my sig is appropriate here.

Quote:

A receiver gives more flexibility and features so you don't have to buy more equipment later on.

Jack of all trades, master of none.

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even more relevant, low end av amps are even more cheaply made. Forget high quality components. Bottom of the range av amps are suitable just to get you going but if he's spending a couple of hundred quid on speakers, I think should match it with something better. At least with a budget integrated amp they're still half decent. I think my sig is appropriate here. Jack of all trades, master of none.

X2, agreed

low end AV recievers/amps will never deliever their rated power all channels driven (don't care how much you love the manufacturer, believe the manufacturer, worship the manufacturer, or cry about it, its just not gonna happen), they're selling a big lot of "tech" like digital decoding, input switching, and oh yeah by the way it can have speakers plugged into it

a decent stereo reciever is a better route if the amplifier quality actually matters to you, and will cost about the same

as far as a "specific model in mind", theres so many options out there, especially if you add used equipment into the equation, I'd find something "good"

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Sup /img/forum/go_quote.gif I heard their entries aren't very good

I have one, and its pretty good, and I know quite a few people who are quite happy with it considering the price you can get it for. The whole audio snob thing is most evident in the amplifier department. A person coming with a budget of 150$ is being given a lot of information he doesnt need.

To the OP, if you want a good system, you can do much much worse than the onkyo stereo receivers. They are good, they can drive well, and dont have any glaring issues. Anyone coming and giving you suggestions for 500$ is just a snob, if he has the money great, good for him, but you are trying to get the most out of what you have. Will a 500$ amp beat the onkyo? Surely! but I doubt anything in the 150$ price range can match the feautures, build quality and sound of the onkyo. And it comes with a built in phono pre amp as well.

And .sup, have you heard one btw? I'm sick and tired of hearing these "I hear it sounds bad" comments. Unless you have heard one yourself with some decent speakers and have compared it to something in the same price range you are just trolling.

 

[iriverdude]

Quote:

Have you heard one btw?

I've got a £400 av amp, for stereo it's not very good. It's been moved to the PC audio system. And even then it's only used for surround duties, I've got a Hi-Fi amp for the main channels. And I'm not too fussed about the PC audio system it's not that great. Shows how much I think about av amps

Quote:

a decent stereo reciever

Actually if you're a Audiophile you won't get a receiver due to noisy tuner, you'd get a integrated amplifier and buy a external tuner.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

If you are an audiophile, you try and get the best with whatever budget you have and in this case, I'd like to know which integrated amp the OP can buy for 150$ that can make significant improvement without compromising the other features on a stereo receiver.

Give a break dude, if you have the money, great, no one's asking a person with 1k budget to get a stereo receiver, its the budget in the OP's case that led to the whole discussion and discussing why a 400$ amp might be better than a 150$ stereo receiver is completely irrelevant.

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually if you're a Audiophile you won't get a receiver due to noisy tuner, you'd get a integrated amplifier and buy a external tuner.

yeah yeah yeah, and you'll also have cable lifters, acoustic resonators, thousand dollar a foot speaker cable, and a Tice clock in the bedroom

IA's are relatively hard to find compared to a decent stereo reciever, and the point here is "good enough", not "we gotta be better than all the world over"

at $150, buying a new Onkyo stereo reciever (jilgijongiljing, you're talking about a STEREO reciever, not their 5.1 or 7.1 for $150 unit, there is a difference here) is probably the "best" route if you must purchase NEW equipment, although if you go out and find some used equipment, for around $150 you can find a nice used reciever (or IA

(or if you're REALLY lucky, preamp/amp combo

))

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you are an audiophile, you try and get the best with whatever budget you have and in this case, I'd like to know which integrated amp the OP can buy for 150$ that can make significant improvement without compromising the other features on a stereo receiver.

QFT
honestly the only unit I could think of would be the Pioneer A-35R, its the only integrated amp in that price range (ish, and its not for sale new at anywhere I'd shop)

like I said, for new purchases, there isn't really competition (yeah you can throw different brands around, Yamaha, Onkyo, Sony, and h/k all make ~$150 stereo recievers with ~same features), but if you go and look at used equipment, thats a whole different ballpark

 

[iriverdude]

Or maybe he could buy a cheap as chips 5.1 home theatre in a box? They're available for £150. Some are even cheaper, some PC 5.1 systems are about £30. And please use the correct terminology. A integrated amp and stereo receiver are the same thing except the latter has a built in tuner. Both are strereo only.

I'd rather use a 25W budget stereo integrated amp £150 then this £400 av amp for stereo Hi-Fi. To get a av amp / av receiver sounding similar in quality you need to triple the price.

Since this is a 'phone forum it's like someone saying a 5.1 headphone will more or less be identical in sound quality to a stereo pair of phones. They won't.

Quote:

IA's are relatively hard to find compared to a decent stereo reciever

Stereo receiver's are actually quite rare in UK, IA are most common.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Thanks obob, finally someone who is reasonable and realistic.

Good luck trying to find a good used IA for 150 bucks. Its like finding a stellar vintage turntable on Ebay for 50 bucks, some ppl have found one and were lucky, but you can't count on it and you might end up waiting a long time without any luck.

Iriverdude, please post some examples, you keep arguing without stating any models or brand names, its just a blind argument. I would really like to know what you are talking about finding a good IA that can outperform the Onkyo 2channel for 150 bucks. And I'd like to know where you hear this noise? Is it like hissing noise? Static? or like the one you hear on a dusty old record? I can pump up the volume way over the usual listening levels without playing music and I can't hear any hissing, I can't hear any distortion when playing music either, so where is this noise coming from?

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif And please use the correct terminology. A integrated amp and stereo receiver are the same thing except the latter has a built in tuner. Both are strereo only.

yeah doggy! lets cry and whine for sure!! and its "AV reciever" not "AV amp", an "AV amp" is like a Rotel or Classe multi-channel box

as far as the whine and cry about "well just get an HTIB", quit yer bitchin, nobody is talking about that, we're just not 100% agreeing with you, because you're being mighty unrealistic



Quote:

Stereo receiver's are actually quite rare in UK, IA are most common.

see, I don't doubt in some areas they're easier to find, everywhere I've lived, they're pretty rare
if you go into big-box retailers, like Best Buy, you're looking at HTIBs, Bose systems, and mid-range recievers, and if you go into hi-fi/audiophile shops, its just separates (McIntosh, Wavac, Mark Levinson, NHT, etc)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing Iriverdude, please post some examples

good luck with this, we've all been trying since he joined to make him argue things logically, instead of creating a straw man (but you know, he's right, and we're all wrong (and he's only here to "save the world from idiots like us"

(and yes these are both quotes from him)))

IBTL, and inb4 he tells someone to "upgrade their source" or "upgrade their amp", because he has "high source" or "high amp" and they don't

 

[iriverdude]

Quote:

I can pump up the volume way over the usual listening levels without playing music and I can't hear any hissing

Noise as in RF inside the case. Have you noticed the tuners are encased in a alumnium case? Same for VCR's. The tuner section can affect the other delicate components. So if you want the best you'd buy a stereo integrated amp and use a tuner in another unit. Much like those who buy stereo pre-amps and poweramps, rather than a stereo integrated amp.

Quote:

I can't hear any distortion when playing music either

Hi-Fi amps generally have more stable poweramps, the cheaper av amps are incapable of delivering rated output to all channels simultaneously. The same reason why some people buy monoblocs, all channels are seperate. If mains are blasting out other channels are totally unaffected.


Quote:

and its "AV reciever"

A AV receiver is a av amp with a tuner built in. If it doesn't have a tuner, it's not a receiver. AV receivers are more available in the UK but like I said stereo receiver's aren't.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Maybe you should cover all your equipment in ERS paper like some other member here on headfi cos this noise that doesnt affect my music in anyway seems to bother you and your "delicate components" so much.

monoblocs? why would you even bring that up in a thread about a 150$ amp?