2nd hand Atmos amp?

glenimp617

glenimp617

glenimp617

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Hi,

I've been out of the AV game for years so I've no idea what's good these days. My trusty 9yr old Samsung TV has just given up the ghost so bought a new one this week. Now I fancy sorting out the sound.

We have speaker wire already inside the walls from when the house was first built so I'd like to make use of them as they've been dangling down for the past 15yrs lol

The TV sits in the middle of the wall so I'm thinking of putting the front left, right and centre speakers near the TV, rears at the back on the walls and front atmos speakers at the front on the walls.

I'm looking on ebay at second hand stuff and have seen a full set of 5.1 kef eggs in excellent condition for £100, so I'm thinking of buying those, adding an extra pair and then I just need to find an amp.

any ideas?
 
something like yamaha a2a, denon 1700/2800.

Another thing you could do is buy Kef Q standmounts, upgrade your L/R then use your existing Eggs as front height 5.1.2

Are you wanting 5.1.2 or 7.1.2? Because for latter you'll need a higher end AVR with more amp channels
 
5.1.2 I think will be plenty. I'm coming from years worth of listening to TV speakers, so literally anything will be a massive upgrade.

The only thing I'm unsure about (other than what to buy) is the cable situation. Years ago everything was a simple toslink optical cable, but now I think atmos needs HDMI. The new TV has Google TV OS which I'd like to use for the apps, but I'm not sure how I can get the sound from the TV to the amp? Does HDMI work both ways?

:edit: ok, I'm learning, HDMI ARC?
 
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I have a Denon AVR-X2200W that I got second hand here some time ago that does 5.1.2 with Atmos and can utilise ARC (but I’ve since abandoned the outdated TV apps and use an Apple TV now). So I’d say anything of that age or newer is likely to support what you’re after.
 
glenimp617 said:
Hi,

I've been out of the AV game for years so I've no idea what's good these days. My trusty 9yr old Samsung TV has just given up the ghost so bought a new one this week. Now I fancy sorting out the sound.

We have speaker wire already inside the walls from when the house was first built so I'd like to make use of them as they've been dangling down for the past 15yrs lol

The TV sits in the middle of the wall so I'm thinking of putting the front left, right and centre speakers near the TV, rears at the back on the walls and front atmos speakers at the front on the walls.

I'm looking on ebay at second hand stuff and have seen a full set of 5.1 kef eggs in excellent condition for £100, so I'm thinking of buying those, adding an extra pair and then I just need to find an amp.

any ideas?
Click to expand...

Wow those Kef eggs were my first set of 5.1 speakers. The subwoofer blew when I was watching the "Straight Outa Compton" movie years ago.....
 
Is Atmos available on streaming services? Sorry, I've no idea. If not, and assuming that you don't have a 4k player, buying an amp with that capability seems a little pointless.

It also sounds like you're trying to keep the budget to sensible levels.
Might be better to ignore Atmos for the time being, and focus on the previous gen of AV amps, which will be both cheaper, and not require you to conduct work on the ceiling.

I had a pair of the larger Eggs some time back. Can't say that I was that impressed. Some decent s/h stereo speakers easily outperformed them, and for little difference in cost. The only potential benefit might be the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Is Atmos available on streaming services? Sorry, I've no idea. If not, and assuming that you don't have a 4k player, buying an amp with that capability seems a little pointless.

It also sounds like you're trying to keep the budget to sensible levels.
Might be better to ignore Atmos for the time being, and focus on the previous gen of AV amps, which will be both cheaper, and not require you to conduct work on the ceiling.

I had a pair of the larger Eggs some time back. Can't say that I was that impressed. Some decent s/h stereo speakers easily outperformed them, and for little difference in cost. The only potential benefit might be the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).
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yeah I agree with that, I'd update his system, get a newish 5.1 amp, new speakers. Paying the extra for a new atmos amp, with more channels of decoding/amplification.
Kef Eggs are ok as the atmos heights but I'd certainly upgrade them, then re-use the eggs for atmos or move to a bedroom system

Once he's got the speakers, sub, amp, then save up for new AVR and atmos speakers, that's if he has content.

atmos does add some ambiance, but I'd rather have better quality 4.1, 5.1 or 7.1 system then a budget satellite 7.1.4 system.
 
Atmos has depended a lot on the content for me. I fitted speakers in the ceiling for it as well. Some movies have an excellent mix which adds that overhead dimension. MOST content though, it's extremely subtle. It is available through streaming services, pretty much all the ones I use.

I agree that a decent 5.1 is a good first step, possibly the only step, but you will miss something from the best mixed atmos content. The amp I have can also up-mix 5.1 to 5.1.2 and it does a reasonable job to 'fill' the sound out, but it is just blending other channels into the height channel, nothing special.

I would even say, depending on what you want to watch, 3.1 is a sweet spot if you use all your budget to get better speakers and amp. It's basically stereo, plus LFE and then a centre channel for dialogue. The latter two are for movies and modern content. I find without the centre the dialogue is always too low, and artificial attempts to boost it ruin the dynamic range.
 
whatever I buy, I don't want to have to sell and upgrade in the future so ideally a model which supports atmos would be good. I've seen a few around the £250-£300 range so that would be ok.
happy to stick with 5.1 now and buy more speakers later if needed though.

£500 would be perfect, but if there's a bargain to be had on something I can spend a bit more if needed
 
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glenimp617 said:
Denon x2800h tends to go for around 400-450 on eBay
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This is the direction I am likely going in, I have a set of Eggs and a Onkyo SR606 from years ago and am putting together a room that needs to serve as a family lounge, cinema/TV/music/gaming space with 65" TV and laser projector doing 130" ish. Initial idea is to upgrade amp, live with eggs in 5.1 short term and then upgrade speakers as I go. That said, plans are quite fluid, new corner unit arrived yesterday and i've already had to change my approach :eek:
 
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