I am not sure what I want spec'd.. help!

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So,

I have a new Sony 4k TV and and baby on the way and myself and the mrs wants a solution for listening to the TV via bluetooth (when I want peace and when she wants peace).

Ideally I want a nice looking slim amp (maybe valve) with bluetooth connectivity. I have some speakers I would like to hook up and use for movies.

The killer is that I don't have a huge budget (<£150)

Any ideas what would be a good setup? is it even possible at this price range?

Thanks
Tone
 
See if you can find one of these second hand https://www.superfi.co.uk/p-17403-yamaha-rn602-networked-stereo-receiver.aspx

Valve amp with bluetooth is a non-starter. Valve amps @150 are not really worth bothering with anyway. They'll be cheap tat from china. Another option, again used, would be an AVR.

edit - this is 149 new - https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/av-receivers/denon-avrx-540-bt-blk.html not pretty, nor very slim. it'll offer all the connectivity you want, plus you can use the room correction on your speakers. Again an AVR but slimmer is the Marantz NR1504, you'd have to buy used if you can find one, as it's been replaced by a newer model.
 
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Aside from the cost of a tube/valve amp (or any amp for that matter), how exactly are you hoping to use Bluetooth?

While TVs and amps can- and do- have Bluetooth, it's usually a Bluetooth receiver rather than a transmitter. For example, most TVs with Bluetooth will accept a connection from a phone or tablet or other BT TX device, but they aren't set up to transmit to a BT-equipped amp or to BT headphones.

The other issues with BT are latency and restricted sound quality.

Latency isn't a problem when just listening to music from a phone. But when you're watching TV you don't really want the sound coming out with a noticeable lag compared to the pictures. There are better grades of Bluetooth devices that have less or even imperceptible lag. However, both TX and RX devices need to have that standard of hardware to get the benefit.

It's possible to buy plug-in TX adapters to send to BT headphones or some other receiver, but you then get in to "Does my TV have a headphone socket?" and "How do I control the volume if my headphones don't have that control?", so it's not a straightforward plug-n-play solution.

Most of us use Optical from the TV either direct to the amp, or via an optical to stereo phono adapter, then make sure to choose an amp with remote control for convenience.

BT also has a limit with sound quality, and that kind of undermines the whole reason for choosing a valve amp.

Finally, you say you have some speakers, but didn't give any detail. I have come across people wanting to use there old surround system or shelf system speakers with a proper amp. They're not always compatible. Often it's the Ohms rating; you're looking for 6-8 Ohms. Less than that can be a problem. Other times it's that the speakers aren't suitable because they're small satellite speaker with no midrange or bass. They need a subwoofer, but the sub that partnered them originally isn't designed to connect to a proper stereo amp.

We can help you with most of this, but only if you can supply some model numbers/Web links or some pictures if the stuff you have isn't locatable via a Web search.
 
Some of the Sony Soundbars come with a Bluetooth transmitter as well as receiver so you could look into them.
 
I was under the impression there are plenty of Bluetooth soundbars so connecting to headphones should be doable, no?

Then a physical output could be used to the amp.
 
Thanks for all your help guys.

Looks like I will get a bluetooth transmitter first and then when I have some more cash, get a decent AV amp.

Tone
 
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