Stereo amp advice

dbmzk1

dbmzk1

dbmzk1

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I'm probably going to be getting some floorstanding speakers for my chill out room. Thinking something along the lines of Q Acoustics 2050i's.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/q-acoustics/2050i-gr/qaco-2050i-graph

However I'm looking for stereo amp to go with them only I don't know anything about amps to be honest. Ideally it should be as small as possible and have 2 optical inputs (to connect 1x TV, 1x Chromecast), with a remote control. I can't think of any other features it would need to have.

I'm no audiophile, but I can appreciate a decent quality sound. Ideally looking for as cheap as possible, but I'm willing to spend more if needed.
 
If you want optical inputs, you'll either need a dac to go with the amp, or you'll need to look at amps with a built in dac, which is going to be several hundred quid more expensive than a basic stereo amp.

I don't know too much about Q Acoustics but if you are set on them I'd ask Richer Sounds to demo them alongside a few different amps to see which you prefer the sound of, then pick up a little dac separately.
 
Seems strange not many offer digital inputs. Wouldn't a cheap DAC defeat the point of having a decent system in the first place? Might as well just use a analog out of the TV & Chromecast rather than the digital.

Ignoring the requirement for the optical inputs then, which would be a good amp to satisfy my other criteria?

EDIT: The Denon PMA50 looks perfect, but I don't think it's powerful enough :(
 
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Those Q acoustics speakers are 6 ohms so the power output from that denon is going to be between 30 and 50W. With 92dB@1W efficiency on the speakers, your maximum theoretical output would be approximately 107dB @ 32W. This is actually slightly pessimistic as it is in anechoic conditions and only takes one speaker into account. For a 3dB gain in output, the input power needs to double.

Put simply, 30W is plenty powerful enough for quality listening and easily capable of damaging your hearing. You'd only need more if you were powering fairly inefficient speakers or you are trying to produce significant dB in a massive room. (bigger than the average living room)
 
What's your budget? Have you considered second hand kit? You'd be more likely to get something made my a renown hi-fi manufacturer like Linn, Cyrus, Rega, Rotel etc etc. Stereo amplification hasn't really changed in quite a few years and a well built older amp will still sound excellent. Couple this with a DAC from a good manufacturer for digital inputs and you're away.

I use a Beresford Bushmaster DAC, however this doesn't have a USB input, which I think is a bit of an oversight in the modern world. It does music, TV and film beautifully from Apple TV and Virgin Media using optical, but in the future I think most things will go USB.
 
Kei said:
Those Q acoustics speakers are 6 ohms so the power output from that denon is going to be between 30 and 50W. With 92dB@1W efficiency on the speakers, your maximum theoretical output would be approximately 107dB @ 32W. This is actually slightly pessimistic as it is in anechoic conditions and only takes one speaker into account. For a 3dB gain in output, the input power needs to double.

Put simply, 30W is plenty powerful enough for quality listening and easily capable of damaging your hearing. You'd only need more if you were powering fairly inefficient speakers or you are trying to produce significant dB in a massive room. (bigger than the average living room)
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That's interesting. You think they'd make a good match?

tom_nieto said:
What's your budget? Have you considered second hand kit? You'd be more likely to get something made my a renown hi-fi manufacturer like Linn, Cyrus, Rega, Rotel etc etc. Stereo amplification hasn't really changed in quite a few years and a well built older amp will still sound excellent. Couple this with a DAC from a good manufacturer for digital inputs and you're away.

I use a Beresford Bushmaster DAC, however this doesn't have a USB input, which I think is a bit of an oversight in the modern world. It does music, TV and film beautifully from Apple TV and Virgin Media using optical, but in the future I think most things will go USB.
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I'd rather not go second hand. I'd like to spend no more than about £350ish.

silverblack said:
I would go for a Yamaha R-N602 has the added benefit of having wifi and bluetooth built in.Some nice deals too with speakers.

http://www.audio-express.co.uk/hotdeal.php?HOTDEAL=YAM_RN602&ae=1
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I've a Chromecast Audio for streaming/casting stuff so don't really need a networked one. Plus it's massive.
 
dbmzk1 said:
That's interesting. You think they'd make a good match?
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That is more difficult to assess. Power wise, it is certainly going to be capable of ample loudness. Beyond that, you would need to demo it to get an idea of how the combination sounds vs other amplifiers within the budget. It's class D for a start so people will claim that there will be a difference between how it sounds vs class AB amps.
 
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surely the quality of sound coming out is dependent on the source? Is there much point in throwing 350 quid at a stereo amp and another 350 at speakers when the source is streaming content from a chromecast?
I've got chromecasts into very cheap systems and there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between that and my proper stereo setup (but it's ageing a good bit so might be talking nonsense)
 
james.miller said:
well the chromecast audio has an spdif output so you an bypass the pretty capable analogue output if that's your worry.
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That's why I wanted 2 optical inputs really, 1 for the TV in there and the other for the Chromecast, without messing around with separate DACs. The analogue out of the Chromecast is decent enough though as you said so it's not really make or break, would just be better haha.

Think I'm just going to run the speakers off my av amp in the other room for now via it's second zone feature until I can figure out what the best solution is.
 
dbmzk1 said:
That's why I wanted 2 optical inputs really, 1 for the TV in there and the other for the Chromecast, without messing around with separate DACs. The analogue out of the Chromecast is decent enough though as you said so it's not really make or break, would just be better haha.

Think I'm just going to run the speakers off my av amp in the other room for now via it's second zone feature until I can figure out what the best solution is.
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Umm... this might actually be your best solution if connectivity is the be all and end all? Which AV amp do you have? Whilst it won't be as good as a separate stereo amp, you're quite limited on budget for new kit if you're including a separate DAC or an amp with digital inputs.
 
tom_nieto said:
Umm... this might actually be your best solution if connectivity is the be all and end all? Which AV amp do you have? Whilst it won't be as good as a separate stereo amp, you're quite limited on budget for new kit if you're including a separate DAC or an amp with digital inputs.
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Really don't want a million different boxes and gadgets around just to connect everything up. It's bad enough needing things like a Chromecast!

I've an Onkyo TX-SR607.
 
I use a Denon RCD-N9, it's a mini system really but also has spotify connect. Sounds great to me with Q acoustic 3020s. Costs around £270.

Seems to have everything you need...and possibly more :)
 
Sweetloaf said:
I use a Denon RCD-N9, it's a mini system really but also has spotify connect. Sounds great to me with Q acoustic 3020s. Costs around £270.

Seems to have everything you need...and possibly more :)
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I was just looking at the Marantz M-CR611 actually, similar kind of system. The Pioneer XC-HM86D looks nice too.

The stereo amp market seems a complete mess to be honest!
 
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dbmzk1 said:
I was just looking at the Marantz M-CR611 actually, similar kind of system. Also the Pioneer XCHM8xD look good too.

The stereo amp market seems a complete mess to be honest!
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Don't think there's much to call between the Denon and Marantz really. Both have Subwoofer outputs as well which may be handy at a later date if it's for a TV setup.
I think Denon and Marantz are the same company these days so they are probably the same unit in a different box :).
The Denon was smaller and cheaper iirc but you could look at the Marantz M-CR511 which has no CD player if you don't need one. Might be less powerful though, can't quite recall while I was going round in circles looking at all of them!
 
Sweetloaf said:
Don't think there's much to call between the Denon and Marantz really. Both have Subwoofer outputs as well which may be handy at a later date if it's for a TV setup.
I think Denon and Marantz are the same company these days so they are probably the same unit in a different box :).
The Denon was smaller and cheaper iirc but you could look at the Marantz M-CR511 which has no CD player if you don't need one. Might be less powerful though, can't quite recall while I was going round in circles looking at all of them!
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Yea they are the same company and looking at them I think you're right, both seem pretty much identical in specs. But the Denon is £60 cheaper!

Interesting!
 
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