Using a stereo amp for movies

TALON1973

TALON1973

TALON1973

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Joined
28 Jul 2004
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llanelli , south wales
I was looking at getting a denon pma-600 to connect my TV and 4k player.

I've got some small mission cube speakers and a sub. I was going to go down 3.1 channel but I'm not sure if the extra centre speaker will be benificial, hence was looking at a stereo amp with optical and sub option.

Will i get issues with lyp sync issues when using tv/4k? Or am I better off getting a cheap av amp?
 
I might swap to a budget av amp instead. I’ve got till next month before I make my mind up anyway. Just won’t be above £300. That’s a strict budget. Although I am getting rid of my Sonos beam to mitigate the costs .
 
tom_nieto said:
If you don’t need video switching capabilities, go for a stereo integrated amp every time. £300 should get you a really nice one, especially second hand. Add a DAC if you’ve got digital sources and you’ll have a great setup. I’m using a stereo integrated amp and speakers for my main living room and have been for a while. I don’t miss the centre channel with the current setup. I do have an AV amp for video switching, but for the main room it’s totally out of the loop for audio, not even a pre amp stage as I use direct digital outputs from the sources directly to my DAC. There are definitely simpler ways to setup, but I don’t want to get rid of my Cyrus amp just yet!
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Well I’ve got 4 hdmi ports on the tv , 1 of which is the arc port. Atm I use a Sonos beam via arc. Devices is where it gets complicated . I’ve got a bt box, Apple TV box , Xbox one x and a Panasonic 4k player. So I’ve lost 1 hdmi for arc. 4 into 3 doesn’t go.

whichever amp I get, Optical and a sub pre out is a must. Having the centre channel would be preferable, but not essential . As long as I get a perfect sound sync from my tv to amp via optical that’s fine.
 
hornetstinger said:
You may want to use the speakers sometimes, in which case night mode is useful.

Personally is stick with a avr, I only have stereo with sub speakers in my upstairs pc system, and I wouldn't change it for a stereo amp. Even if it had hdmi inputs.

I have option to add extra speakers, maybe use some spare rears for gaming or videos to add some atmosphere. Can't so that with stereo amp
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Not an option.. I live at home with parents that are 77/78
 
stuman said:
The OP has a budget of ~£300 for an amp.

now, take that £300 and split it through 5 amplifier stages. Then the licence fees for DD, DTS etc, provide a DSP of some kind and loads of electronics to do the switching. You’re left with pittance to put into each channel.

What needs to be considered is; will the “lossless” codecs being decoded at the receiver end be more audible through the cube speakers or will the greater quality of the 2 channel amp / DAC with down mixing happening transport end provide a more resolute experience. (My money is on the later, but your mileage may vary).

some people may require all manner of inputs and specialties, but most I would imagine, will be more than catered for by a modern amplifier and tv.

Edit: thought I’d mention that the amp the OP posted has digital inputs (DAC) inbuilt.
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Ok I need to clarify something... musically I don’t really care. I’m trying to get something that’s better than the Sonos beam. I picked the cube setup as it was literally £125 for 5 speakers and a sub brand new ( it’s still available if you look online ).
I won’t be using all 5 speakers, but I’m trying work out what’s best for me in my budget for general sound.

if you actually check my sig that will show what my main hifi rig is. Which is right next to my seating position in the corner of my wall.
 
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hornetstinger said:
Since op doesn't care about sound, convience and connectivity could be more useful than put and out sound quality. The reason why I chose a avr over a arcam integrated I have already.
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That's slightly over simplifying what I said. I'm not fussed on it on the musical side. I'm not totally happy with the beam. The mission speakers came up and I fancied something different. I wasn't prepared to buy the sonos sub.

I want 2.1 or 3.1 max at this moment in time. If my circumstance change I'll have the spares.
 
Lol thanks lucid

my other option is the denon pma-30. It would do me as an cheap option for 18 months. I can never stay in one sound option for long. I’d use the other speakers or sell them at some point.
 
Ok .... just take make things clearer.... Everything gets used just as much as each other. Xbox and 4K and Apple TV 4K. Only music tends to be YouTube videos and the odd concert on disc. Netflix and NOWTV also via app on tv. I Rarely watch terrestrial standard tv.

im WAY out of the loop in regards subs. I assumed if I connected a stereo amp via optical that had a sub pre out I’d 2.1 for everything. Is that not the case ?
 
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hornetstinger said:
Stereo amps lack optical inputs. You would have stereo plus a sub, sub wil receive full range then you use the subs own crossover. Bass will be left and right summed into mini signal.


But it will lack the dedicated .1 lfe audio. As it won't be downmixed.drom the 5.1 mix.
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Stereo amps do have optical inputs ( some of them ) . That’s already been discussed.
 
I'd like to thank all those that have contributed to this thread. Much appreciated.

I think I'm going down the Onkyo TX-L20D route. While I have extra speakers that I won't be using I quite like what the onkyo does. And has things I hadn't really considered as options before.
 
lucid said:
But not relevant to the OP's enquiry unless you know for sure that they own a 4K player with 6ch out.

Lots of things are possible in theory, but let's try to stick with the practical when dealing with enquiries unless an OP requests otherwise.
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you missed my post before you lucid.... I do have the panny ub820 ... although tbh as I wasn’t thinking 5.1 I never mentioned it. And as it’s been so long since I had 5.1 I forgot the ub820 has the outputs .
 
Lol sorry. My entire av side is 4k viewing wise... I just don't have 5.1.

And in regards your 2nd part.... I need to read this all again as I skimmed most of it. Too much booze being off... I'll have a proper read when I wake up.
 
Well first impressions..... Are not good.

The hdmi arc, going by what I can work out ONLY works with all things connected to the HDMI INS.

If you use the built in TV tuner and streaming apps it works. But I was kind of hoping it would work the same as the sonos beam, with the beam doing arc to the tv and everything else just connecting as normal via hdmi to tv.

Now unless I'm missing something, that won't work. Anybody got suggestions?

Also when I connect my panny ub820 the lip sync is out, and also the onkyo only does hdr... So I lose Dolby vision.

If I can get the onkyo to just work with sound I'll keep it. Will try just using optical to see if that works.

Frustrated atm.
 
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