Which Amp to get?

Sukh · 15 Sep 2009 at 22:06

Ok so aside from the Yamaha 1900, what is good in the range at this budget?

I've been on Richer sounds and found a few, done lots of reading on here, but I know its dependent on speakers and stuff so I though I could get some advice on my particular situation.

The speakers are currently 5 KEF KHT 9000 and have an impedence of 8 ohms.

I know the Yammy is widely regarded as the best, but I would like to onsider others and know if they suit my speakers.

Other contenders:

Pioneer VSX1019
Yamada RVX1065
Onkyo 807
AVR 2310

Also keep in mind we will be investing in a new subwoofer soon as well.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate some of those amps are cheaper, but wanted to know if they would have a significant disadvantage?

milkinc13 · 16 Sep 2009 at 19:04

me personally i'd go for the onkyo as it has THX, and at a decent price for that.

RSR · 16 Sep 2009 at 19:27

To be honest THX doesnt mean a lot these days. You can even get THX approved speakers for you PC. I personally find Onkyos very crashy with there sound repoduction. Out of the ones you listed id recommend looking at the Denon or Yammy.

Andy

Things change I've changed · 16 Sep 2009 at 20:58

Are you using this amp mainly for surround sound ? because if you would also like to enjoy stereo music then I personally think that the Denon would give you the best performance in that area, I actually think that the Denon is the best all rounder tbh, but then it does depend if they like the Denon sound, I would say that in order of warmth it would be Denon>Yammy>Onkyo>Pioneer (which needs to be matched with your speakers), I personally like warmer, richer sounding amps but at the same time they tend to sound less dynamic in surround, purely for surround I'd probably recommend the Onkyo, but I'm not a great fan of them because of how hot they run and also not a fan of their stereo performance.

Sukh · 16 Sep 2009 at 22:25

Thanks for the advice, we are coming from a Pioneer AX10is, so its a bit of a step down and I've been told on AVforums that without spending a lot more than £800 I won't get anywhere near the quality again.

But nevertheless, it is used for TV on a daily basis via Sky HD and movie watching for blu-rays etc.

I've heard a few bad things about onkyo video processing, and don't much care for THX, because as stated above it is almost meaningless today.