2. home-theater
  3. 1399502481

best-ish integrated amp for movie and tv watching.

greetings to you as i am new to audiogon.

with a recent bonus at work i am looking to upgrade my home theater. right now i am running a pair of omen defs off of a marantz 5005. the thing is i don't have any interest in having a surround sound set up, so i was realizing that the extra channels in the avr are unneeded. i'd rather spend money on a QUALITY 2 channel rig. my budget is between 1 and 2 thousand dollars.

as of now i'm mostly watching movies and tv but i've also just inherited my fathers' collection of vinyl. so i'm also trying to find an amp with a decent phono section.

and finally this amp will be fed by an oppo bdp-105. i will be auditioning the units i can but i posted this so i could start heading in the right direction with any opinions or suggestions.

my list of potentials is this:

marantz pm-8004
marantz pm-15S2
rogue sphinx
harmon kardon 990
anthem 225
yamaha as2000
yamaha as1000

while i'm mostly watching movies i plan on putting more music in my life. so eventually it'll be a 75/25 split with movies still in the majority. i'd like an amp with a wide soundstage so i can enjoy big sounding movies like star trek and dredd.

i hope this rambling makes sense to some.
bokkus
bokkus OP
8 posts
 
when it comes to the weight of an integrated amp i like to think back to Jurassic Park...

Blood Sucking Lawyer: (looking at Tim holding the night vision helmet) IS IT HEAVY?

Tim: YEAH.

Blood Sucking Lawyer: THEN IT'S EXPENSIVE. PUT IT DOWN.
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
Well Bokkus, I wasn't really trying to convince you to go with the PM15S2 as much as I was simply answering your questions about it's extreme quality, lack of midrange control, and how compares to a PM8004. I still think you made a wise choice.

This is the amp that finally got me off the upgrade path and I plan on keeping it a long, long time. At nearly 41 lbs, I wouldn't want to move it anyway. Best of luck to you as you move forward.
manoterror
216 posts
 
I second the HK990. I was using it with my Mirage OMD-28s, and dual subwoofers, for TV and Music. It is a fantastic amp. I moved into a bigger house, and now have a full 5.2 setup, so am using a Pioneer Elite receiver for home theatre, but that HK990 isn't leaving my house. I use it as the anchor in my 2 channel system, driving Tannoy Definition DC8s. Tremendous synergy.

I think the reason it is such a good option is you have the ability to use room correction or not, and to use only portions of the correction if needed (low/mid/hi). To use an electronic crossover to a subwoofer if desired, the power to drive any speaker, a good DAC section and a good phono section if you need. I don't use the room correction with my Tannoys, but I absolutely had to with the big Mirage.

I will be moving into a tiny place in southern California in the next few years, and will have to downsize...the HK990 will be the amp I keep, of the 6 amps I currently own.

Hope that helps,
Mot
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