Amp/Preamp or AVR for home stereo and entertainment
Looking to get an AVR or amp/preamp setup to go with a possible combination of speakers, devices, and a television. What I have: a Samsung 55" 1080p LED smart tv, a Technics turntable of reasonable quality, and some speakers. The speakers are as follows: KEF Carmina II's (8ohm, recommended 80-150w), Spica TC-50's (4ohm), Fortura 12 Heil AMTs, and some powered 20w Yamahas that I could use for rear surrounds. Maybe Even some little Braun bookshelf speakers. The Forturas are unfortunately missing the tweeters, perhaps the only reason they were ever any good in the first place. No less, a 12" woofer has to be good for something, right? I don't have a subwoofer yet, so maybe they could take that role. I know that the Spica's are supposed to have great soundstaging but drop off a bit on the highs and fall apart low down so more or less require a subwoofer. Figure the KEF's are the best bet as the speakers of choice for a stereo set up. Maybe the Spica's. This stuff is all quite vintage but in seemingly decent condition.
I'm thinking I'd like the stereo (2 channels) to be the focus, with the television's audio secondary. Are there some all in one receivers of relative quality that can do this? Do AVRs exist that can drive a dedicated stereo set up and sound great to boot? Should I ditch these old speakers and buy a whole new setup? I'll need a CD player too, as my primary physical media collection is such. I have a blu-ray player which will in play and could in theory use it for the CDs but might prefer a dedicated unit. I was looking at the Denon S930h for sub $600, but I noticed it doesn't have a phono input, and that it really is enhanced for various HD inputs, upscaling, and surround sound processing. I like film and tv, but I will need to get the most out of the cds and digital media. Blue tooth, USB, line in, wifi, even HDMI etc. These are all a plus, which is why this unit was attractive. Also, the power output seems adequate for the speakers I've got.
Oh, and is there any way I can get some use out of the 12" woofers in the Fortura towers? The tweeters are long gone and apparently very expensive/hard to find. Can I wire them in series to the KEFs? My knowledge of electricity is limited.
Budget, ideally, is less than $1000, including AVR or amp/preamp, cables and the CD player.
Naturally, I'm looking for quality on a relative budget. What else is new? Thanks in advance!
