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, your speakers have a very high sensitivity, so a high quality 50w/ch amplifier will be capable of concert level volume in a large room. Any additional wattage will not be necessary. Given the same price point, a lower wattage amp will likely be better quality than a higher wattage one. If you have no plans to change speakers, or a change would be to another high sensitivity speaker, I would be looking for a high quality lower wattage amp. Also, I wouldn't be overly concerned with it having a phono input, as you can always add a separate phono stage which will likely be small in your price range and could be placed out of sight, and possibly better than built-in, but definitely not worse.

You might try posting another thread in the "Amps Preamps" section. This will likely give you better information than "Home Theater" since you are looking for a 2 channel integrated. Something like, Recommendation for quality ~50 watt integrated amp. Then in the body of the thread, state budget, color black, speakers, source, etc.

IMHO, the Musical Fidelity M3i would be an excellent choice for your situation, although it has a silver knob, and a separate phono stage is needed.
I use a Marantz SA15S2b for my music and home theater set up. On the music side, I couldn't be happier. As for HT, it's a killer. Gunshots literally made me jump like I've never been startled before. Great, clear dialogue and encompassing sound effects. You can't go wrong.

All the best,
Nonoise
Like Nonoise, I own a Marantz PM15S2 also and cannot say enough good things about it. In fact, it replaced Parasound seperates and has taken my 4 Ohm Vienna Acoustics speakers to new heights.

To also quote you Bokkus..."build quality is my main concern". I think you would be hard pressed to find an integrated amp on your list, or any other for that matter, as well built as the Marantz PM15S2. Well maybe its big brother, the PM11S3. Both are built at the Marantz reference factory in Japan and they just exude quality. Seriously, check one out and audition it if you can. Ask the dealer to use it with his best, most expensive speakers too. The Marantz will be up to the challenge.
How is the PM15S2 when it comes to midrange? it looks like there is a treble control and a bass control but none for midrange. would the PM8004 be comparable at half the cost?