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
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Since this appears to be primarily TV/Cinema...

I'd assume that you're going to use subwoofers to enhance the cinema experience. If that is the case, the HK 990 would be an easy call IMO. As mentioned above, it features an excellent power amp section, but that wouldn't be my major focus here. Unless the other units offer the same type of bass management/room correction software, I'd be pretty confident that the HK gives you easier/better subwoofer integration than any of the other choices. If any of the others is similarly equipped, then it might deserve consideration as well, but - in any case - the subwoofer integration capabilities would be my main focus in an integrated amp search for this application.
beewax
173 posts
 
I replaced my B&K with MHT200. Wow, what a different and never look back. You can buy them used for less than $2K.
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
WRT your question about the lack of a
midrange control on the PM15S2 Bokkus, I
have no idea. I never use the treble and
bass controls either electing to feed the
purest signal possible into my speakers.
Never touched the tone controls once;
don't need to if you pay attention to
speaker placement and room acoustics.

The PM8004 is a fine amp too built at the
same reference factory in Japan. Yes it
is half the cost and close to half the
weight too. If you don't need the extra
power of the PM15S2 or the MC phono
capability, the 8004 may be right for you.
bokkus OP
8 posts
 
you've convinced me i'd go with the PM15S2 over the 8004.

and since i unplugged my velodyne sub over a year ago, i'm pretty sure i won't miss having a dedicated sub out. or dual for that matter. the hk990 looks AMAZING inside but the outside just looks cheap. two tone black on silver tends to do that.

my sub got the axe because my wife complained that the bass "hurts my chest". so i got rid of it and the b&w 685's in favor of a full range solution. while i do miss the ULF, i still get some LF.
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.
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