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
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.
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
More to discover