Absolute noob.

[Chaoslava]

I think what I'm looking for is an audio amp.

Kind of like an AV receiver, just without the video part. Just audio (my monitor has 4 inputs, so I'm fine there)

My current speakers have 2 inputs, and they're just analogue 2 channel.


I'm looking for an AV amp that I can plug my current 5 speakers into (will need to buy a bass seperate)

They have the wires on the end that you just clip in as opposed to jacks (someone tell me the name please so I can stop calling them "wire things")

And in the future I will get some proper speakers.


Anyway, I'm looking for an Audio Amp that has the following:


Can connect 3 devices. Having 3 optical inputs would be ideal.

Digital audio. I'd like to have proper 5.1 surround sound

So that means it needs to output to 5 speakers and a sub.

Remote control so I can change inputs, volume of bass... etc etc.


I'm really not looking for the very best. The cheapest will do. I'm not an audiophile (no offense to those who are) but I really can't break the bank on this. However, feel free to suggest anything, so I can learn more and then progress to doing the research myself, as at the moment I am a little fish in a very big pond.

 

[PSM1]

To get full surround sound all amps will have the video side as well. There is no sound only 5.1 reciever that I know off. What is your maximum budget? Breaking the bank for one person can be loose change to another. An idea of budget will help with recommendations.
Also what speakers do you have at the moment? Are they from an all in one system? What is the impedance of the speakers? Anything under 4 ohms should not be used with an AV reciever.
What sources are you going to connect to it?
If you have a bluray player then you will want a HD sound reciever (or at least one that does audio over HDMI) and these start from just over £200. If you do not have a bluray player and do not intend to get one then you can get a non HD reciever for around £150.

 

[Chaoslava]

Well my speakers all have a 4.0 ohms impedance. So it's toeing the line. They do have an annoying buzz when the PC is off, but whether that's down to the sub or not, I don't know.

Budget.. Prff. £100. I don't have much to spend at all and this isn't particularly urgent. Rather get my PC upgraded first.

 

[Duke]

Well my speakers all have a 4.0 ohms impedance. So it's toeing the line. They do have an annoying buzz when the PC is off, but whether that's down to the sub or not, I don't know.

Budget.. Prff. £100. I don't have much to spend at all and this isn't particularly urgent. Rather get my PC upgraded first.

Hey Chaos,

It would be very difficult (read nearly impossible) to get any new AV amp for the £100 budget. However, if you search the classifieds here you could do worse than get a decent 2nd hand one. You could score yourself a year or 2 old amp/receiver that will have sold for a couple/few hundred just a couple of years ago.

If you were to stretch your budget by just a few quid (50 or so) then you could pick up an entry level AV amp however you may sacrifice some connectivity and features. If you could push to around the 200 pound mark then this is where you start ensuring that you get your connectivity and HD audio format decoding.

 

[logiciel]

They have the wires on the end that you just clip in as opposed to jacks (someone tell me the name please so I can stop calling them "wire things")

Bare wires like those are best - some people use "banana" plugs.

 

[Ianfromnotts]

Leaving aside the video that you dont want but will probably get anyway - just dont use it if you dont want it, I reckon you could pick up some older Pioneers or Denons for that sort of money, The classifieds are a great place to look/search a quick wizz through came up with this. Not connected with me in any way but just a suggestion to illistrate what is often available

for example:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/ampl...dverts/1270652-sale-denon-avr-2105-black.html