AVR or integrated amp for movie centric (only 2 channel speakers)

nct16

Novice Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2021
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
28
Age
31
Location
Thailand
Hi, first of all, I am very new in this area and trying to setup the stereo system for watching movies (My wife allows me for 2 channel speakers only lol). At first, I am considering the Marantz NR1711 and my TV is LG CX but I am thinking about the truth that I might not be able to upgrade any channel of speakers so the integrated amp just came in mind but I have many questions that I need your help to enlighten me as follows:

1. Will the Bluesound POWERNODE be the better option for me since they also have the eARC port too so i do not waste investment in AVR with the port I will never use?
2. Are there any recommendations for integrated amp with eARC port under 1000$?
3. what happen if I play the dolby atmos contents from TV to integrated amp?
4. I saw that Marantz NR1711 has height visualization, does it worth it to use this feature instead of the integrated amp?
5. Is integrated amp meant to be used mostly for music?

Sorry for my language if I use it wrong and thank you in advance guys.
 
I would go with a AVR, you have ease of use with AVR with HDMI, optical and coaxial inputs. Bass management, DSP etc

I have a AVR in PC audio system and I used it for long time in stereo, then added sub, and now using some bipole rears.

Might not be as powerful or nice sounding as a proper stereo amp but connecitivity and flexibility makes it a wiser choice than stereo amp.

Heigh virtualisation sounds like either DSP for non atmos material where you have height speakers, or DSP where you don't have height speakers but attempts to re-crease it.
 
Are Denons any good though?

In my opinion, yes. They do look a bit boring though, front fascias a bit monochrome and some say that they sound a bit clinical too.

If true hifi is what @nct16 is looking for he may be better off with something like an Arcam. There may be ones used in budget.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In my opinion, yes. They do look a bit boring though, front fascias a bit monochrome and some say that they sound a bit clinical too.

If true hifi is what @nct16 is looking for he may be better off with something like an Arcam. There may be ones used in budget.
Really? That's interesting. Why do they look boring?
 
Well this is a typical looking Denon:

1626181937461.png


Other manufacturers, such as Tonewinner and Arcam make AVRs like this:

1626181806300.png

1626181855454.png


See what I mean?
 
That Acam is ugly. I think the Denon is the best looking of those three.

I've had three Yamahas and solid, reliable with decent sound. Not clinical sounding, I've had a old Denon DD decoder and I didn't rate it highly for sound.
 
That Acam is ugly. I think the Denon is the best looking of those three.

I've had three Yamahas and solid, reliable with decent sound. Not clinical sounding, I've had a old Denon DD decoder and I didn't rate it highly for sound.

Black plastic knobs though? Don't you find that it makes it look a bit cheap?
 
Black plastic knobs though? Don't you find that it makes it look a bit cheap?

It's a AVR, I don't expect to have high end quality. I'd expect higher tier models to have machined knobs though.

Considering what I've read about Arcam AVR I'd rather have plastic knobs on a another brand. If Yamaha AVR pre outs were good to 1.6v I would pck one of those up.
 
It's a AVR, I don't expect to have high end quality. I'd expect higher tier models to have machined knobs though.

Considering what I've read about Arcam AVR I'd rather have plastic knobs on a another brand. If Yamaha AVR pre outs were good to 1.6v I would pck one of those up.

That sounds a bit worrying - what have you heard about Arcam AVRs? I was thinking of getting one?
 
That sounds a bit worrying - what have you heard about Arcam AVRs? I was thinking of getting one?

Tests of the awful digital sections of Arcam AVR/AV processor, and also with bugs.

Good analogue sections (pure direct) but who cares about that...if you're buying AV you mostly use room correction and bass management...
 
Tests of the awful digital sections of Arcam AVR/AV processor, and also with bugs.

Good analogue sections (pure direct) but who cares about that...if you're buying AV you mostly use room correction and bass management...
Oh dear, that's such a shame. I do love my Arcam stereo amp, I wonder why the AVRs are not as good then?
 
That Acam is ugly. I think the Denon is the best looking of those three.

I've had three Yamahas and solid, reliable with decent sound. Not clinical sounding, I've had a old Denon DD decoder and I didn't rate it highly for sound.

The Denon in the picture is the front of my AVR, I like boring, to me they should all look like smart black boxes. But also that's all I can afford! I am assuming that people pay the extra money to have something more distinct.

If I was a lot richer though I'd still want boring looking. In fact, if I won a load of money I'd be in trouble, if you look at @cspadijer list here of processors:


The only ones I find subtle enough looking are the Storm Audios, so it had better be a big win!

Or I'd just stick with the old crappy Denon and use the pre outs 🤣
 
If I was able to afford a new AVR it would be the Arcam for me, Head and Shoulders comes to mind and I'm not talking about shampoo :)
 
If I was able to afford a new AVR it would be the Arcam for me, Head and Shoulders comes to mind and I'm not talking about shampoo :)

Apart from awful digital sub system with arcam avrs..
 
@rccarguy2 I've never had anything awful with mine :) and the sound quality is second to none it also does a great job with stereo music. I've been very happy with it. :)
 
@rccarguy2 I've never had anything awful with mine :) and the sound quality is second to none it also does a great job with stereo music. I've been very happy with it. :)

That's your subjective opinion, unfortuantly tests show very bad results when it comes to Arcam AVR' s in the digital domain. (They do well in analogue pure direct mode)
 
If it works really well when you use it, sounds better than the Denon and Marantz models when listening that is all that matters to me. After all how it sounds is why you buy it, buying something purely on test results seems crazy to me :).
It doesn't sound so good but hay it's got the best test results not a good reason to buy.
Sounds great works really well but some say test results are bad not a good reason to avoid it IMO.
All that matters is the satisfaction you get from listening to film soundtracks and music. Anyone interested should check out the Arcam AVR threads to find many happy users.

Our very own AVForums gave the AVR 30 a Highly Recommended Award.

audiosicencereview.com Arcam, the UK King of receivers...

Home Cinema Choice Arcam AVR 30 review Best Buy.

They are great receivers and offer some of the best sound quality available. They don't get reviews like that if they are no good.
 
If it works really well when you use it, sounds better than the Denon and Marantz models when listening that is all that matters to me. After all how it sounds is why you buy it, buying something purely on test results seems crazy to me :).
It doesn't sound so good but hay it's got the best test results not a good reason to buy.
Sounds great works really well but some say test results are bad not a good reason to avoid it IMO.
All that matters is the satisfaction you get from listening to film soundtracks and music. Anyone interested should check out the Arcam AVR threads to find many happy users.

Our very own AVForums gave the AVR 30 a Highly Recommended Award.

audiosicencereview.com Arcam, the UK King of receivers...

Home Cinema Choice Arcam AVR 30 review Best Buy.

They are great receivers and offer some of the best sound quality available. They don't get reviews like that if they are no good.

Umm think you're reading the wrong tests on ASR, pretty much all of them are slated (as are the AV pres)

"As with the last Arcam AV product I reviewed, we basically have a broken DSP/DAC pipeline but the analog subsystem seems to perform a lot better. And the mechanical and industrial designer did his/her job as well. I say broken in engineering design parlance. Clearly there were no specifications there to meet in digital to analog conversion. They certainly forgot about their marketing talking points of low jitter."
 
Everyone is welcome to their opinion all I know is what sounds best is best as far as I am concerned, I wouldn't buy a different make until I hear one that sounds better at the price I am willing to pay. Always go by your ears and buy what sounds best.
I had an A&R Cambridge A60 first way back in the late 70's before I bought a Naim Audio amplifier 32, Hi Cap, 250, now that was a fantastic amplifier :) I've never heard anything as good as that one playing vinyl on a Linn LP 12, Ittok, Kama, through Haybrook HB3's then later Linn Kans, I'll admit that made the Arcam sound a little bit dull but then it wasn't an AV system sadly.
 
It would be interesting to see a comparison of, for example in this case, Arcam AVRs against the competition that is at the equivalent price.
Believe me, I'm not a member of any manufacturer's club! But, it's a good example... The (not the top model) AVR20 is around the same cost as Denon's x8500. A comparison of the two would be interesting.
I guess what I'm saying is we talk about Amir's results and the good old x3700 but when it comes to it surely we can't even compare that to an Arcam AVR10 as it's less than half the price of it 🤣
It would be good to see some like for like cost comparisons.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom