UTT
Established Member
Hi,
New to the forum, I'm running a motley selection of old equipment, some bought new back when I was single and could get away with an annual treat for myself, some second hand. I've currently only got stereo but I'm looking to get back to an AV setup. It'll be used for music more than surround.
Currently running:
Rotel RA-820BX4
Marantz CD30 Special Edition (also have a CD52 mkII - need to get it out of storage and see which is best).
Rega Planar 2 turntable
Technics RS-TR355 tape deck (which is pretty much worn out - will be replaced by a Denon that's also in storage).
Kef Q55.2 front pair
Panasonic TX-L32E5B 32" TV
Panasonic DMR-PWT550 Blu-ray HDR
I've also got the matching Q series center and rear surrounds which, obviously, I'm not currently using with only a stereo amp, and NAD PP-1 phono preamp. I've an old projector - good quality but pretty low res. It'll need upgrading at some point.
While renovating the house I've run fire rated speaker wire (QED). I still need to drop wires down one wall and install boxes and wall plates, but wires for 5.x will be fully run, and wires to support anything up to 7.x.4 in the future are run up to the loft. Completing these would be technically straightforward - getting permission for more speakers in the living room may be less so... I haven't run any wire for subs as the only logical place to put them is near the hi-fi rack anyway.
I used to have an NAD AV amp (can't remember the model number - bought it new for around £600 somewhere around 2001), which basically sold itself to me. Within my price range it was the best AV amp I listened to for stereo music. A Denon was second choice (better for surround, not as good for music). The best amp I heard for surround was an Onkyo, but it was terrible at music. My priorities haven't really changed since then.
However, in what appears to be a common story for an NAD AVR of that era, the amp gradually died a channel at a time and a couple of years ago one of the front channels became intermittent and I finally scrapped it and swiped the Rotel from my father in law's loft as a stop gap (surprisingly, given it's only 30W per channel, it drives the Kefs fairly well).
I also had a Kef sub - the one that matched Coda speakers. It was always a weak link and I bought it second hand for very little, so when careless removal men broke a foot off it I gave it away.
The living room is 40m2, relatively low ceiling but good acoustics. Speaker and seating placement is good, but the TV and Blu-ray sit in a corner and the rack is in the opposite corner... I've run a decent coax to connect to the amp, but it's a 40m run so HDMI is a non starter. I'm fully aware this isn't capable of HD surround (or ATMOS, etc.), but no way was I going to get away with putting the rack in full view next to the TV. I can live with the compromise - a 32" TV in the corner of a room this size is hardly a cinema like experience anyway, if I want that I'll move the source over to the rack and use a projector. If I'm doing that I can run separate HDMI to the projector to support 4k if the projector does. For every day purposes non HD sound will suffice.
So, I'm after an AV amp with at least 7.1 channels, HD audio support but no real need for 4k video. Bias towards good musicality. I've only a small budget (low hundreds), so I'm leaning towards passing on support for ATMOS and going for mid market second hand.
Arcam appeals, but I'm wary of their recent AV amps without a dealer warranty. Not sure if I'd touch anything more recent than an AVR400?
Another NAD, maybe a T748. I'm aware they've had issues as well, but not sure what they are or which models to avoid.
Anything else worth considering? Marantz are regularly recommended as musical, but seem equally often dismissed as not quite doing the trick with music - seems they sit somewhere on the boundary and it depends a lot on taste? I guess Anthem, but not common second hand in the UK. I toyed with the idea of Yamaha, mainly as they seem to have rock solid reliability and reasonable musicality - but enough reviewers are lukewarm about their performance with music to make me think they probably aren't for me.
Any particular models to look for or avoid?
I guess that's a very long winded way of asking which AV amps you'd buy second hand on a tight budget!
New to the forum, I'm running a motley selection of old equipment, some bought new back when I was single and could get away with an annual treat for myself, some second hand. I've currently only got stereo but I'm looking to get back to an AV setup. It'll be used for music more than surround.
Currently running:
Rotel RA-820BX4
Marantz CD30 Special Edition (also have a CD52 mkII - need to get it out of storage and see which is best).
Rega Planar 2 turntable
Technics RS-TR355 tape deck (which is pretty much worn out - will be replaced by a Denon that's also in storage).
Kef Q55.2 front pair
Panasonic TX-L32E5B 32" TV
Panasonic DMR-PWT550 Blu-ray HDR
I've also got the matching Q series center and rear surrounds which, obviously, I'm not currently using with only a stereo amp, and NAD PP-1 phono preamp. I've an old projector - good quality but pretty low res. It'll need upgrading at some point.
While renovating the house I've run fire rated speaker wire (QED). I still need to drop wires down one wall and install boxes and wall plates, but wires for 5.x will be fully run, and wires to support anything up to 7.x.4 in the future are run up to the loft. Completing these would be technically straightforward - getting permission for more speakers in the living room may be less so... I haven't run any wire for subs as the only logical place to put them is near the hi-fi rack anyway.
I used to have an NAD AV amp (can't remember the model number - bought it new for around £600 somewhere around 2001), which basically sold itself to me. Within my price range it was the best AV amp I listened to for stereo music. A Denon was second choice (better for surround, not as good for music). The best amp I heard for surround was an Onkyo, but it was terrible at music. My priorities haven't really changed since then.
However, in what appears to be a common story for an NAD AVR of that era, the amp gradually died a channel at a time and a couple of years ago one of the front channels became intermittent and I finally scrapped it and swiped the Rotel from my father in law's loft as a stop gap (surprisingly, given it's only 30W per channel, it drives the Kefs fairly well).
I also had a Kef sub - the one that matched Coda speakers. It was always a weak link and I bought it second hand for very little, so when careless removal men broke a foot off it I gave it away.
The living room is 40m2, relatively low ceiling but good acoustics. Speaker and seating placement is good, but the TV and Blu-ray sit in a corner and the rack is in the opposite corner... I've run a decent coax to connect to the amp, but it's a 40m run so HDMI is a non starter. I'm fully aware this isn't capable of HD surround (or ATMOS, etc.), but no way was I going to get away with putting the rack in full view next to the TV. I can live with the compromise - a 32" TV in the corner of a room this size is hardly a cinema like experience anyway, if I want that I'll move the source over to the rack and use a projector. If I'm doing that I can run separate HDMI to the projector to support 4k if the projector does. For every day purposes non HD sound will suffice.
So, I'm after an AV amp with at least 7.1 channels, HD audio support but no real need for 4k video. Bias towards good musicality. I've only a small budget (low hundreds), so I'm leaning towards passing on support for ATMOS and going for mid market second hand.
Arcam appeals, but I'm wary of their recent AV amps without a dealer warranty. Not sure if I'd touch anything more recent than an AVR400?
Another NAD, maybe a T748. I'm aware they've had issues as well, but not sure what they are or which models to avoid.
Anything else worth considering? Marantz are regularly recommended as musical, but seem equally often dismissed as not quite doing the trick with music - seems they sit somewhere on the boundary and it depends a lot on taste? I guess Anthem, but not common second hand in the UK. I toyed with the idea of Yamaha, mainly as they seem to have rock solid reliability and reasonable musicality - but enough reviewers are lukewarm about their performance with music to make me think they probably aren't for me.
Any particular models to look for or avoid?
I guess that's a very long winded way of asking which AV amps you'd buy second hand on a tight budget!