Needing AMP Advice - £250

[Yuzo]

just got back from new york and have £250 left over to upgrade the audio in my bedroom, as my TV speakers are starting to annoy me. it's a medium sized box room, but i feel an upgrade from my TV speakers is a must.

i am after a unit that has long life, so i can simply upgrade the speakers for when i get my own place in a few years,.. so it has to support all the new fancy HD audio formats (HD-DTS, etc.) ... all supplied through HDMI cable.

i was considering buying an "all-in-one" as i am only connecting my DVD player and PS3 console at the moment,.. but preferred the option to add more audio devices at a later date,.. plus getting all the new sound benefits from blu-rays.

i have a maximum of £250 budget.

i was going to go for the Yamaha DSPAX761, but can't find it in stock anywhere.

 

[rwniel]

Apart from the DSP-AX761 there isn't really a lot of choice under £250 - the Samsung AV-R720 perhaps? (although a rather limited selection of source inputs). If you don't mind waiting a few months there's a couple of new Sony models that should fit your budget specifically the STR-DG720/DG820. Release dates are naturally pretty fluid though.

Otherwise you're going to have to increase your budget a bit to around £300; that then opens up a couple more choices, the Yamaha DSP-AX861 and the Denon AV1908. None of these models have in-built 'hd' decoding but can handle LPCM over hdmi providing the source supports doing the decoding itself (- the PS3 for example with Dolby Digital plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-MA as well as uncompressed PCM). These are all standalone av amps/receivers so will of course needs to be allied with a suitable surround sound speaker package.

Instead of an all-in-one, how about the Sony HTSS1300? It's an amp and surround speaker package but slightly over budget at around £280.

Robert