Onkyo TX-NR609 or DACMAGIC plus for spotify

ps burley

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I would really appreciate some help before I spend a lot of money!
I now use spotify for all my music via a net top pc (Acer REVO) and I want to get the best out of it mainly for headphone listening.
I was going to get a Cambridge Audio Dacmagic plus DAC with built in headphone amp. But I have now seen a AV receiver with built in spotify the Onkyo TX-NR609.... I am not sure which way to go. The Onkyo is around £100 more expensive and I am unlikely to connect anything else to it because my main aim is to get the best possible sound for my sennheisers...any guidance appreciated. paul
 
The headphone amps in most AV recievers are not up to much. Hence a DAC with dedicated headphone amp will give you a much better overall sound. Unless you plan to get a full surround system I would not get the 609.
 
The Onkyo is around £100 more expensive and I am unlikely to connect anything else to it because my main aim is to get the best possible sound for my sennheisers...any guidance appreciated. paul

Hi, how much were you quoted for the 609? some places do it cheaper than others! :D
 
I just bought my Onkyo from Amazon Germany. It cost me £377 including delivery against the cheapest UK price of £449. Fantastic amp and a big improvement over the 607 I had.
 
I just bought my Onkyo from Amazon Germany. It cost me £377 including delivery against the cheapest UK price of £449. Fantastic amp and a big improvement over the 607 I had.

Superfi are doing the 609 for £450 plus 10% off with discount code "EMAIL10" making it £405 all in so you didn't do too bad. Going its the Dac in your case, is the way to go.
 
There's always the Onkyo TX8050 network stereo receiver. Spotify comes from the free Onkyo android controller app and those that have heard it like it. You can pick them up between £300 and £400. There are four digital inputs but no digital outputs so you're relying on the Onkyo dac. Add a headphone amp, the pro-ject head box is a steal at £100 then you'll have a good setup.
 
Another alternative is for a Sonos product. Either the Play:5 or an ZP:90 (or Connect as they are now called) connected to a headphone amplifier. If you just want to use it purelly for headphones then the ZP:90 may be the better sounding option (as a dedicated headphone amlipfier is an improvement over the Play:5), but the Play:5 offers the built in speaker and a degree of portability! Both these products will allow you to use your spotify account (premium, same as an Onkyo AV amp needs) to stream your music.

Boz

EDIT: Of course there are other network streamers that have the spotify functionality built in, just can't think of which ones do / which ones dont off the top of my head at the moment, but a Network Music Streamer may work out fine for your spotify fix!
 
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