Which amplifier/receiver for multimedia Stereo system for total beginner?

[JonRdgZ]

Hi everyone, I've been reading here for a while now and finally decided to buy a pair of Elac DBR62 as a Christmas present (my first decent speakers). I'm very much looking forward to them. Now I'm trying to figure out what is the best amp solution for me and I'm a bit overwhelmed by the options. I'm located in Europe and thinking about spending around 400€ to start with (bit flexible).

My priority is definitley to get the best possible music quality, but I also want to watch movies/TV/XBox using the speakers (Stereo for now, a centre/sub maybe later). HDMI eArc/Arc is a nice to have, but if it means compromising on the music quality I wouldn't mind connecting the TV through optical. Music should mainly be streamed via Spotify, but I have a record player which will see gradually more use in the future (as the collection grows)

I had the following options in mind, but really unsure...because I got no clue

1. Integrated amp (something like a used Yamaha A-S501) with a Wiim Mini for streaming. This I could get locally used for 300-400€.
2. Wiim Amp Pro/Ultra, whichever I can find used within my budget (slightly over budget but would be willing to spend if it's a big upgrade over the other options)
3. AV Receiver which phono, HDMI, and some sort of direct mode for Stereo music (like pure direct for Yamaha). Something like the Yamaha RX-V4A ("like new" for 300€ in my area) or R-N803D with MusicCast (used for less than 400€ in my region)

I'm open to all of the more established brands like Yamaha, Denon or Onkyo. Not so interested in some of the Chinese brands often recommended here (Aiyima etc. I find them super ugly mostly).

Really appreciate any guidance

Lastly I should mention, longevity and the possibility to resell / grow my system are important to me

 

[staticV3]

Hi @JonRdgZ! Welcome to ASR.

Built-in Parametric EQ or FIR room correction like Dirac is vital if you want to get the most out of your speakers.

To that end, I'd take the WiiM any day of the week.

 

[Nondemo01]

That's a tough price point for "entry". I'd save up and nab a Yamaha R-N600A. Solid build, includes everything but the HDMI, and good resale.

 

[JonRdgZ]

That's a tough price point for "entry". I'd save up and nab a Yamaha R-N600A. Solid build, includes everything but the HDMI, and good resale.

I can find them for around 400€ used but in very good condition in my area. Is that a significant upgrade over the solutions I proposed above? In terms of sound quality, is it better than e.g. a A-S501 or Wiim Amp Pro? In what sense is it a tough price point? I feel like there are almost too many (imperfect) options xD.

@staticV3 thanks for the advice, it seems like this might be the best all-in-one solution. I'm mostly worried about the integrated phono stage.
Edit: Just realized that only the Wiim Amp Ultra comes with an integrated phono preamp ...so I guess I would need to spend another 100€ extra on the Ultra or an external phono...

 

[l_lama]

When looking for streamer, check if Spotify Lossless is already available on it.

Wiim Pro will give you HDMI integration for about 150 Euro (price per hifishark), but it leaves just a bit for amplifier in budget, so probably learning about ChiFi Class D amps on this website is a way.

 

[staticV3]

When looking for streamer, check if Spotify Lossless is already available on it.

Wiim Pro will give you HDMI integration for about 150 Euro (price per hifishark), but it leaves just a bit for amplifier in budget, so probably learning about ChiFi Class D amps on this website is a way.

The WiiM Pro lacks HDMI or an upgrade path to 3.0/3.1, which OP expressed his desire for.

Or do you mean the Amp Pro since you mentioned it has HDMI integration? But that has an Amp built in so I'm confused..

 

[DVDdoug]

There's no trade-off between music audio and movie video. And MOST electronics is better than human hearing unless you overdrive an amplifier (or something) into clipping/distortion.

You get a lot for your money with an AVR and you don't have to use all of the channels.

I have a basic 5.1 channel AVR that I paid about $300 USD for and I'm perfectly happy with it. But my main stereo speakers (front left & right) are HUGE and I have a pair of 15-inch subwoofers. For "sound quality" speakers are far more important than the electronics. It goes loud enough to blow-out my neighbor's windows but I don't really take advantage of it. My AVR doesn't have a phono preamp (which I don't care about) and it also doesn't have any kind of "room correction" which would be nice. But to me it sounds good already and I don't want to spend the additional money. And personally, I REALLY enjoy surround sound but I don't feel the need for more surround channels. (If I had an unlimited budget to build a dedicated home theater I'd have as many channels as possible!)

For you, at some point a subwoofer could make a BIG difference because of your small woofers. And without a surround decoder and separate sub you only get the regular bass and you lose the "point one" LFE channel in movies.

A center channel will also help with movie dialog. The center and other channels (except for the LFE) are normally downmixed to stereo with a 2-speaker setup so the center dialog isn't lost but it "works better" out of a separate speaker and you can adjust the center volume separately.

 

[JonRdgZ]

There's no trade-off between music audio and movie video. And MOST electronics is better than human hearing unless you overdrive an amplifier (or something) into clipping/distortion.

You get a lot for your money with an AVR and you don't have to use all of the channels.

I have a basic 5.1 channel AVR that I paid about $300 USD for and I'm perfectly happy with it. But my main stereo speakers (front left & right) are HUGE and I have a pair of 15-inch subwoofers. For "sound quality" speakers are far more important than the electronics. It goes loud enough to blow-out my neighbor's windows but I don't really take advantage of it. My AVR doesn't have a phono preamp (which I don't care about) and it also doesn't have any kind of "room correction" which would be nice. But to me it sounds good already and I don't want to spend the additional money. And personally, I REALLY enjoy surround sound but I don't feel the need for more surround channels. (If I had an unlimited budget to build a dedicated home theater I'd have as many channels as possible!)

For you, at some point a subwoofer could make a BIG difference because of your small woofers. And without a surround decoder and separate sub you only get the regular bass and you lose the "point one" LFE channel in movies.

A center channel will also help with movie dialog. The center and other channels (except for the LFE) are normally downmixed to stereo with a 2-speaker setup so the center dialog isn't lost but it "works better" out of a separate speaker and you can adjust the center volume separately.

Thanks, appreciate the response. Any model of AVR you would recommend in my price range?

@l_lama As I said, I'm not really into those chinese models that get recommended her sometimes. It's bias for sure, but I'd rather buy a brand that is known and has a track record of producing long lasting audio equipment. In the end these purchases are a lot about feeling, not optimizing every single variable (and even then I wouldn't buy most of those class D amps because I find them super ugly, mostly).

 

[Chrispy]

Hard to beat an avr if you want to use the center and LFE channels (or surrounds) down the line (or just generally better sub integration tools than most 2ch integrated amps have). Generally I'd stick to Denon/Marantz and Onkyo, maybe Yamaha, for avrs. Don't know what's available to you at what price, tho. Why the need to accommodate vinyl, tho....existing collection or something? Already have a turntable?

 

[JonRdgZ]

Hard to beat an avr if you want to use the center and LFE channels (or surrounds) down the line (or just generally better sub integration tools than most 2ch integrated amps have). Generally I'd stick to Denon/Marantz and Onkyo, maybe Yamaha, for avrs. Don't know what's available to you at what price, tho. Why the need to accommodate vinyl, tho....existing collection or something? Already have a turntable?

I mean a center is not a priority at all. The list of priority is Stereo music quality > Records > TV (and potentially future center). I'm not willing at all to compromise on the first two for the third. I use the TV with the built in speakers and I am happy with it, so any kind of upgrade to that is already more than enough right now.
I have a record player and a small collection of records, which is getting bigger slowly but steadily.

 

[antcollinet]

Forget direct or pure direct. You want to use room correction/EQ to get the best sound quality from your setup, including for stereo music. If you are thinking of upgrades to center/sub later (or even if you are not) I'd consider trying to find a used AVR within your budget that has Audyssey XT32. Set that up using @OCA's audyssey one scripts, and you will have room eq to rival Dirac.

Looking on eBay, it should be possible to get something like a Denon AVR-X4400 within your budget.


If you don't want an AVR, then I agree with the comments above regarding a WIIM option.

 

[JonRdgZ]

Forget direct or pure direct. You want to use room correction/EQ to get the best sound quality from your setup, including for stereo music. If you are thinking of upgrades to center/sub later (or even if you are not) I'd consider trying to find a used AVR within your budget that has Audyssey XT32. Set that up using @OCA's audyssey one scripts, and you will have room eq to rival Dirac.

Looking on eBay, it should be possible to get something like a Denon AVR-X4400 within your budget.


If you don't want an AVR, then I agree with the comments above regarding a WIIM option.

The Wiim is not an option, since it is way outside my budget if I need to buy a Phono Preamp as well or upgrade to the Wiim Amp Ultra. Upgradebility as I said before is not really a priority. Stereo sound > Records > TV/center upgrade

 

[Nondemo01]

Highly recommended is the Denon AVR-X1800H. It's on sale also. A bit higher in price but has everything you're looking for and good power.

https://www.audioadvice.com/products/denon-avr-x1800h-7-2-channel-av-receiver?sca_ref=7260005.IGzfGzA6NyH8

 

[Chrispy]

I mean a center is not a priority at all. The list of priority is Stereo music quality > Records > TV (and potentially future center). I'm not willing at all to compromise on the first two for the third. I use the TV with the built in speakers and I am happy with it, so any kind of upgrade to that is already more than enough right now.
I have a record player and a small collection of records, which is getting bigger slowly but steadily.

Cuirious, how do you use your current record player? Or haven't been able to for lack of a phono stage?

The center isn't particularly necessary, the center image from a stereo pair of speakers, particularly for one person, can be fine. Not sure what you mean by stereo music quality as a priority, all the units discussed can do that easily enough; it's your speakers that determine that for the most part (as well as your room).

 

[Mort]

The Wiim is not an option, since it is way outside my budget if I need to buy a Phono Preamp as well or upgrade to the Wiim Amp Ultra. Upgradebility as I said before is not really a priority. Stereo sound > Records > TV/center upgrade

You've backed yourself into a corner. Denon AVR within budget.

 

[JonRdgZ]

Cuirious, how do you use your current record player? Or haven't been able to for lack of a phono stage?

The center isn't particularly necessary, the center image from a stereo pair of speakers, particularly for one person, can be fine. Not sure what you mean by stereo music quality as a priority, all the units discussed can do that easily enough; it's your speakers that determine that for the most part (as well as your room).

Exactly, it is not in use atm . I'm brining my records to a friends house to listen to them there. For the other part, I guess I thought that the different solutions differ in sound quality. I don't know exactly why I thought that a dedicated stereo amp will sound better than a 7.1 AVR for the same price. But as I said before as well, I'm a total beginner when it comes to equipment, I just know that I want something much better than I have now sound wise. If my belief here is wrong, then that's actually much better because I can just decide based on connectivity and price.

@Mort What do you mean? I feel like this has been a success so far, since I narrowed down my choices based on my criteria . I have a budget of 400€. After some research I concluded that it would be wiser to spend more in speakers than an amp, which is what I did considering my overall budget. Other than the budget I have three criteria: 1. streaming music via Spotify should be possible, 2. I need a way to connect to the TV and 3. phono input to connect a turntable. Wiim Amp's can't do that within my budget I realized, AVRs can, Stereo Amps plus a streaming device can. So I narrowed it down to those solutions. Now I just need to choose a model from within the the millions of budget/used Stereo amps and AVRs. Yamaha is more available in my area, but it seems Denon is favored here. Do you have any specific models in mind?

 

[Chrispy]

Exactly, it is not in use atm . I'm brining my records to a friends house to listen to them there. For the other part, I guess I thought that the different solutions differ in sound quality. I don't know exactly why I thought that a dedicated stereo amp will sound better than a 7.1 AVR for the same price. But as I said before as well, I'm a total beginner when it comes to equipment, I just know that I want something much better than I have now sound wise. If my belief here is wrong, then that's actually much better because I can just decide based on connectivity and price.

@Mort What do you mean? I feel like this has been a success so far, since I narrowed down my choices based on my criteria . I have a budget of 400€. After some research I concluded that it would be wiser to spend more in speakers than an amp, which is what I did considering my overall budget. Other than the budget I have three criteria: 1. streaming music via Spotify should be possible, 2. I need a way to connect to the TV and 3. phono input to connect a turntable. Wiim Amp's can't do that within my budget I realized, AVRs can, Stereo Amps plus a streaming device can. So I narrowed it down to those solutions. Now I just need to choose a model from within the the millions of budget/used Stereo amps and AVRs. Yamaha is more available in my area, but it seems Denon is favored here. Do you have any specific models in mind?

Thanks, was curious. Grew up with vinyl but rarely use it now (but still have my tt and vinyl collection), if I were starting new I just wouldn't bother with vinyl myself.

Some do say that avrs don't sound good "for music", but that's not my experience. What can affect that are some simply don't buy the best surround system in the way of speakers, and bought cheaper speakers because they need more of them or had a limited budget. Some expect too much performance from the amp section, which can be somewhat limited in avrs especially in lower end models (in power and lower impedance capability). Or worse, bought a home theater in a box type setup.

I use a variety of avrs as well as my old 2ch gear (which are separates rather than an integrated amp without a tuner), and just don't find the avr is a bottleneck. Vinyl I think is a much bigger bottleneck . Most of my avrs have a built in phono stage which works fine. I also have an ART Phono Plus stage/digital converter as I thought I'd rip the vinyl at one point, but find its easier to just play the vinyl when I want to hear those particular recordings. I do tend to buy more upper end avrs for better power supply/amp sections, pre-outs, room eq programs, and phono sections which don't tend to come on the more basic models. Three of my five avrs are Denons (and an Onkyo and a Sony). Really depends what you want to do down the line as to where the value comes in.

 

[JonRdgZ]

Thanks, was curious. Grew up with vinyl but rarely use it now (but still have my tt and vinyl collection), if I were starting new I just wouldn't bother with vinyl myself.

Some do say that avrs don't sound good "for music", but that's not my experience. What can affect that are some simply don't buy the best surround system in the way of speakers, and bought cheaper speakers because they need more of them or had a limited budget. Some expect too much performance from the amp section, which can be somewhat limited in avrs especially in lower end models (in power and lower impedance capability). Or worse, bought a home theater in a box type setup.

I use a variety of avrs as well as my old 2ch gear (which are separates rather than an integrated amp without a tuner), and just don't find the avr is a bottleneck. Vinyl I think is a much bigger bottleneck . Most of my avrs have a built in phono stage which works fine. I also have an ART Phono Plus stage/digital converter as I thought I'd rip the vinyl at one point, but find its easier to just play the vinyl when I want to hear those particular recordings. I do tend to buy more upper end avrs for better power supply/amp sections, pre-outs, room eq programs, and phono sections which don't tend to come on the more basic models. Three of my five avrs are Denons (and an Onkyo and a Sony). Really depends what you want to do down the line as to where the value comes in.

I completely understand your position and honestly I know it isn't a smart move . It makes things more complicated, it's expensive as hell...but I really enjoy the experience of putting on a record and actively listening to it. Plus I go to lots of concerts and buying their records is a great way to show support to bands I really enjoy.

Thanks for the input, I gave up on finding the best match. I'm just searching the used market for AVRs and Stereo amps. The first good deal I find I will buy. If it's an amp I will get a Wiim Mini for the streaming. As it's my first system I also don't really have anything to compare it to so it's quite unlikely I will be disappointed. And if I want to upgrade down the line, I just sell and buy new stuff. It's not like I'm spending in a system that will lose thousands of Euros in value over the next couple of years.

 

[Nondemo01]

Definitely keep shopping used but Cambridge Audio has a stereo receiver that has everything you seem to be looking for at $699 US: https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/products/hi-fi/ax/axr100

 

[Mort]

. If it's an amp I will get a Wiim Mini for the streaming.

At least get the pro version. Probably inaudible but it has better features mostly.