Aaron Reynolds
Screenwriter
So, it's been a while since I've posted here. Hi! I hope everyone missed me just a little but didn't worry that I was dead or something.
My home theatre hasn't changed in basically forever, but a couple of recent events have put me into shopping mode and I need an amp. I'll tell you what I used to have and what my wants are, and I'd love to hear some suggestions about what to get and why.
Until about a year ago I was running a Sony SDP E-800 preamp, an Ashly FET-500 power amp for my fronts, and a Yamaha RX V650 in pure direct mode for the rears. The E-800 suffered some kind of static discharge damage and has gone to electronics heaven. While shopping for a new preamp, I put the Yamaha into service as the preamp for the Ashly. It's not as fine-tuneable as the Sony was in terms of tone control, and I never felt like the sound out of it was as clean or clear. But I limped along. Then a few weeks ago the fan failed in the Ashly. That combined with the connectors all getting flaky and the advanced age of the amp -- she's from 1983 and has seen a lot of action -- made me think that maybe I should just get a whole AV receiver thingamajig. But my budget was limited.
Then a couple of weeks ago a very silly social media experiment I had been fooling around with started generating income. So my budget expanded considerably. I have about $1000 Canadian to spend.
What we use:
A projector via HDMI
An AppleTV
A Blu-ray player
A Wii
The existing speakers:
A pair of Sinclair 260T fronts (8 ohm 200 watts 91db)
A pair of Onix Rocket 250s for the rears (6 ohm 120 watt 89db)
No centre channel because they are the devil's handiwork, and no sub because every time I bought one and then compared it to just directing all the bass to the Sinclairs, the Sinclairs won.
We watch movies and TV, and I listen to a lot of music, some streaming and some high res. There are a lot of iOS devices in the house, though AirPlay isn't a must-have because there will be an AppleTV connected. The room is a large-ish basement, rectangular but with bookshelves against the walls for acoustic dampening and ambience. It's about ten feet from couch to screen, maybe a little more.
I was looking at an Onkyo TX NR747 for a few reasons:
It is exactly within my budget
I have an Onkyo headphone amp / DA converter that I really like
The Ashly was THX certified and I am emotionally attached to those three letters
I would love to hear about brands or models that I wasn't thinking about. My only requirement would be that they're available for retail or online sale in Canada.
My home theatre hasn't changed in basically forever, but a couple of recent events have put me into shopping mode and I need an amp. I'll tell you what I used to have and what my wants are, and I'd love to hear some suggestions about what to get and why.
Until about a year ago I was running a Sony SDP E-800 preamp, an Ashly FET-500 power amp for my fronts, and a Yamaha RX V650 in pure direct mode for the rears. The E-800 suffered some kind of static discharge damage and has gone to electronics heaven. While shopping for a new preamp, I put the Yamaha into service as the preamp for the Ashly. It's not as fine-tuneable as the Sony was in terms of tone control, and I never felt like the sound out of it was as clean or clear. But I limped along. Then a few weeks ago the fan failed in the Ashly. That combined with the connectors all getting flaky and the advanced age of the amp -- she's from 1983 and has seen a lot of action -- made me think that maybe I should just get a whole AV receiver thingamajig. But my budget was limited.
Then a couple of weeks ago a very silly social media experiment I had been fooling around with started generating income. So my budget expanded considerably. I have about $1000 Canadian to spend.
What we use:
A projector via HDMI
An AppleTV
A Blu-ray player
A Wii
The existing speakers:
A pair of Sinclair 260T fronts (8 ohm 200 watts 91db)
A pair of Onix Rocket 250s for the rears (6 ohm 120 watt 89db)
No centre channel because they are the devil's handiwork, and no sub because every time I bought one and then compared it to just directing all the bass to the Sinclairs, the Sinclairs won.
We watch movies and TV, and I listen to a lot of music, some streaming and some high res. There are a lot of iOS devices in the house, though AirPlay isn't a must-have because there will be an AppleTV connected. The room is a large-ish basement, rectangular but with bookshelves against the walls for acoustic dampening and ambience. It's about ten feet from couch to screen, maybe a little more.
I was looking at an Onkyo TX NR747 for a few reasons:
It is exactly within my budget
I have an Onkyo headphone amp / DA converter that I really like
The Ashly was THX certified and I am emotionally attached to those three letters
I would love to hear about brands or models that I wasn't thinking about. My only requirement would be that they're available for retail or online sale in Canada.