2. home-theater
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2.1 system needs 3 HDMI inputs??

Moving to a new house that won’t realistically have option for surrounds in the living room and looking for advice. My current multichannel system will be moving to the basement, but I still want decent sound quality in the main living space. Initially I was interested in switching from an AVR to an integrated amp, but can’t find one with multiple HDMI inputs. The family regularly uses a cable box, Roku, and occasionally a Blu-ray player along with streaming audio. Best I can tell that leaves me 4 options and wanted feedback from the forum about the pluses and minuses of each:

1) an integrated amp with 3+ HDMI inputs and 4K pass through that I’m not sure exists... if it does exist, I’m guessing it’s costly. 

2) run extra HDMI cables in the walls to use the TV as the HDMI switcher for all sources and then another HDMI on the eARC channel back to an integrated amp...but I’m not sure the effect that running everything through the TV would have on audio quality plus hate getting into the crawl space to run 3 additional cables and enlarge the holes (previous owner left a single cable in place at my request from the AVR they had)

3) a cheap AVR with R & L preouts connected to a better amp than the AVR would have built in...gets me solid amp but AVR quality preamp (and cheap AVR at that initially).

4) a separate box HDMI switcher (3+ in, 2 out) that works with our harmony hub and connected to an integrated amp... again not sure how good these are since I’ve never looked into them before or if lip sync issues would be possible to avoid.

Your suggestions, experiences, and advice are much appreciated. Thanks in advance. 
ethos123

Showing 1 response by jnehma1

jnehma1
111 posts
 
There are tons of devices that do what you want but most aren't cheap because if you want cheap, just buy a receiver. Arcam has (or had) a 2 channel receiver with HDMI inputs. The Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 and NAD M33 both have optional HDMI boards. The Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, NAD M10, and Arcam SA30 all have single ARC HDMI inputs if you want to run your sources to the TV and send ARC back to the integrated amp.

All of the above also have room correction built in, which might help your setup since this isn't presumably going to be a dedicated listening space with perfect room treatments. You can also look at the Naim Uniti Atom or the new Cambridge EVO series, both of which have single HDMI ARC inputs, but no room correction.

I have the TDAI-3400 in our living room and the TV plays through it. It sounds incredible, quite honestly, for a 2.1 setup. I also have a 5.1 media room and while yes it is better for surround sound, it's surprisingly closer than you'd think. Actually, dialogue intelligibility, which is critical, is far better on the Lyngdorf than in my media room with a dedicated center channel.
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