2. home-theater
  3. 1399502481

best-ish integrated amp for movie and tv watching.

greetings to you as i am new to audiogon.

with a recent bonus at work i am looking to upgrade my home theater. right now i am running a pair of omen defs off of a marantz 5005. the thing is i don't have any interest in having a surround sound set up, so i was realizing that the extra channels in the avr are unneeded. i'd rather spend money on a QUALITY 2 channel rig. my budget is between 1 and 2 thousand dollars.

as of now i'm mostly watching movies and tv but i've also just inherited my fathers' collection of vinyl. so i'm also trying to find an amp with a decent phono section.

and finally this amp will be fed by an oppo bdp-105. i will be auditioning the units i can but i posted this so i could start heading in the right direction with any opinions or suggestions.

my list of potentials is this:

marantz pm-8004
marantz pm-15S2
rogue sphinx
harmon kardon 990
anthem 225
yamaha as2000
yamaha as1000

while i'm mostly watching movies i plan on putting more music in my life. so eventually it'll be a 75/25 split with movies still in the majority. i'd like an amp with a wide soundstage so i can enjoy big sounding movies like star trek and dredd.

i hope this rambling makes sense to some.
bokkus
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,838 posts
 
I use a Marantz SA15S2b for my music and home theater set up. On the music side, I couldn't be happier. As for HT, it's a killer. Gunshots literally made me jump like I've never been startled before. Great, clear dialogue and encompassing sound effects. You can't go wrong.

All the best,
Nonoise
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
Like Nonoise, I own a Marantz PM15S2 also and cannot say enough good things about it. In fact, it replaced Parasound seperates and has taken my 4 Ohm Vienna Acoustics speakers to new heights.

To also quote you Bokkus..."build quality is my main concern". I think you would be hard pressed to find an integrated amp on your list, or any other for that matter, as well built as the Marantz PM15S2. Well maybe its big brother, the PM11S3. Both are built at the Marantz reference factory in Japan and they just exude quality. Seriously, check one out and audition it if you can. Ask the dealer to use it with his best, most expensive speakers too. The Marantz will be up to the challenge.
bokkus OP
8 posts
 
knobs get painted black every day.
bokkus OP
8 posts
 
How is the PM15S2 when it comes to midrange? it looks like there is a treble control and a bass control but none for midrange. would the PM8004 be comparable at half the cost?
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Since this appears to be primarily TV/Cinema...

I'd assume that you're going to use subwoofers to enhance the cinema experience. If that is the case, the HK 990 would be an easy call IMO. As mentioned above, it features an excellent power amp section, but that wouldn't be my major focus here. Unless the other units offer the same type of bass management/room correction software, I'd be pretty confident that the HK gives you easier/better subwoofer integration than any of the other choices. If any of the others is similarly equipped, then it might deserve consideration as well, but - in any case - the subwoofer integration capabilities would be my main focus in an integrated amp search for this application.
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