So the Sony amp I've had for 12 years just ate sh1t and died and at exactly the same time my 6 stacker CD player imploded. I've been happy plugging the laptop into the amp for mp3 tunes, but now i need something more "proper" for in my house.
If your interested in this stuff, what's a good way to go from here on with a budget of $500 or what if no budget!?
I have a great set of aussie made front and surround speakers.
I have over 500gb of mp3, mostly from my cd collection.
I have some kind of 1tb wifi bull**** drive, routers and even actual rj45 connections next to the speakers.
I have an iPad, a stupid ps3, LCD tv and an obsolete laptop.
Where to from here for the 21 st century audiophile?
if you are an audiophile and already have a good set of speakers, you can't settle for anything less then a proper dedicated amp (IMO)... you can get solid amps for around 600-700 (i..e i got yamaha, very happy).
i checked out various docking stations recently, and whilst they all give you somewhat limited single-source sound, some of them are quiet good - but any decent docking station starts from $600 onwards... the ones i tested and liked were bose, philips (around $800 dollar mark)
Thanks lizard, what I'm getting at is the method to play the tunes. Can I turn my tv into a juke box, then play though a decent amp, err easily? Control it with iPad kinda setup?
Not exactly cheap and will blow your $500 budget but I love my Sonos set up, I have the "Connect" hooked up to my Yamaha amp/sound system and a few Play 5 speakers around the house, controlled from computer/iPad or iPhone.
You have to have a Sonos component hooked up to your wireless router/"1tb wifi bull**** drive"
You can then download the Sonos program onto you laptop/iPad/iPhone and control it from any of these devices wirelessly.
Something like this hooked up to you speakers would do.
www.sonos.com/en-au/shop/amp.html
I would spend that money of a cheap amp and a basic xbox. The sound quality from an xbox is... ok... but really you'll be mostly playing mp3's and they are only ok anyway, even at highest or variable bitrate. The music players on the xbox are ordinary too, you have to make playlists on your pc. Come to think of it not sure why I'm recommending it (for sound) but Borderlands 2 is just out and COD Black Ops 2 won't be too far away - so get free games ability and TV/movie streaming thrown in for your budget, and you have the network connection right there so you can plug it straight in. I run HDMI in to TV and then optical out to amp. That way everything that the tv is displaying (antenna/xbox/usb etc) goes to amp, which autodetects surround mode, and I don't have to push any buttons.
I bought a cheapie amp from WOW (like JB) around $350, and it's as good or better than my previous Yamaha which cost double that - at the input quality(mp3) and volume that I use these days. Audiophiles will argue this down but really IMHO you have to be an audiophile, constantly playing great quality music at high volume thru great components to need a great amp.
Laptop into (buy a Yamahaha amp) via fiber optic amp into your new speakers. Thow anything with i in front of it .
AMP - a must to drive decent speakers...
Take AMP to a electronic fix-it place - $50-80 to let U know cost to fix (if possible). - I replaced an pre-amp and a condensor in my DENON a few years back - $170.00.
else
Perhaps - ex-rental or Cash Converters(know Ur Stuff) --
New stuff may be running on lower OHMs than your older speakers.. (My stuff is old but still GOLD ok
)
However to tie it all together.... (for all those who do not want a dedicated pc etc)
www.roku.com/
or
www.cnet.com.au/d-link-boxee-box-339310824.htm
with the RJ45 - assume N/W'ed to I/net - U can tie into a lot of content -- get a proxy setup - and hey - Olympic coverage can be as good as FOXTEL (& Better) ...
Bugger that budget..
Hope something works out
AP
I'm about to move to Sonos. Was at a mates house and that system is awesome! He had any song I could think of and didnt have to worry about copying cd's or downloading music on the sly. It was unreal. It seems slightly expensive but when I look at the wall of cd's we have and think what I've paid it's a drop in the ocean.
Anyway, re the amp - I would get a decent Yamaha, consistent sound quality and not too over priced for what you need. Bose set ups are great but generally come as a package with speakers and if you already have them, just replace what's broken.
Denon is brilliant but the lower end of their gear is not as good as Yamaha low end. Spend $2000 on A Denon amp and you will have an awesome piece of gear, no question. Just depends on what you want to spend.
I'm about to move to Sonos. Was at a mates house and that system is awesome! He had any song I could think of and didnt have to worry about copying cd's or downloading music on the sly. It was unreal. It seems slightly expensive but when I look at the wall of cd's we have and think what I've paid it's a drop in the ocean.
Anyway, re the amp - I would get a decent Yamaha, consistent sound quality and not too over priced for what you need. Bose set ups are great but generally come as a package with speakers and if you already have them, just replace what's broken.
Grab a second hand traded in amp from a good hifi shop, Sonos is great at getting music around the house but is still not full hi-res yet so if you want better than mp3 get the amp fixed or buy a new one.
Thanks for the tips. I'll hunt around for an new amp, I'll need one either way. Apple TV sounds alright but I have nothing in iTunes. Does Apple TV need a constant Internet connection to work and can iTunes work effectively with over 500gb of tunes?
Cheers for your input!
You don't need a internet connection unless you want to download movies and use some of the services. it does need your music to be in iTunes.
Quite a number of receivers now have AirPlay built in, negating the need for an AppleTV. That said appleTV is $99, has more features, and allows you to choose any receiver you want. Note that it has HDMI and/or optical out. I gotta say AirPlay is pretty schmick.
Once it's on your home network (no internet required) you can send any media to it by pushing the AirPlay button. Setup is entering your appleID and password once, and switching 'home sharing' on.
You don't need to import all your music into iTunes (which can be a pain); you could jailbreak the appleTV (which can be a pain). Alternately there are so many good podcasts and mix tapes and such on the internet these days I find that I rarely, if ever, visit my collection. If you're playing MP3s on your iPad already I suspect you don't need to do anything.
I bought a Pioneer VSX921 for about $650 on sale. It replaced a 12 yo Onkyo when a channel died. It's probably not as deep a sound as the Onkyo but its very punchy, plays mp3 very nicely and heaps of options.
TV, DVD, and media player with large hard drive full of music all via HDMI. Hooks up to iPad or phone via AirPlay or can hardware with supplied apple connector cable.
I recommend it for the money.
You can play all you music via the media player which is handy. Good app available to use iPad/iPod as remote control if you've also got your music on one of them.
Lots of sound options. Worth a look.
EB
For anyone in this situation, ie thrust into new world technology here's what I did.
Got a pioneer vsx 827 from hn for $550
Got hdmi cables from eBay for $4 each, don't ever pay big bucks for a digital cable!
Got remote app for iPad and remote app for pioneer amp.
Installed iTunes on laptop
Turned on wifi drive in the shed which is a goflex
Plugged rj45 cable into amp
Ran optical audio cable from tv to amp
Ran hdmi for every thing else, inc back to tele.
And omfg how good is it now? It eats the sound of the old amp, perhaps because the amp is getting a digital signal and its not going out the analogue headphone jack of the laptop. Derr!
The tv now produces an excellent sound, rage is pumping.
I can browse my pc itunes and the goflex music on the iPad, turn on the amp, play it and adjust the volume, sound setting etc. for a semi tech person of the era of win98 this is the bomb.
The amp has got Internet radio too. Listened to bbc2 the other day for a laugh.
I found this guide useful.... http://www.twonky.com/learn.aspx
I can't beam video to the tele, ill need appletv for that, but I'm stoked!
Thanks for the tip Buddha, panda et all!
Cheers
