Home Theatre Amp

dubstub

Hi guys,
I'm trying to choose an amp and speakers for my HTPC. I'm currently using a Realtek on-board sound card and running the sound through a HIFI.
I'm looking to get a sound card to put audio out over a digital connection and into an amp.
I'm looking at this, it seems like a good budget solution: http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/541204/art/sony/ht-ddw790-home-cinema-sys.html

Does anyone have any experience with this? I haven't found much in the way of reviews on the web.
I can go a bit more expensive if necessary, such as:
http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CAMB-340R-SIL

but I'll need speakers for this. I'm looking for small discrete speakers and only really need 2.1 and just the audio input for the moment.
Any help with this would be fantastic. Cheers.

SouperComputer

Moved to hifi and separates. These guys wil be able to fill you in on whats the best amp for your money.

SC

The Ritz

I'm looking to get a sound card to put audio out over a digital connection and into an amp.

Any bog-standard Audigy soundcard will output a digital signal via SPDIF - you just need to make the correct settings in the software for the sound card and the software for your media player.

Ether of the amps you mentioned in your thread will do fine, the Sony has the advantage of coming with speakers. In reality, the ultimate choice depends on your budget, what you want to use them for and how critical you are from a "listening" point of view.



Ritz

dubstub

Thanks for the reply. My budget is flexible; I'd like to keep it around €300 but will pay more if the systems around that price are not up to scratch.
I really don't know much in this area but I do know that my current system sounds crap!
I'm not an audiophile and there's not much point in a super expensive system as I mainly play MP3's encoded at 128kbps or 192kbps from the media centre.
The size of the Sony would be about the same as my media centre so won't look too out of place but the positioning of the speakers is a concern.
Do you know if this is any good:
Yamaha YSP900 - Digital Sound Projector
http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/products_moreinfo3/index.asp?product_id=12185

Thanks again for your help. If the amplifier is the way to go - does anyone know of reasonably priced, high quality speakers that are discrete?

The Ritz

I've heard one of those Yamaha digital sound projectors, albeit in what I would consider a less than ideal demo environment, and i wassn't particulaly impressed. The model you linked to has two 4" speakers doing bass duty - I think that this would be less than ideal, alright for something stylish and living-room (read "wife") friendly, but far inferior to a decent entry level amp and speakers. The one I heard was a bit further up the food chain and had a dedicated separate subwoofer - it still sounded awful, fiercely unbalanced, all "woofy" bass and shrill treble, no midrange whatsoever.

If you only want to listen to stereo music, then going for a 5.1 channel amp is overkill, and probably not as good as a dedicated gear for stereo - just go for a decent entry level stereo amp and bookshelf speakers. The 5.1 setup will offer you an upgrade path to home cinema if you think you might go in that direction later, but it's not necessary for stereo.

You don't need a digital input either - analog stereo output from your HCPC will be fine.

Have a look at Richersounds site again - you could partner a Marantz amp http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=2&SUB=16&ProductID=400 and a set of Tangent Evos http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=5&SUB=32&ProductID=647
foor not much more than €300 - this would give you a decent outcome.

Two channel and hifi is not my favourite area, so these suggestions are aimed at an entry level budget and taking account of your own descriptiton of your needs and listening habit. Hopefully someone else will hop in with some additional/different advice - at the minimum I suggest you have a listen before buying - it's your ears and your money !


Ritz

dubstub

Aw cheers dude, that's very helpful. Thanks for the info on the Yamaha speakers. The "girlfriend friendly" concern is something which I need to keep balanced with my needs!
I like the idea of digital output so that I don't rely on the sound card for any processing. The upgrade path to 5.1 is something which will be useful in the future as I may switch it around with my surround sound setup in another room. The HDMI switcher in the Sony could come in handy as well.
I think I'll take a trip into the Sony store tomorrow to get a listen to one of their amps in person. If that goes well I'll go with the one I linked to above, though I think this is an old model so I probably won't get a listen to that exact model in store.
Thanks again for your time!

The Ritz

No prob, come back and let us know how you get on...........


Ritz