whats the best budget/mid price amp

[rpurdy]

am looking to upgrade my current amp - am considering the following:
Marantz sr5200
Yamaha 620
Sony 940/1070
Second hand amp - something like a yamaha dsp a2

any ideas as to which is the best for the money - or are there any others I should look at?
don't mind spending up to £400-£500

Cheers

[kcxdev]

you might like to change the sony 940 to the updated 1070 model :)

[Edith]

Sony 940 still under warranty goin cheap in the general classifieds ;)

[john316]

Budget amps between £400 - £500? - dearie me - Not quite my idea of budget amps! :D

[kcxdev]

Originally posted by john316
Budget amps between £400 - £500? - dearie me - Not quite my idea of budget amps! :D

thats probably why there aren't many replies ;) might like to amend the title

[Justin]

Originally posted by rpurdy
am looking to upgrade my current amp - am considering the following:
Marantz sr5200
Yamaha 620
Sony 940
Second hand amp - something like a yamaha dsp a2

any ideas as to which is the best for the money - or are there any others I should look at?
don't mind spending up to £400-£500

Marantz SR6200 works out as a half decent bargain I think currently, over the SR5200 (bit more power, better remote, etc).

[rpurdy]

cheers for that justin - just out of interest why do I need the extra power from the amp - isn't 90 watts per channel enough?

also what exta functionality does the remote offer?

Cheers

[f_drew]

I've got the SR5200 and think it's damn good !
The remote is a bit 'cheap', but I've got a Pronto so I wasn't too bothered by it.

When I was looking (about 6 months ago) it offered the best line-up of features with least chance of it being out of date soon. Although the Denon xx02 range has come out since then that look pretty good.

Personally I found the Sony's sound a bit too 'processed' for my liking. ;)

[Ron Hill]

The new Denon 3802 is getting rave reviews. Looks nice too. :)

[MikeK]

Originally posted by Ron Hill
The new Denon 3802 is getting rave reviews. Looks nice too. :)

Not exactly budget equipment though! :p

It all depends on what features you want, how critical you are, what other eqpt you will be using it with, whether you want high class stereo vinyl/CD playback etc etc.

If you want a DD/DTS amp to drive a budget home cinema system, and don't do any critical listening to music, then IMO it's take your pick. All the amps I've heard will do a decent job at sane listening levels, with the average DVD player and budget speaker set.

If you do listen to music, and have a critical ear, then demos are really the only way to decide.

Reviews are OK - but be warned that different reviewers can have very different opinions.
What Hifi for instance rate both the Denon AVR1602 and Marantz SR5200 very highly, and were a bit crtitical of the Sony 1070.
Hifi Choice's listening panel have a total different view - rating neither the Denon nor the Marantz as being as good as the Sony.
Hard to make an informed decision faced with such conflicting opinion.
When it first came out, What Hifi raved over the Pioneer VSX859, but now seem to have changed that opinion.
Both magazines are rather critical of Pioneer amps now.
Both magazines rate the Onkyo TXDS595 quite highly though.


Personally - I'd only shortlist amps which now feature DPL2 and at least some form of EX/ES decoding and amplification.
I still watch VHS and DTV, so DPL2 would be nice, and although EX/ES encoded films aren't that common, it looks set to change so an amp which could at least deal with it would provide at least some form of future proofing.
That would probably put the Marantz SR5200 at the top of my list.
I'd demo it, and if I enjoyed the sound it made, I'd buy it. If not, I'd look at something else.
Although the features would be nice, sound quality is IMO, more important, so if I had to lose some features to get better sound for the same money, then so be it. If the features are non-negotiable, then upping the budget would be the only way to go.

Then again, if DPL2 is irrelevant, and you never have any intention of going to 6.1 sound, then why pay for the features?

At the end of the day, the best amp is the one which sounds good to you, and does what you want it to do - all for a price you can afford. As long as the owner is happy - that's all that matters.
Who really cares what magazine reviewers think - it is after all only their opinion (although you'd like to think that it's at least an informed opinion)

[john316]

Home Entertainment magazine raved about the Marantz 5200 awarding it 5/5 total score saying it was a steal. Didn't know it had 6.1 support on it??

[MikeK]

Originally posted by john316
Home Entertainment magazine raved about the Marantz 5200 awarding it 5/5 total score saying it was a steal. Didn't know it had 6.1 support on it??

All in all, (given that HiFi Choice don't really seem to like AV receivers anyway) they also gave it a recommended tag.

Comments though, did include
"flat", "lacking drive", "uninteresting" and "lacklustre".

They quoted the Sony 1070 as third best (behind the NAD T761 and HK AVR5000), with the Onkyo TXDS595 and Marantz following close behind.

Surprisingly though, they were quite critical of the Denon AVR1602 (which WHF raved over) and almost abusive of the Pioneer VSXD810.
They also didn't rate the JVC RX8012R, the Technics DX950 and the Kenwood KRFX9050D, which made up the 10 units in the test.

Remember that their listening panel is blind on sound tests - they don't know what they are listening to. Read into that what you will, but IMO that's as good or better than certain other types of reviews. They do however use all the same eqpt through a test (to make the playing field level), but you could argue that this in itself will favour some amps above the others, as it's well known that even some individual 5star performers don't gel well together as a pair, and are sometimes beaten by a pair of 4 star performers which just happen to be an ideal match.
For instance, any amp which is accused of being dull might partner a pair of Mission speakers well, whereas an amp tending towards the more enrgetic or bright, would probably suit something more laid back, like Tannoys. (just an an example)

BTW - the SR5200 does indeed have 6.1 capability, and also has the necessary amp channel onboard (so it's a true 6.1 amp).