Amp recommendations & advice?

[Ay Cee]

Hi everybody,
This is my first post to the forum...certainly won't be my last :)

I currently have (what I now understand to be) a basic Sony 5.1 System (TA-VE170) and am looking to upgrade.

I thought I was very happy with my system until I discovered DTS!

I never thought there to be a great difference between Dolby and DTS until I accidentally switched the sound to DTS on my DVD of Signs. Unfortunately my system can't hadle DTS but it could handle the bass that drops at the start of the movie when the credits are playing...WOW :eek: I could not believe the difference...even my wife noticed it!!! That's saying something :D

I am now looking to invest in an amp which does both Dolby Digital & DTS. Can any body recommend some products to check out and which to stay away from?

Unfortuantely I'm on a fairly tight budget, couple of hundred dollars type area. I'm not necessarly looking for a new amp just one to fulfill my needs and keep me happy...for a week or two :D

I've been checking Ebay and have noticed Harman Kardon popping up a lot. Has anybody got experience with these?

Thanks very much for the help guys.

Allan.
Ireland.

[uncooked]

if your looking for a basic dts, dolby receiver. the panasonic sa-he75. is good for a basic system. its probably like $150 american? goes on sale for $219 here in canada. but it is a very good amp for the price. or get a sa-he100 and go to the next step 6.1 with dts-es and dolby d ex. probably like 50-100 bucks more.

or if you have a bit more money to blow, check out older model yamahas like the 5640


i dont like HK personally. bad experiences, i wouldnt buy one anyways, so definetely not off of ebay. you never know if it has been abused. the problems i have seen with HK has been they just shut off for no reason or the PROTECT goes on, even when you unplug everything and there is no way anything is shorting. i have seen so many HK's returned to future shop its incedible.

[Ay Cee]

I also forgot to say, I would like to keep my current speakers off my Sony system.

I'm not too sure about the SW tho, will that be a generic connection or is specifically for the Sony system? Does anybody know?

Thanks for the advice uncooked.

Keep 'em coming guys :)

Allan.

[uncooked]

is it like a sony hometheatre in a box type thing?

if so then the sub might be one of thoughs ones that are run with speaker wire instead of sub cable.

if its sub cable you can use it on any amp, if its speaker wire then that makes it alot harder and its not worth using it, it would be better to by a new one that would do the job like 5 times better.

[markw]

I never thought there to be a great difference between Dolby and DTS until I accidentally switched the sound to DTS on my DVD of Signs. Unfortunately my system can't hadle DTS but it could handle the bass that drops at the start of the movie when the credits are playing...WOW :eek: I could not believe the difference...even my wife noticed it!!! That's saying something :D
Ireland.

First, welcome to the forum. You come from a beautiful country filled with warm people. .. and the Guinness, the fruit of the sniffy Liffe, doesn't suck either.

No, I'm both curious and confused. You say your receiver doesn't handle DTS, yet you were able to get DTS bass? That doesn't compute. If one cannot get DTS, one cannot get that .1 DTS channel that handles bass either.

Are you saying that it does handle DTS, but not as well as it does DD? There is generally not a night and day difference between the two formats, at least one of the magnitude you describe. I'm wondering if there's something amiss with the system itself.

[magictooth]

Hi!

Sorry, but I don't know the specifics of your Sony system. If your current setup has pre-in analog inputs, you can hook your DVDP to your receiver via the analog jacks. This way, the signal is decoded in the DVDP. Most players these days have built in DD/DTS decoding, and if yours does not have it, a new DVD player is by far the cheapest way to go if you can hook it up via the analog jacks.

[uncooked]

analog? then he would only be able to get stereo though

[markw]

analog? then he would only be able to get stereo though

Some, not all, DVD/CD players incorporate their own on-board DD/DTS processors. These processors can be bypassed by using a toslink or coaxial connector to the receiver where the digital DD/DTS can be done by the procesors in the receiver.

All SACD/DVD-Audio have on-board decoders. These cannot currently be decoded from a digital stream in a receiver. While DD/DTS can be fed in digital format to the receiver via the ubiquitious toslink/coaxial connecter, SACD and DVD Audio must pass an analog frrd from the source component to the receiver.

In both these cases, where the D/A conversion takes place in the source component and not the receiver, the signal is fed to the preamp/receiver via 6 standard analog interconects.

Of course, if the receiver doesn't have the ability to accept 5.1 analog inputs, the poor guy is screwed for this suggestion. Most current receivers do, though.

[uncooked]

o ok so if your amp has 6 channel input. you dont even need a dts decoder in your amp. thats good to know, i thought you did.

so yea it would be way cheaper to go pick up a pioneer 563, or something along thoughs lines, then a new amp.

so thats why i saw this dvd player awhile back with 6 channel out put even though it wasnt SACD, or dvd-a compliant. they were just making one that would let people use dts. thats very smart now that i get it. thanks markw for pointing this out to me.

the one i was talking about was a MALATA "cheapy" $80 canadian at future shop, so down there it would be like $50 - 55 ish? defintely cheapers then a new amp.