Hi everyone, I've been reading the forum for a few weeks to try and get some ideas on what I should do.My situation is that my audio equipment is past it's use-by date and needs replacing. The Rotel amp is around 20 years old and the tone control is crackling and cutting out on both channels, as is the volume control; the cheap Philips CD player no longer reads any CDs; the cheap 25-year-old Pioneer turntable still works (just), and the 20-year-old Energy speakers still work.I also need to consider what to do about my television and associated devices. I have an old CRT TV bought from the Warehouse, which is still working! Plugged into the TV is the MySky HDi box, and a DVD recorder for watching DVDs.I am wanting to get some music back in the house, and trying to decide which is the most appropriate route to take. Our family (me, the wife, and 17-year-old daughter) are NOT particularly discerning audiophiles, or TV-philes for that matter. But at the same time, I have appreciated the difference that spending a little more and buying quality equipment makes. So it's a matter of balancing the various choices against a realistic budget. I don't have a firm budget set, but I imagine that I'm probably going to be looking at around $1500 to $2000 to go the next step up from cheap junk to something that will please everybody without breaking the bank. (Or am I completely unrealistic?)It seems to me that I have essentially two options:1. Buy a new amplifier and CD player now (and maybe replace the turntable), and when the CRT finally gives up maybe investigate buying a home theatre setup of some type.2. Forget the amplifier and go the home theatre route. Buy a home theatre AV receiver and some speakers (I know from reading this forum that Home Theatre In a Box is probably not the way to go), a CD player, and plug everything into it. One potential issue that occurs to me is the CRT TV does not have an HDMI input - only composite (I think that's what it's called; it's not component, there are just three RCA leads - white and red for audio plus one yellow lead for video). The MySky and the DVD recorder both have composite, component and HDMI out. So do I need to increase the budget and throw in a new TV as well?!I'm probably tending towards the second option, as I suspect I will have difficulty justifying the extra cost of a dedicated music amplifier to the wife. I realise that a home theatre receiver will not equal a dedicated amplifier for faithful music reproduction, but as I say we're not particularly discerning listeners anyway!!!Would really appreciate any thoughts or guidance.
↧