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.
Trusted
