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Question

Best configuration Beam + Amp with passive speaker

  • October 15, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 325 views
S

Hi All,

in my living room I currently have a Samsung TV and a turntable connected to an old Sony HIFI, both on the same living room furniture. I would like to boost the audio of the Samsung (that’s definitely bad) and at the same time change the old Sony HIFI to have something with Airplay 2, to which I can also connect my turntable. I would like to keep my Sony passive speakers, 50W each, that I like how they sound. What would be the best solution? I am thinking of BEAM (as I cannot afford a bigger one due to size) and AMP, but in the case what would be the best configuration? Would BEAM work by itself when watching TV and the passive speakers be used for audio only, or should it work in any different way? How about when playing music via spotify? Would the amp stream only on the passive speakers, or would beam be involved? I am getting lost :) I cannot move the speakers somewhere else.

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6 replies

J
  • John B
  • October 15, 2020

The best solution, IMO, would be for you just to buy an Amp to use with your passive speakers (provided your TV has HDMI ARC or optical out). The Amp has inputs for your TV and turntable.

If you wanted surround sound you could add a pair of One SLs.

S
  • sasmimo
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • October 15, 2020

Thanks a lot for the answer. Dumb question: will I feel the lack of a central channel for voice since I have the 2 passive speakers wide left and right of the TV? Also, the speakers are higher than the TV, that’s not centered compared to them.

J
  • John B
  • October 15, 2020

The Amp generates a 'phantom' centre by splitting the centre stream between left and right. I can't speak as to how well that works. But it will give you better separation than the Beam.

You could always buy a Beam later and keep the Amp and speakers for music. Or use the Amp for rear surrounds. 

Note that when used for surrounds the Amp's line in is disabled so you wouldn’t be able to incorporate the turntable. 

    S
    • sasmimo
    • Author
    • Contributor I
    • October 15, 2020

    Thanks! So, should I go for the dual option in the future, in the case when playin music for example via Spotify, on my phone, I will have to choose wheter to stream via the amp OR the beam, correct?

    J
    • John B
    • October 15, 2020

    No not at all. You could group the Beam and Amp and play in perfect sync on both.  That's what Sonos does.

    D
    Forum|alt.badge.img+4
    • dan8558
    • Prominent Collaborator I
    • October 15, 2020

    I use the Amp to provide tv audio using the phantom center approach. For me it works really well, but my speakers are at the same level as the tv.

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