Help me choose my first Amp + Speakers

G'Day Everyone

I need help choosing some sound equipment for my home setup.

Currently I have:

A Samsung UA40D5000 LED TV - Handles all my picture needs
http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/...dex.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=specification

An Apple TV Generation 2 - I use this to watch all my TV shows, Movies and listen to music etc
http://www.apple.com/au/appletv/specs.html

A Sony PS3 - I use this for Gaming and playing the occasional DVD
http://au.playstation.com/ps3system/

I'm looking for a way to improve the sound output for all of these devices. As they all connect to the TV, I assume a receiver would be a waste of money. Correct me if I'm wrong.

What I assume I need is an amplifier and a pair of good bookshelf speakers. I would like to be able to control the speaker volume using my existing TV remote, but would settle for an additional remote if required. The amp would have to be very good/affordable to not have a remote.

I've been looking into valve/tube amplifiers, I'm interested in possibly getting one if I can afford it.

I also have a powered Rokit 5 monitor by KRK that I really enjoy the sound from.
I was thinking of buying a pair of 6" Passive monitors for the system:
http://www.krksys.com/krk-studio-monitor-speakers/r6.html
I also like the aesthetics of these speakers.
These are $450 on eBay which would leave me with $150-$250 max for an amp.


The brief is a system that is going to dramatically increase sound quality for this system.
The budget is around the $500 mark +/- $200
Speakers should have a black casing, I'm not into fake woodgrain. Hardwood would be fine as I could stain it.
The amp should be good quality, capable of handling 2 bookshelf speakers, if it has the option of powering a sub it's a bonus but I really don't think it matters.
Must be available for purchase in Australia. I'm in Melbourne. Happy to buy on the internet.
More than willing to buy second hand via eBay etc.

Any questions just ask.

Cheers

Dave

SuperCachetes said:

Have you ruled out an all-in-one home theater system like this one?

You didn't mention surround sound, but I like it for movies from both my BR and ATV. A system like above (or a receiver) also presupposes that you are okay with using the HTS/receiver as an audio/video switch connected to the TV with just one cable, which I also prefer.

Good luck, and be sure to post up what you end up getting.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response.

I have indeed ruled out all in one package systems.
I was given one for xmas by my family and after setting it up I found that the receiver and speakers were all poor quality. I'd much prefer to have 2 good speakers than 5.1 speakers that I'll just want to replace.

I was thinking of buying a pair of powered studio monitors but wasn't sure if it was possible to hook these up to a TV directly.