I have two satellite speakers and a center channel speaker, but no receiver or amp. The sound quality on my TV is pretty pitiful, so I’d like to make use of them, but home theater receivers are pretty pricey – at least $200. Soundbars start at $80 or so, but then I can’t make use of the speakers I already have.
I don’t need a bunch of inputs on the amplifier. I’d like to use the audio out from the TV. Really, what I’m looking for is a box with places for me to hook up left, right and center channel speakers, a volume knob, and a remote control. Does such a thing exist, or do I have to go for a 5.1 receiver if I want to make use of these speakers?
There are 5.1 channel amplifiers on the market, but they tend to be somewhat high-end since people use them as components of fancier home theater systems. You can probably save a lot of money by just buying a mid-range 5.1 receiver, and just using ignoring the AV functions and using it as an amp.
If you’re willing to use the TV remote to control the volume you could go super cheap with this 3 channel amp. From this rear view it has L and R inputs and left and right speaker outputs along with an output for a subwoofer that you may be able to use for the center channel.
I’m sure it won’t be great but for $14.50 it might be worth a shot.
You can’t use that subwoofer output (or any subwoofer output) for a center channel. That amp does not have a separate input channel for the subwoofer (it just has a low-pass filter for the left/right inputs) and in any case a subwoofer amp is designed for very low-frequency signals and not the normal frequency range of a center channel. You really need a real 3-channel amp, or a 5.1-channel (much more common) with the surround and subwoofer channels unused.
