# So, does anyone make stereo amp/receivers anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493 "2007-12-28T18:03:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/1 "2007-12-28T18:03:36Z")
My stereo receiver is giving up the ghost after 15 years. Probably a leaky capacitor, but I’d rather buy a new one than try to fix the old. It turns out that when you walk into the big box stores, they all want to sell you a ‘home theater’ system with 8 channels, 3 DVD inputs, and oh, you can hook your turntable up thru the ‘aux’ port if you really _must_ have one. Online perusal of Sony/Pioneer/Marantz sites turns up a lot of home theater stuff, but no plain old stereo components for those who like music more than TV. Do such things still exist? Who makes em? ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/2 "2007-12-28T18:04:30Z")
Harman Kardon still make a 2 channel receiver. Actually they make 2. HK 3385 [http://harmankardon.com/product\_detail.aspx?cat=REC&sType=C&prod=HK+3385](http://harmankardon.com/product_detail.aspx?cat=REC&sType=C&prod=HK+3385) HK 3485 [http://harmankardon.com/product\_detail.aspx?cat=REC&sType=C&prod=HK+3485](http://harmankardon.com/product_detail.aspx?cat=REC&sType=C&prod=HK+3485) ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/3 "2007-12-28T18:10:29Z")
Ran out of editing time…both have phono inputs. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/4 "2007-12-28T18:50:45Z")
Normal 2-channel receivers and amps are getting scarce. Poking around some popular stores, I find that Sony still makes one - their STR-DE197 sells for about $150, but has no phono input. The Sherwood RX4105 sells for about $100 - no mention of phono inputs though. My pick of what’s readily available and with phono inputs would be the Onkyo TX-8222 - $180 at Crutchfield. You didn’t say what you were looking for in power, but this one is rated for 50 watts per channel. Knowing Onkyo, this is probably a rather conservative rating. ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/5 "2007-12-28T19:10:13Z")
There are quite a few audiophile companies still making pure stereo stuff. Many are ridiculously expensive. But take a look at Rotel (nice integrated amplifier, and even a pure stereo receiver - [Music Systems | Rotel](http://www.rotel.com/NA/products/index.htm?cat=39)) and NAD. Good quality stuff, not priced out of this world. ---
**Author:** ![ntcrawler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/6 "2007-12-28T21:14:08Z")
fear not! NAD Electronics makes the C315BEE, an honest to goodness integrated stereo amplifier. It has everything you need and probably nothing you would not: [http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi-amplifiers/C315BEE-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier/](http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi-amplifiers/C315BEE-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier/) no flashy lcd displays, no high definition HDMI inputs, no usb ports. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/7 "2007-12-28T22:31:55Z")
Radio Shack still sells a few products that might fit your bill, such as this Teac stereo receiver. [http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2558773&cp=2032057.2032180&parentPage=family](http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2558773&cp=2032057.2032180&parentPage=family) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/8 "2007-12-28T22:45:04Z")
Ah, some excellent replies here. Thanks all! That HK 3385 looks pretty sweet, but I haven’t had a chance to look through all the rest yet. I’m still a little puzzled though. Is there some reason I would _want_ a home theatre system just to play records, CD’s and MP3s? I’ll probably end up dumping all this stuff to a hard drive over the next couple years, and then just Airport it into the amp, but that doesn’t require that I have USB ports, or [7.1 channels](http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback103.html) of movie soundtrack quality amplification. Movie soundtracks aren’t all that hi-fi. Why is everyone going with it? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/9 "2007-12-28T22:52:58Z")
While it’s getting harder to find equipment that is strictly audio, that doesn’t mean you have to use all the features that come with the amp. My home stereo (Denon) has surround capability, but I only use it for music. It can be set for stereo or surround or whatever you want it to do. In fact, [here](http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/553.asp) is a Denon integrated amp that is probably just what you need. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/10 "2007-12-28T23:17:55Z")
Any amount of [Denon](http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/AMFMStereoReceivers.asp) Stereo receivers. My son in law has one (UK model not listed here) and it is fine for his purposes. You might also consider an integrated amp and a tuner, possibly second hand. The reasoning behind this is that you will get a better quality sound from it but analogue audio looks like being phased out over the coming years and you can easily replace the tuner with a DAB tuner. Also [Marantz](http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=marantz+stereo+receivers&um=1&ie=UTF-8) receivers. [Sony](http://www.google.com/products?q=sony+stereo+receivers&btnG=Search+Products&hl=en&show=dd) receivers. Still plenty of them out there. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-anyone-make-stereo-amp-receivers-anymore/431493/11 "2007-12-29T20:47:29Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] I’m still a little puzzled though. Is there some reason I would _want_ a home theatre system just to play records, CD’s and MP3s? [/QUOTE] Well, there are methods to create surround sound from a 2-channel recording. Dolby Pro Logic 2 is supposed to be good for doing this with music, but I haven’t tried it. If you have a subwoofer, a home-theater receiver will have a crossover to send the bass to it and cut it from the main speakers. The subwoofer or stereo receiver might have one, but it usually isn’t as good or as flexible as the digital one in a surround receiver. Another thing is that a home-theater receiver can take a digital signal from a CD player. That way it shouldn’t matter how cheap the player is, because the sound quality should depend on the digital-to-analog converter in the receiver. You can also play CDs on a DVD player, so you’d have fewer things by putting it all together. You can even stream mp3s from your computer to your Tivo.