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Best Amp/Receiver for a Forte IV Home Theater & Stereo Setup

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darth_maul

New Member
BLUF
- Looking for amp/AVR recommendations for HT setup centered around Fort IVs as main L/R speakers
- classic MCM vibe (wood paneling or wood enclosures, silver metal?), current black plastic amps don't fit the look
- HT will have 4K projector, apple TV, PS5 (+/- Switch/N64)
- May also add on record-player, so will it change to dedicated 2-channel for just stereo music?


Hello everyone, I'm new to the home theater space and want to set up my first surround sound theater in our basement. I will eventually be getting a pair of Forte IVs for my main L/R speakers. These will be my first purchase and I plan on upgrading slowly to an eventual 5.1 surround sound experience. I will also have a 4K projector, PS5 (or other gaming console), and apple TV in the home theater. I'm trying to figure out a decent AV receiver for the setup.

A caveat is the interior design vibe I'm going for which will be a more classic mid-century modern (MCM) look. I feel the amps/receivers on the market currently are kind of boring looking with their black plastic encasing, so maybe going for a more vintage receiver with silver metal/wood paneling may be better.

Also, probably a dumb question, will the AVR be able to switch back and forth between an HT and dedicated 2-channel system for just music listening? I may add-on a vinyl record player at some point as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice! Excited to start this journey!
 
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Personally, I've put all of my effort into my 2 channel setup, with consists of separates, a preamp and amp(s). It's integrated into my HT setup, which is a Marantz NR1605 with Energy center and surrounds, but in all honesty, the HT part of my system is an afterthought. It's set up so everything goes into my 2 channel, Apple TV, which I will use to stream music on occasion, goes into an HDMI to optical splitter; the HDMI continues to the AVR, but the optical out goes into my DAC and into the 2 channel. the only complaint I have is that I need to adjust the volume twice, once on my 2ch preamp and once on the AVR, but given the glorious sound of my mains, it's not a big issue.

pretty much any quality AVR will allow you to switch between surround modes and 2 channel, stereo operation. I would steer clear of vintage for your intended use; unfortunately, if you want silver, most off the options I'm aware of for new gear, are only 2 channel. Conversely, just about all of the AVR options that I know of are black. Similarly, Vintage AVRS from the late 90's really restrict your connectivity options and vintage from the 70's is purely 2 channel. if you're set on multi-channel home theater, pick a brand you like, eg Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, Pioneer et al and get a modern AVR; otherwise, stick with 2 channel.
 
If you ultimately want to add rear speakers to the mix, you are more limited and even more limited if you want something vintage looking. Personally, I’d figure out what the mix is of 2-channel and music, and go from there. Ideally, you could go with an AVR for the 5.1, that would still be music capable if it has a phono input, but likely won’t do justice to the forte4. You could do this and see, then add an integrated amp for the 2-channel stuff later on. Ideally, the integrated could have a home theater bypass option if you don’t want to swap cables back and forth. The integrated controls the 2-channel part, but if you want tv, games etc it passes thru to the AVR. Most likely a better option is a tube integrated for the 2-channel listening and an AVR for the theater stuff. Ideally, swap speaker cables when listening to one over the other (banana plugs) to save tube life even IF the tube amp has a theater bypass (some do, such as primaluna) but most don’t. NOTE: always make sure (I think) to have a load on the tube amp — speakers plugged into it, before turning it on. If you prefer solid state, some vintage units could work well (eg Harmon kardon 430, 730, or Yamaha (many in silver), or new Yamaha (silver). AS-1200? Some of the N series look vintage (silver, meters), and have digital inputs, but don’t think more than L/R speaker connections. Maybe post a budget?
 
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Sammythebull said:
If you ultimately want to add rear speakers to the mix, you are more limited and even more limited if you want something vintage looking. Personally, I’d figure out what the mix is of 2-channel and music, and go from there. Ideally, you could go with an AVR for the 5.1, that would still be music capable if it has a phono input, but likely won’t do justice to the forte4. You could do this and see, then add an integrated amp for the 2-channel stuff later on. Ideally, the integrated could have a home theater bypass option if you don’t want to swap cables back and forth. The integrated controls the 2-channel part, but if you want tv, games etc it passes thru to the AVR. Most likely a better option is a tube integrated for the 2-channel listening and an AVR for the theater stuff. Ideally, swap speaker cables when listening to one over the other (banana plugs) to save tube life even IF the tube amp has a theater bypass (some do, such as primaluna) but most don’t. NOTE: always make sure (I think) to have a load on the tube amp — speakers plugged into it, before turning it on. If you prefer solid state, some vintage units could work well (eg Harmon kardon 430, 730, or Yamaha (many in silver), or new Yamaha (silver). AS-1200? Some of the N series look vintage (silver, meters), and have digital inputs, but don’t think more than L/R speaker connections. Maybe post a budget?
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Thanks for the advice! Don't have a budget, I'm willing to save-up if need be for the parts and will be buying the setup piecemeal starting with just the Fortes + an amp of some sort. But for completeness, let's say ~$5k max for the AVR/amp/preamp section of the setup. Using an integrated amp that has passthrough to an AVR sounds intriguing, would like to minimize cable switching. Tube integrated could also be more striking visually. I don't have a preference yet because frankly don't have the experience with all the different types of amps yet hah.
 
In addition to your desired receiver, look up the Adcom GSP-560 surround processor / rear channel amp.... may or may not get you there. I have a similar one and enjoy it.

Kinda jealous of the Forte IV's...
 
on the current market if you can get past the black plastic looks you wont do better for your money than the denon x3800. atmos ready if you do down the road, Dirac Live Bass Control correction, 9 channels of amp 11 channels of processing 4 subouts or 3 with a tactile channel if you want. ive seen it under 1k all through the holidays and ive used it building theaters for friends. you cant do better for the money. Dont want the internal amps? it can go into pre out only mode and turn all of that off too. You still cant get a processor with no amps for that cheap other than the emotiva and its not great.
 
Loved what I heard recently when a Mcintosh MA 252 and 352 were driving Hersey and Forti series 4 speakers. The 352 had the graphic controls which made a difference. The tube pre-amp section smoothed out the streaming source they were using and I love Graphic tone controls. Even though both units had way to much power at two watt levels the sound really filled the room with great sound.

Mcintosh doesn't make a HT AVR any more. Have to use separates. For smaller power a MC 7106, but for the processor a Mx123 is going to set you way back. I guess I would have to hold my nose and buy Denon. But what ever you choose make sure the unit as a Pure Stereo mode. All analog. Early Denon AVR's and Mac Processors did. At least my Mcintosh MX 119 and 120 processors did. But then they are only 1080P. I guess you would want a MX 160 or 170 now and a stereo tube preamp to use in the bypass mode for pure analog sound for our HT system. Probably be cheaper to buy a sedan or small pick-up.
 
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HT and MCM are not in sync. Think it will come down to budget, or ascetics. McIntosh is about the only HT, MCM look, but will be $$$$, but will sound great.

My 2ch is vintage (MCM) with vintage Forte speakers. Sounds wonderful, I'm in love with my setup.
My HT is all new Marantz AVR, 9.4.2 setup with Klipsch speakers. That also sounds awesome, but not so much with music, unless you just want it loud with 13 speakers all going at once. It's nice that it makes the entire house vibrate, but my 2ch kicks its butt. With my AVR in 2ch mode it sounds just ok, can't really get it dialed in like my dedicated music system.

My suggestion is either get a good HT receiver, set it up for 2ch and HT. Or get a ok AVR, with pre-outs, put that into another good amp for 2ch.
 
I'm leaning towards a dedicated 2ch stereo setup with it's own speakers ( already have: Sansui AU-999 + Klipsch Cornwall II's )

And a dedicated surround setup with it's own speakers.

It might cost you a fortune ( plus space ) to do surround with matching speakers to your 2ch. Easier to use smaller identical speakers + sub for surround stuff

Plus you can feed any hires 2ch digital source to your 2ch setup using the zone 2 outputs on an AVR.
 
there is no reason that a home theater setup shouldn't be capable of producing good 2ch audio, and the additional room correction you get with it is not comparable to without. Purists can have all the opinions they want about what it's "doing to the sound" after they show me their perfectly measuring room first. The current market Denon and Marantz have by far the best price to feature ratios and will absolutely drive anything klipsch makes in 2 channel with zero issues.
The last setup i did for a friend uses Forte Is with a Denon 3800 and then all RP surrounds and a center and its great. we eventually added an external amp for his LCR so it could do 11 channels instead of 9 but thats it. nearly all of them have a direct mode if for some reason you just want to listen to it without.
My personal setup is just as good at spinning records as it is watching movies below or above reference volume.
 
Sure you can do that & it's possible

I've tried two modern 7.1 channel AVR's ( Denon & Pioneer ) in the same room with the same speakers & they both paled in comparison to that 1971 Sansui. Albeit modified & restored based on AK updates.

Which is what I've based my decisions on.

And 7.1.2 or Atmos with Cornwalls would be challenging! :)
 
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