People are listening to music. People are listening to vinyl records again. People are listening to music from the internet, via their phone.
It has come to pass, that hi-fi equipment dedicated to just stereo, 2 channel music listening has gone up and up in price.
Most the major brands of that used to dominate the stereo business have concentrated on home theater, multi-channel receivers.
Enter, Sony's new ultra affordable 2 channel stereo only receiver.
SONY STR-DH190 Stereo Receiver. $199.99. This Sony, stereo only 2 channel receiver for music playback is rated 90 watts x 2 over the full audio range 20 to 20 kHz at 8 ohms for .09% THD. This is real audio power.
People are buying records again. Turntables require a different kind of hookup than a CD player or DVD. A very small signal comes out of the phono cartridge. It requires RIAA equalization and the ability to boost this tiny signal into a stronger signal the amp can boost furthur to drive your speakers. The STR-DH190 has a phono stage built-in. A lot of AV receivers to not have a dedicated phono input.
It has built-in Bluetooth to receive music signals from your phone and play them through the speakers you hook up top this powerful stereo receiver. It has a front panel full size 1/4 in headphone jack, a front panel 1/8 in mini stereo input, and two pair of speakers connections. It has FM stereo radio (no AM) with 30 presets.
The remote is amazing too. You can switch Speaker A and Speaker B. You can adjust tone controls via the remote, plus all the normal remove functions.
All this for $199.99 and it's a Sony. We Match Price with Amazon, Best Buy!
Introduced to the world, at the Monteleon Hotel in the French Quarter, the long over due, high quality music listening Denon DRA-800H modern, yet old school stereo only... for music listening only. Now the DRA-800 has become the DRA-900.
The Denon DRA-900H. $799 adds a rather unique feature... a true preamp output. While this is rated honest audio power: 100+100 watts, over the full audio range, 20Hz to 20,000Hz at 8 ohms with 0.08% THD. So, and it can drive, loud and clean almost any speaker, very big or small! Later on, as you get more into the hi-fi but, you can buy a high quality, ultra high power separate power amp. Take the preamp out of this affordable receiver and it becomes a full function preamp, with streamer, Wi-Fi Bluetooth, AM and FM radio and all kinds of inputs and outputs.
The new DRA-900 also has 8K HDMI for the future.
This AM and FM receivers is designed without shortcuts, pun intended. Circuits with minimum paths are used. Carefully chosen, and critically audition parts are used. Discrete left and right channel amps insure excellent stereo separation.
With the comeback of vinyl records, a high quality phono preamp section is included. But digital connections via coax and optical allow hookup of a TV with some really good speakers (although not surround sound.) But, there are also 5 HDMI inputs, which support the latest 4K standards. Play Hi resolution music files, 192K 24bit or DSD via your network or from a hard drive plugged into. And this Denon sports built-in HEOS. With other HEOS components around the house, you can send wirelessly listen to music, even a turntable plugged into the receiver. Talk to the receiver with Alexa or Google Home Assistant.
There is Speaker A and Speaker B connections, and you can switch between them via the remote control. There is also a 2nd zone preamp output. Front panel tone controls allows easy adjustment.
There is really no competition to this new Denon DRA-900H.
This Denon has been one of the hottest receivers we sell at Alterman Audio. One of our Best selling receivers. It really has no competition and it really sounds great!
The Denon RCD-N12. $650 This Denon is not only an AM and FM stereo receiver, but a CD player and DAC. This is the compact, baby brother to the DRA-900 above. It is also a compact unit, about 13 inches square, so it fits where most stereo components will not fit. It has built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and you can get all you internet Apps without using your phone... the Denon HEOS wireless music system. Plus, it has 65 watts per channel.
Plus, it has a built-in phono preamp. It has one line in RCA input for connecting other analog components. It has optical and coax in.
It also has a preamp output, so you can expand your system later and get a much more powerful amp and power hungry speakers.
Keep in mind, the Denon DCD-600 single disc CD player is $429 by itself, and today is one of the least expensive CD players you can buy. The Denon DCD-N12 has a high quality CD player buiot-in.
It also plays music files, higher than CD quality: 192k 24 bit, and even Super Audio CD files called DSD. It can play these wireless from music on your computer, you can plug in a thumb drive or hard disc drive and there is no loss in quality.