If you are building a traditional sound system, a home theatre, or a surround sound system, you won’t get very far without an amplifier. You can get a subwoofer and some expensive speakers, but they won’t reach their potential without an amplifier. These are some of the best amplifiers I reviewed this year. They are at the top of my list, and I would recommend them to everyone.
Best Amplifier Overall – Marantz Model 60n
The Marantz Model 60n is a network integrated amplifier that offers 60 watts per channel at 8 ohms, and 80 watts per channel at 4 ohms. It has HDMI ARC and is compatible with HEOS. It has a big power supply and excellent build quality. The Model 60n looks like vintage Marantz pieces, with a round screen in the center, and symmetrical buttons and controls. It has a raised front panel, with a carbon fiber body.
The Marantz Model 60n has three analog inputs, with a moving magnet phono input. It has a preamp output if you want to add some extra power with another amplifier, and a subwoofer output. It has an optical input, HDMI ARC, a coaxial input, and USB-A. Bluetooth receive and transmit are built-in, and, with HDMI ARC, your TV remote will be able to directly control the volume of this amplifier.
The Marantz Model 60n has a big toroidal PSU transformer. It has Aluminum heatsinks for the output transistors, and the amplifier itself is Class A/B. Marantz used their very own HDAM(Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module) circuitry for this amplifier, which Marantz engineers developed to make their circuits more cost-effective. In testing, while listening to songs, instruments and voices were clear, and dialogues felt crisp while watching movies.
Read our full review of the Marantz Model 60n.
Best Premium Amplifier – Anthem STR
The Anthem STR is a class A/B style amplifier. It produces 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 400 watts per channel into 4 ohms, and 550 watts per channel into 2 ohms, which is a good amount of power for almost every speaker system. You can customize the Anthem STR in some unique ways that other amplifiers do not offer. For example, you can save different settings into profiles, and assign these profiles to individual inputs. Since it can save profiles, you can set up profiles for different speakers or different speaker and subwoofer pairs.
One of its standout features and the main reason the Anthem STR is still considered good today is its room correction. If you have used Dirac or Audyssey, then using ARC will be easy for you. ARC will guide you through various measurements displaying your speaker’s response, after that, you can adjust your speaker’s curve or just go with what Anthem recommends. The room correction is absolutely worth it, the sound difference before and after correction is surprising, and you won’t regret using ARC.
The Anthem STR is a very neutral amplifier, especially in the bass and lower midrange. The bass, with or without a subwoofer is heavy, detailed, and focused. As the STR is neutral, it allows your speaker’s natural sound to come through, which is exactly what you want from an amplifier.
Read our full review of the Anthem STR.
Best Budget Amplifier – Denon Home Amp
The Denon Home Amp is a Class D amplifier, it offers 100 watts per channel at 8 ohms and 125 watts per channel at 4 ohms, which can power most speakers in the market. It has a unique look and sound profile and is very similar to the Marantz Model M1. The front panel has a simple layout, with capacitive touch buttons for volume control, a mute button, and 3 customizable preset buttons.
The back panel of the Denon Home Amp has a simple and easy-to-read layout, with two sets of binding posts, Ethernet, and HDMI eARC, for connecting your TV. It also has an analog line input which you can use to connect your CD player or turntable. There is a subwoofer output as well, and crossovers for subwoofers and main speakers are built-in with the Home Amp. You get an optical input, a USB-A input, and an IR input to connect your control system if you have one.
The Denon Home Amp was specifically designed to work with custom installations for your home system. It can integrate with Crestron, Control4, and AMX. You can also use two of these amplifiers side by side if you have a more demanding system. It has Bluetooth 4.2, allowing you to stream music directly from your smartphone or other Bluetooth-related devices.
The Subwoofer Low-Pass can be adjusted from 40Hz to 120Hz, and the Speaker High-Pass can be adjusted from 40Hz to 250Hz. This is an important feature as adding a subwoofer helps take the bass load off your speakers, contributing to lower distortion performance. You can set a volume limit between 80% and 100%, to prevent overdriving your speakers and damaging them.
The Denon Home Amp is an amazing all-in-one amplifier. It has everything you need for your home system, functionality, power, and connectivity. The HEOS app maximizes functionality and usability.
Read our full review of the Denon Home Amp.
Best Entry-Level Amplifier – Marantz Model M1
All amplifiers sound different, and Marantz made this one to give you a better user experience and sound significantly better than its competitors. It features capacitive touch front panel controls, making controlling the M1 simple. You can stream from so many platforms, including Amazon Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Tidal HiRes.
Delivering 100 watts per channel, the Model M1 ensures robust and dynamic sound output, with a dedicated subwoofer output for enhanced bass performance. The musical digital filtering technology developed by Marantz preserves the analog-like quality that amplifiers are known for, even when playing digital music. For connectivity, it has an analog RCA input for devices like CD players, HDMI (eARC), TOSLINK, extra ports for custom installations, an Ethernet port, built-in WiFi, and Bluetooth 5.
It includes adjustable independent high pass (40-250Hz) and low pass filters (40-120Hz), volume limits adjustable between 80% and 100%, and balance control allowing ±15dB of adjustment. It has five sound modes: stereo, direct, virtual, dialog enhancer, and night mode. It is compatible with Crestron, Control4, and AMX control systems, and it has a 12-volt trigger output.
Read our full review of the Marantz Model M1.