Two channels, and everything spent on them
For television and music in the same room, a two-channel amplifier spends on quality what a receiver spends on channel count — and the modern ones have quietly acquired the connections that make that practical. The figures worth reading are power into 8 ohms and into 4: a design that nearly doubles between the two has a power supply that can drive difficult speakers, and one that states only 8 ohms usually cannot. Then the inputs: a built-in DAC with its supported sample rates, a phono stage and whether it is moving-magnet only, and increasingly HDMI ARC, which is what lets a television remote control the volume of a hi-fi amplifier. We compare stated power into 8 and 4 ohms, analogue and digital inputs, DAC and supported rates, phono stage type, HDMI ARC, and headphone output.
2 channels · Class D · 100 W × 2 stated · bass and treble controls · TPA3116 chipset
A compact Class D amplifier that names its amplifier chip — TPA3116 — which is unusual and lets the design be looked up rather than guessed at.
Best for: A desk, a small room or a second system, where size and cool running matter as much as the figure.
≈ $70 / £66 / 78 €
70 W per channel · integrated amplifier · Bluetooth
An integrated amplifier that states power per channel rather than as a total — the form that makes a two-channel figure meaningful.
Best for: A pair of real speakers and a household that listens as much as it watches.
≈ £399 / 400 €
2 channels · 600 W PEAK · Bluetooth 5.3 · phono · optical · coaxial · USB · FM · 2 microphone inputs
A two-channel amplifier with an unusually long input list — including a phono stage — and a power figure stated as peak, which the page reports as such.
Best for: A room with several sources — a turntable, a television, a phone — where connection count matters more than measured power.
≈ $100 / 110 €
Stereo receiver · DAB tuner · Bluetooth
A stereo receiver rather than an amplifier — the difference is the tuner, and in a household that listens to radio it is the whole point.
Best for: A household that listens to radio daily and wants proper speakers rather than a compact system.
≈ 195 €
Two channel · HiFi stereo amplifier · Marantz house design
A two-channel amplifier from a house whose recent stereo models carry HDMI — the connection that lets a hi-fi amplifier sit under a television and be controlled by its remote.
Best for: A room where music matters as much as film, and where two very good channels beat seven adequate ones.
≈ 735 €
