For those Mac users distributing audio throughout their homes using an airport express, what amplifiers are you using? I am looking for a signal sensing (via toslink) 2-channel amp and am struggling. Do these exist or should I really be looking for an adapter to switch the Express toslink to analog?
Amp to complement Airtunes
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I use a whole home amplifier made by BreatheAudio. It has six zones and works great. It has six sources also. I bought this when I built my new home earlier this year. I pre-installed CAT-6 cables from my central location (where the amp goes) to six different rooms for audio source selection and cnotrol. I also installed stereo speaker cables to these rooms. This amp only has analog line level inputs (no DAC). So, I use the analog outs from my gen 1 AppleTV for my whole home experience. I bought this amp system from amazon for under $900. Very pleased. The amp can be on all the time. If you want to use an airport express - it has a built-in DAC but may not be as good. But you may not hear a difference in a whole home setup. The new AppleTV requires an outboard DAC.
That's an interesting budget solution. Right now I have two zones operating with an old onkyo integrated amplifier/monoprice in ceiling speakers. I want to upgrade and make each zone independent. Now I get the feeling that there are no stand alone amplifiers that include digital fiberoptic inputs. Is that correct?
Monoprice has a digital to analog converter for $25.80. Then there's this 15 Watt stereo amp for $27.20. For a total of $142 for those and an ATV2 seems like a deal. I may be going this route very soon as I'm moving into an apartment and can't wire for anything. Only problem I foresee is volume control, I don't think the ATV can do it, so it'll probably be a little annoying going to the amp every time.
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