I have a pair of Pioneer SP-BS21 (sensitivity of 84dB) speakers that I was using as desktop speakers, connected to an older Marantz receiver (105W per channel) in a 10' x 20' room. The receiver stopped working and I'm looking for a replacement. I would continue to be using these Pioneer speakers at my desk for music listening (no higher than 80dB on average) and also occasionally using these speakers for movie watching in the same room at moderate listening levels from 7 ft away. I have $200 to spend on a replacement receiver or amplifier. I only care about 2 channel listening. I'm looking at some receivers from the mid 2000s that were high end from Denon, Panasonic and Marantz that output 100 to 120W per channel at 8ohms. I know I don't need a receiver for 2 channel listening but the receivers I'm looking at provide a lot of power for cheap. I'm also seriously considering a used integrated amplifier but many of the ones I look at on Ebay that are working are over $200 and they are lower wattage (40W or under). My concern with an integrated amp is, would the integrated amp that I could afford have enough dynamic power for me to watch music and movies at moderate listening levels? How many watts do I really need for near field listening with decent headroom? If so, which integrated amp models would you recommend within my budget? I know I could get a small class D amp but I prefer to have everything integrated into one unit.
