Any such thing as a "small" av amp?

SB118 · 30 Jan 2011 at 12:29

Almost finished my setup in the living room (big telly, wii, xbox, ipod dock speaker thing, empty shelf).

Unfortunately my wife purchased the shelf unit with looks in mind (same design as this one), not the ability to support any weight (glass shelves, supported at the back, awesome design)

Are there any amps around that don't have a huge great transformer in them? I'm scared to even attempt to put my old Technics av amp on there as it would end up on the floor, and when one shelf breaks it takes the tension out of the support bracket and the other shelves tip forwards (wii, xbox, etc), so it would be an expensive experiment.

Only going to be pulling ac3 or similar though the xbox, i've not got a dts source right now (future proofing yadda yadda, i know!), don't know if that makes a difference to the selection available. Budget is "as little as possible"

Would like to get something done, the wife bought me a set of surround speakers when we were courting and i've not fitted them yet. We've been married 6 years now.....

Soul.Survivor · 30 Jan 2011 at 12:37

Consider yourself lucky. Check out the Marantz NR1501 or the bigger updated brother, NR1601. Dont be put of by the 50w rms rating as it easily performs as well as the other avr's with 100w or more

rG-tom · 31 Jan 2011 at 09:13

how about add some home made supports to the shelves, ie add 2 columns made from alu/stainless bar at either end, add a rubber pad to each end of the bar and either wedge it between the shelves or drill through the glass and screw? Wouldnt look bad either and allo you to have some decent stuff

As for the actual question, they do do slimline amps but they're not that great, i had a pioneer one:

MikeHunt79 · 31 Jan 2011 at 09:23

Some class D amps are pretty small, and some even use a Smps instead of a heavy transformer.

The only problem is that I have yet to see one in Av guise...

BigT · 31 Jan 2011 at 13:17

Smallest one I can think of with decent quality is an Arcam Solo Movie:

http://www.arcam.co.uk/products,,,SoloMovie51.htm

Martynt74 · 31 Jan 2011 at 13:22

Could you not put it on the bottom shelf?

gt_junkie · 31 Jan 2011 at 13:50

BigT said:
Smallest one I can think of with decent quality is an Arcam Solo Movie:

http://www.arcam.co.uk/products,,,SoloMovie51.htm

Wow, not seen one of those before (despite first being released in 2004

). That is nice! :cool:

SB118 · 31 Jan 2011 at 14:36

rG-tom said:
how about add some home made supports to the shelves, ie add 2 columns made from alu/stainless bar at either end, add a rubber pad to each end of the bar and either wedge it between the shelves or drill through the glass and screw? Wouldnt look bad either and allo you to have some decent stuff

Nothing to brace the bar against, and i'm sure she'd approve of me brutalising the shiney shelf unit she likes .....

rG-tom said:
As for the actual question, they do do slimline amps but they're not that great, i had a pioneer one:

That's pretty much the size i'm looking for.

Marvt74 said:
Could you not put it on the bottom shelf?

It hangs from the wall, it doesn't touch the floor.

rG-tom · 31 Jan 2011 at 14:38

oh right i thought it was floorstanding, what a stupid design. I'd be sending the wife back to the shop with it rather than compromising on everything else!

Martynt74 · 31 Jan 2011 at 16:42

Either that or get a seperate table underneath the stand

Pulseammo · 31 Jan 2011 at 17:38

The link posted to the shelf unit says 10kg per shelf - put it to the test and buy 2x 5 litre bottles of water from the supermarket and see if it up to its rating? I imagine if it is reputable then the 10kg limit will have been arrived at hopefully with a decent factor of safety in mind (i.e. 20kg is the breaking point).

rG-tom · 1 Feb 2011 at 15:58

my denon is 19kg