New amp needed, got to be girlfriend friendly !!

[admin_exported]

Hi Guys

Been looking for a new amp for a while and having just seen the Sony STRDG820 for £230 in Richer Sounds was all ready to pop off to the shop and get one. Seem's to do everything I need.

Then my girlfriend throws a spanner in the works saying she doesn't want a huge black box under the TV.

Looking at the spec of the 820 its 158mm deep which in her eyes is a monster.

Can anyone suggest a amp that is as good (or near) but much slimmer (talking 100mm max).

Thanks in advance

 

[Big Chris]

You're gonna struggle. They're that size due to the sheer amount of 'stuff' inside.

Would silver be more to her taste?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry but its got to be black, got to match the SkyHD, + PS3 etc.

Problem is she's seen some of the all in one systems that are slimline and can't understand why we can't have one of these. They all sound the same to her ! ;o)

My TV is a couple of years old and only has 1 HDMI in so need a amp with at least 3 HDMI in. The sony ticks all the boxes bar the size.The cambridge ones look slimmer but dont seem to have the spec of the sony !

 

[Sorreltiger]

I think you need to set up a great demo somewhere, with a charming salesman and her favourite films...........;-)

 

[smbmetal]

ads2312:

Hi Guys

Been looking for a new amp for a while and having just seen the Sony STRDG820 for £230 in Richer Sounds was all ready to pop off to the shop and get one. Seem's to do everything I need.

Then my girlfriend throws a spanner in the works saying she doesn't want a huge black box under the TV.

Looking at the spec of the 820 its 158mm deep which in her eyes is a monster.

Can anyone suggest a amp that is as good (or near) but much slimmer (talking 100mm max).

Thanks in advance

Are you concerned about it's HEIGHT? Looking at the dimensions it's 158mm HIGH and 310mm DEEP. That's pretty compact compared to most amps with the spec you require. I'm after a new av amp myself and can't go deeper than 365mm, unfortunately this Sony doesn't have any preouts so I'm even more limited on choice than you!

 

[Big Aura]

show her a proper monster like a Pioneer Susano and then she'll think the Sony is pocket-sized!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys

Problem is she has no concept of whats good or bad, she would buy the one that looks 'nice' ! Errrr it's driving me mad!.

She moaned about the PS3 being big so i've got no chance. Maybe I should upgrade her too !!)

 

[professorhat]

Presumably you already have the speakers? If so, you could go down the tack that, while the all-in-one units look nicer, they all come with speakers and the Blu-Ray drive which you already have meaning you'd be wasting money on them which you could otherwise spend on her...

Otherwise I think you're going to struggle

 

[roger06]

You're on a hiding to nothing there I'm afraid... my wife doesn't even notice when the surround sound's off and it's coming from the telly's speaker so I can't see any demo impressing her.

I do find it odd though as DVD players used to be really high and are now so slim it's unreal - why surround amps continue to be huge is a mystery. Mine has to sit on the top of my hi fi cabinet as it won't it inside.

Can you not hide it somewhere? a closed cabinet or something?

 

[Anonymous]

Yer I bet if you open it up there's loads of space. Bit like computers.

I might just go and buy it, put it in and see if she notices. Probably take a week or so.

My current amp is silver and doesn't match so I need to show her that although its bigger its matches

 

[Anonymous]

roger06: Can you not hide it somewhere? a closed cabinet or something?

yes, why not think about tv table with tinted windows?

 

[davidrust]

How about this,

http://www.marantz.com/new/index.cfm?fuseaction=Products.Product&cont=eu&bus=hf&prod_id=3827&series=comp&type=avr

it's available in black too.

 

[Anonymous]

Easy and obvious ,change your girlfriend , dont' know why nobody suggested this earlier problem solved

 

[Lost Angeles]

lesmor:Easy and obvious ,change your girlfriend , dont' know why nobody suggested this earlier problem solved

Because i didn't log on until 7.15 pm and you beat me to it.

 

[Anonymous]

I took my wife along when I went to audition speakers, she was not expecting to hear any difference but went along to humor me.

Then we did a one to one comparison of B&W CM7 and B&W 704 on the same amp, same volume, same everything else and she was amazed by the huge difference.

So the moral is that you could try and have her do a listening test to prove the small systems are kids play things (hope I don't offend anyone whose house is spacially challenged)

You could also go for the "I let you pick everything in the house but I need this one thing done my way" technique to get the (not even that) big amp in.

If all else fails you can go for the age old "I'm the man and thus the boss" technique but that usually backfires.

 

[Anonymous]

theactiv:

If all else fails you can go for the age old "I'm the man and thus the boss" technique but that usually backfires.

I like your way of thinking - that's exactly my view !

I wear the trousers in our house - mind you my wife does tell me which ones to wear - but that's a mute point.

Anyhow got to go she wants a cup of tea

 

[Anonymous]

I just thought of another option: You can get a Naimuniti and tell her a good small one is more expensive then a good big one.

Everyone wins this way.

 

[Anonymous]

roger06:
Can you not hide it somewhere? a closed cabinet or something?

I'm pretty sure his girlfriend would whine even louder if he did that to her, it'd need to be soundproofed...

OP, tip for next time, fall in love with that denon that's 12" high then agree, reluctantly, to compromise for a smaller one...

 

[Anonymous]

Have you considered an Arcam Solo Movie 5.1? Not cheap and contains a DVD player, but then it will upscale DVDs to 1080i and sounds fantastic. It is very slim for a good linear 5-channel amp, and you could do away with a separate DVD player too potentially reducing under-TV box count.

It doesn't do HD audio codecs or audio over HDMI but would work well if fed 1.5Mbit DTS from a Blu-ray Disc player, you'd hardly know the difference. And it probably sounds better than most sub-£1k 'HD' receivers anyway.

 

[professorhat]

Hifi test monkey:It doesn't do HD audio codecs or audio over HDMI but would work well if fed 1.5Mbit DTS from a Blu-ray Disc player, you'd hardly know the difference.

Hmmm

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone, some great advice, and some not so great !!

The Marantz would be perfect if it wasnt over double the price, thanks anyway.

But I think I've solved it without even trying.

Yesterday the one who's in charge was moaning at the amount of wires at the back of the tv, fantastic I thought as I explained that if I bought the amp it would only be 2 wires going into the tv. She's now thinking about it but I going to live dangerously and buy it anyway!

Long live men !!

 

[Anonymous]

Update

Richer sounds has no 820's left, only opened boxes so thats a no goer!

So now looking for something similar.

Maybe the Sony STRDH800 at £280 or would the YAMAHA RXV465 at £290 be better, or any other sugestions under £300?

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe tell her what all females believe (but say they don't admit to).....size does matter!

 

[Big Chris]

ads2312:.....but I going to live dangerously and buy it anyway!

Oh well. Nice knowing you. Could you tell me where to send the flowers?

 

[Tom Moreno]

I put a Home Cinema Clause in my pre-nup. The contents of which state that she has the right to make final decisions on just about everything in the house as long as I always have the right to organise the living room around a suitable home cinema system without complaint regarding size of equipment, racks, speakers or orientation of furniture to ensure sweet-spot enjoyment. Granted I do make some of the money I spend on her as a sound engineer so maybe that's why I get away with it. There's also a "don't nag me about speeding clause" but somehow this seems to be getting circumvented of late and it's getting damned annoying.