Heed Audio makes amps and a preamp that are basically 4" square by about 9" deep.
I own a Heed Quasar phono preamp, and it's excellent.
I own a Heed Quasar phono preamp, and it's excellent.
Small integrated
I have a difficult situation. I have bought a new 50" plasma for the family room and my wife picked out the furniture stand. It won't accommodate my amps or receivers. Although the shelf-behind-door is 17", the opening is only 14". But, she likes the furniture, so it stays. I am looking for an integrated that is as small as possible, less than 15" wide and less than 12" deep, solid-state since it is enclosed, and at least two inputs. Built-in DAC or USB input would be a bonus but not essential. The source is an Oppo 980 (or the new Oppo BR when it is available) and DirecTV. Speakers are Gallo A'Diva Ti + REL sub. I will stay with 2 channel for now. One that came to mind is Nuforce Icon, but I am hoping there are others. Thanks for any and all help!
14 responses Add your response
Are you kiddin'? You have the perfect excuse to indulge in a stack of Parasound Z-series components. They are all 9.5" wide, 10" deep, and 2" high w/feet or 1.75" w/o. They are oriented toward custom installations, home theater, wiring the whole house for sound, etc. They come with 12V trigger inputs, dual zones, and the ability to daisy-chain the amplifiers or turn them into 90w mono mini-beasts. And if you have to cram too many little Z components into a small space, they even make a fan unit in a matching housing. It's not an integrated amp, but the Zpre and Zamp together would only occupy 9.5"w x 10"d by 4"h. If you can't find a local dealer, you can get them from Audio Advisor. |
Tvad-great idea. I have never heard of them and will investigate. Johnnyb-I have read about them but haven't heard much about them. Do you own any of them? Celtic66- I have looked at the Decco but I think it is too deep at 14". That was my first choice due to the built in DAC and multiple inputs. I may mock up the dimensions to see if it will fit with connections in back. I appreciate everyone's ideas so far and welcome any others. Thanks! |
Definitely check out the April Music Aura Note. I use it with Duevel Planets. Very small footprint. Very refined sound. Has a built in CDP, and multiple digital inputs for its internal DAC, which is top quality. Slightly disappointed using analog inputs through the single RCAs- probably they did not put too much into the preamp stage since they assumed it would be primarily used for digital media. |
Try something a bit more fun and modular. Look at the small Grace Design 902M + let's say a 102 from Jeff Rowland. The 902 is a great DAC with every digital input you may ever want including USB, it is also a phenomenal reference headphone amplifier capable of running two headphones simultaneously and it is a preamplifier. It (902) has independent volume control for headphones and pre-out with volume memory setting. You may not be a headphone fan, but perhaps you will find this way of listening sometimes both practical and enjoyable. Both are very small units and both are balanced (balanced out in the 902 available as an option) Good luck. |
LVK47, Nzera, Audiofil-Thanks for all the suggestions. I was initially bummed out about the furniture and not being able to use the components I intended to use, but now it looks promising and maybe even fun to search for the best sound with the smallest footprint. Again, thanks and all ideas are welcome. |
