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Short depth receiver or amp for bookshelf?

All,

I'm moving to a house where space will be at a bit of a premium, so i'm going to abandon my old stereo and giant cerwin vega speakers. I've found a lot of really helpful information about small high quality bookshelf speakers here (considering the Epos ELS-3). I can't find much about short depth receivers or amps (I am probably only hooking up a Roku Soundbridge, though a tuner or cd player would be a nice bonus). Finally, being able to hook up two sets of speakers A/B would also be a nice feature. 10" depth would be ideal, 12" would be ok.

The Denon M-33S looks interesting, but haven't heard great things about the speakers and don't really want to buy it just to toss the speakers. I've found lots of nice stereo receivers about 15" deep. Is it unrealistic to think I can find one in my size range?

Thanks!
pfibiger
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,769 posts
 
You can do better than the EPOS ELS-3 both soundwise and placement wise. Given what the space limitations are, you would be better off with speakers that are sealed/acoustic suspension or front ported, as you may need to go with shelf or near rear wall placement. If you do go with the EPOS, you will need a high quality amplifier to get the best out of them. Anything less and they are not that impressive.

A better alternative would be the NHT Absolute Zero .

As for receivers, my two favorites are the Outlaw RR2150 (15" deep) and the NAD C720BEE (13 3/4" deep). But they sound like they may be too deep.

Also, use moderately priced interconnects and cables. You would be surprised how much room the hospital grade plugs, etc. can take up.

Regards, Rich
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,769 posts
 
The NAD C320BEE is less than 12" deep. It is a good quality integrated amp that is worth considering. Pairs really well with NHT speakers.

Regards, Rich
pfibiger OP
3 posts
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I was coming back to ask about "back ported" speakers on book shelves, and also about the C320BEE. It's not as tiny as I'd like (there will be 10" and 12" bookshelves, I guess I'll have to use the 12"), but it's close and looks like a good value.

Here's a general question: Do any of these stereo amplifiers every power 2 sets of speakers on an A/B, or is that only the province of bigger A/V receivers? I've looked at a bunch, and they all seem to just have a single set of speaker posts.
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,769 posts
 
Bookshelves affixed to a wall or inside a closed back bookcase are usually bad news with most rear ported speakers. The rear port needs room to sound its best and when it doesn't have the room to operate properly, the bass can sound smeared. Sealed box or front ported speakers can be placed closer to a rear wall as there would be no rear port to interfere with.

Most multi zone receivers and amplifiers are physically bigger components for obvious reasons. The smallest that I have seen is the Yamaha 497 which goes for about $400 and measures 12 1/8" deep.

Regards, Rich
pfibiger OP
3 posts
 
Rich,

Thanks again. I've done some more looking, and it looks like the Arcam A65 is just under 12 inches deep and supports two sets of speakers A/B. I'm not sure it's still being produced, but there seem to be a fair number of them out there, and it seems to get pretty positive reviews, being compared to the C320BEE a lot.
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