Want good sound, don't have space.

September 6, 2010 9:52 PM

Small HDMI A/V amp?

Why are almost all home theater HDMI capable A/V amps huge? 4U, 19" wide monsters. I don't have that kind of space. I know JVC has a 2U sized offering, but are there more compact options? I'm looking for 3 HDMI in/1 out, 5.1 audio minimum, a component vid in would be nice (the offspring likes hi-def Wii). Recommendations?

posted by kjs3 to Technology (3 answers total)

You're going to have pretty anemic power with a small AVR, which is probably why almost all are 2 channel. I know Teac's reference series has an small AVR with HDMI, but I don't think it has the number of inputs you need.

Have you considered a HDMI and/or component switchbox and a set of 5.1 computer speakers?
posted by wongcorgi at 11:20 PM on September 6, 2010

There's a few slimline AV receivers out there, like this Sherwood (which is the smallest I've seen at about 1.5U) and this Marantz. The rear panels of those are pretty crammed, so I can't imagine anyone making any receivers that are any smaller and have the number of inputs that you'd like.
posted by zsazsa at 7:52 AM on September 7, 2010

Response by poster: @zsazsa: Yes, I'd spotted the Marantz NR1501 and the newer NR1601; thanks for pointing out the Sherwood as I'd not seen that. There are also some slimline JVC units that got pretty mediocre revues. To be fair, they are crowded because they include 4 component outputs @ 5 RCA jacks each. It won't be long before they don't include that many.
posted by kjs3 at 5:04 PM on September 7, 2010