Wonder if any bros here have recommendations for a suitable receiver for my system. 

 

I have sonus faber wall surrounds used as front left and right with the solo center speakers.  I don't have surrounds.  My present amp is a denon avc-a1 that is placed on top of a tv cabinet.  I want to be able to place it in my tv cabinet but alas, I forgot to take into account the space at the back necessary for all the cables when I asked the contractor to build the tv cabinet.  Changing the tv cabinet is simply not an option.  While I would like to keep the a1, the tv cabinet looks cluttered with 3 speakers, amp and photo frames and I had the cabinet custom made in the expectation that only the speakers would be placed on top with the electronics safely encased in the cabinet, away from the prying hand of my young kids. 

 

Given that the depth of the a1 (at about 48cm) is too long to fit into my cabinet, what would be a suitable amp whose depth is say, less than 40cm?  I have thought of the Onkyo 605 which is affordable but I am not sure if it can satisfactorily drive the sonus faber.  I would ideally like to get an amp like the denon 3808 or the onkyo 805/875 but the measurements are all quite similar to my a1, which means that I would not be able to fit it into the cabinet! 

 

Does anyone have any recommendation?  Or is there a good 3 channel power amp and say, a simple processor, instead of a complex hulk of a receiver like the new onkyos?  I am not too concerned with getting state of the art stuff as you can see, I only have a 3.1 system. 

 

Cheers,

 

Bro the Onkyo 605 is a basic amp and coming from the top of the food chain Denon, as I told you in our short chat, it will be a real climb down.

 

A processor and a nice 3 channel 200W pc power amp will be more fitting for your SF speakers. Driving them with a 605 is like using a toaster and that amp will soon give up the ghost on you ;)

Yeah I know bro.  But I am really restricted by the depth of my tv cabinet, otherwise the Onkyo Do 875 looks mighty tasty.  you have any recommendation for a good smallish in size power amp?  Any place besides KEC to recommend?

 

Cheers

I suggest you come up with a budget and room style, music tastes etc

 

This is an American product in 110v for example:

 

http://www.prillaman.net/m200_review.html

 

Or:

http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/buysell/YaBB.cgi?board=hifi&action=display&num=1189044415

 

http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/buysell/YaBB.cgi?board=hifi&action=display&num=1188962422

 

http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/buysell/YaBB.cgi?board=ht&action=display&num=1188872269

BTW the Marantz Sr 8001 and perhaps the 8002 is a bit shorter. Someone had a thread on changing their amp cos their cupboard was too short, try searching for it.

Thanks Pete.  My system is in my living room which is a typical 5 room hdb point block shape, ie, L shape.  Budget wise, I guess i would spend about $2K or so.  I don't want to exceed that as I don't use the living room system that much.  Guess I will spend some time to hunt down a good processor and power amp, as compared with a big ol' receiver.  Cheers again

 

Also look for 2nd hand MA 500 or 6010 monoblocks from Marantz. THX certified and v musical