Small form factor power amps

JMiP

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
What power amp that has a small form factor, footprint, or height would you suggest for someone who has a very limited space for hi-fi gear? I know that Carver and Adcom made small cube-shaped power amps and I've seen more conventionally-sized power amps that are not tall. An example of one of those short power amps would be a Rotel RB-850. I listen mostly to music that features guitars, bass, drums, vocals. Rock, country, blues, soul. Bonus points if the power amp happens to be a couple of small monoblocks.
 
Marantz MA-500 and Crown D75 are good examples of what you’re looking for.

Cheers,

David
 
Soundcraftsmen PM or PCR series. Sometimes referred to as "shoebox" amplifiers.

PCR 800:

soundcraftsmen-pcr800.jpg


PM 860:

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Dynaco Stereo 120.
Only after it's been AVA'd ;)

Marantz MA-500's would meet your monoblock criteria:

images
 
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I find the Quad 405 to be quite compact for a power amp. Mine (405 copy) sounds fantastic paired with a Schiit Saga after a little tube rolling. Seems very happy driving my Aurum Cantus F620 speakers with Gieseler Gross DAC in front.

May or may not fit though certainly worth a mention. It's less wide and deep than most though height is pretty normal.

IMG_20180512_103848.jpg
 
What's the deal with the shoebox Soundcraftsmen amps? Are they good on the ears? Do they get hot enough to cook hotdogs on?
 
What kind of output are you looking for? If it's fairly small will it have room to breathe?

Just looking for something that will make my KG4s sound good. My apologies, but I'm not really sure how else to put it.

The cabinet is fairly small, but I'm able to open the two cabinet doors and there will be plenty of openness so that I can't see anything overheating.

I'm looking at a Class D Audio amp for sale in BarterTown. Can anyone speak to that amp? It seems to have a couple of raving fans in that for sale thread.
 
Just looking for something that will make my KG4s sound good. My apologies, but I'm not really sure how else to put it.

The cabinet is fairly small, but I'm able to open the two cabinet doors and there will be plenty of openness so that I can't see anything overheating.

I'm looking at a Class D Audio amp for sale in BarterTown. Can anyone speak to that amp? It seems to have a couple of raving fans in that for sale thread.

Very solid amp for the price, small and will run cool. Works well for your purposes. (No affiliation)
 
You can also look into class D amps.... bel canto ref600 monos come to mind... awesome little amps... or some of the previous models that can be had cheaper...
 
You should consider Linn power amps. Current models are quite pricey, but older models such as the 2250 can be found for much more reasonable prices.

I've owned several 2250s over the years, and they are fantastic sounding stereo amps-- VERY quiet background, fast, detailed, and sweet sounding, if that makes any sense. Balanced and unbalanced inputs, light weight and small form factor (because they use switch mode power supplies instead of large toroids), and easy to swap in and out of your system.

And units with upgraded "Dynamik" power supplies sound even better, with modestly improved power output.

I currently run three Dynamik Linn 5125 amps (the 5 channel version of the 2250) in my 13 channel HT system with amazing sonic results.

http://docs.linn.co.uk/wiki/images/f/f5/2250_info.pdf
 
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