| Author |
Message |
John Brock
Guest
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 Posted:
Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:49 am Post subject:
Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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I'm in the market for an ordinary decent quality receiver, with a
built-in AM/FM tuner and a CD player. The only thing is that I
would like it to be small, to fit in a particular space. (I do
have vinyl records, but I plan to get a new turntable with a pre-amp,
so that shouldn't be a problem). I wouldn't think this would be
so hard, but so far everything I've looked at is either the usual
17" form factor (too big), or part of a mini-system that includes
speakers (which I don't need). The closest I have found so far is
this Yamaha A/V receiver:
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/HTIB/DVRS150.htm
This appears to do everything I want, but seems hideously
overcomplicated, full of bells and whistles that I'm never going
to use and would rather not be burdened with, and almost totally
reliant on the remote for most of its features. So can anyone
direct me to a reputable maker who makes something simpler, and
with a form factor smaller than 15" W x 15" D? (The height is less
important, but a significantly smaller width and especially depth
would be welcome). My preferred price range would be somewhere
between $150 and $400.
--
John Brock
jbrock@panix.com
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John Brock
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:17 pm Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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In article <cf5s211q1frg562e9k4cjicml0upb38aq8@4ax.com>,
Kalman Rubinson <kr4@nyu.edu> wrote:
| Quote: | On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 19:01:18 GMT, Joseph Oberlander
josephoberlander@earthlink.net> wrote:
I suggest the Denon D-M50S. It's small and simple. Plays CDs
and has 30WPC. The included speakers are okay - you can get
much better ones, of course.
Yup or the D-M30S which is even smaller but is only a single-disc
player, rather than a 3disc changer.
|
Good thought. The Denon web site shows a D-M31S, which may be a
replacement for the D-M30S. I actually prefer a single-disc player.
There is also the Onkyo CR-305TX, and the JVC EX-A1, and some
others. But none of them appear to be available in the United
States except in combination with speakers, which I don't need.
I could always buy a mini-system and dump the speakers, but that
just doesn't seem right. How annoying! Have the vendors missed
out on a niche, or is there really no market for compact stand-alone
components? Everything else seems to be available in compact sizes!
--
John Brock
jbrock@panix.com |
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Joseph Oberlander
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:01 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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John Brock wrote:
| Quote: | I'm in the market for an ordinary decent quality receiver, with a
built-in AM/FM tuner and a CD player. The only thing is that I
would like it to be small, to fit in a particular space. (I do
have vinyl records, but I plan to get a new turntable with a pre-amp,
so that shouldn't be a problem). I wouldn't think this would be
so hard, but so far everything I've looked at is either the usual
17" form factor (too big), or part of a mini-system that includes
speakers (which I don't need). The closest I have found so far is
this Yamaha A/V receiver:
|
I suggest the Denon D-M50S. It's small and simple. Plays CDs
and has 30WPC. The included speakers are okay - you can get
much better ones, of course. |
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Kalman Rubinson
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:16 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 19:01:18 GMT, Joseph Oberlander
<josephoberlander@earthlink.net> wrote:
| Quote: | I suggest the Denon D-M50S. It's small and simple. Plays CDs
and has 30WPC. The included speakers are okay - you can get
much better ones, of course.
|
Yup or the D-M30S which is even smaller but is only a single-disc
player, rather than a 3disc changer.
Kal |
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John Brock
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:33 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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In article <uurs211fhv2ovotoq1l6m2h45mf1anj6ge@4ax.com>,
Kalman Rubinson <kr4@nyu.edu> wrote:
| Quote: | On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 23:17:05 +0000 (UTC), jbrock@panix.com (John Brock)
wrote:
In article <cf5s211q1frg562e9k4cjicml0upb38aq8@4ax.com>,
Kalman Rubinson <kr4@nyu.edu> wrote:
Yup or the D-M30S which is even smaller but is only a single-disc
player, rather than a 3disc changer.
Good thought. The Denon web site shows a D-M31S, which may be a
replacement for the D-M30S.
Right. I reviewed the DM30S for Stereophile and bought the DM31S for
my wife's office. It's a quite competent unit and, rather than
replace the speakers with something bigger/better, I recommend adding
a small powered subwoofer (there is a mono output jack for it). The
reason I suggest this is that I tried it and the tone controls on the
Denon mate well with the provided speakers.
|
Ah, since you seem to know something about these matters, let me
ask you a question. The reason I don't feel I need speakers is
that I've already got the speakers in my digital piano (connecting
the piano's aux-in to a headphone output jack). To my ears this
works rather well, and it seems to me that speakers on a digital
piano that cost a couple of thousand dollars -- speakers that need
to be good enough to convincingly reproduce the entire range of an
acoustic piano -- are probably going to be superior to any mini-system
speakers I'm likely to find. Does this make sense to you, or do
you think I'm fooling myself? Using the piano this way happens to
be extremely convenient in my situation, so I'm probably going to
do it no matter what, but still, it's an unorthodox setup, and I'm
wondering if you have any thoughts.
--
John Brock
jbrock@panix.com |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:18 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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"John Brock" <jbrock@panix.com> wrote in message
news:d0jat9$pp$1@reader1.panix.com...
| Quote: | I'm in the market for an ordinary decent quality receiver, with a
built-in AM/FM tuner and a CD player. The only thing is that I
would like it to be small, to fit in a particular space. (I do
have vinyl records, but I plan to get a new turntable with a pre-amp,
so that shouldn't be a problem). I wouldn't think this would be
so hard, but so far everything I've looked at is either the usual
17" form factor (too big), or part of a mini-system that includes
speakers (which I don't need). The closest I have found so far is
this Yamaha A/V receiver:
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/HTIB/DVRS150.htm
This appears to do everything I want, but seems hideously
overcomplicated, full of bells and whistles that I'm never going
to use and would rather not be burdened with, and almost totally
reliant on the remote for most of its features. So can anyone
direct me to a reputable maker who makes something simpler, and
with a form factor smaller than 15" W x 15" D? (The height is less
important, but a significantly smaller width and especially depth
would be welcome). My preferred price range would be somewhere
between $150 and $400.
|
I saw exactly the item you want. It's a portable AM/FM radio and CD player.
It will also play CDRs encoded with mp3 or wma files, and it only cost $40.
Now all I have to do is remember who made it. :-)
Norm Strong |
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Kalman Rubinson
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:27 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 23:17:05 +0000 (UTC), jbrock@panix.com (John Brock)
wrote:
| Quote: | In article <cf5s211q1frg562e9k4cjicml0upb38aq8@4ax.com>,
Kalman Rubinson <kr4@nyu.edu> wrote:
Yup or the D-M30S which is even smaller but is only a single-disc
player, rather than a 3disc changer.
Good thought. The Denon web site shows a D-M31S, which may be a
replacement for the D-M30S.
|
Right. I reviewed the DM30S for Stereophile and bought the DM31S for
my wife's office. It's a quite competent unit and, rather than
replace the speakers with something bigger/better, I recommend adding
a small powered subwoofer (there is a mono output jack for it). The
reason I suggest this is that I tried it and the tone controls on the
Denon mate well with the provided speakers.
Kal |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:50 pm Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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The TEAC Reference series includes small receivers and other AV
components. See:
http://www.teac.com/ref/500/500.html
http://www.teac.com/consumer_electronics/ReferenceSeries.html
Onkyo and Yamaha also make some nice minisystems that include
receivers. Examples:
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=2987030
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4021112
Marantz has also made some nice small audio hardware recently. Others
in this thread have already mentioned Denon. Some Denons:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39793&item=5758201817&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39793&item=5758083280&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=79857&item=5757060569&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
http://search.ebay.com/dvd-receiver-denon_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQcatrefZC6QQsojsZ1QQfromZR10QQsacatZ-1QQcatrefZC6QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsadisZ200QQfposZQ5AIPQ2FPostalQQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQcoactionZcompareQQcopagenumZ1QQcoentrypageZsearch
You might not care about playing DVDs, but it won't hurt you to have
that capability.
I realize you don't need the speakers that come with some of the above
systems, but you could sell those.
What would I do, if I were you? I'd search eBay every week or so and
look for good deals on products such as the above. You might even be
able to find them on eBay without the speakers.
Examples:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4787&item=5756771935&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=79857&item=5757060569&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
I'd also look at local stores and pawn shops.
A lot of makers have made small, good audio separates and sold them in
the US, but there doesn't seem to be a big market for them here, so
there aren't a lot of them. TEAC probably has the most US models, but I
don't have a dealer in my part of the US, so I've never seen them.
If you look at UK magazines such as "What HiFi?," you'll find some
interesting small hardware that's not sold in the US. |
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Kalman Rubinson
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:05 pm Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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I think you're fooling yourself as those speakers are probably voiced
to make the synthesized sounds seem like a piano and not to reproduce
other sounds accurately.
OTOH, if you buy one of these and compare the provided speakers with
what's in your piano, you can decide for yourself. Then you can sell
the extras, if you want to, but I doubt you will.
Kal
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 04:33:46 +0000 (UTC), jbrock@panix.com (John Brock)
wrote:
| Quote: | In article <uurs211fhv2ovotoq1l6m2h45mf1anj6ge@4ax.com>,
Kalman Rubinson <kr4@nyu.edu> wrote:
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 23:17:05 +0000 (UTC), jbrock@panix.com (John Brock)
wrote:
In article <cf5s211q1frg562e9k4cjicml0upb38aq8@4ax.com>,
Kalman Rubinson <kr4@nyu.edu> wrote:
Yup or the D-M30S which is even smaller but is only a single-disc
player, rather than a 3disc changer.
Good thought. The Denon web site shows a D-M31S, which may be a
replacement for the D-M30S.
Right. I reviewed the DM30S for Stereophile and bought the DM31S for
my wife's office. It's a quite competent unit and, rather than
replace the speakers with something bigger/better, I recommend adding
a small powered subwoofer (there is a mono output jack for it). The
reason I suggest this is that I tried it and the tone controls on the
Denon mate well with the provided speakers.
Ah, since you seem to know something about these matters, let me
ask you a question. The reason I don't feel I need speakers is
that I've already got the speakers in my digital piano (connecting
the piano's aux-in to a headphone output jack). To my ears this
works rather well, and it seems to me that speakers on a digital
piano that cost a couple of thousand dollars -- speakers that need
to be good enough to convincingly reproduce the entire range of an
acoustic piano -- are probably going to be superior to any mini-system
speakers I'm likely to find. Does this make sense to you, or do
you think I'm fooling myself? Using the piano this way happens to
be extremely convenient in my situation, so I'm probably going to
do it no matter what, but still, it's an unorthodox setup, and I'm
wondering if you have any thoughts. |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:23 pm Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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So what you're saying here is that you already have powered speakers
that you're happy with? Speakers with a built-in amplifier?
If so, instead of a receiver, another solution would be a preamp that
has a built-in radio tuner and a CD player. There was a Cambridge
Soundworks model that I think is no longer available. It was maybe $150
and was designed to work with powered PC speakers.
Here's another possibility:
http://www.brookstone.com/shop/product.asp?product_code=450577&world_code=2&category_code=20&subcategory_code=401&search_type=subcategory&cm_re=Hdr*NAV*home&prodtemp=t2
Maybe you could use the main unit as a radio tuner/CD player?
Assuming you can get to a Brookstone store, you could probably look it
over in a minute or two and figure out if it meets your needs.
It's definitely small enough and the price is right. I saw it in a
Brookstone store a few days ago. It has some extra inputs, so you could
connect your turntable's preamp. I didn't really examine the Brookstone
unit, but I'm guessing it might use powered speakers that you could
replace with your powered speakers, or you could connect your powered
speakers to the Brookstone's headphone output.
With the included speakers, the Brookstone sounded good to me when I
listened very briefly, although the sub distorted when the volume was
turned up. That's probably just the limitation of the sub being so
small and wouldn't reflect any problem with the radio/CD player.
Yet another (and even cheaper) solution would be a CD boombox or home
radio/CD player, with the headphone output connected to your powered
speakers. You'd need a CD boombox or home radio/CD player with an
auxiliary input for your turntable's preamp. Cambridge Soundworks makes
some nice table radios CD players and auxiliary inputs. But I think
using a CD boombox or home radio with CD player would be pretty clumsy
looking.
If I were you, I'd probably start by going to a Brookstone store and
looking at the model I mention above. |
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Goran
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:35 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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yup,you have Teac crl600,it is much stronger than Denon.
"John Brock" <jbrock@panix.com> wrote in message
news:d0jat9$pp$1@reader1.panix.com...
| Quote: | I'm in the market for an ordinary decent quality receiver, with a
built-in AM/FM tuner and a CD player. The only thing is that I
would like it to be small, to fit in a particular space. (I do
have vinyl records, but I plan to get a new turntable with a pre-amp,
so that shouldn't be a problem). I wouldn't think this would be
so hard, but so far everything I've looked at is either the usual
17" form factor (too big), or part of a mini-system that includes
speakers (which I don't need). The closest I have found so far is
this Yamaha A/V receiver:
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/HTIB/DVRS150.htm
This appears to do everything I want, but seems hideously
overcomplicated, full of bells and whistles that I'm never going
to use and would rather not be burdened with, and almost totally
reliant on the remote for most of its features. So can anyone
direct me to a reputable maker who makes something simpler, and
with a form factor smaller than 15" W x 15" D? (The height is less
important, but a significantly smaller width and especially depth
would be welcome). My preferred price range would be somewhere
between $150 and $400.
--
John Brock
jbrock@panix.com
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Peter
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Mar 12, 2005 12:49 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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Every Asian-made CD player is standard 17' or industry standard 19" rack
mount. Anything smaller than 17" is a toy unless it is part of a high
quality mini system. P.
"John Brock" <jbrock@panix.com> wrote in message
news:d0jat9$pp$1@reader1.panix.com...
| Quote: | I'm in the market for an ordinary decent quality receiver, with a
built-in AM/FM tuner and a CD player. The only thing is that I
would like it to be small, to fit in a particular space. (I do
have vinyl records, but I plan to get a new turntable with a pre-amp,
so that shouldn't be a problem). I wouldn't think this would be
so hard, but so far everything I've looked at is either the usual
17" form factor (too big), or part of a mini-system that includes
speakers (which I don't need). The closest I have found so far is
this Yamaha A/V receiver:
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/HTIB/DVRS150.htm
This appears to do everything I want, but seems hideously
overcomplicated, full of bells and whistles that I'm never going
to use and would rather not be burdened with, and almost totally
reliant on the remote for most of its features. So can anyone
direct me to a reputable maker who makes something simpler, and
with a form factor smaller than 15" W x 15" D? (The height is less
important, but a significantly smaller width and especially depth
would be welcome). My preferred price range would be somewhere
between $150 and $400.
--
John Brock
jbrock@panix.com
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John Brock
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:22 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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In article <john-9139EA.15260312032005@ip-lcc.supernews.net>,
John A. Weeks III <john@johnweeks.com> wrote:
| Quote: | In article <jOCdnQntkbPh1a7fRVn-oQ@comcast.com>,
"Peter" <pcklein@comcast.net> wrote:
Every Asian-made CD player is standard 17' or industry standard 19" rack
mount. Anything smaller than 17" is a toy unless it is part of a high
quality mini system. P.
Every time someone makes a blanket statement, they are most
likely wrong. Check out the following links for Teac's
reference series of mini-sized mid and high end components:
http://www.teac.com/ref/ref.html
http://www.teac.com/consumer_electronics/ReferenceSeries.html
You will be pleased with the size and look if you are looking
for something smaller than the full EIA standard size equipment.
|
The Teac Reference series would be exactly what I want, if only it
included a combination Stereo receiver/CD player.
Someone else suggested the Teac Legacy CR-L600, which *does* look
like what I want. But I can't figure out how to buy it in the US,
and I can't even find it on any of Teac's web sites. Actually it's
not clear that I can buy the Reference series in the US either.
At the moment I am still leaning towards getting the Onkyo CS-210
or the Denon D-M31S (pricy!) and getting rid of the speakers (ugh!).
--
John Brock
jbrock@panix.com |
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John Brock
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:00 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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In article <1110677492.511519.193120@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
<calcerise@hotmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Have you considered pulled car OEM units, if you don't need or are
willing to modify for line inputs? Car audio places will give you auto
CD player/radios or sell them for a few dollars. Fab a cheap 12VDC
supply from salvaged Schumacher batt chargers or shield a PC AT supply
with a little creativity and build a power filter,you are listening for
very very little money.
|
I'm not actually that concerned about the money -- I just want
something decently functional (i.e., better than a boom box) which
will look nice in the particular confined space where I want to
put it. It's just that on principle I hate the idea of paying for
speakers that I am not going to use (it's wasteful!). I might even
talk myself into Teac Reference components, if I can find a place
where I can look at them first.
--
John Brock
jbrock@panix.com |
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John A. Weeks III
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:26 am Post subject:
Re: Who makes a *small* receiver? |
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In article <jOCdnQntkbPh1a7fRVn-oQ@comcast.com>,
"Peter" <pcklein@comcast.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Every Asian-made CD player is standard 17' or industry standard 19" rack
mount. Anything smaller than 17" is a toy unless it is part of a high
quality mini system. P.
|
Every time someone makes a blanket statement, they are most
likely wrong. Check out the following links for Teac's
reference series of mini-sized mid and high end components:
http://www.teac.com/ref/ref.html
http://www.teac.com/consumer_electronics/ReferenceSeries.html
You will be pleased with the size and look if you are looking
for something smaller than the full EIA standard size equipment.
-john-
--
======================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================================== |
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