Wife hates me, need a low profile amp reco….

Why women get so weird? It not like you have the radio sitting on an orange crate. Yamaha is 17" w x 6" high. Rega Brio R is a step up in performance and smaller at 8.5" wide x 3" tall. Wife's also hate spending money on audio equipment, so you can turn this into a plus for yourself!

Rega Brio R is 58 watts per channel into 8 ohm and 93 watts per channel into 4 ohms. I doubt you would notice the difference in power output.

 

You should have started bigger, maybe a Krell, or a Manley. Then she would love the Yammie. On a serious note black amps like the Io or even a Sphinx with fewer knobs somehow seem less obtrusive.

 

Crutchfield has error in Brio specs. It is 73 watts per channel into 4 ohms. BTW- if buying used do not buy the previous REGA Brio, get the REGA Brio R. It has film capacitors vs electrolytic type in the audio circuits for a nice increase in performance.

 

Rega at Crutchfield?

 

I do have fantastic experiences with Rega and Arcam amplifiers. Nice models of these brands can be found under 2K.

 

I just don’t understand why seeing a metal box triggers some people so hard... You hear the same stories about speakers, too. Something about black rectangles that some people just hate. I don’t get it. You might as well demand that the microwave be banished from the house, or the TV.

 

Buy a pair of Klipschorns and tell her now we can buy a smaller amp.

 

Naim Nait 5si? Even "her indoors" likes the look of it. She has yet to pass comment on its performance

 

Don't jinx it ...

 

The powered speaks seem the best solution to me. Some really good stuff out there these days.

So thankful my wife has zero input on the tune situation. She let's me do what I do, and I let her do what she do. Great stuff.

 

Not bad ideas!

 

This course of action has great potential. Maybe some big Wilsons and a quiet word of caution to her not to say anything that would make them angry.

 

Rega Elex-R or Maim Nait 5si.

Both low profile and sound really good. Check them out.

 

Perhaps because they're ugly? To quote my late mother, "''Everybody to his own taste,' said the old lady, as she kissed the cow."

But to get back on topic, if the OP's wife likes the Brio, and everyone here seems to agree that the Brio would be an upgrade, then why not go with a Brio and enjoy the best of all possible worlds? Assuming, of course, that the OP likes it. If not, though, I would suggest ignoring the reflexive Class D haters who invariably wade into such discussions and have a look at/listen to some good quality Class D amps. I happen to think the Tripath variants (which get called "Class T") bring something special to the table, but there are lots of others out there that have their fans, and a hallmark of the type is its small footprint--although that needn't be the case; my Bel Canto, which I love to pieces, is actually quite a large integrated.

 

::raises hand:: That's me, although I'm not "triggered." In my house both the TV and the microwave exist because my wife wants them ... were it exclusively up to me, both would be minimized or even banished.

I'm interested in this thread because -- perhaps like the OP's wife -- I also find most amps too physically large, visually. Part of it comes from living in relatively small rooms, and another part come from not having a dedicated listening space. But even factoring all that out, I just don't groove on the aesthetics of large boxes. They're out-of-scale; and usually it's the depth of the amp or speaker that's the critical dimension in pushing them out of sync with my living environments.

 

If you figure women out please share with the rest of us. Lol They wonder the same about men.

Your HiFi: Are you 'proud ' of it, or at least satisfied about what you built? Fuss over it, take care of it?

Their home is like that to them.
imo a relationship is only as much trouble as we make it.

 

Exactly. I want something that fits comfortably on top of an upright piano. Everything is too deep. In the old days of rack systems standardized pizza boxes made sense. Now with so many streaming there should be more flexibility in amp sizes. Why not a cube? My next purchase will probably be one of the smaller NADs but there's not a lot of choice when shape is a requirement.

 

My wife approves of the audio gear that I want to buy

 

I have a PS Audio Stellar Strata and love it - it has a small footprint and being "Class D" does not run super hot like my old Marantz Amp did so can be accommodated in to a cabinet easily too.
My speakers are 4ohm and Stellar handles them lovely (Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grands).

 

Buy the amps after the divorce, otherwise you’ll end up with a mono setup

 

Go big, or go home!
2 of these

 

My wife hated me too..... anyway, my girlfriend is OK with big speakers and mono amps.

 

Ah, so the OP's wife hates him because of too much girth!? Shades of my life...

 

You should have married someone that supports you. Sorry about your situation.