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The jack is not driving the bookshelf speakers. They're active. They have their own internal amps. It's simple if you use a receiver. If someone can point m

The jack is not driving the bookshelf speakers. They're active. They have their own internal amps. It's simple if you use a receiver. If someone can point me to a receiver that's more like 4 inches than 18 inches, then I'd consider that a solution. Receivers are big boxes as far as I've seen. I don't have space. Or maybe I don't want to make space.

timdorr 10mo ago
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/amp https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/amp Sonos makes this specifically. Has an RCA and HDMI input, along with being a Sonos device for streaming audio. The only downside is the price.
- s3graham 10mo ago
  And that Sonos is terrible to its users. I had a houseful of overpriced speakers, some only 3 years old when they decided they were too old to support in their rewritten app, or some lazy crap like that. For GP; I use some cheapo (sub $50) "100W mini amps" from Amazon. They seem fine to me.
- ryandrake 10mo ago
  Apart from Sonos in general being awful[1][2], their web site seems to be pretty bad, too. Not only is there a modal "subscribe to our newsletter" box in that link, there's also a separate modal cookie warning which blocks the modal newsletter box. It's like frustrating users is core to their mission. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42683753 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42683753 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21895086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21895086
mikepurvis 10mo ago
Some of the bigness is just tradition and buyer expectation (big = expensive). But also, modern AVRs are like 1000W devices amplifying 7, 9, even 11 channels of passives. That’s a lot of componentry and corresponding heat to shed— if you open one of those up, it’s not just empty space in there like an NES cartridge or something.
- mikepurvis 10mo ago
  ... that said, there is also a small market for "separates" where you have a decoding-only preamp that either feeds active speakers or another box containing just the multi-channel amplification: https://www.marantz.com/en-ca/category/av-separates/ https://www.marantz.com/en-ca/category/av-separates/ The output of these units is line-level signals feeding high-impedance loads. They could definitely be a fraction of the size they are.
- recursive 10mo ago
  That makes some sense, but for those of us with two channels maxing out at 25W each, there seems to be some use for a smaller one. I think there are more people on the small end of the spectrum than those with a big surround deployment. I suppose they're mostly using sound bars with an HDMI input.
tonyarkles 10mo ago
Have a look at Fosi Audio. I'm currently using a BT30D to drive the passive speakers from an old Samsung integrated amplifier+receiver+2014-era "Smart TV" type system that died. It only has 1 analog input and Bluetooth, but it looks like they have other products in a similar form factor that can take multiple inputs (e.g. the P4 Mini). I was skeptical but needed something cheap to drive those speakers and am quite impressed.
jimmaswell 10mo ago
It sounds like your speakers work for you then. On a modern TV without a headphone jack you would probably be served perfectly well by bluetooth speakers that sync to the TV. Though I'm surprised if a 3.5mm output is really that uncommon, because I just bought an LG C1 a few years ago and it has one. You can also find a small bluetooth receiver that would output to a headphone jack at WalMart.
tmnvix 10mo ago
Fosi ZD3 (https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-zd3-fully-balanced-desktop-dac https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-zd3-fully-balanced...). Supports HDMI with CEC. I turn on my Apple TV, it turns on the TV, which in turn turns on the Fosi DAC - all connected with HDMI. The DAC then turns on a ZA3 amp via 12v trigger cable. Volume control etc is via the Apple remote. All very cheap really. Total cost I think was about $550 (refurbished TV, second hand Apple TV, new Fosi DAC and amp). All this and I get to keep the TV in 'dumb' mode. Never even use the TV remote.
Lammy 10mo ago
> If someone can point me to a receiver that's more like 4 inches than 18 inches S.M.S.L. make some good ones: https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/index https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/index I use their AD-18 and really love it: https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/566.html https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/566.html

timdorr 10mo ago

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/amp https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/amp Sonos makes this specifically. Has an RCA and HDMI input, along with being a Sonos device for streaming audio. The only downside is the price.

s3graham 10mo ago
And that Sonos is terrible to its users. I had a houseful of overpriced speakers, some only 3 years old when they decided they were too old to support in their rewritten app, or some lazy crap like that. For GP; I use some cheapo (sub $50) "100W mini amps" from Amazon. They seem fine to me.
ryandrake 10mo ago
Apart from Sonos in general being awful[1][2], their web site seems to be pretty bad, too. Not only is there a modal "subscribe to our newsletter" box in that link, there's also a separate modal cookie warning which blocks the modal newsletter box. It's like frustrating users is core to their mission. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42683753 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42683753 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21895086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21895086

mikepurvis 10mo ago

Some of the bigness is just tradition and buyer expectation (big = expensive). But also, modern AVRs are like 1000W devices amplifying 7, 9, even 11 channels of passives. That’s a lot of componentry and corresponding heat to shed— if you open one of those up, it’s not just empty space in there like an NES cartridge or something.

mikepurvis 10mo ago
... that said, there is also a small market for "separates" where you have a decoding-only preamp that either feeds active speakers or another box containing just the multi-channel amplification: https://www.marantz.com/en-ca/category/av-separates/ https://www.marantz.com/en-ca/category/av-separates/ The output of these units is line-level signals feeding high-impedance loads. They could definitely be a fraction of the size they are.
recursive 10mo ago
That makes some sense, but for those of us with two channels maxing out at 25W each, there seems to be some use for a smaller one. I think there are more people on the small end of the spectrum than those with a big surround deployment. I suppose they're mostly using sound bars with an HDMI input.

tonyarkles 10mo ago

Have a look at Fosi Audio. I'm currently using a BT30D to drive the passive speakers from an old Samsung integrated amplifier+receiver+2014-era "Smart TV" type system that died. It only has 1 analog input and Bluetooth, but it looks like they have other products in a similar form factor that can take multiple inputs (e.g. the P4 Mini). I was skeptical but needed something cheap to drive those speakers and am quite impressed.

jimmaswell 10mo ago

It sounds like your speakers work for you then. On a modern TV without a headphone jack you would probably be served perfectly well by bluetooth speakers that sync to the TV. Though I'm surprised if a 3.5mm output is really that uncommon, because I just bought an LG C1 a few years ago and it has one. You can also find a small bluetooth receiver that would output to a headphone jack at WalMart.

tmnvix 10mo ago

Fosi ZD3 (https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-zd3-fully-balanced-desktop-dac https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-zd3-fully-balanced...). Supports HDMI with CEC. I turn on my Apple TV, it turns on the TV, which in turn turns on the Fosi DAC - all connected with HDMI. The DAC then turns on a ZA3 amp via 12v trigger cable. Volume control etc is via the Apple remote. All very cheap really. Total cost I think was about $550 (refurbished TV, second hand Apple TV, new Fosi DAC and amp). All this and I get to keep the TV in 'dumb' mode. Never even use the TV remote.

Lammy 10mo ago

> If someone can point me to a receiver that's more like 4 inches than 18 inches S.M.S.L. make some good ones: https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/index https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/index I use their AD-18 and really love it: https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/566.html https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/566.html