HOUSEBOAT SYSTEM

Did a double take when I saw the photos fo the house boat - then realized it was because I had seen another shot from the same session featured on the ASC Recording Studio product website at

http://www.asc-studio-acoustics.com/gallery.htm

Those white columns behind them are in fact tube traps - and if this houseboat is being done like that - WOW.

If your concerns are about space, why not look at the high end active speakers like those by ATC. This would eliminate the need for an amp, while maintaining a high-end sound. I've only heard a pair of their monitors, but the sound was very impressive. Pricey if you get into the bigger boxes. An SCM 20 montior is around $3500, while the SCM 100 3-way is up at $11K. If you pair that off with a front-end player with a good gain control (not sure if your Sony has that) you won't need a preamp. I'd go with a laptop computer system as Kublakhan suggests, along with a USB DAC like the Benchmark. RIP your file to WAV or Apple Lossless and you'll be cookin' with gas!

Marco

looks as though you could get by without a preamp. If not go passive or battery operated. I thing there are some battery operated amps. Ironically and I have not tried this but most components are stepping the voltage down to car battery range any way. You could have an amp modified for straight in 12 volt dc.
good luck

Probably the most famous audiophile houseboat:

http://www.davidgilmour.com/gallery/gallery3/04.htm

http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/gallery/v/DavidGilmourPhotos/AstoriaHouseboatRecordingStudio/aac.jpg.html

I have been doing this for a long time in marine environments and there are huge advantages to a 12v approach. One thing that most boats have plenty of is 12v. One place that you can get endless problems from is ground loops in your inverter converting back to AC - so why bother with that, cables etc

Plus truth is that you are talking about a floating box that was none too carefully put together and is mostly straight walls and angles....

Better then a HD based system, do a iMod from Redwine Audio and save some space too. Think about adding a Sirius satellite radio since your guests and family will probably want round the clock noise. Use a passive preamp from channel island audios (Placette if you want, you are the captain).

Besides the battery powered Redwine 30, check out these rad tube amps from Butler Audio designed for mobile applications...

http://www.butleraudio.com/car.php

And BTW you can put together an incredibly good sounding 12v system based on high end car audio components from companies like Nakamichi, Alpine and Soundstream Reference old school amps. And drive very high quality speakers so long as you pay a little attention to sensitivity

What are the restrictions?

One idea would be to create a hard drive system. Then you could have all your music on your boat w/o bringing your cds along. If you have a lap top you can just buy an external drive. If you don't, you could buy a mac mini for not much money.

If you're looking for an un-typical car system, there's a tube car stereo (pioneer?) that looks interesting. I haven't heard it. Gets fm and plays cds.

At 91dB sensitivity, the Niles 25's ought to be a great match for the Red Wine Audio Signature 30's...