All antennas for specific frequencies or channels must be a certain size in order to pick up the wave that that channel is broadcasting. There is never going to be a compact antenna that's going to work better because it's not the nature of how the science works. Also if the provided coax cable is connected directly into the antenna box one can still add to the length with a coupler in order to reach the television. There might be some signal loss because of that. Also amplifiers don't pull in signals that are not there. It amplifies and strengthens signals that the antenna is already picking up and is usually typically and historically used when an antenna is located a longer distance and maybe up on a pole where it can receive more signal. The intended purpose of amplifiers is to strengthen the signal while going through the transmission wire which is where they lose signal strength.