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Peripherals Stereo Amplifiers

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Parge, 8 Feb 2015.

  1. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    Like many of you, I've been searching for a decent audio solution for my PC for a while now. I don't want (can't fit) huge speakers and a massive amp, so I've picked up a pair of Cambridge Audio MINX Min 11s from ebay.

    Now I need an Amp to power them.

    They are 50W at 8ohms. Does anyone have any recommendations. Obviously, given that I paid £80 for both speakers and wall mounts, I need an amp that will get the best out of them, but not have far better sound than the speakers will provide. Does anybody have any recommendations?

    And now a gallery of Sexeh pics
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  2. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    Gainclone type amplifier are around that power. Should be worth the try, considering they are cheap and small while souding nicely. That would require some assembly and case though.
     
  3. MeddlE

    MeddlE Norwegian Blue

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  4. flame696

    flame696 Terminating People Since 1980....

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    I picked up a couple of late 80s Yamaha amps from eBay and believe me when i say they sound so much better then most of the stuff on sale today.

    If you want you can take one to try with your speakers and see how they sound??
     
  5. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    Vintage Yamaha's are great value.
     
  6. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    Thanks for the input guys (I *think* there might a joke there)

    After looking at the Gainclone kits, which are very cheap btw. I decided I just wanted something that I could get up and running straight away and went for ‘a SMSL SA50.

    There appears to be quite a bit of competition in the Chinese Mini Amp market at the moment between SMSL and another company called Muse. At the 50w levels, this appears to be the one that is more consistently lauded by reviewers. Cost me £50 delivered from Amazon. I appreciate that it’s performance would probably disappoint ‘audiophiles’ but it fits the bill for me. Most of the criticism the unit gets seems to be directed at its abilities at super loud volume, but living in flats means this is a scenario I’ll never encounter.
     
  7. Margo Baggins

    Margo Baggins I'm good at Soldering Super Moderator

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    My sound system disagrees :rock:
     
  8. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    I didn't used to care as much, but now I've bought a place, I've come to the realisation that I maybe living next to these people for years and I'd like to only annoy them occasionally rather than every night. :D

    By the way, this is quite a good review of the various mini amps from someone who sounds like they know what they are talking about:

    SMSL SA50 vs. Topping TP22 vs. Amphony 200
    By Nelly Luke on September 17, 2014
    As of 3 weeks ago I am the proud owner of the SMSL SA50 mini amp. I have now had enough time to play with the amp and can share my experience. In this review I am going to compare this amplifier with two of the best-performing mini amplifiers in this price segment: the Topping TP22 as well as the Amphony 200 mini amp.

    The first impression of this amp from China is excellent. It is solidly built into an aluminium enclosure. It has a large volume dial in front as well as a power switch. The power switch does not diconnect the external power supply from the mains but it still saves power when the amplifier is not in use.

    On the rear there are two RCA inputs and two pairs of banana speaker outputs which are neatly arranged. The name of this amplifier on Amazon is actually quite misleading. This is not a Class-T amplifier. The SMSL uses the TDA7492 chipset from ST Micro which is a plain Class-D BTL stereo amplifier. It is in no way similar to a Class-T amplifier unlike the Topping TK22 which uses a Tripath chipset.

    The SMSL SA50 delivers up to 22 Watts into two 4 Ohm stereo speakers at low distortion. It will drive 8 Ohm speakers up to 19 Watts at low distortion. More than that and the amplifier starts clipping which means that distortion shoots up. At 50 Watts the amp produces 10% distortion. Note that the distortion increases with frequency which is a characteristic of most Class-D amplifiers. At 5 kHz this amp produces 4 times higher distortion than at 1 kHz.

    While Class-D amplifiers are very popular because they offer far higher audio efficiency than their Class-A counterparts, they do have drawbacks. One drawback is the high amount of switching noise. This switching noise is generated by the internal FET stage and the external switched-mode power supply. To combat this problem, most Class-D amplifiers have a filter stage designed to remove those unwanted signal components. This amplifier has a nicely designed filter stage. However, the inherent problem of this filter is that the frequency response of the amplifier greatly depends on the connected load.

    When connecting speakers with very low impedance, audio at frequencies above 10 Khz is suppressed (not enough treble). When connecting speakers with a very high impedance, on the other hand, the highs are exaggerated and overly aggressive.

    Overall, however, the output filter does a pretty good job removing the noise. This amp achieves a dynamic range of around 100 dB which should be enough if you don't have very sensitive speakers. With sensitive speakers, however, there is an ever present noise that doesn't go away. This can be somewhat annoying during silent passages. So I would not recommend this amplifier to be used in a home theater with high-dynamic source material.

    In contrast, the Topping TP22 mini amplifier which I purchased last year is based on the TK2050 chipset which was made by the now-bancrupt tech company Tripath. As such the Topping is a true Class-T amplifier. Class-T amplifiers are known throughout the audio community for their good sound quality and the Topping TP22 is no exception. Similarly to the SMSL, the Topping is housed in a solid aluminium enclosure and has an easily accessible volume knob in front as well as an on-off switch. In addition, there is an input-select switch which is unique among the 3 amps which I am reviewing. The Topping amplifier is the only model that has two audio inputs.

    The TP22 pushes 30 Watts into two 4-Ohm speakers (25 Watts into two 8-Ohm speakers). At low distortion, the Topping delivers up to 19 Watts into 4 Ohm speakers (16 Watts into 8 Ohm speakers). Similarly to the SMSL amp, the amplifier's harmonic distortion increases with frequency. Additionally, the frequency response depends on the speaker load. In my listening test, I personally prefer the sound quality of the Topping TP22 as it seems more balanced than the SMSL though I am sure that some people will prefer the SMSL over the Topping especially since it can deliver more power.

    One setback with the Topping TP22 is the limited dynamic range which is less than 100 dB. So similarly to the SMSL, there is a constant background hiss. If you are connecting fairly low-sensitivity speakers to either the SMSL or the Topping then this hissing is most likely not a big issue. But then keep in mind that neither of these amplifiers will be able to drive low-sensitive speakers to high volume given their limitations in output power. So you want to balance background hiss with volume when selecting your speakers.

    Lastly, the Amphony 200 mini amp is also a good option in this price segment. What is most striking about this amp is its small size. It is literally no bigger than a deck of cards. Both the SMSL SA50 and the Topping SA22 are a lot bigger in size though still compact. The small size makes the Amphony a good choice when you need to slide an amp underneat or behind a TV. It will fit almost anywhere. One drawback of the Amphony due to its small size, however, is that it does not have a large volume dial unlike the SMSL and Topping model. Instead it comes with a volume wheel that can be accessed from the audio connector side. It is very easy to operate though.

    Another difference is that the Amphony uses speaker clamp terminals instead of BNC terminals. That means that you can hook up regular speaker wire without BNC plugs.

    Another fact that sets the Amphony apart from the pack is its internal design. The amplifier uses a feedback signal that ensures that the amplifier's frequency response remains perfectly flat within the entire frequency range regardless of what strange speaker impedance you connect. That is especially useful since in practice most speakers vary in their impedance based on the frequency. All of that is taken into account by this amp. Another thing that is unique about the Amphony is that its distortion is pretty much constant throughout the entire frequency range.

    The result is that this amp can drive pretty much any speaker with an ultra flat frequency response. A feature that is unique about this amp is that it can be switched to work as a stero amp, i.e. drive 2 speakers, or a monoblock. When working as a monoblock, the Amphony can deliver up to 80 Watts into a 4 Ohm or 8 Ohm speaker. When set up as a stero amp, it can drive two 4 Ohm speakers with up to 40 Watts - slightly less than the SMSL but more than the Topping -or two 8 Ohm speakers with up to 20 Watts. At very low distortion, this amp can deliver up to 60 Watts as a monoblock into a 4 Ohm speaker or 50 Watts into an 8 Ohm speaker. Surprisingly, this is actually quite a bit more than the 44 Watts the SMSL delivers at low distortion.

    Similarly to the SMSL and the Topping, the Amphony includes an external power supply. The difference is that the Amphony power supply is designed to plug directly into an outlet wheras the SMSL and Topping power supplies connect via another cable. If cable clutter is an issue then this may give the Amphony an advantage.

    What I found remarkable about the Amphony though is that it is super quiet. There is no background hiss whatsoever even when driving sensitive speakers. The specs boast a remarkable 115 dB dynamic range which is a full 15 dB (30 times) higher than both the SMSL and Topping. If you are looking for a home-theater amp then I would definitely take a closer look at the Amphony.

    In terms of sound quality, the Amphony is my first choice with the Topping coming in second and the SMSL coming in third. Of course this is my personal opinion and the sound not only depends on the amplifier itself but also on the setup. I have been using the same setup with a pair of Klipsch speakers for evaluating these 3 amps. For pop music, all 3 of these amps are perfectly fine. When listening to classical music as well as movie soundtracks, the Amphony clearly sets itself apart from the pack. Its clarity and depth is unsurpassed by its rivals. Nonetheless I would recommend giving all of these amps a try and listen for yourself.

    At the time of this review, the price of these amps on Amazon was $64 for the SMSL, $91 for the Topping and $69 for the Amphony.
     
  9. DIZZY DAZZLER 2010

    DIZZY DAZZLER 2010 Tech nut!

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    I think I have also recently been through the whole stereo amp and speakers for my PC after my good old sony surround blew up. I nearly also purchased the Cambridge speakers however I was mindfull that the lack of bass would have put me off.

    In the end I purchased a great little Denon M39DAB amp along with the matching Denon M39 speakers. Can fault the Denon amp as it has an Optical input which is what I was after all along.
     
  10. MSHunter

    MSHunter Minimodder

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    cambridge audio topaz is quite decent entry level amp. A good friend of mine uses it and doubles as a monitor stand/riser. At £80 it hits quite a bit above its price.
     
  11. lysaer

    lysaer Suck my unit! Kirk lazarus (2008)

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