This is a review and detailed measurements of the Akitika stereo amplifier kit. It was purchased preassembled by a member and kindly sent to me.
As you see, the case is rather simple but for a kit, it is not bad. That large power switch is reassuring, giving you the feeling that it could switch a lot of "gigawatts."
We can excuse the lack of serial number.
The unit is rather heavy which I imagine is due to power transformer. Company notes says the kit originally was based on a TI IC but that was hard to get so they switched to a discrete design. Manual is very comprehensive. There are a ton of parts in there so you better have lots of patience to assemble it!
Akitika GT-108 Amplifier Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard:
I worked to reduce the mains noise and that is the best I got. SINAD though is dominated by that second harmonic distortion spike. It lands the GT-108 below our average for all amplifiers tested:
Noise performance was better than I expected:
Being traditional class AB (MOSFET output stage), frequency response is load independent and broad:
The high amount of distortion predictably produces less than rosy results in multitone and 19+20 kHz tests:
Crosstalk is about average for amplifiers tested:
Company only specifies power into 8 ohm load. Let's see what we get in both 4 and 8 ohms:
Strange that "continuous" power at 4 ohm is less than 8. So seems long term current limited as peak power is substantial at 108 watts.
Even more strange is flat distortion profile with power and super sharp clipping. Best to make sure you don't need more power as this amplifier will go from good to nasty in an instant.
EDIT: forgot to add power sweep vs frequency:
The amplifier is essentially stable on power up:
There is substantial power up noise in one channel:
Conclusions
Objective performance ranges from very good when it comes to noise and frequency response to less than ideal for distortion. Power output is modest for how much this amplifier costs. All of this would normally force me to give a poor rating to the GT-108. But something about a kit that is so well documented (including a set of measurements), makes me be more lenient.
I would not personally buy the Akitika GT-108 amplifier as a finished product. If I had a need for a kit, then it may make a good target. It would be a much more substantial experience than building an amp with modules.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
As you see, the case is rather simple but for a kit, it is not bad. That large power switch is reassuring, giving you the feeling that it could switch a lot of "gigawatts."
We can excuse the lack of serial number.
The unit is rather heavy which I imagine is due to power transformer. Company notes says the kit originally was based on a TI IC but that was hard to get so they switched to a discrete design. Manual is very comprehensive. There are a ton of parts in there so you better have lots of patience to assemble it!
Akitika GT-108 Amplifier Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard:
I worked to reduce the mains noise and that is the best I got. SINAD though is dominated by that second harmonic distortion spike. It lands the GT-108 below our average for all amplifiers tested:
Noise performance was better than I expected:
Being traditional class AB (MOSFET output stage), frequency response is load independent and broad:
The high amount of distortion predictably produces less than rosy results in multitone and 19+20 kHz tests:
Crosstalk is about average for amplifiers tested:
Company only specifies power into 8 ohm load. Let's see what we get in both 4 and 8 ohms:
Strange that "continuous" power at 4 ohm is less than 8. So seems long term current limited as peak power is substantial at 108 watts.
Even more strange is flat distortion profile with power and super sharp clipping. Best to make sure you don't need more power as this amplifier will go from good to nasty in an instant.
EDIT: forgot to add power sweep vs frequency:
The amplifier is essentially stable on power up:
There is substantial power up noise in one channel:
Conclusions
Objective performance ranges from very good when it comes to noise and frequency response to less than ideal for distortion. Power output is modest for how much this amplifier costs. All of this would normally force me to give a poor rating to the GT-108. But something about a kit that is so well documented (including a set of measurements), makes me be more lenient.
I would not personally buy the Akitika GT-108 amplifier as a finished product. If I had a need for a kit, then it may make a good target. It would be a much more substantial experience than building an amp with modules.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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