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Amazon Basics 80 Watt Class D Amp Review

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the AmazonBasics Class D 80 Watt/channel power amplifier. It was kindly purchased new by a member and drop shipped to me. On Amazon, it cost US $128 but the owner found it on "Woot" for just $70. They are sold out there though.

Not a half-bad enclosure especially for the price:

Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Review.jpg


It was so confusing to see dual languages on the front panel and the back:

Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier RCA Review.jpg


I left the bass and treble controls as you see them there. For testing, I adjusted the gain to 29 dB which is my standard for testing.

Amazon Basics 80W Measurements
As usual, we feed the amplifier a 1 kHz tone with enough amplitude to produce 5 watts and see what we get:
Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Measurements.png


Well, this is not good. Distortion (third harmonic) is quite high at around 68 dB causing the SINAD to be pretty close to the bottom of all the amps we have tested:
Best class D amplifier review.png


Frequency response showed high sensitivity relative to (speaker) load:

Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Frequency Response Measurements.png


Crosstalk was horrible:
Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Crosstalk Measurements.png


How the heck they screwed this up? The dashed line in teal is a $25 amplifier.

32-tone test shows what we saw in the dashboard more or less:

Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Multitone Measurements.png


We can't clear 16 bit content even at max power:
Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier SNR Measurements.png


Power curve shows early onset of distortion:
Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Power into 4 ohm Measurements.png


Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Power into 8 ohm Measurements.png


At least spec is met (at 4 ohm):
Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Max and burst Power into 4 ohm Measurements.png


Sweeping with different frequencies we see distortion rises a lot with frequency:

Amazon Basics 80W Class D Amplifier Power versus distortion vs frequency Measurements.png


Conclusions
I am a sucker for a bargain as much as the next person. But there comes a line that I hate to cross and this amplifier forces me to do so. There are just so many faults here. If you want to use it in a garage or workshop, it will be fine and run cooler than little desktop amps. That is the only positive thing I can say about it.

Needless to say, I can't recommend the Amazon Basics 80 Watt amplifier.

Edit: see teardown here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...azon-basics-80-watt-amplifier-teardown.20945/

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HiFidFan

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No listening impressions?

It very well may have inky black background & highs that are, amazingly, liquid yet crystalline

;)
 

restorer-john

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Just read some of the Amazon "reviews". This one almost made me weep.

1614833649345.png


That poor Mc 2100. I feel like pressing the "report abuse" button probably as the Mac got thrown in the trash. :(

1614833736249.png
 

HiFidFan

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Shirazir

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No listening impressions?

It very well may have "inky black background" & "highs that are, amazingly, liquid yet crystalline"

;)

I'll do you one better. Here's an actual excerpt from an ad for some interconnects I came across recently:

"Sound characteristics
The sound is sweet and refreshing, the high frequency impact is strong. The mid frequency is ethereal and crisp, the low frequency is thick and stable."
 

HiFidFan

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I'll do you one better. Here's an actual excerpt from an ad for some interconnects I came across recently:

"Sound characteristics
The sound is sweet and refreshing, the high frequency impact is strong. The mid frequency is ethereal and crisp, the low frequency is thick and stable."

Nearly pornographic!
 

HiFidFan

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You don't need to wonder. Go check out the specs of the 2100.

Just to clarify, that was my (apparently poor) attempt at sarcastic humor. Sad, I know.

And I agree. That review, if to be believed as authentic, is even more sad.
 

HerbertWest

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Just read some of the Amazon "reviews". This one almost made me weep.
That poor Mc 2100. I feel like pressing the "report abuse" button probably as the Mac got thrown in the trash. :(

The date of that feedback seems recent - maybe an asr-reading garbage collector will read this and save that poor old amp from the e-waste bin :)
 

Mnyb

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Some of the graphs don’t have the rigth name for the amp , its seems like some traces are labeled with other amp names.

Bad as it is in the garage with some second hand 10$ Speakers ?

Wonder if marketing has designed it without the engineers “how hard can it be” :D
 

VintageFlanker

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index.php


It was so confusing to see dual languages on the front panel and the back:
What the... I don't see any relevant reason for this: I've never seen any amp retailed in France with these basics controls that needed to be "translated". But most important: this amp is not even available there for sale anyway!
 

Mnyb

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What the... I don't see any relevant reason for this: I've never seen any amp retailed in France with these basics controls that needed to be "translated". But most important: this amp is not even available there for sale anyway!

Yes I never seen localized labeling of controls on gear since i was a kid in the 1970's

Before the very rationalized production method we use today , there existed small local brands in every country and with that labels in native language. Seen it in Swedish and German on old products . On really old products like a tube radio I think the budget allowed for it to have a localized front plate even on foreign brands (they where expensive back in the day) and foreign language skills where not so good.
 
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amirm

amirm

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Clearly made to comply with the Canadian market, where dual language is a requirement to appear on a product's label.
Do other manufacturers do the same thing? I thought this was only in the manual, not the product itself.
 
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