Dual Merus MA12070 Amplifier Sabaj A20 fully balanced : pictures inside )

[palatin8]

there is a mistake somewhere....

I guess Audiophonics entry will be corrected real soon. SMSL themselves state there are 2 x STA516BE. How could they get 2.5 x the power out of MA12070 compared to their own DA-9 or Sabaj's A20a? That would be pure magic, or black magic regarding the housing ;-)

https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/728.html

 

[ModDIY]

I had several years ago the Gremlin with STA516BE, and there is no comparison of sound with the MA12070...This at all levels!!

 

[daniboun]

I had several years ago the Gremlin with STA516BE, and there is no comparison of sound with the MA12070...This at all levels!!

You mean the MA12070 is better ?

 

[ModDIY]

You mean the MA12070 is better ?

Yes , of course!!

Yes the MA12070 is very superior!

 

[daniboun]

I guess Audiophonics entry will be corrected real soon. SMSL themselves state there are 2 x STA516BE. How could they get 2.5 x the power out of MA12070 compared to their own DA-9 or Sabaj's A20a? That would be pure magic, or black magic regarding the housing ;-)

https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/728.html

Marketing bro )
To come back to Sabaj, the more I listen to it the more I love it! I really enjoy rediscovering my Playlist with a different sound from my Purifi and TPA3255.

 

[daniboun]

Yes , of course!!

Yes the MA12070 is very superior!

I agree ))))))))

 

[dorirod]

Now I will give you my opinion ... I am almost sure that the Sabaj A20 sends much more than 50W under 8R, I put it side by side with my Hypex NC252MP which delivers 2X 150W / 8R and the Sabaj does not blush at all.

Weird.... business to follow!

I don't understand how this one compares to NC252MP. Looks to me like that would have a lot more power and a lot cleaner to boot. Why bother with the A20 if you have an NC252MP amp already (unless you have multiple uses ?

Output noise on NC252MP is 30uVrms max and un-wt, for MA12070 max is 115u at high gain, typical 85u, both A-wt, for TPA3255 85u typical for 4R. Seems like the others would be a lot noisier, no?

 

[daniboun]

hummm you could also have asked me the question ... why bother me with an NC252 when I also have a Purifi?

I must probably have a disease called curiosity coupled with a passion .... I have a bunch of amps, I'm quite well known on diyaudio for my atypical discoveries but also for my insatiable curiosity .... I like that that's all)

 

[palatin8]

Marketing bro ).

Well, not sure it is intended. Audiophonics simply has got it wrong, me think. SA400 is a different story, and SMSL ain't lying and never claim it is driven by Infineon/Merus amp chips. It has the same look as DA-9, but it is aimed to folks who want higher output power as what you can achieve with MA12070. Obviously the Specs for SA400 yet don't tell the standby power, which is <0.5 Watt for DA-9, the sibling to Sabaj A20a to return to topic..

 

[Toku]

hummm you could also have asked me the question ... why bother me with an NC252 when I also have a Purifi?

I must probably have a disease called curiosity coupled with a passion .... I have a bunch of amps, I'm quite well known on diyaudio for my atypical discoveries but also for my insatiable curiosity .... I like that that's all)

Maybe I'm the same type of person as you.
I am always greedy for various products and technologies, and I cannot help knowing it. Therefore, you cannot be satisfied unless you check the products you care about yourself.
Even if others say it's meaningless, we can't stop it. Because I'm a pure electronics engineer, not just an audiophile.
Let's challenge more and more various devices!

 

[daniboun]

Maybe I'm the same type of person as you.
I am always greedy for various products and technologies, and I cannot help knowing it. Therefore, you cannot be satisfied unless you check the products you care about yourself.
Even if others say it's meaningless, we can't stop it. Because I'm a pure electronics engineer, not just an audiophile.
Let's challenge more and more various devices!

Nice to know that I'm not the only one in this case lol
I'm also one of those people who love to trust ASR feedback and testing. But I always end up enjoying the amps that I test with my ears. Then there are too many variables to say that you will like this or that amp) (depends on your setup, speakers, dac, etc )

I find that the Gustard X16 and Sabaj A20 combo works wonderfully! I take pleasure in listening to my Playlist and for comparison, I do not feel pleasure in doing it with my SY-DAP2002 (3E Audio TPA3255 finished amp). On the other hand I find a certain pleasure with my NC252, it is the same with my Purifi. Which makes me think that the Sabaj is a pretty exceptional amp considering its price!

 

[daniboun]

Well, not sure it is intended. Audiophonics simply has got it wrong, me think. SA400 is a different story, and SMSL ain't lying and never claim it is driven by Infineon/Merus amp chips. It has the same look as DA-9, but it is aimed to folks who want higher output power as what you can achieve with MA12070. Obviously the Specs for SA400 yet don't tell the standby power, which is <0.5 Watt for DA-9, the sibling to Sabaj A20a to return to topic..

I am pretty sure that the Sabaj A20 and the SMSL DA9 come from the same factory, I read it somewhere but I can't find the post anymore....
There is a mistake probably related to the spec :

SMSL DA9 :
Input Sensitivity/Input Impedance: 250mV/47k0

SABAJ A20 :
Input Sensitivity/Input Impedance: 150mV/47k0

 

[Toku]

Nice to know that I'm not the only one in this case lol
I'm also one of those people who love to trust ASR feedback and testing. But I always end up enjoying the amps that I test with my ears. Then there are too many variables to say that you will like this or that amp) (depends on your setup, speakers, dac, etc )

I find that the Gustard X16 and Sabaj A20 combo works wonderfully! I take pleasure in listening to my Playlist and for comparison, I do not feel pleasure in doing it with my SY-DAP2002 (3E Audio TPA3255 finished amp). On the other hand I find a certain pleasure with my NC252, it is the same with my Purifi. Which makes me think that the Sabaj is a pretty exceptional amp considering its price!

I have always been really helped by your review posts.
And I am very grateful.

I bought the SMSL DA-9 the other day. The evaluation of the sound quality is exactly the same as yours. It has a wonderful sound quality that is different from conventional devices.
However, the DA-9 I received had a major flaw. The DC offset of the right channel fluctuates greatly, which greatly exceeds the maximum standard of the chip. Therefore, pop noise is generated from the right channel when the power is turned on / off or the input is switched.
In the end, I couldn't stand this problem and returned the DA-9.

I'm thinking of buying the same A20a as you instead.
So I have a question for you about A20a.
Is the front panel a glass panel? Or is it a resin panel?
Does the A20a generate pop noise when the power is turned on / off or the input is switched? (Including small little pops)
Please tell us about these two.

 

[daniboun]

I have always been really helped by your review posts.
And I am very grateful.

I bought the SMSL DA-9 the other day. The evaluation of the sound quality is exactly the same as yours. It has a wonderful sound quality that is different from conventional devices.
However, the DA-9 I received had a major flaw. The DC offset of the right channel fluctuates greatly, which greatly exceeds the maximum standard of the chip. Therefore, pop noise is generated from the right channel when the power is turned on / off or the input is switched.
In the end, I couldn't stand this problem and returned the DA-9.

I'm thinking of buying the same A20a as you instead.
So I have a question for you about A20a.
Is the front panel a glass panel? Or is it a resin panel?
Does the A20a generate pop noise when the power is turned on / off or the input is switched? (Including small little pops)
Please tell us about these two.

Hi,
Thanks for the message )
To answer you :

- NO Pop sound when switching ON / OFF (tested with a Gustard X16 and the Dual Leaf DAC in XLR mode)
- the front panel seems to be in plexiglass or something like that )
- the two channels R/L are absolutely clean and aligned on my side and I also add that the amp is dead silence even with my ear glued to the speakers

PS: I just have a small regret, I would have preferred an oled type display


Let me know when you will get the A20 )

 

[daniboun]

I take this opportunity to share a link to an extraordinary dac that works also wonderfully with the Sabaj A20 !

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...9038q2m-vs-gustard-x16-pictures-inside.22264/

 

[palatin8]

I asked Audiophonics to verify the specs of SMSL SA400, and they did:
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/inte...6b-mqa-bluetooth-50-2x230w-4-ohm-p-15354.html

 

[VintageFlanker]

I asked Audiophonics to verify the specs of SMSL SA400, and they did:
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/inte...6b-mqa-bluetooth-50-2x230w-4-ohm-p-15354.html

Great. Now, they still have to explain how this amp should support MQA...

 

[palatin8]

According to SMSL it's STA516Be. Dont't know the difference to STA516B. But that's drifting off topic here.

 

[daniboun]

https://www.st.com/resource/en/datasheet/sta516be.pdf

 

[ModDIY]

According to SMSL it's STA516Be. Dont't know the difference to STA516B. But that's drifting off topic here.

The difference is the power, much the same performance.

The STA516BE chip has more than double the power of the STA516B. Then we can increase the power of the STA516B by doubling the chips and PBTL mode.