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.