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Is SMSL A300 enough to power KEF Q350, often listening mid-loud?
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- Mar 18, 2022
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…. and quantify „medium loud“ please.
(iPhone/Android with a respective SPL app will do for starters)
(iPhone/Android with a respective SPL app will do for starters)
That's the deadly part! A few watts is enough to play those KEF fairly loud, but each increment of volume doubles the power. I don't see any 3rd party measurements of A300 (if you buy this ship to Amir!). So many of these small amps put out very little actual power. SMSL's graph at
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/new-smsl-a300-btl-class-d-power-amp.34607/
indicates maybe 120W into 4Ω at 1 kHz. Note that speakers are not resistors so the FOUR ohm power is what matters even if the speakers are supposedly 8 (which often they are really 4 anyway
). Should be rated 20-20k Hz, and distortion should be <1%,That thread indicates there is a 50 Hz highpass, which is weirdly kinda low, so this might not be a great choice if you ever want to add a subwoofer to relieve your Q350s of low bass strain. Then again few stereo units have an internal highpass crossover at all, even if they have a "subwoofer" out, so stupid.
What features are you looking for? Compact size? Bluetooth? Remote control? USB input? WiFi? I have
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CJZGT6H
in one system based on Amir's measured 70W actual, runs quite cool, but no features. Anything with an outboard power supply you have to really watch what you are buying, many times it seems the included supply won't give the maximum power.
the DAC inside the A300 is really just the dac built into the BT chipset... which means its redbook at best and the Infineon process is divorced from it.
The DSP is all the baked in Infineon stuff so it would be done in PWM.
To be original question... people are over analysing this
www.audiosciencereview.com
going by this the Q350 does not look to be a particularly demanding speaker and the A300 at best, is something like a 70-75w amp and it should power it as loud as you'd want in a domestic environment.
I used mine to drive stuff with less than 87dB and it was fine.
The DSP is all the baked in Infineon stuff so it would be done in PWM.
To be original question... people are over analysing this
KEF Q350 Speaker Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the KEF Q350 Bookshelf/stand-mount speaker. It was purchased new by a member and kindly drop shipped to me for testing. The Q350 costs US $700 on Amazon including prime shipping. As with other KEF coaxial speakers, the look is unique and quite...
www.audiosciencereview.com
going by this the Q350 does not look to be a particularly demanding speaker and the A300 at best, is something like a 70-75w amp and it should power it as loud as you'd want in a domestic environment.
I used mine to drive stuff with less than 87dB and it was fine.
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Can njw1194 manage the analog signal?the DAC inside the A300 is really just the dac built into the BT chipset... which means its redbook at best and the Infineon process is divorced from it.
The DSP is all the baked in Infineon stuff so it would be done in PWM.
To be original question... people are over analysing this
KEF Q350 Speaker Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the KEF Q350 Bookshelf/stand-mount speaker. It was purchased new by a member and kindly drop shipped to me for testing. The Q350 costs US $700 on Amazon including prime shipping. As with other KEF coaxial speakers, the look is unique and quite...
going by this the Q350 does not look to be a particularly demanding speaker and the A300 at best, is something like a 70-75w amp at best and it should power it as loud as you'd want in a domestic environment.
I used mine to drive stuff with less than 87dB and it was fine.
just by asking that you made me do a little 5 min research session
i would refer you to this thread which I also participated in
www.audiosciencereview.com
basically i think it comes down to what vol. ctrl. pot you like
PGA2310 is a TI unit and looks the cheapest
NJW1194 is a Japanese Nisshinbo unit... I think this one is very popular in SMSL devices.
Top of the line seems to be relay based.
And then you can get in arguments with people like Toku about the curve ramp ups etc.
I think realistically these devices are all fit for purpose and they should be fine for most people. I'm probably the worst person to ask about the A300 vol. because I hate the jog dial and I always used a preamp onto so...
i would refer you to this thread which I also participated in
Cheap preamp (100 euros)
I have a behringer control 2 usb which is a monitor control with a phonostage usb in and many output's for multple active speakers or amplifers, each channel can be level matched so no surprise in gain.volume when switching from my turntable to a cd...
www.audiosciencereview.com
basically i think it comes down to what vol. ctrl. pot you like
PGA2310 is a TI unit and looks the cheapest
NJW1194 is a Japanese Nisshinbo unit... I think this one is very popular in SMSL devices.
Top of the line seems to be relay based.
And then you can get in arguments with people like Toku about the curve ramp ups etc.
I think realistically these devices are all fit for purpose and they should be fine for most people. I'm probably the worst person to ask about the A300 vol. because I hate the jog dial and I always used a preamp onto so...
Thanks for replying me, sorry for bothering morejust by asking that you made me do a little 5 min research session
i would refer you to this thread which I also participated in
Cheap preamp (100 euros)
I have a behringer control 2 usb which is a monitor control with a phonostage usb in and many output's for multple active speakers or amplifers, each channel can be level matched so no surprise in gain.volume when switching from my turntable to a cd...
basically i think it comes down to what vol. ctrl. pot you like
PGA2310 is a TI unit and looks the cheapest
NJW1194 is a Japanese Nisshinbo unit... I think this one is very popular in SMSL devices.
Top of the line seems to be relay based.
And then you can get in arguments with people like Toku about the curve ramp ups etc.
I think realistically these devices are all fit for purpose and they should be fine for most people. I'm probably the worst person to ask about the A300 vol. because I hate the jog dial and I always used a preamp onto so...
My key point is does the analog signal(from RCA input) be transformed into digital signal so that the NJW1194 can do it's job( NJW1194 was mentioned in A300 datasheet)
Also the A300 got USB input, that means it definetly need a DAC, i didn't see which DAC does SMSL use in datasheet, possible by the BT chipset?
The main question is whether A300 need to have ADC to made NJW1194 work, and due to the ADC, the SU-8S is useless.
I am not really understand about how these chips done there work, by the way i see the intergrate amp Aiyima D03 has list the ADC(PCM1808) in it's datasheet, this made me so confused.
Thanks for helping me
The NJW1194 preamp is an electronic preamp and not a digital one.
Your SU-8 DAC will perform much better than the Bluetooth DAC. Many have mentioned it on this forum.
I own the Sabaj A20a version 2019 (dual Infineon) and with the NJW1194. I use a dual ES9038Q2M DAC with XLR outputs and this preamp is really good.
Your SU-8 DAC will perform much better than the Bluetooth DAC. Many have mentioned it on this forum.
I own the Sabaj A20a version 2019 (dual Infineon) and with the NJW1194. I use a dual ES9038Q2M DAC with XLR outputs and this preamp is really good.
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I think it would be way clearer if there was a circuit diagram
but the specs on the njw and pga should outstrip the capabilites of the unit itself... ie. the vol. ctrl has more 'bit' than whatever the hell is coming out of the infineon chipset
basically if you feed the A300 it gets converted to PWM and the vol. and the dsp (if you so choose) is all done in the digital domain.
ignore the BT in the A300... also dont use the digital input
i always used my a300 a dual input power amp
but the specs on the njw and pga should outstrip the capabilites of the unit itself... ie. the vol. ctrl has more 'bit' than whatever the hell is coming out of the infineon chipset
basically if you feed the A300 it gets converted to PWM and the vol. and the dsp (if you so choose) is all done in the digital domain.
ignore the BT in the A300... also dont use the digital input
i always used my a300 a dual input power amp
Yes.
In addition to the Sabaj A20a I have a real digital amplifier, the Sabaj A30a, this one has an ADC for the RCA input, and has a DSP which serves as volume and digital control in the digital domain.
WOW Sabaj A30 had transparent road map about the ADC, love it
So weird that Digital signal also need to go through the DSD to PWM chip... Though i have no idea how they work
The post below said that the NJW1194 can do the tone control in analogue
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...oxjie-a30-amplifier-review.17547/post-1310526
Probably the A300's road map might be : Digital input-> DAC -> NJW1194 and RCA -> NJW1194
Finally my question solved, thx guys
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Not PWM with digital mosfet, it's just for analog signal amplifier class D (I think)...
Yes.
LOL definitely min-maxing here... but I bet it still sounds pretty decent at low-to-moderate volume.
I am on the market for amp and streamer... In the meantime, this little guy is filling the gap. Yes, it sounds okay and no problem to drive the R11.
@hawaii808 a bit advice, KEF The Reference, R, and Q are easy to drive even with a low-end, sub-$100 amp. The only requirement is to be able to drive 4 ohm which pretty much all the amps do. Begin with an amp within your budget then do upgrades overt time to enjoy the differences. It is a journey.
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