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New SMSL A300 BTL Class-d Power Amp
- Thread starter SMSL-Mandy
- Start date
I received my A300 a few days ago and listened to my Sony SSCS5 speakers and no hiss found. Had a hiss thru my sub, even when no cable attached and plugged in. It's an old cheap sub, so I'm going to replace it anyway. My speakers seem to handle the bass pretty well in the meantime.
in edge cases like if you own Klipsch 92dB sensitivity horns and you crank the volume to 50+ then even on a source that is off, then expect some system noise from the A300.
but for normal speakers and if you keep the vol. down to sub 40 and control it thru a good preamp then really its as cleaner than you get from anything short of a benchmark ah2b
but for normal speakers and if you keep the vol. down to sub 40 and control it thru a good preamp then really its as cleaner than you get from anything short of a benchmark ah2b
Well, there's very little if I put my ear towards the tweeter like a few inches away. It's utterly inaudible at any normal distance though.
I just got one and do not hear any hiss. I do have a slight hearing loss at upper frequencies though so maybe I'm not the most reliable source.
I purchased two A300s, but the noise level is slightly different between the two. However, neither A300 can be heard at a distance of 20 cm from the speaker unit.
Compared to the same SMSL AO200, the A300 has a slightly higher noise level.
My speakers have efficiencies of 89db and 87db. However, noise may become noticeable with extremely high efficiency speakers.
Thanks all for the feedback on the hiss. I have one coming this week, and will report on it. I have a variety of speakers, highest efficiency are some 92db Tektons, but will probably start them with some infinity R62s, then move them to a room with LS-50s after that. Currently am using Roon for EQ everywhere, but will be interesting to turn off Roon DSP EQ and try some of these amp EQ settings.
I think that would be fine, as long as the noise does not increase with volume, which might be hard to tell. I like the looks and build quality of the AO200, but decided to go with the A300 as the bridgeable feature is interesting, and it costs a bit less. I'm not sure, but is the AO200 discontinued? though still available from several places?
Destination: Moon
Senior Member
I just got mine and ordered another. I'm confused about how to set up BTL mode.
Should they both be set to Br1, or only the master?
Should they both be set to Br1, or only the master?
Should I buy a pre amp for A300? It sounds great without seperate pre amp or dac. But a seperate pre amp would improve the sound quality?
I use ThinkPad laptop+foobar2000+flac audio files as my source. Connecting A300 via 3.5 to RCA cable. Q Acoustics 3020i speakers.
I use ThinkPad laptop+foobar2000+flac audio files as my source. Connecting A300 via 3.5 to RCA cable. Q Acoustics 3020i speakers.
As far as I know there is no input in the A300 that bypasses it's internal preamp so it would offer no advantage to introduce a second preamp. From your setup described above it seems that the obvious route to improve sq would be avoiding the built-in DAC from the PC and introducing an external DAC.
And in effect your signal currently already goes through two pre amps, the 3.5 jack out from PC goes through pre amp stage as does the input to A300, so adding another would be pointless. The pre amps function is to attenuate gain and switch sources, it won't improve anything and should only be changed if it adds noise or distortion.
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This is earlier discussed in this thread, maybe those posts are helpful.
i think the way to look at is is that any laptop will have a compromised 3.5mm audio out... its just not optimal.
To me a dac in between will always work out better... so any kind of sub $200 preamp dac /w vol. control. would be nice.
However you may get away with a sub $100 headphone dac like any of the ones recommended here.
To me a dac in between will always work out better... so any kind of sub $200 preamp dac /w vol. control. would be nice.
However you may get away with a sub $100 headphone dac like any of the ones recommended here.
I have previously explained below how to use two A300s with a BTL connection.
New SMSL A300 BTL Class-d Power Amp
Immediately after purchase, the sound quality is very high resolution, transparent and smooth, which is my favorite sound quality. I switched to the A20a 2022 and compared it, but the sound quality is very similar and I can't clearly distinguish it. Let's see how it changes over time. Any...
www.audiosciencereview.com
New SMSL A300 BTL Class-d Power Amp
Immediately after purchase, the sound quality is very high resolution, transparent and smooth, which is my favorite sound quality. I switched to the A20a 2022 and compared it, but the sound quality is very similar and I can't clearly distinguish it. Let's see how it changes over time. Any...
www.audiosciencereview.com
There was a temporary shortage of items on Amazon in Japan, but the AO200 continues to be sold.
AO200 is an SMSL product planned and sold by Aoshida Hifi, and even HiFi EXPRESS, a distributor of SMSL products, does not handle products planned and sold by Aoshida Hifi such as AO200 and DO200.
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Destination: Moon
Senior Member
Thanks Toku,I have previously explained below how to use two A300s with a BTL connection.
New SMSL A300 BTL Class-d Power Amp
Immediately after purchase, the sound quality is very high resolution, transparent and smooth, which is my favorite sound quality. I switched to the A20a 2022 and compared it, but the sound quality is very similar and I can't clearly distinguish it. Let's see how it changes over time. Any...
New SMSL A300 BTL Class-d Power Amp
Immediately after purchase, the sound quality is very high resolution, transparent and smooth, which is my favorite sound quality. I switched to the A20a 2022 and compared it, but the sound quality is very similar and I can't clearly distinguish it. Let's see how it changes over time. Any...
Scrolling past your earlier posts on this topic I see you went with a direct connection of the source to each amp individually;
instead of the master - slave you describe in the above link. Is that still the method you prefer?
Destination: Moon
Senior Member
Another related question on wiring. I find that I prefer the A300 sound without using it's high pass filter on my Polk R200s. Is there any reason to utilize (or not utilize) the Amps SW output to the LFE input on the sub, VS feeding the DAC to my SVS SW and passing the full spectrum DAC output to the A300 with the Subs splitter?
Just for information, I have an A300 and can easily detect noise when no signal present. It's along the lines of faint FM radio static at a very low level, in my speaker ( royd minstrel se) it seems to emanate more from woofer than tweeter and I cannot detect it from more than 30cm from speaker.
It is not noticable from normal listening position or with any music I have played. As a comparison I previously used a topping pa3s which was totally silent.
It is not noticable from normal listening position or with any music I have played. As a comparison I previously used a topping pa3s which was totally silent.
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