Review and Measurements of SMSL SP200 THX HP Amp

[amirm]

Yeh, there is almost no information out there on it. So it is good that SMSL sent me one for testing.

 

[Sak]

Hope the next one will be M500.

 

[Thomas savage]

I can't see enough to replicate them.

Could they send them to you , it would be great to see them matching up in some aspects.

 

[amirm]

Could they send them to you , it would be great to see them matching up in some aspects.

Maybe @SMSL-Mandy could post them here.

 

[Matias]

SMSL used A-weighting to get a couple of dBs more than Amir's tests from what I can see.

 

[amirm]

I think they are all based on a reference design by THX. They can then tweak, add or drop features, etc.

 

[August]

Amazing value, he is almost equivalent to the cheap version of hpa4

 

[August]

View attachment 35102
This is a clearer test result from SMSL's weibo. I'm wondering what is causing the difference except for the output voltage level.

They use a-weighting, which is usually a few db higher than unweighted

 

[mkawa]

WELP! next purchase is set then

 

[miero]

@amirm How about recording and publishing a sine recorded at the similar low-level volume as you did for two DACs[1]? Just for an illustrative purposes how noise floor compares.

[1] https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...perfectwave-directstream-dac.9100/post-235917

 

[amirm]

I'm wondering what is causing the difference except for the output voltage level.

It is a very different output level. And as noted, we don't know what filtering was used (that would be to the left of the screenshot shown).

 

[miero]

@amirm How about recording and publishing a sine recorded at the similar low-level volume as you did for two DACs[1]? Just for an illustrative purposes how noise floor compares.

[1] https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...perfectwave-directstream-dac.9100/post-235917

The question is where to set volume of a preamp. I think a maximum volume would be fine so the volume attenuation in a pot will by bypassed.

 

[mkawa]

@SMSL-Mandy, since this amp out-resolves almost all DACs, and most of your DACs have headphone outputs, which DAC in the lineup do you see this amp being paired with?

hmm.. this would be great paired with a KTB.

 

[VintageFlanker]

This is probably the best value product for personal audio to come out this entire year.

What if the M500 almost reaches X Sabre Pro performance for $399?

 

[AnalogDE]

Why is there no number identifier after the THX? Is this the 789 or 887 identifier? Or is that just random numbers ?

 

[MediumRare]

@amirm , can you report the results for Tom Christiansen's HP1-A? https://www.tomchr.com/products/hpa-1

 

[JJB70]

Superlative performance and very affordable, splendid!

 

[amirm]

@amirm , can you report the results for Tom Christiansen's HP1-A? https://www.tomchr.com/products/hpa-1

We discussed testing his prototypes and at end, opted to wait for a manufacturing unit. So right now, I don't have anything to test.

 

[Nango]

I should say that the pictures have geometric distortion due to angle I shot them. In reality, the slanted look is very slight and of course symmetrical on both ends. Here is SMSL's own picture:

It looks simply boring to me, I don't like to have something like this on my desk, no matter how good it performs, so sorry.

 

[gr-e]

Why is there no number identifier after the THX? Is this the 789 or 887 identifier? Or is that just random numbers ?

It's THXAAA-888