I've just received the SMSL SP200 and M200.
My initial review:
They look awful IMO. They look like how the 80's thought the '20s were going to look. What I don't get is why the LEDs and displays have different blues on the 2 devices so they don't even match : ) It's almost comically bad industrial design. The switches seem solid enough and the body is well made despite the bizarre slant that I'm slowly beginning to fall for. The volume knob is atrocious. It wobbles and flexes and feels like it's going to be the first thing to fail, however, it's got to the point where the looks make me grin and I like the idea of testing myself with something that looks awful but sounds superb.
At 11 o'clock with the M200 at full volume they sound awesome on my HD660s. So clear and transparent but powerful and dynamic. Genuinely some of the best audio I've ever heard. They never feel tiring and I've been smiling listening to music for hours.
However, if I turn the volume all the way down on the amp I can still here remnants of sound and a mild hiss. This can be ignored but I don't think I should have to from a new product. Then there is the channel imbalance. It is very noticable up to 9 o'clock and possibly disappears by 10 o'clock. It's a bit annoying so I've raised a complaint with AliExpress. I've already had to spend £40 import duty via DHL and I've never returned hifi before - let alone internationally so I'm in two minds what to do. Bearing in mind I'm still waiting for my CustomCans XLR cable to turn up (how can I get hifi delivered from China to Birmingham in a week but it takes 4 weeks to get a cable delivered from Cheltenham? :s ) it may be that the XLR output gives me better results even though I suspect they're both being fed the same signal. I'm currently using Ghent Audio RCA phono cables between the M200 and SP200 and the stock Sennheiser 6.35mm for SE output.
Any advice other than waiting for AliExpress's response? Returning hifi seems odd to me because I've never had to do it and I could live with the current SP200 as long as I put up with it's volume flaws.