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Review and Measurements of SMSL SP200 THX HP Amp

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amirm

amirm

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Because of the prospective of them (and I guess lenses quality) making somone wonder of the actual shape.
Even in person, which direction you look at it makes it have different angles. That said, I didn't about taking a fully aligned picture to show its shape until I post them. Geometric correction (warping) is beyond what Matty is doing with changing brightness, etc. It can be done but it is hard in this case.

I was sensitive to your comment since for the last dozen or so reviews, I have extensively reworked my photo workflow, using both Lightroom and Photoshop, plus more lighting to improve the quality of the images. It has added fair bit of work and aggravation but someone called me on it and I decided to go through the work. The final step would e setting up tripods, a dedicated stage for photography, etc. which adds even more work. I am hoping to not have to go there as it takes away time from doing the reviews.
 

mi-fu

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my guess is that the box is really not that rectangular. it is not much related to lens distortion or the quality of the photos.

after all, the sound and measurements are more important :)
 

Music1969

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No. But I would not be telling you if they did prior to them announcing it. :)

Noted. I wouldn’t ask which DAC makers and which models.

Just hoping this becomes a more common thing (DAC with built-in THX amp tech).
 

restorer-john

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Even in person, which direction you look at it makes it have different angles. That said, I didn't about taking a fully aligned picture to show its shape until I post them. Geometric correction (warping) is beyond what Matty is doing with changing brightness, etc. It can be done but it is hard in this case.

I was sensitive to your comment since for the last dozen or so reviews, I have extensively reworked my photo workflow, using both Lightroom and Photoshop, plus more lighting to improve the quality of the images. It has added fair bit of work and aggravation but someone called me on it and I decided to go through the work. The final step would e setting up tripods, a dedicated stage for photography, etc. which adds even more work. I am hoping to not have to go there as it takes away time from doing the reviews.

Or, you could just take better pictures. :p
 
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amirm

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Or, you could just take better pictures. :p
Why don't you try to take pictures of these black boxes with bright pink panther and then we can talk....
 

zermak

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Even in person, which direction you look at it makes it have different angles. That said, I didn't about taking a fully aligned picture to show its shape until I post them. Geometric correction (warping) is beyond what Matty is doing with changing brightness, etc. It can be done but it is hard in this case.

I was sensitive to your comment since for the last dozen or so reviews, I have extensively reworked my photo workflow, using both Lightroom and Photoshop, plus more lighting to improve the quality of the images. It has added fair bit of work and aggravation but someone called me on it and I decided to go through the work. The final step would e setting up tripods, a dedicated stage for photography, etc. which adds even more work. I am hoping to not have to go there as it takes away time from doing the reviews.
I put maty's name on for fun cause he is always the one finding teardowns on any possible amp/electronic device ever produced and optimizing the photos ahah.

I like that you take the photos on the desk or bench instead of a more studio photo with white background and stuff (for that there is the producer's page/marketing stuff). And sure a tripod and some more lights could help for the tricky colored pieces of hardware.

I was talking about the warping problems only because someone mentioned that the enclosure was kinda weirdly shaped looking at your photo which is not. It is a simple rectangular design indeed.
 

mkawa

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it's odd that anyone would call you out on photos.. the one thing that you can easily find, even for chinese products these days, is great product shots.

but yah, you basically need to take a corner of a room, set up a product shot light box, put seamless fabric up, a couple of consistent (temperature) light sources, ye olde tripod, etc. it's not expensive, but it is a pain if that's not what you're trying to accomplish.
 

restorer-john

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it's odd that anyone would call you out on photos.. the one thing that you can easily find, even for chinese products these days, is great product shots.

but yah, you basically need to take a corner of a room, set up a product shot light box, put seamless fabric up, a couple of consistent (temperature) light sources, ye olde tripod, etc. it's not expensive, but it is a pain if that's not what you're trying to accomplish.

Yeah Amir, you need a little setup just like your best mate Paul McGowan at PS Audio... :p

2:12 into this factory tour video.
1570154312674.png
 

mkawa

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yah, what you don't need is that.

if you're trying to sell a 6k$ secc can on the other hand..
 

maxxevv

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@amirm , you seem to have missed out on the output impedance measurements there?

From a value point of view, its excellent ! Not to mention the exceptional amp measurements !!!

A JDS Atom dressed in a nice metal case, with an integrated transformer built in would cost close to the US$200/- range.
 

Schackmannen

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@amirm , you seem to have missed out on the output impedance measurements there?

From a value point of view, its excellent ! Not to mention the exceptional amp measurements !!!

A JDS Atom dressed in a nice metal case, with an integrated transformer built in would cost close to the US$200/- range.
It was a bit hard to see but he put it in text under the meters showing the gain but he measured it to be 1.3 Ohm
 

HammerSandwich

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Amazing value, he is almost equivalent to the cheap version of hpa4:eek:
>95% of the performance at 10% of the price. I won't hold my breath for a $300 speaker amp, but if we could get 80W & 110dB SINAD for $500...
 

suttondesign

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This terrific little headphone amp is proof that competition spurred by this site will bring prices down on better and better products, including regular amps. However, regular amps obviously require physically larger and more expensive parts. Still, seems like maybe $500-$750 is doable in a few years for a 100w stereo amp with 110db SINAD.
 

Sythrix

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But does it come in blue? I bought the M100 in blue and I think it would look great on top of one of these also in blue.
 

Biblob

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Why don't you try to take pictures of these black boxes with bright pink panther and then we can talk....
Maybe you could try to make a HDR picture. The same frame, one with "long" exposure and after that one with "short" exposure, and then combining them in Lightroom :)
This setup would require a tripod though...
 
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