This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sabaj A1 desktop (small) amplifier. It was kindly sent to me by a member. Not sure if it is still in production but you can still find it for $60 or so. Main interest in testing this unit is the use of the TPA3118 class D amplifier which is used in all kinds of other devices including Genelec 8030c powered monitor!
For the price the enclosure is not half bad:
A little LED display shows the active input (there are two) and current volume level. As is typical, a laptop sized power supply provides the juice:
The unit runs cool. If you overtax it, it will reset and power back on at low output level.
Sabaj A1 Measurements
As usual we start with our 5 watt dashboard:
As you see I set the gain to 29 dB which is the "standard" I use for integrated amplifiers. Resulting SINAD is dominated by distortion and is well below average for all amps tested:
But... if you compare it to other low cost amps in this price bracket, performance is a good 10 dB better.
Noise performance is in the same class:
Frequency response is not flat but good to see it rolling off as opposed to peaking:
Crosstalk is what you expect in this type of device:
Most important is power and this is how the A1 did into 4 ohm:
Not a whole lot of power I am afraid. Pushing it harder didn't do any good either:
The power supply runs out of juice and the device shuts down. May do better with a more powerful power supply.
Here it is into 8 ohm:
Conclusions
As a class I expect these cheap amps to be broken. The A1 is not that bad. My concern is too little power. Many small speakers are inefficient and you need more than 20 watts to get decent performance out of them. My suggestion is to save on spending money on food and flowers and save up for a better amp. But if you can't, the Sabaj A1 may do the job for you.
As it is, I can't recommend the Sabaj A1. I am too much of an audio/technology snob to go for it!
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
For the price the enclosure is not half bad:
A little LED display shows the active input (there are two) and current volume level. As is typical, a laptop sized power supply provides the juice:
The unit runs cool. If you overtax it, it will reset and power back on at low output level.
Sabaj A1 Measurements
As usual we start with our 5 watt dashboard:
As you see I set the gain to 29 dB which is the "standard" I use for integrated amplifiers. Resulting SINAD is dominated by distortion and is well below average for all amps tested:
But... if you compare it to other low cost amps in this price bracket, performance is a good 10 dB better.
Noise performance is in the same class:
Frequency response is not flat but good to see it rolling off as opposed to peaking:
Crosstalk is what you expect in this type of device:
Most important is power and this is how the A1 did into 4 ohm:
Not a whole lot of power I am afraid. Pushing it harder didn't do any good either:
The power supply runs out of juice and the device shuts down. May do better with a more powerful power supply.
Here it is into 8 ohm:
Conclusions
As a class I expect these cheap amps to be broken. The A1 is not that bad. My concern is too little power. Many small speakers are inefficient and you need more than 20 watts to get decent performance out of them. My suggestion is to save on spending money on food and flowers and save up for a better amp. But if you can't, the Sabaj A1 may do the job for you.
As it is, I can't recommend the Sabaj A1. I am too much of an audio/technology snob to go for it!
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/