Sabaj A1 Desktop Amplifier Review

[wwenze]

This is better performance for the money and the parts used / output power. But debatable because the Sabaj probably costs $30 without the case. But it shows us what these TPA3xxx are capable of.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/allo-volt-d-amplifier-review.15539/

Ic, so that’s why the genelec performs well when this got pretty poor results, implementation is the key then

Max power aside, this performance would not bottleneck the Genelec except in cases where the driver distortion themselves are well below 0.1%, which may happen at some tweeter frequencies.

 

[digicidal]

I think about all this would be good for is if you had some old (and highly efficient) speakers hanging in a garage, shop, etc. that you just wanted playing some background music on. Looks like it would be virtually impervious to dust, and is easy to tuck out of the way. Unfortunately, the aforementioned highly efficient speakers would likely be cumbersome monstrosities with drivers/surrounds that are more sensitive to temperature and moisture... and would completely eliminate any space savings achieved by the amp itself.

 

[304290]

Well, there's absolutely a market for this, although a very small market. I have something similar based on the same amp powering a pair of aurasound 1B(first gen 25 watt) bass shakers in my cigar room. It does great for that purpose, though I wouldn't put a real speaker on it lol.

 

[Harmonie]

What I like in theses review's are not so much the measurements per see.
I do enjoy a lot Amir's (wise) conclusions!

@amirm " The A1 is not that bad. My concern is too little power. 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. "



The amp is not bad but not optimised. Surely the guys at Sabaj knew this from the start; they surely have the ability to measure likewise.
I could imagine that optimising it would have been too expensive to stay in competition with other amps, or not their target.

Most important is to know what you have (see below wrong data's) and what you pay for. Amir enlightens us particularly well and I won't miss therefore any of his reviews

Sabaj Audio A1 Class D HiFi Digital Amplifier 60W RMS(Black)


But maker's site does http://www.sabaj.com.cn/en/productshow.asp?id=68
Model :A1
Output power(4ohm):30W+30W
Output power(8ohm):20W+20W

 

[Helicopter]

Interesting review and impressive pace Amir. Thanks again!

This looks like poor implementation of an inexpensive amp that is not going to provide impressive results anyway unless it is implemented well and measured at the speakers. I am sure it can do better as an amp, but also that it is no hypex or purifi, and probably no icepower either.

Funny those little mellons are not more green. The small ones become pine needle colored in our warm summer continental climate and are almost too sweet. I am guessing the chlorophyl is fueled by light, like green orange peels in the tropics.

This is not the first time I have seen advertised output calculated as the sum of max output, but the others were also low end products.

Edit: those mellons were a prior review. Too fast for me to keep up!

 

[daftcombo]

My suggestion is to save on spending money on food and flowers and save up for a better amp.

May I ask which one? Isn't the quest still going?

 

[renaudrenaud]

May I ask which one? Isn't the quest still going?

Thomas, don't you want to come home and listen to a TPA3118? We bought a marvelous Panettone this morning, something perfect with a coffe.

 

[Harmonie]

Interesting review and impressive pace Amir. Thanks again!

This looks like poor implementation of an inexpensive amp that is not going to provide impressive results anyway unless it is implemented well and measured at the speakers. I am sure it can do better as an amp, but also that it is no hypex or purifi, and probably no icepower either.

Funny those little mellons are not more green. The small ones become pine needle colored in our warm summer continental climate and are almost too sweet. I am guessing the chlorophyl is fueled by light, like green orange peels in the tropics.

This is not the first time I have seen advertised output calculated as the sum of max output, but the others were also low end products.

Edit: those mellons were a prior review. Too fast for me to keep up!

Sorry, I may have to edit my post.
AmaZon doesn't even state the real output, Sabaj does.

 

[PuX]

one audiophile magazine once said that SMSL SA-98 (~$100?) was competent and powerful. I wonder if it's also broken in reality like many other low-cost amps.

 

[Dmitri]

The IC can be implemented in several ways to obtain poor to quite reasonable performance and power output. This implementation is clearly in the poor category.

Avail yourself of the datasheet and look at what it can do.

The IC in question is a proven "solution" and quite robust, low cost, and reliable. High fidelity however, is not one of its attributes.

Will do. One thing I’m working towards understanding is how critical implementation in Class D is, and what that entails. I’m a “bit” behind in the basics...so most of my commentary comes from perception. From a price, cost ratio, how does said implementation compare to the actual amplifier module costs?

 

[Tangband]

That 3118 chip has, with good implementation, a very good sound. Better than many class A/B amplifiers. The tpa 32xx chip is better , but soundwise its sometimes hard to hear the difference.

 

[daftcombo]

Thomas, don't you want to come home and listen to a TPA3118? We bought a marvelous Panettone this morning, something perfect with a coffe.

Hi Renaud,
Sorry, I was caught by my neighbours about a leak problem in the building and lost more than two hours of my precious weekend.
Which TPA3118 is it? Did you order the 8030C behind my back ot is it a teaser for my Xmas present?

 

[renaudrenaud]

Hi Renaud,
Sorry, I was caught by my neighbours about a leak problem in the building and lost more than two hours of my precious weekend.
Which TPA3118 is it? Did you order the 8030C behind my back ot is it a teaser for my Xmas present?

It was a teaser.

I have a TPA3118 in the lab connected to our Spirula speakers.

I started to look at TPA311x family around 2011 and collected a lot of cards.

The one very interesting is the Suptronics X400 as a hat for the Raspberry Pi. Not high end audio but confortable with the raspberry.

One TPA311x is able to run on PBTL and power is X2. Some cards use 2 TPA in PBTL and in China you can grab one 2x100W TPA3116 for few bucks. Not so so so bad, it's listenable.

If you are interested I can let you try some cards I have.

 

[daftcombo]

It was a teaser.

I have a TPA3118 in the lab connected to our Spirula speakers.

I started to look at TPA311x family around 2011 and collected a lot of cards.

The one very interesting is the Suptronics X400 as a hat for the Raspberry Pi. Not high end audio but confortable with the raspberry.

One TPA311x is able to run on PBTL and power is X2. Some cards use 2 TPA in PBTL and in China you can grab one 2x100W TPA3116 for few bucks. Not so so so bad, it's listenable.

If you are interested I can let you try some cars I have.

I definitely want to try your cars, Renaud! ;-)

More seriously, it'd be interesting to hear the ELAC with them just to know if we can hear a difference.

 

[SmackDaddies]

for a desk use, that is more than enough power for virtually any speaker you would put there. Even for a 2.1 system to replace your tv speakers it would be a huge step up.

 

[AnalogSteph]

On a desk, I'd be more worried about the noise level... at ~76 dB below 2.83 V, I wouldn't want anything more sensitive than some ~82 dB / W 4" mini monitors, or some 3" fullranges.

 

[Roen]

Is there a recommendation for a budget desktop 2-channel amplifier?

 

[SmackDaddies]

Is there a recommendation for a budget desktop 2-channel amplifier?

well, isn't that a fine kettle of fish.
I use a SMSL Q5 Pro and like it very much. Most budget desk top amps don't compare well in measurments, yet somehow manage to sound fine

 

[Roen]

well, isn't that a fine kettle of fish.
I use a SMSL Q5 Pro and like it very much. Most budget desk top amps don't compare well in measurments, yet somehow manage to sound fine

Basically just want to move off Klipsch Promedia 2.1 for not much money outlay.

 

[SmackDaddies]

Basically just want to move off Klipsch Promedia 2.1 for not much money outlay.

It will be fine