SMSL A300 Stereo Amplifier Review

[wwenze]

That crosstalk

 

[TonyJZX]

the subwoofer cutoff is also suspect

theres a difference in what they say in the manual vs. whats on their site

 

[JSmith]

the subwoofer cutoff is also suspect

theres a difference in what they say in the manual vs. whats on their site

I can't help but feel SMSL's amps are not of the same calibre as their DAC's, which are generally excellent.


JSmith

 

[amirm]

BTL measurements added to the review. You do get almost 4 times the power but load dependency also increases causing serious frequency response errors.

 

[amirm]

Added sub out/filtered mains frequency response to the review as well:

 

[Rja4000]

BTL measurements added to the review. You do get almost 4 times the power but load dependency also increases causing serious frequency response errors.

Thanks. Very usefull.

So, in short, BTL mode is perfect to power a Sub, and using 2 amps would allow driving both one Sub and a stereo pair of Main speakers to high level, especially if a cross over frequency around 75 Hz is what you need ?
(All that for under $400.)

 

[192kbps]

the subwoofer cutoff is also suspect

theres a difference in what they say in the manual vs. whats on their site

This is a very practical feature, and I also have this question.

 

[TonyJZX]

wow the bacon lettuce tomato figures are stupendous

would prob. do good as a sub amp

maybe 180-190-200w at 8 ohms with realistic thd

 

[abdo123]

BTL measurements added to the review. You do get almost 4 times the power but load dependency also increases causing serious frequency response errors.

Man I love you! A lot of people (well me lol) are looking for a small affordable Class D amps to power DIY subwoofers without the fuss of making a separate chamber for plate amps and this is a pretty serious candidate.

 

[TonyJZX]

i think current day you get better performance out of a Topping RA3... as long as you're ok with the 19" wide format... and granted its about $40 more and you're going thru aliexpress etc.

and XLR thrown in

 

[DanielT]

Thanks for the test Amir.

It was an exciting amp. You buy it and don't know what sound you're getting with the speakers you have because of its load dependency. Something you can do if you think such gambles are fun.

 

[Toku]

SMSL's AO200 changed the amplifier chip from Infineon MA12070 to MA5332MS which is the same as A300 and released as AO200 MKll.
In addition, the AL200, which added a DAC to the A300, was also released.
I hope that these products will also be measured soon.

 

[Bleib]

SMSL's AO200 changed the amplifier chip from Infineon MA12070 to MA5332MS which is the same as A300 and released as AO200 MKll.
I hope that this product will also be measured soon.

More interested in AL200 which is brand new (and allows for a full screen off)
And for that matter Topping MX3s which I already own, a truly compact device

 

[ocinn]

Nice to see hi-pass functionality on low-end consumer amps. Everything else is pretty bad.

Would be nice to see Fosi or Aiyima release a TPA3255 implementation with a good PFFL (a’La 3e audio) and hi-pass/subwoofer management, and then we could get a 104 SINAD, 260W stereo amp for around the $200-$250 mark, ideally.

Thanks. Very usefull.

So, in short, BTL mode is perfect to power a Sub, and using 2 amps would allow driving both one Sub and a stereo pair of Main speakers to high level, especially if a cross over frequency around 75 Hz is what you need ?
(All that for under $400.)

Pretty useless for passive subwoofer use without phase/delay control.

Not to mention most people that are building passive subwoofers, are building large, high-output boxes, and will need more power than this. There are plate amplifiers with more power and the proper phase controls for similar pricing.

 

[DanielT]

Not to mention most people that are building passive subwoofers, are building large, high-output boxes, and will need more power than this...

OT
If you build with small subwoofer boxes, you need even more amp power. Plus even more if it's a sealed sub. I had one like that, an SB12-NSD Subwoofer. A nice little 12 inch sub. It had a 400 watt RMS (800 watt peak) amp. When turning up the volume with bass-heavy music, it indicated that it had reached its limit. Unfortunately I didn't measure the dB level but not very high volume. So depending on the subwoofer construction they can eat amp power.

 

[Ler0ck]

@amirm : I saw a graph display THD about 89dB but its appear lower on number. What it mean?

 

[DSJR]

These things are very cheap an dmy issue from afar is that they're always 'almost there' but never quite nailing it! All that ehf noise and basic sh*t that trad AB amps tended to avoid I think.

We hear a lot about the Yamaha AS301 upwards, but what about the baby 201 model which I gather is a simple conventional chassis? I've not 'heard' or used on, but a pal has one and likes it a lot, having used it for a few years now.

 

[Sokel]

Would be nice to see Fosi or Aiyima release a TPA3255 implementation with a good PFFL (a’La 3e audio) and hi-pass/subwoofer management, and then we could get a 104 SINAD,

Won't filter eat some of that performance?
Would be interesting to see THD+N of the filtered outputs of the one reviewed here.

Edit:No power cube here?

 

[sarumbear]

View attachment 301704

I really like the heavy duty binding posts. And for those of you needing subwoofer support, the filtered sub out and mains. It also includes Bluetooth functionality in addition to reading from a USB stick. With two inputs and a remote control, you are set for the modern audio systems of today.
[...]
Sub Out/Filtered Mains Output Measurements
Edit 2: here are the measurements of the sub output and mains set to filtered:
View attachment 301789

It took a while for the amplifier manufacturers to catch on but finally we started to see amplifiers that are suitable for 2.1 operation. Here is my post from two years ago when the market was empty.

 

[dannut]

the subwoofer cutoff is also suspect

theres a difference in what they say in the manual vs. whats on their site

Yeah... 50Hz vs 80Hz. Fixed frequency and slope? No PEQ and delay adjustment at all? Borderline useless.

@SMSL-Mandy; @Fosi Audio : For a minimal 'best-practice' system an integrated or preamplifier/audio interface needs to have at minimum:

• In the main speakers: highpass (custom slope, selectable frequency), delay, ~5 PEQ-s (selectable gain, frequency, Q)
• In the sub out(s): lowpass (custom slope, frequency), delay, ~7 PEQ-s. Even just 3 would be vastly superior than nothing.
• Simple tone-control knob (tilt or bass+treble), remote crollable. For the inherently variable music production situation due to the circle-of-confusion and for a rudimentary loudness-compensation.

Bonus points: >=2 independent sub outs, custom biquads for IIR filters, custom FIR coefficient per channel. Doable with a lowly-old ADAU1701, chip is 5$ wholesale. Possible problem is making a non-buggy UX/UI, that is functional and easy to understand to the customer. Or just give up and package your product with an in-circuit-programming interface, so your customers could use SigmaStudio themselves.

Did I just describe a MiniDSP SHD Power? Sorry for the rant.