SMSL PA400 GaN 500W

[Mike_Trueman]

Nice power amp from SMSL. $555.00 USD is a good price for 2x 200W@8Ohm.
The only downside for me is the color

PA400

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

 

[DVDdoug]

GAN is getting a lot more interesting if it's becoming economically competitive. ...Amplifiers are already "good enough" so if newer technology can give us more wattage per dollar, that's great.

And it SEEMS like there may be potential for more total wattage for pro applications. But maybe not... There are already amps rated for more power than you can get from a regular power outlet...

Just for fun, I went on the Mouser website (Electronic component distributor). There are some GAN Fets that cost more than $1000 each, and even some MOSFETs that cost more than $1000 each!!! (There are also some GANs for a couple of dollars and I don't have a feel for what kind of specs you need for a class-D amp.)

 

[Mike_Trueman]

GAN is getting a lot more interesting if it's becoming economically competitive. ...Amplifiers are already "good enough" so if newer technology can give us more wattage per dollar, that's great.

And it SEEMS like there may be potential for more total wattage for pro applications. But maybe not... There are already amps rated for more power than you can get from a regular power outlet...

Just for fun, I went on the Mouser website (Electronic component distributor). There are some GAN Fets that cost more than $1000 each, and even some MOSFETs that cost more than $1000 each!!! (There are also some GANs for a couple of dollars and I don't have a feel for what kind of specs you need for a class-D amp.)

HiFi Rose and Technics are also using GAN FET amplifiers so they should be good i guess.
I only have Hypex and Eigentakt amps in my home but i really want to try some little GAN FET amp next upgrade.

 

[Guddu]

Don't know if the green is hiding behind red but if it is then achieving freq. independence is encouraging.

 

[Evo42]

Super interested in this, loved the design of the PA200 and was always tempted of a stack mono's but seems there are some issues with the smsl gan fet. Although though they seem to have this resounding subjective appeal and great sound when compared to far more expensive amps such as NADs and other quality class D etc It does appear as though it's perhaps the PAX in the PA series case.

Not going to lie but terminology such as grip(due to extra power ?) and detail excite me with class d, combined with the design of the pa series and price. I feel it will be decent upgrade from my Cambridge CXA80.

 

[KL....]

THD+N ~ 0.003%/SINAD ~ 90.5dB. Does the SMSL PA400 utilise PFFB (not indicated)? Perhaps @SMSL-Mandy can advise?

 

[Evo42]

I have wharfdale Evo 4.2 and in the specs it says it can dip into 4ohm despite being 8ohm. Is this amp going to play nicely with these speakers and what setting would you likely use?

 

[Loba]

THD+N ~ 0.003%/SINAD ~ 90.5dB. Does the SMSL PA400 utilise PFFB (not indicated)? Perhaps @SMSL-Mandy can advise?

I doubt it is PFFB as FR would be more flat

 

[goryu]

Don't know if the green is hiding behind red but if it is then achieving freq. independence is encouraging.

View attachment 483586

Looks like another load dependent frequency response GaN amp. Ugh.

 

[PristineSound]

Looks like another load dependent frequency response GaN amp. Ugh.

Agreed. I think this would have a lot of potential if it wasn't load variant.

 

[ChenHui]

Don't know if the green is hiding behind red but if it is then achieving freq. independence is encouraging.

View attachment 483586

I think so.，The green line is completely overlapping with the red line.

 

[Guddu]

Looks like another load dependent frequency response GaN amp. Ugh.

Agreed. I think this would have a lot of potential if it wasn't load variant.

I think its pretty acceptable for me. Earlier versions of cheaper GAN had peaking around 10-20 KHz, this one shows about 1 or 1.5 dB dip around 12 - 20KHz which probably isn't bad.

 

[goryu]

I think its pretty acceptable for me. Earlier versions of cheaper GAN had peaking around 10-20 KHz, this one shows about 1 or 1.5 dB dip around 12 - 20KHz which probably isn't bad.

Perhaps not at 4 ohms but with a 2 ohm load it is going to be perhaps 3dB. What about with a capacitive load?

 

[PristineSound]

I think its pretty acceptable for me. Earlier versions of cheaper GAN had peaking around 10-20 KHz, this one shows about 1 or 1.5 dB dip around 12 - 20KHz which probably isn't bad.

It's not bad. . .maybe my expectations are too high to expect that something like this shouldn't even be a factor in a $550 amp?

 

[Guddu]

Perhaps not at 4 ohms but with a 2 ohm load it is going to be perhaps 3dB. What about with a capacitive load?

I would have focused more on output impedance but thats not specified.
However, I don’t have or seen anything 2ohms load reaching anywhere near 5KHz.
I consider these high frequency variations quite negligible wrt real world applications unless significantly peaking.

 

[Guddu]

It's not bad. . .maybe my expectations are too high to expect that something like this shouldn't even be a factor in a $550 amp?

It’s totally perfect to expect anything one likes.
I think TPA3255 amps have spoiled us but those aren’t high power capable like this one.

 

[Redwine]

Wonder if a stereo unit can run a pair of Snell c/v in a 60m2 room?

 

[Roland68]

Don't know if the green is hiding behind red but if it is then achieving freq. independence is encouraging.

View attachment 483586

Looks like another load dependent frequency response GaN amp. Ugh.

I think so.，The green line is completely overlapping with the red line.

I think its pretty acceptable for me. Earlier versions of cheaper GAN had peaking around 10-20 KHz, this one shows about 1 or 1.5 dB dip around 12 - 20KHz which probably isn't bad.

Take a look at the PA-X measurements in Amir's test.
The PA400 (SMSL device) appears to be completely identical to the PA-X (Shenzhen Audio device), as these devices are often housed in different enclosures for different distribution channels. Therefore, I don't expect any different test results, even in terms of load dependency.
Anything else would surprise me.

I would also be interested in a repeat of Amir's test of the PA-X and whether the device lasts until the end. Alternatively, the PA400.

 

[VMAT4]

I think its pretty acceptable for me. Earlier versions of cheaper GAN had peaking around 10-20 KHz, this one shows about 1 or 1.5 dB dip around 12 - 20KHz which probably isn't bad.

A 1 to 1.5 dB dip at any frequency is hard to hear as I understand things.

 

[jmc06]

I purchased two PA400s to replace my FOSI V3 mono amplifiers, driving my Linton 85th in the living room (listening distance 4.5m) and the Klipsch RP600 Mii in the bedroom (listening distance 2.5m).
They'll arrive this afternoon, and I hope for a favorable outcome. I appreciate their aesthetic design, and I have greater confidence in SMSL's circuitry. I consider SMSL a superior brand compared to Fosi and Topping, as they don't blindly pursue static specifications. (Although early SMSL products, like Topping, did obsessively chase extreme static metrics—a tendency that made me overlook the brand. Fortunately, SMSL seems to have moved away from that approach. Naturally, in this forum environment, such a shift wouldn't earn them favorable reviews.)