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Recommend a bargain small-form amp

GavinB

GavinB

pfm Member
Can someone recommend a bargain small-form amp (a T-amp?) for less than £100? Less than £50?

Better still if it can take the output direct from a laptop/PC!

Thanks
 
Topping VX2 if you only need digital inputs, £99 from Amazon, £54 on eBay
 
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I bought one of the £20 ones, it's good. With modest speakers, is it better than a good BT speaker? Not sure.
 
For my computer setup, I bought one of the cheap Chinese T amps you can get off Amazon or eBay. I'm not sure I'd recommend it. It sounded good at first. Now, after a few years' use, it's outputting quite a bit of background hiss.

Also, you need to check if they have a metal case, and an integrated power supply (rather than external block), that it's actually earthed. Sometimes, the CE mark just means 'Chinese Engineering'. (That's not to say there aren't some fantastic products made there now, but at the low end, beware.)

Kind regards

- Garry
 
I've used several from the 'Muse' brand and they have worked well and reliably. Power with a half decent external SMPSU and they sound really good.
 
I bought an SMSL SA-50 to use with a Chromecast Audio or laptop headphone out. I also read a lot of positive reviews of the Allo Volt+D but didn't love the acrylic box and that a PSU wasn't included.
 
If you're looking at the SMSL SA-50 on Amazon, be careful because they have many listings (at least on amazon.es) that have SA-50 in the title but it's really a SA_36a.

The SA-50 is supposed to be 50wpc, while the SA-36a is only 20wpc. I think they both use the same chip though (TDA7492)...

There was a really well reviewed amp called Amptastic that used a tripath design (T2022?), and although there is still a website, the checkout functionality hasn't worked for over a year.
 
GavinB said:
Can someone recommend a bargain small-form amp (a T-amp?) for less than £100? Less than £50?

Better still if it can take the output direct from a laptop/PC!

Thanks
Click to expand...
I have a SMSL SA 98E that I bought a couple of years ago for a project (I was building a site radio) and the power supply was too big so I ended up using an SA 50.
The 98E is sitting in a drawer unused aside from a few minutes to check it worked - send me a PM if you might be interested in it. Comes with metal case, and power supply !

http://techroadtrip.com/audio/smsl-sa-98e-the-big-power/
 
Thanks for these last three suggestions - all good ones - but I’ve already jumped. I’ve gone for a Nobsound thing from Amazon for less than £30. This is primarily to get it fast on Prime as I can deliver it to my daughter at Uni tomorrow. It seems to fit the bill as it can take an input direct from her laptop.
 
I bought one of those little Nobsound amps last year and I just couldn’t get it to work, so returned it. I hope you don’t have the same problem of course, but I’ll be interested to know because if they don’t have a quality issue, and mine was just a bit of bad luck, they’re amazing!
 
Had a quick try last night before packing it off to my daughter. It was working fine from an old laptop. The speakers are a small pair of Monitor Audios and they're probably more of a limitation than the amp - inevitably bass-light given their tiny size.
 
My cheap Chinese T-amp (SMSL brand) has now died. Actually, it is the PSU that is dead. To buy a replacement PSU is going to cost almost as much as the whole thing cost new. Given that I wasn't terribly impressed with the quality overall, I'm thinking I might just replace the whole thing with something better, even if physically a bit larger, like a mini system unit. I'm comfortable with second hand, and don't mind waiting a while. Perhaps a charity shop will provide?
 
Now located a replacement power supply I had lying around the house, and the little SMSL T amp is now working again. The replacement PSU came from an old Netgear router, and is half the voltage and current rating of the original, but the amp isn't fussy: it just won't go as loud as originally.

There is no hiss anymore. Rocking some AC/DC quite satisfactorily right now. The blue light that used to illuminate the volume control is still dead, which is a good thing, as it was annoying.

So, other than having a rather useless power supply, which is a common sin these days, I withdraw my criticism, certainly for the price.

Kind regards

- Garry
 
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