I can't quit buying these little amps.

[89grand]

I just bought another one, a SMSL SA-98E. It uses the TDA7498E chip, and it looks like it can do maybe 50 wpc or so into 8 ohms. I can't wait to compare it to the TA2020 based amps. Price was just under $100 shipped with a 32V power supply. You really have to look carefully because there is a SA-98 that uses a different TD7498 chip that produces less power. The E model and chip is not the same as the SA-98 and seems to be more powerful.

The gold looks kind of lame in the pictures, but I have a gold SMSL SA-36A and it looks great in person, much more of a champagne than gold.

 

[slpcorner]

***

I've been jonesin' for a few of those myself... wife wants a small setup in the master bathroom --- I'm thinking that may be just the ticket.

***

 

[Njoy-Music]

Can't wait to hear how it sounds compared to the others!

 

[transmaster]

I was just thinking of getting a small audio amp's. Most of the vintage general coverage receivers I have, have absolutely NoFi audio and output measured in milliwatts. These small amps would be ideal to fix this. The R390A/URR has a "diode load" output connection which you can use to drive an external audio amplifier, If I am not mistaken so does the Hammarlund SP600. I connected the R390A from the diode output to an external audio amp and I was utterly astonished by the sound, it sounded as good as an old console radio. A small audio amp such as this SMSL SA-98E would be perfect for this job. A now sadly discontinued speaker the Optimus Pro-X5 is my favorite speaker to use with these old boatanchors.The Pro-X5 is an acoustic suspended speaker with a die-cast aluminum case 2 1/2 inch woofer and a 3/4 inch tweeter. I was looking at the SMSL amp and the spec's say 80 watts into 6 ohms that is a bit hot for the Pro-X5's which max out at 30 watts. Do they make an audio amp with this quality that has about 30 watts output what would be great if one of these was available as a mono amp. This SMSL amp would disappear sitting on a 155 pound behemoth receiver.

 

[89grand]

The power output specs on these, as listed, is usually at 10% THD, but it may do do near 60 watts at 6 ohms, but you don't don't have to match the output of the amp to the rating of the speaker. I've run my "80 watt" BS22 Pioneers with success with everything from my 8 or so watt Lepai LP2020A+ and SMSL SA-36A, my 150wpc AudioSource AMP Three and my 200wpc B&K EX442 Sonata.

 

[cubdog]

That looks like a nice one. I wonder how their DACs sound?

cubdog

 

[krisjay]

The power output specs on these, as listed, is usually at 10% THD, but it may do do near 60 watts at 6 ohms, but you don't don't have to match the output of the amp to the rating of the speaker. I've run my "80 watt" BS22 Pioneers with success with everything from my 8 or so watt Lepai LP2020A+ and SMSL SA-36A, my 150wpc AudioSource AMP Three and my 200wpc B&K EX442 Sonata.

Have you tried the Little Bear with your Audiosource Amp, I am using the Little Bear with an OSD AMP 120 with fantastic results.

 

[89grand]

That looks like a nice one. I wonder how their DACs sound?

cubdog

I don't know, but I'm pretty impressed with the SMSL SA-36A amp. It seems really well built and sounds great.

For those that may be turned off by the gold, and these are available all black and with a silver face too, here is what it actually looks like.

 

[89grand]

Have you tried the Little Bear with your Audiosource Amp, I am using the Little Bear with an OSD AMP 120 with fantastic results.

I haven't yet, but I do plan on trying a bunch of different combinations.

 

[89grand]

Just to put some size in perspective, here is the SMSL SA-36A and Little Bear sitting on my AMP Three.

 

[89grand]

I haven't received the SMSL SA-98E yet, probably some time next week, but I did just purchase another Little Bear P1 for $14 less than the "buy it now" price I paid for the one in the pics, as this one was an auction, and I just bid at the last minute to see if I'd actually get it that cheap and I did. They sound nice and I have a use for it too, so I can't complain for $45 shipped.

 

[ofajen]

I just bought another one, a SMSL SA-98E. It uses the TDA7498E chip, and it looks like it can do maybe 50 wpc or so into 8 ohms.

Not that you actually need a lot of power for many applications, but I would still prefer that amps give complete and meaningful power ratings that specify continuous output power per channel into a specified load (say, 8 Ohms) with a low distortion figure (say, 0.01% or 0.02%) and covering the whole audio band from 20 to 20K.

You can get a big number by rating at some ridiculous distortion level like 10% and not covering the audio band, but the real, listenable output may be a lot less (though still adequate for many needs.)

Cheers,

Otto

 

[89grand]

Not that you actually need a lot of power for many applications, but I would still prefer that amps give complete and meaningful power ratings that specify continuous output power per channel into a specified load (say, 8 Ohms) with a low distortion figure (say, 0.01% or 0.02%) and covering the whole audio band from 20 to 20K.

You can get a big number by rating at some ridiculous distortion level like 10% and not covering the audio band, but the real, listenable output may be a lot less (though still adequate for many needs.)

Cheers,

Otto

I don't like how these amps are rated either, it's stupid. The SA-98E does look like it can do pretty good power. I wasn't quoting its maximum at 4 ohms and 10% THD, but rather what it should do @ 8 ohms and less than 1%. The real answer will be when I run it side to side against the SA-36A that is an honest 7 wpc or so.

 

[ofajen]

I don't like how these amps are rated either, it's stupid. The SA-98E does look like it can do pretty good power. I wasn't quoting its maximum at 4 ohms and 10% THD, but rather what it should do @ 8 ohms and less than 1%. The real answer will be when I run it side to side against the SA-36A that is an honest 7 wpc or so.

I won't be too harsh on the SMSL in particular. I notice similarly incomplete or inflated specs on a lot of the small amp models these days.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[89grand]

I won't be too harsh on the SMSL in particular. I notice similarly incomplete or inflated specs on a lot of the small amp models these days.

Cheers,

Otto

No, I really like SMSL products (which seem similar, if not exactly the same as Topping, Indeed, etc). Even PE does it. It's universal it seems.

 

[jkilla]

Well, what are your findings?

 

[89grand]

Actually, the SA-98E is a great amp. It sounds just as excellent as the SA-36A Tripath amp, but is clearly a lot more powerful. I'd bet this thing can easily do 40 or more watts per channel. It drove some speakers, even some rather low sensitivity ones in my main setup at pretty high volume levels.

In fact, I was so impressed with it, that it became my main amp for a bit and replaced my B&K...but I've since reinstalled the B&K. The SA-98E is impressive, but when I really want very high output levels, it can start to sound a bit thin, whereas the B&K has seemingly endless power. I should note, the SA-98E can drive speakers to pretty high levels, and I was really laying into the volume control before it started to run out of gas.

In return, the SA-98E took the place of the SA-36A in my secondary setup because I could occasionally get the little 7 wpc Tripath to start running out of gas. The SA-98E seems to be able to reach any sensible, and even not so sensible volume levels in that setup.

Verdict, it's a bargain at about $100 shipped, and honestly a better deal than many of the lower powered, and not that much cheaper T-amps...if you need more power than they typically provide.

Here I was comparing the two, SA-36 T-amp on the left, SA-98 class D on the right:

 

[tjohnusa]

sounds tempeting

 

[Batty]

I bought one too, to hook up to the TV and a pair of 90s Monitor Audio bookshelf speakers

 

[musichal]

You're really getting a nice collection of those little amps together there, 89K. Does the little Lepai that began this fire (IIRC) hang in there sonically by comparison... before it runs out of gas I mean, of course?