johnda
Addicted Member
Dayton Audio HTA100BT Integrated Amplifier
A Review by John D’Angelo
When I visited the Parts Express web site, I took a hard look at their HTA100BT integrated amplifier, and I liked what I saw, but was unsure about the quality. I went to the web, looked at the videos, and read the reviews. I have had dealings with Parts Express and Dayton Audio in the past and never had a problem. I trust them.
This picture is of the HTA100BT working with my Dayton Audio T652 AIR speakers in my bedroom.
A few days after I had ordered the amp, it arrived in a nicely double boxed container. When I unpacked the amp I was surprised to see that the tubes had been installed at the factory in China. Although this was concerning, the amp worked perfectly.
I am in an assisted living community on Long Island and I use a wheelchair to move around. And since the amplifier does not have a remote there was an issue that needed to be taken care of; I did not want to have to get up out of bed to turn the amp off at the end of a listening session. The amp has Bluetooth reception built in so I could do most of the functions on my iPad, but on/off was a puzzlement!
The problem was solved by my home robot Alexa! I purchased an intelligent plug, hooked the amp into it and then Alexa could turn the amp on and off by command.
The amp is solidly built and hefty at 11 pounds weight. It is 6.6”highx11.5”wide and is 10.6” deep. In reviews that I have read it was proved that the amp is a hybrid, A/B design. When I lifted the amp the weight was clearly most heavy under the two large transformer cases.
The amp really has a good look to it with an illuminated source light. The source defaults to Bluetooth on startup, and this was fine with me, but if I had added a tuner to the aux input, I would have to switch to it on startup. The available sources are:
PHONO
AUX
BT
OPTICAL
COAXIAL
USB
A hybrid design uses tubes for the preamp section and transistors for the amplification section. Way back, when Dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used full tube amplifiers. My Harmon Kardon Award A500 amplifier had 25 Watts per channel, and it could heat my living room when running! Hybrid amps are able to supply amplification power that runs cooler but hopefully keeps the tube character of sound.
The HTA100BT has 50 watts per channel from 20-20,000 Hz +/- 2 Db with .5 % distortion, at 4 Ohms impedance. The figures for 6 and 8 ohms are not indicated, but typically they will have lower output and distortion.
Specifications
Supplied by Dayton Audio
Power Output: 50 Watts RMS x2 into 4 Ohms.
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.5%@50 Watts per channel
Minimum Speaker Impedance: 4 Ohms.
Frequency Response: 20-20,000 Hz +/- 2 Db
Channel Separation : 50 Db
Signal to Noise Ratio: >80 Db
Media Playback File Support:\ FLAC, WAV, APE, WMA, MP3
Digital Audio DAC SNR: 96 Db
Digital Audio DAC Sample Rate: Up to 16 bit/48 KHz
Preamplifier Tubes: 6U1 x2, 6F2 x2
Transistors: Toshiba A1941 x2, C5198 x2
Bluetooth Version: 5.0
Input Impedance: 47k ohms (minimum)
Input Sensitivity: 350 mV
Switching Voltage: 110V/220V
Dimensions: 6.6” H x 11.5” W x 10.6” D
Weight: 11 lbs
Setting up and Listening Experience
I used 16 Ga speaker wire and had some difficulty in connecting them to the amp because the posts were close together. I suggest that you get Banana Plugs with narrow cases.
When I turned the unit on there were no turn on thumps and the background was silent. The amp has diodes in the base that light up and illuminate the tubes, which is quite nice to see, however you need to understand one thing. These are preamp tubes which are not doing the grunt work and they do not light up like this. Frankly, if this were my old Harmon tube amp and the preamp section glowed like this, I would run for the fire extinguisher! It’s an effect, a very nice effect, but only that. The amp has a pair of matching illuminated Vu meters that also look nice. Some people complained that they had to increase the volume to see needle movement, but I think that having your needles low means you are not using a lot of power to drive your speakers.
I used my Dayton Audio T652 AIR speakers and I paired the amp to my iPad without any fuss or muss. The iPad saw the amp as soon as I turned it on and I went to system settings to add it to the list of sources. Then I switched to it, and started playing a number of choices. The sound was crystal clear and announcers came through without a hint of chestiness. I played music for hours and just loved what I heard. Those AMT tweeters of the T652 AIR’s were ethereal and all edginess disappeared. I was 100% satisfied!
Happy tunes to you, JohnDA
A Review by John D’Angelo
When I visited the Parts Express web site, I took a hard look at their HTA100BT integrated amplifier, and I liked what I saw, but was unsure about the quality. I went to the web, looked at the videos, and read the reviews. I have had dealings with Parts Express and Dayton Audio in the past and never had a problem. I trust them.
This picture is of the HTA100BT working with my Dayton Audio T652 AIR speakers in my bedroom.
A few days after I had ordered the amp, it arrived in a nicely double boxed container. When I unpacked the amp I was surprised to see that the tubes had been installed at the factory in China. Although this was concerning, the amp worked perfectly.
I am in an assisted living community on Long Island and I use a wheelchair to move around. And since the amplifier does not have a remote there was an issue that needed to be taken care of; I did not want to have to get up out of bed to turn the amp off at the end of a listening session. The amp has Bluetooth reception built in so I could do most of the functions on my iPad, but on/off was a puzzlement!
The problem was solved by my home robot Alexa! I purchased an intelligent plug, hooked the amp into it and then Alexa could turn the amp on and off by command.
The amp is solidly built and hefty at 11 pounds weight. It is 6.6”highx11.5”wide and is 10.6” deep. In reviews that I have read it was proved that the amp is a hybrid, A/B design. When I lifted the amp the weight was clearly most heavy under the two large transformer cases.
The amp really has a good look to it with an illuminated source light. The source defaults to Bluetooth on startup, and this was fine with me, but if I had added a tuner to the aux input, I would have to switch to it on startup. The available sources are:
PHONO
AUX
BT
OPTICAL
COAXIAL
USB
A hybrid design uses tubes for the preamp section and transistors for the amplification section. Way back, when Dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used full tube amplifiers. My Harmon Kardon Award A500 amplifier had 25 Watts per channel, and it could heat my living room when running! Hybrid amps are able to supply amplification power that runs cooler but hopefully keeps the tube character of sound.
The HTA100BT has 50 watts per channel from 20-20,000 Hz +/- 2 Db with .5 % distortion, at 4 Ohms impedance. The figures for 6 and 8 ohms are not indicated, but typically they will have lower output and distortion.
Specifications
Supplied by Dayton Audio
Power Output: 50 Watts RMS x2 into 4 Ohms.
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.5%@50 Watts per channel
Minimum Speaker Impedance: 4 Ohms.
Frequency Response: 20-20,000 Hz +/- 2 Db
Channel Separation : 50 Db
Signal to Noise Ratio: >80 Db
Media Playback File Support:\ FLAC, WAV, APE, WMA, MP3
Digital Audio DAC SNR: 96 Db
Digital Audio DAC Sample Rate: Up to 16 bit/48 KHz
Preamplifier Tubes: 6U1 x2, 6F2 x2
Transistors: Toshiba A1941 x2, C5198 x2
Bluetooth Version: 5.0
Input Impedance: 47k ohms (minimum)
Input Sensitivity: 350 mV
Switching Voltage: 110V/220V
Dimensions: 6.6” H x 11.5” W x 10.6” D
Weight: 11 lbs
Setting up and Listening Experience
I used 16 Ga speaker wire and had some difficulty in connecting them to the amp because the posts were close together. I suggest that you get Banana Plugs with narrow cases.
When I turned the unit on there were no turn on thumps and the background was silent. The amp has diodes in the base that light up and illuminate the tubes, which is quite nice to see, however you need to understand one thing. These are preamp tubes which are not doing the grunt work and they do not light up like this. Frankly, if this were my old Harmon tube amp and the preamp section glowed like this, I would run for the fire extinguisher! It’s an effect, a very nice effect, but only that. The amp has a pair of matching illuminated Vu meters that also look nice. Some people complained that they had to increase the volume to see needle movement, but I think that having your needles low means you are not using a lot of power to drive your speakers.
I used my Dayton Audio T652 AIR speakers and I paired the amp to my iPad without any fuss or muss. The iPad saw the amp as soon as I turned it on and I went to system settings to add it to the list of sources. Then I switched to it, and started playing a number of choices. The sound was crystal clear and announcers came through without a hint of chestiness. I played music for hours and just loved what I heard. Those AMT tweeters of the T652 AIR’s were ethereal and all edginess disappeared. I was 100% satisfied!
Happy tunes to you, JohnDA
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