| Average Customer Rating: 4.5/5
Total Reviews: 34 |
Rating: 5
t amp is incredible!
| I got this amp to power some speakers hooked up to the computer. For only $30 this set up sounds way better than my home stereo upstairs! Make sure you have high efficiency speakers (rated 90dB or so) and you will be set. Otherwise I have read that this amp may not go as loud with lesser rated speakers. |
Rating: 5
Excellent -- But you need the right setup
I can honestly say that the sound quality is close to a previous $1300 monitor speaker Bose system I owned a few years back. Unless you want the neighbors knocking, this system will go loud enough (provided you use a power block). You will get superb sound as long as you hook up efficient speakers and use some good speaker wire. Rather than get into the technicals (covered in other reviews), here are my suggestions.
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Rating: 5
Good Entry Level Class-T
| I've been messing around with Tripath's class T amps for a little while now and yes I own a Sonic Impact amp. This amp is built on one of Tripath's smaller class T's boasting about 15 watts per channel @ 8 ohm's. The little Impact amp is pretty good it does have a few quarks. The first quark I've noticed is the power jack is Behind the plastic bezel so you'll need a power supply that has a longer tip or you will end up jiggling the end connector to get it to turn on. It can take any 12v 1amp positive tip adapter however and I have tons of these lying around so the price factor on those is no concern. I love the clarity of the class-T chips, they do however have an unusual burn in time of about 40 hours and some of the chips are kind of quirky but that's to be expected at this point in production. A few companies are already using some of the larger class T chips; I know that Denon is using some in some of their subs. If you get a good one you can expect that you'll have a great soundstage that's quiet and, depending on the quality of your speakers quite large and dark, there is absolutely no comparison. I do wish that Sonic Impact would step up there game however and offer some larger chipsets that are available from Tripath, I have found a chip that doubles the output and can run off around the same power requirements for as little as $6-7 a chip. Given the layout of these components you don't get the full potential of the Tripath chip in this particular amp, as it is capable of a much greater output in base response if you added larger caps. Given the amps intended purpose and price range it is great to see a company using Class T chips at this point in the game. There is a lot of potential here for greater things to come. You wont be disappointed with this amp however, I have mine hooked up to some Infinity's and they sound awesome. It's great for a pair of bookshelves for my dorm room and I can take it anywhere and get Tripath's sound. There are some minor improvements, that as for me it's easy enough to accomplish, leaving the amp how it is also pleasing to listen to. Some of the quality of the components could be upgraded and a larger chip should be put in the other SI amp but that's my personal feeling about it. No this amp cannot host a party at 108dB of noise (that's loud) and at full volume it will clip madly but consider that the amp is quite a bit more efficient than any conventional amp that you would find at a store and also consider that an off the shelf amp at say Best Buy consumes and incredibly greater amount of power and it outputs it as such with more distortion and less efficiency. If you have some bookshelves (with a sensitivity of 85dB or higher) to power at a reasonable listening level then this amp is for you. It will give you efficient clean and incredibly detailed music. If you want to have earth shattering volumes with a great pair of floor standing speakers at volumes that can make older ears bleed then go buy a Denon. If you like the Tripath Class T amp technology and can afford it there are some great professional Class T's available to you with a hefty price tag... If you are a hobbyist and like soldering, know what a resistor is, how to wind inductors, and can tell the difference between a capacitor and a rectifier or what Surface Mount Components means then check out 41hz website its a dotcommer they have a great selection of Class T's that are bridging the gap between the Sonic Impact and the higher priced alternatives, they are however DIY projects that require some skillz, but the result and prices cannot be beat. I think that this amp technology is truly is a breakthrough for the Swedish based Tripath corp, and I cant wait to see how the markets adapt this technology in a wider range of consumer electronics. |
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