Monolith M5100 X bit.ly/3Pf3iPP SMSL A300 (Apos) bit.ly/3YDrui1 SMSL A300 (Amazon) amzn.to/45r2eh4 Enter to Win free hifi! subscribe, like, follow me instagram.com/cheapaudioman and fill out this form forms.gle/w6qbPKGPFGUKiasX9 Intro graphics by johnvilardi.com Support the Channel! Shop on Amazon amzn.to/3W8vsgK
my beloved old Rotel RA-980BX died and needed a new integrated amp. I bought the smsl A300 and was not disappointed. it is paired with a whafledale diamond 220 and a whafledale 10" sub. A low budget setup, but I think it's fantastic for the price. thanks for the super review from Denmark
Nice comparison! Super excited to hear your thoughts on the Heco's though. Just scooped up an Amazon warehouse deal on a set. Listened for the last eight hours straight (except for time to switch records) with zero fatigue. First speaker I've ever had that long a season with because, like you, I have some sibilance issues. Can't wait to hear your impressions. And, congrats on the forthcoming 200k.
I’m using the smsl a300 to drive elac ub5’s with 85 db sensitivity & a dip down 3.7 ohms, the imaging & soundstage are excellent. When I look at my 50 lbs adcom 555 ll amp & the smsl I can’t believe what I’m hearing from the a300, it doesn’t sound like a class d amp The amp doesn’t fall apart. & the bass is tight even on my magnepans
I have mine connected to unifi 2.o and it sounds better than anything else I have tried with it. I have expensive gear to include class a and ab but this amp is another diamond in the ruff
Enjoyed this review. Considering where you started you are one smooth cat now. Idea? A speaker elimination episode where you pick older speakers you recommended, why you don’t now, and what your replacement for it is. That way it will catch up your audience on what you don’t and do recommend now. I bought the Sonys and Fluance XL8S which I like better, but just a few months ago picked up the Elac Uni-Fi UB5 that I love. All recommended by you, but older stuff.
Give Nuprime Audio class D amps a shot. The successor was Nuforce Audio. Been making their own class d power modules since the early 2000's. I honestly feel you RU-vid reviewers are missing the boat not talking about them or looking into them. They absolutely do not fall apart at High volumes.
Great comparison! Had a similar experience with bass delivery/control between my fosi amp and my crown amp I think it's class h not sure. I kind of thought if I upgraded the power supply of the fosi it might cure it but maybe not.
Judging by the size difference in this comparison, I guess the answer would be in the implementation, desktop, or room. I would like to think, or certainly hope, A/B, would be 'better ', but the proof would be in the pudding.😂 Thanks for taking the time to make this and share it with us all. Take care brother.
I have a Hypex Ncore NC252 power amp with a Topping DX7s DAC/headphone amp. My previous rig was an extreme high end setup with Spectral electronics and Wilson speakers. I was expecting the Topping/Hypex rig to be barely tolerable until I could get something better but I've been continually astounded and pleased with the sound quality of this combo. One of the main complaints I have with Class D amps is the power ratings from the manufacturers are, um, generous, which means the true RMS power is quite a bit less than what the manufacturer specifies. The Hypex is rated at 150 watts/channel but I think it's actually closer to something like 60 watts/channel. It will produce more power but the distortion goes up considerably so it's best to not stress it. It does sound great in my small room though. I also have an Aiyma chip amp that sounds decent but not in the same league as the Hypex, IMO. And I don't even remotely believe that amp is 100 watts/channel
I have tried literally dozens of these chifi amps and most have been OK at best. I have also heard some of the newer Hypex and Ncore amps as well. The smsl a300 will have you looking at the more expensive amps a lot differently
do you determine watts by ear?))) are you serious?)) what does 60 watts mean for a 250 watt amplifier?))) in order for it to produce these watts, you need to send a signal of a certain level to the amplifier, + it all depends on the sensitivity of the acoustics. Watts cannot be determined by ear, stop talking nonsense...
Does the A300 let you run a sub at the same time while having the highpass set to 0, or does it only come on when you turn on the high pass 1 cross over?
I have the Emotiva TA1 integrated amplifier powering Klipsch R-820F floor speakers. I feel I need more power. Will the Monolith M2100X be good powering the Klipsch R-820Fs with the Emotiva TA1 preamp outputs?
Would the monolith M2100X power my BIC RTR1530 the same as my Onkyo tx-nr6100 receiver? Onkyo rated at 100 x 2 and that's how many speakers are connected
The SMSL has a sound mode (SDB) that’s worth turning on if not a must to turn on to get the best sound out of it. Direct mode on the A300 sounds so flat and boring without the SDB turned on. That being said, it’s very difficult at home to A/B test amps but I’m so far not too convinced I want to keep my A300 vs my old Arcam A/B amp. My Geshelli J2 DAC is arriving today and I’m going to do more testing with how the A300 does with a great DAC vs my existing setup.
When reviewing amplifier, you cannot just focus on wattage, which is the least important spec. You need to consider signal to noise ratio (S/N) harmonic distortion (THD), damping factor and sensitivity. You may not always hear the difference, but a class AB amp will always out preform a class D amp.
Yeah, I’d rather have a higher linearity amplifier that would by default have lower efficiency. I’m not that big on high efficiency amps or speakers, unless you really need to save weight and some space. I used Class D amplification with my electric bass guitar rig for convenience.
Anyone who proclaims themselves to be a true audiophile knows Monolith amplifiers are private labeled by ATI - a California manufacturing company well known for the quality of their products. Leave class D amps where they belong - on subwoofers. "Neither one is better"? What's in your coffee.
How would I use two amps at once? I have multiple small Chinese amps and I am interested in combining another amp and adding another set of bookshelf speakers.. thanks in advance I’m new to the home audio game.
I am hooking mine up later today to 2 old but in perfect shape Linn Espeks. They are almost 4 feet high and are 4 ohm impedence. I will let you know. I have been using a Music Hall 15.3 integrated amp, which is a great component, and rated 75 watts per channel for 4 ohm speakers. but I need more "juice". It is proving sound to a 600 square food room . I plan to use my Music Hall as a pre-amp.
I notice that my fosi V3 seems to fall apart when I listen loud for a while. Makes me wonder what the limiting factor is. Power supply? (Using fosi 48v) cooling? (Maybe some thermal paste would help)
I'm looking at the Monoprice 300-Watt (150w RMS x2) Studio Audio Amplifier (Class D Bridgeable) for $169.99 - Bridged = 500 watts RMS (1000 watts peak) into a 4‑ohm load. For a DIY sub.
Hi guys i bought my first record player and i bought also the kef Q350s and im having a hard time what amp should i buy any suggestions ? (Price range up to 500€)
Both are better. I have a 3 channel JBL car amp with class A/B for the front components for the sound quality win and class D for tons of efficient power for the rear sub.😱
Don't forget headphone amps. If your living situation prevents you from cranking the volume way up, a powerful headphone amp has plenty of power to drive efficient speakers.
So my mid 90's Pioneer A605-r needs repairing and definitely sounds better than the Rotel RA-06 that I'm currently using. Speakers are Paradigm Monitor 9 (also mid 90's) which are sublime. Question is do I get the A605-r repaired or do I get the SMSL AL200?
I would repair and update the Pioneer integrated amp if you can do so for $300 or under. You may need some easy refurb, such as new capacitators which are not expensive. Find an old fashioned repair shop with someone who knows what they are doing. Nothing beats the 90's mid-high range amps or even receivers -- they were very well made then. They are hard to find for sale in the USA, but I see some listings for about $200 worldwide -- without knowing what condition they are in. If you are the original owner of the Pioneer, and know for example that it has been well taken care of, and sounded good, do not give it up.
I have the BasX 5x100 and an XPA 5x200 and sold my more expensive Parasound amps too. Love the extra power and headroom the XPA5 puts out, but the BasX is more than fine for most speakers ❤ I do run an SMSL class D amp on the patio speakers and it's really nice for the application 👍
@@mikelanier5617 Cool. My man cave/listening room is small so 150 watts x 2 to the MTMs and 400 watts to the quad 15s is plenty. I'd love the XPA monoblocks. I have a Class D in the livingroom on my Mirage OM-9s and it is fine (Aiyima A07). I have a Marantz SR7500 but don't use the surround as I watch less than one movie a week. Let the good tunes roll.
What's your opinion on crown amps? I use one to run my front channels. Ive been looking at monolith amps. Just curious how the crown compares. Thanks in advance.( I have two monolith 15"thx subwoofers. I really enjoy them)
I have an XLS1000, purchased almost 13 years ago. It's quite clean, neutral, a bit cold. But not harsh; honest, I would say. It works to my liking, with my ARC SP9II. If you want warmth and romance, then it's not for you.
@@d.r.martin6301 Don't be so quick with the ".....not for you". Your Crown XLS1000 is 215Wpc of class D power. Of course it's not "warmth and romance" and who would want it to be? That's not the power amp's job. All Crowns are not class D. So if your looking for warmth, choose a Crown with a massive copper torodial & pretty fair capacitors such as the XLi line. The smallest is the underrated XLI800 (see Williston amp dyno test) which sells for $327 brand new or often less. It is rated at 200Wpc & even includes balanced inputs. Moreover, put a tube preamp, like a Freya with NOS valves, before the Crown class A/B and the sound will get warm & toasty right quick. Reggae, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
The problem with the small amps on Amazon and such is the power brick will likely fail in a few years. I have a dead power brick from a SMSL A2 that I left plugged into an outlet for several years but didn't use and it died. Instead of buying another cheap power brick from Amazon I turned to the electronics suppliers (Mouser, Digikey, Newark) and found a replacement power brick at Newark. It wasn't easy finding one though because they have so many types with varying voltage/amp outputs and plug styles and a lot of them are not stocked. You really have to pay attention to the plug style - 2.1mm x 5.5mm vs 2.5mm x 5.5mm and some have terminal block connections for medical or bench use.
The Monoprice is not a "small" amp. It weighs about 25 pounds, and is about 17 inches wide - the size of most low "audiophile" amps. I am buying one and will test it. I need a new amp and I feel the same way about Class D small amps that you describe.
The SMSL amp had less than 5 hours of light use but I left the power supply plugged in for several years without using the amp and the PSU died anyways. Pathetic quality these power bricks have. The amps are not a bargain at all when you factor in the trash PSU. I expect the Monoprice amp will have much better longevity.
Don’t know but had two za3 bridged and the sound sucked compared to A300. But I do like that detailed sound and the black floor behind. Maybe Fosi it good if you like the “analog” sound.
🎙 Burr Brown Chip Set all the way or Acoustic Research or Luxman R114 / R115 & R117 for 2 Channel and Vintage AR 48 or Vintage Wharfedale Linton 2's... Advent Maestro's and Your DONE 👌
Ex-queezzze me? .. Baking powder? .. Did you say you can Bridge the Monolith into 1 channel at 300 watts?.. (but likely at 8ohm minimum? ) Hhhmmmmmmm - I have to look into this .
I have listened to 2 Yamahas, 1 Aiyima, some Marantz Monoblocks, and a 2 channel Crown amp and I have found they all sound IDENTICAL regardless of power. I am not saying these guys make stuff up but I've never heard any of this stuff they claim like one amp has a specific "sound" or this amp has better bass. I think it's kind of BS at this point. Do you think an amp mfg tells its engineers to "make it sound a certain way"?
In your case I’d buy the cheapest one that has enough power. Thanks for watching. I’d check out the Sony two channel for about $150 vs the Fosi audio v3 for about $80 and see if you hear a difference. To me they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. The more products I listened to the more I started to hear differences. Can be hard sometimes. And the differences are sometimes very subtle
RU-vid is unfortunately currently broken. Subbing your channel puts your Prime Day Stream in my queue six times a day. Here's an upthumb, anyhoot. I'll try subbing again in a few more days. edit: what's your method for leveling matching? curiosity gets the better of me!
That video gets pushed more than it should. I literally don’t understand why. It was a live stream. Never understood why that video got picked up by the algorithm.
