SMSL SA50 50Wx2 TDA7492 Class D Amplifier + Power Adapter (Black)

Update 1/4/2022 - And it's still working fine and glitch-free after over 4 years of daily use!Update 6/19/2019 - Still going strong (and glitch-free) after 18 months of daily use.=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-When I'm sitting at my computer, I often listen to streamed music and MP3 files from ripped CDs - I don't listen to exotic music formats or special high quality CDs.I've recently been getting back into more serious music appreciation after a gap of a few years. As a result, I recently started to notice the sound quality shortcomings of the under $100 2.1 speaker system I had been using with my laptop.After spending a bit of time looking into new 2.1 systems I recalled that I had a nearly-new pair of Bose 141 speakers sitting unused in a box. The 141s were viewed as a decent albeit small speaker in their day, and probably significantly better quality than most of the speakers I had been looking at. The 141s are un-powered speakers so I knew that to use them with my laptop I'd need to get a power amp.After a bit of research into power amps I found myself looking at the SA50. It appeared to have everything that I needed and for a price that was reasonable.The SA50 feels solid, and the power switch and volume control have a quality feel. The connectors on the back are tight and solid. The unit has been in production for a few years, which gives the manufacturer time to work out any glitches that have been identified. There are no bass or treble knobs, but I rarely use them even on full featured receivers. There is no balance knob either, but balance can be adjusted in the computer's sound control panel. So the simple layout of the SA50 works for me.People often worry if the amplifier puts out enough power, and manufactures don't exactly help clear this up. For example, the 141 speakers I'm using have specs calling for a receiver or amplifier output of 10-80 watts. So, will the SA50 put out enough juice? And just how many watts does the SA50 put out anyway?The manufacturer claims 50 watts per channel for the SA50, one reviewer pegs it at 30, another claims 19. In any case I was pretty sure that it was more than enough for my application - to power small bookshelf speakers in a home office setting.I say that because In the mid-70s I owned a pretty high-end quadraphonic system (a Marantz 4100) that put out a whopping 25 watts RMS per channel - albeit into four channels. When I cranked the volume on the 4100, the four 50-pound speakers I had connected to the 4100 - each containing a 12 inch woofer - were loud enough to wake the dead. So I felt confident that the SA50 put out enough power for my little 141s.And the output of the SA50 *is* more than adequate - zero volume on the SA50 is at about the 7 o'clock position on the volume dial, a comfortable background listening level given my setup is at 8 o'clock, uncomfortably loud occurs at around 10 or 11 o'clock, and the 100% power label looks to be at about the 5 o'clock position (not that I've tried going anywhere near that loud).I also added an inexpensive Monoprice powered subwoofer to the mix and added a USB DAC as an alternative to just running a cable from the laptop's headphone jack to the SA50. For what it's worth, *I* didn't hear any difference going through the DAC but I use it anyway.So, how does the SA50 sound? Nothing short of fantastic. There is no hiss and no distortion that I can hear at the volume levels that I (can) listen to. Since the speakers are angled towards my ears, so as I sit at my desk it's almost like listening to headphones - but without the headphone pressure on your ears and head. The SA50 and my speaker setup sounds really great.For my application, I could spend more on an amp to power my 2.1 desktop speakers but I doubt that *I* could hear the difference.

I just got this little monster today. I am absolutely blown away by the power it has! I tested it with 3 different pairs of speakers, and also used it with a passive subwoofer (and also a powered subwoofer). I have to say, I am very impressed with how much power this little thing has. To start, it is packaged VERY well in a very nice box with foam molded to fit the amp and power brick separately. Excellent packaging. When I took it out of the box, it was even smaller than I expected. I first hooked it up to my 4 way speakers with an 8 inch woofer. I cranked it up about half way with these and it was unbearably loud (they are outside, didn't want to go louder because of neighbors). No distortion at half volume. I then hooked it up to a small pair of bookshelf speakers. These made it up all the way before I turned it back down to check the cones.. They were hot from so much power. So Then I tried it with my passive Bose Acoustimass 5 sub woofer... It powered this all the way at full volume with NO distortion from the Sub or satellite speakers. I had the biggest grin on my face when this happened.As for the tone of the unit, it is a little light on bass (but sounds great with a sub, either passive or active.). It is well balanced with my acoustimass 5. The treble seems to be just right. I plan on using this with an AirPort express and Air Play to power a pair of outdoor speakers with a passive sub.The unit barely gets above room temperature when it is operating... Quite impressive that it can have so much power but yet barely get warm. That's a benefit of a Class D amplifier. Speaker terminals aren't the easiest for your thumbs to get to, or fingers, etc. So I would recommend banana plugs.I would HIGHLY recommend this unit and I will definitely look in to purchasing other SMSL products in the future!

So what is a class T amplifier anyway? The T stands for Tripath, the company that first introduced a switching class D amplifier with a very high switching rate. How high? Well 50mhz high. The idea was to resolve some of the switching amp issues by removing most of the time between switch cycles. Tripath died in 2008 and what was left of the company was acquired by Cirrus Logic later that year. Class T amps, however, are alive, well and readily available.The advantage of switching amps, of course, is that they are more efficient than other types of amps. That means for a given amount of output power, the switching amp can be smaller and lose less power to heat than, say, a typical A/B biased amplifier.The SMSL is typical of the tiny class T amplifiers being made today in China. This unit has a claimed output power of 50 watts per channel. and it fits in the palm of your hand.This is a very simple amp, all analog, designed to work with one analog source input and a pair of speakers. On the front is a power switch and a volume knob. You know when it is on because there is a pale blue light emerging from behind the knob. The business end has just a pair of RCA input jacks and a pair of speaker terminals that take bare wire or banana plugs. There is a connector for the hefty wall wart power supply that is included with the unit. The wall wart is nearly as big as the amp. It is similar to those you might see with a typical home printer. Here is a shot of the back end of the SA-50.I haven't made any performance measurements. I just hooked it up and listened and I'll give you my thoughts on the subject. The claimed output power is 50 watts per channel. I don't know if that is true or the basis on which the specification is made. But I can tell you the mighty mite can drive me out of the room.The sound is detailed and accurate as one would expect from any solid state amp. It has more than enough power to handle my computer audio system. The one negative I can report is that the unit seems to have a built in bass boost. I say this because I had to turn down the subwoofer level a bit and still have what I would describe as a somewhat dark presentation. So straight wire wouldn't describe this amp accurately. Competent, high fidelity, great sound are all fair statements. I will probably EQ the sound section of the computer to cut the bass a bit. For now I'm just happy to have my computer producing music again.Expensive? Nope. You can buy one of these from Amazon for $66 and change. I wouldn't recommend this unit for a home theater and I wouldn't recommend it for a system with multiple sources. But if you want your computer to drive a pair of passive speakers competently, it would be hard to beat this little amplifier for the paltry financial investment. Glad I bought it.

Arrived surprisingly quickly, without any customs hassles.The amp is exactly as advertised. No distortion even at high volume. Remains cool even after an hour of loud playing.

良すぎてこれで十分です。YAMAHA NS-1000X用に使っています。

Funciona muy bien con bocinas de 50 ohms y no introduce ruido. Muy buena opción por la calidad y el costo.

Very clean sound. Beautiful aluminum enclosure, deceptively small.It should be noted that this amp comes with a power brick that's as big as it, and heavier than it; it's not an issue, but It was a surprise to me. I suppose that the size constraints meant the transformer had to go somewhere other than in the amp.The posts on the back are very small and finicky, once again this is a subtle annoyance, and is not something that affects performance, or regular use, but when setting this up don't expect to have room for beefy cables or banana clips cause it ain't happening.

Use this to power two bookshelf speakers in my rental flat. Gets left on alot. It's so beautifully simple, and is still working well 2 years on. Good sound too :)