S.M.S.L FBA_SA-98E - Black Accordion Accessory (SMSL SA-98E)

Yes, it's inexpensive, but it's also quite a good amplifier! Other reviewers have provided various opinions about what this amp can do. The following are some actual measurements I did: At 1% distortion levels, I measured output power levels of about 54W per channel into 8 Ohms and 115W into 4 Ohms. A more conservative power rating for this amp would be 50W and 110W into 8 and 4 Ohms respectively, at < 1.0% thd. That's certainly enough clean power for most speakers. This amp is very efficient, as expected with class D. During these power output tests the dummy load resistors I used became way too hot to touch, while the amp itself remained completely cool. Total harmonic distortion (thd, at 1kHz) is 0.06% for 1W and 0.1% for 10W into 8 Ohms, and 0.08% and 0.1% at 1 and 10W into 4 Ohms. That means at most listening levels distortion won't be audible. Frequency response goes below 5Hz and is smooth with a slight gradual rise to about +0.2 dB around 16kHz, down 1dB around 26kHz and falling rapidly after that, which is pretty much inherent in a class d amp. That is pretty smooth. Output impedance is about 0.2 Ohms, which is probably just a reflection of the output device's "on" resistance. That gives damping factors of 40 and 20 at 8 and 4 Ohm loads, which is pretty good (other amps have better damping factors but I think better than 20 gives diminishing returns!) Finally noise (inputs shorted measuring 20-20kHz) is 140 (left channel) and 174 (right channel) uV into 8 Ohms, corresponding to a signal to noise level of -103 and -101 dB at full power (50W per channel) into the 8 Ohm load. That's pretty quiet! Two complaints -- 1) with the supplied 36V 5A power supply you aren't going to get the power outputs I mention above driving both channels at once. That probably doesn't matter for most listening purposes, but, you could substitute a different power supply -- Amazon lists a 36V switching power supply that puts out 13.5 amps for less than $50 -- that would really drive this amp, probably giving the power levels I mentioned both channels driven simultaneously. You'd need a good selection of high power dummy load resistors to test this! And 2) the gain with the volume control at max is about 35 dB. That means for most inputs you have to turn the gain way down to not blast your speakers, which in effect throws away some of your signal to noise. It would have been better if the gain was 8 dB or so lower. The chip manufacturer data sheet shows overall gain is selectable, but the SMSL implementation doesn't support that, unfortunately. Bottom line, for most 2-channel home audio purposes this amp would be hard to beat! One final point -- I sure would like to know why this amp is listed as a "Black Accordion Accessory!" Mine did not include an accordion, thankfully.

Works fine and is reliable. Is high power for it's size and offers simplicity. Definitely has some undisclosed bass boost included in the circuit that I find annoying.

This is my 6th desktop amp. I also have the $20 Lepai, $80 Fiio A1 (sadly discontinued), $100 Topping TP30, $180 Nuforce Icon, and the $200 Audioengine N22. Of those, the only one I think sounds less than very good is the Lepai, which sounds just good up until the volume goes past 12 o'clock and introduces noise. The Nuforce has the best build quality, but it's rather weak and sounds kind of boring (some might say accurate). The Audioengine provides the most honest power at 22 watts x 2, and it's the only A/B amp of them all; I like its sound, but I sometimes wish it had more warmth. The Fiio sounds the best to me, providing a good warm sound and being somewhat more powerful than the Topping and Nuforce. But every amp has the compromise of not quite enough power. The SMSL 98E, which I've had about 1 week thus far, easily has the most power of them all. I read on an audio forum that this might supply in the ballpark of an honest 2 x 50 watts for the typical 8 ohms speaker. Pretty good for a miniature $80 amp. It supplies more than enough power for my 90db Bic towers. Going from memory, I'm thinking it sounds warmer (better?) than the Nuforce and Audioengine, probably similar to the Topping, but not quite as warm as the Fiio. This is probably a good middle ground of sounding mostly accurate with a little warmth (accentuated bass, tamed highs). It sounds very good. At $90, this is the best value of any desktop amp I own. The build quality is great. I will update if I encounter any issues later on. Thus far, I highly recommend. Buy!

This may be fine for computer speakers, but it's way under powered for the listed rating. I wish I had looked at the power rating closer. Specs list 160w per channel at 10% THD (distortion) at 4 ohms. This is on par with the Pyramid Gold or Roadmaster car audio power ratings you saw sold at the flea markets back in the 90s, completely unrealistic. The industry standard is .08 THD at 8 ohms. SMSL over rating this by more than 10 times what a reputable amp manufacturer would use. This unit does not have a headphone output so it cannot even be used to drive headphones. I was able to drive a pair of Boston Acoustics bookshelf speakers to moderate levels(not loud) before becoming distorted. Not what I was hoping for with all the positive reviews. The other problem is the sound was thin and lacked definition. You would need some form of EQ to make this sound decent even at low volume levels. I recommend the Pyle Home PCAU46A for 60 bucks. It is also overrated, but is more like 45w per channel and sounds much better with the bass/treble controls. Plus it has headphone output and USB/SD/.25" jack inputs for added flexibility. It is twice the size but much better than the SMSL. I should have known an amp this small could not possibly be 160w per channel.

VERY strong amplifier, loud enough to drive even the biggest of speakers. Make sure the power adapter plug is plugged into the amp first or you'll get a nice spark. The sound quality was disappointing with little soundstage and a lack of clarity or crispness found in the Grace Digital (which is a much weaker amp). Listened to by itself you wouldn't necessarly notice the flaws. Compared to the Grace Digital 513 side by side and even the most novice listener can spot the defects. Otherwise a reliable amp for powering outdoor speakers where the staging and audio quality deficiencies won't be noticed. Power brick for this amp is, literally, the size of a brick; no surprise given the wattage this little amp produces.

First : thanks alot AMAZON, I just got it in 48 hours of order date, I am sooooo impressed and happy, Second : Thanks alot to Gemini Doctor , the black version I got, came with the huge power supply - the brick - which is thanks heaven 36V 5.7A - not as expected and mentioned on the Amazon website 32V 4.5A , The Amp is working perfect, the power supply is great , after a primarily test, I guess I will get later a better quality power cord, I recommend who ever wants this Amp to get the black version through Gemini Doctor to enjoy the 36V 5.7A power supply, after I setup my system, will update soon for more. UPDATE ; I got a high quality power cord - 14AWG - teamed up with Topping DAC D3, Wonderful AMP + Wonderful DAC + all cables from Mediabridge = WoW, great performance , even though with this little used full range JVC MDF speakers , sounding good , the whole set with reasonable cost.

This is a really good amp, however the cable that comes with the power supply is total junk. At first it seemed like it was not getting very loud and there was some distortion but it sounded ok. Then after a week it stopped working. Looking at it, I noticed that the power supply has a three prong plug going into it and a two prong wall plug. I have a drawer full of these plugs(standard computer cable), so swapped it out and it worked fine. In fact it was much louder and cleaner. I cut the old plug to take a look. I don't know how it was powering the amp as it looked like 26 or 28 gauge wire. Very thin, I think I broke the connection at some point inside the cord. So its a great amp, just toss the cord that comes with it.

Bought this to power my 4-8 ohm 100watt MICCA bookshelf speakers, because it suggested it.. so when I Hooked it up I noticed some distortion at a very low level.. so I was like damn it something is not right. I then used my pioneer receiver to connect the bookshelf speakers and they sounded wonderful very satisfied! So back to this amp... it seemed to me that this amp was to much for the bookshelf speakers. I then hooked it up to a pair of 250w infinity 6x9's and that's when I noticed the power of this thing! I started playing with this amp and hooked it up to a pair of speakers towers and even then it was too much power for them! I was really happy and impressed. I've got crown xls2500, crown xls1000, behringer amps hooked up to pretty expensive subwoofers and etc.. I know what I'm doing! With that being said.. you can't get anything better for the prize and expecially the size of this thing! You can have a pair of good speaker towers next to your TV and won't even noticed this amp cause it's so small yet so powerful! With 3 of these you can have an awesome set up for a home theater

１万円ちょっとのアンプでここまで鳴るのか！ 低域の量感、ボーカルの艶やかさ、申し分有りません。 高域は勿論出ますが、ホワイトノイズがありますので 微妙なニュアンスの音までは出ません。 国産の数十万するものでもそこまで鳴らないので、 ある意味仕方ないです。 欠点を補うべく、弄って見ました。 ホワイトノイズ対策 内部の電解コンデンサーに並列に 50V 10 μFのセラミックコンデンサー２ケを接続 ほぼ、これでノイズは極端に下がりますが念を入れて、高周波低インピーダンス品の電解コンデンサー ５０V100μFを接続してます。 添付写真オシロスコープの画像ははコンデンサーを 追加する前後のものです。 電源のノイズレベルが半減してます。 若干の抜けが悪い高音の対策 フィルターとして使用しているトロイダルコイル ですがD級アンプIC.TDA7498Eのデータシートを 見ると３３μHとあります。推奨範囲として２２μHまでOkです。 スピーカーはネットワークを改造しているので インピーダンスは低い方向です。そこで、コイルえお１０巻きほどほどいて、インダクタンスを１５%程度下げます。 音の改善の度合い 唇や舌の動きがわかるくらい音が解像してます。 無改造でも定位は悪く無いですが、比較にはなりませんね。 ライブ音源の拍手のシーンはマイク近くの人は 一人一人位置が分かります。 良い買い物でした。

An interesting wee beastie from China. Less than £70 and so small (168x98x36 mm) and light (490 grams for the amp and another 510g for the power brick) that it seemed cruel for me to pitch it head to head with a mighty Quad 405-2 (9Kg). But I did. The Quad cost around £350 in the mid-1980s, which is the best part of a grand today. Round-1: Tested using difficult-to-drive loudspeakers (Spendor S-20, 85dB from 1 watt@1 metre) the SMSL put up a decent fight. With classical music (CD) it wasn’t as quite as transparent, especially when the orchestra was busy, but good weight in the percussion and perfectly listenable. With jazz, the little beastie was as smooth as a baby panda. For TV speech, which is to be honest is what the Quad mostly gets used-for, the SMSL was fine, just a little (hissing) sibilance from words with s and z. Not bad at all. Round-2 : Just for fun I fired up some 1970s loudspeakers (Gale GS-401A). This with some trepidation as the Gales had been silent since 1992 and lord knows what had nested inside them in the interim. But fear not, sourced from an iPad, they awoke and sounded just as they had when my Dad had them (RIP). I imagined him re-filling his gin and tonic and knew that he would have been impressed by the little SMSL.

Muy Bueno, todo sin problemas apresar de tener sólo dos canales lo lo he puesto con 4 altavoces en serie con el simvibe software. Funciona muy bien

Like all other SMSL products I have, excellent sound, build quality, and value. Used to drive KEF LS50 bookshelfs. Tuns of clean power, never pushed past 10 o'clock volume. Clean and powerful enough for any stereo setup, while being compact and affordable. If you need a compact stereo amp your search is over.

Quelques longues heures de rodage pour ce mini ampli (par sa taille uniquement) et le voilà fin prêt à délivrer toute sa musicalité. En effet le SA98E a une excellente réserve de puissance et avec des bonnes enceintes, un bon cablage, et surtout une source digne de lui fournir un signal de qualité, il est capable de se montrer hyper expressif sans aucune faiblesse quelqu'en soit le style de musique écoutée. L'aigue est détaillée et surtout loin d'être métallique ou agressif, le médium est à juste terme présent sans être trop dominant, et l'ensemble est ponctué par un grave dynamique à souhait !! Les tests d'écoutes ont été fait avec une source PC (fichiers FLAC) gérée par une carte son externe Roland UA-4fx reliée par un cablage Monster Cable classique au SA-98E qui pour sa part alimentait une paire d'enceintes Dynaudio Audience 60 et une paire d'Acoustic Energy series 100i, les 2 paires étant cablées en série afin d'obtenir une impédance de 12 Ohms par canal. Le résultat est excellent surtout en sachant que le SA-98E même en 12 Ohms conserve toujours une grande réserve de puissance. Juste un petit soucis à la réception du SA-98E, 2 leds bleus autour du potentimètre de volume ne s'allument pas mais ce petit détail ne gache en rien son bon fonctionnement donc je n'enlève pas 1 étoile pour la note finale et maintient les 5 étoiles que le SA-98E mérite amplement. En conclusion je conseille fortement cet ampli, pour son tarif il peut facilement rivaliser ou pulvériser certains gros amplis de grandes marques qui coutent entre 1000 et 2000 euros ou plus !!