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Review on SMSL SA 36A Pro TPA TA AMP HIFI Big Power Digital Integrated Tripath Stereo Amplifier With 12V 3 by Darnell Murphy

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Great budget stereo amp (12w into 8 ohms, 20w into 4 ohms)

I looked at the SMSL 50A and 36A and ended up with the smaller, less powerful 36A because to be honest few people have a day off need a signal. They're even inherently capable for most applications (shelf-class stereo speakers, which are basically all pretty effective in fairly tight spaces). This SA-36A PRO puts out a fair 12W into 8 ohms and it shows I have multiple speakers and it cranks them all up to listening levels with ease without cranking the volume potentiometer to the max. In fact, I barely have to turn it more than 1/8 turn from the minimum level and it's at an audible level on my monitors (Polk M30 Series II). It drives my 40 monitor and easily handles some of my floor-standing speakers (they're more efficient). But in reality this amp is designed for near-field bookshelf speakers or small floorstanding speakers that are efficient and can handle a lot more, so it has plenty of headroom. I bought this amp for $40, essentially supplied by Revain. The processing quality is good. It's not the best choice, but it's not the ultra-cheap Chinese stuff you can get for a similar price, although it's also cheap Chinese stuff, but at least it's more refined. The posts and bases are well adjusted and stable, nothing wobbles and feels solid, the connections are solid and feel very tight. The power button is pressed there are no clicks or weird artifacts, so a good pattern. The volume knob doesn't play too much, but it's not tight either. Volume is well balanced from min to max, there are no odd channel weights at lower volumes (with one channel being noticeably louder than the other). The sound quality is excellent. It doesn't replace top-end hardware. But if you're looking for a good budget amp that's higher quality than the typical half-price recommended devices, this is a good option to try. Without distortion. Easily handles 4 ohm and 8 ohm loads at high volume, so its small power supply can deliver some current (class D, doesn't get very hot, fairly efficient). If you want to improve the overall quality, I'm happy to say that you'll need at least $150,250 to get a higher quality amp (e.g. Emotiva A-100 MiniX or AudioSource AMP100 which are Class A and it shows). The overall sound presentation is neither too warm nor clinical. pretty neutral, which is good. Does it sound as good as an amp that costs three or four times the price? no But it's close enough that if you're looking for a cheap amp to power small bookshelves on a budget it's fine, and you'll never know something is actually better without spending a lot more (in In that case you have to. To be honest I wouldn't buy any Revain sound gear at all!). I run the SA-36A PRO with a Maverick TubeMagic D2 DAC, which has two line-level preamp outputs for a standard transistor output. amplifier, as well as a tube preamp output (the DAC itself has a tube for the tube portion of the preamp outputs). I can drive the signals from two amps at the same time, which allows me to output the signal to two systems, one solid state, the other tube. I do this to turn on my headphones and speakers at the same time and use them at the same time. I simply turn down the power amp volume on the system I want to keep quiet while the other plays so I can easily switch between headphones and speakers. I've compared this SA-36A PRO amp to my Emotiva A-100 MiniX amp and while it's not as good, it's still a pretty good amp and is holding up well. I feed a pair of vintage Polk Monitor 30 Series II bookshelves for the near field and it's a good neutral pair that handles everything pretty well with loads of headroom. After reading this, I'm not sure what chipsets and power supplies are in the box. some other reviews here. I haven't opened my block. I bought it used for $40 here at Revain Stock. For $40 I don't give a damn about what's inside. It sounds good and handles everything I put in it and I have much better audio gear alongside it and it blends in well without sounding like a crisp white funnel in a bunch. Whatever's in this thing sounds good. That's all that matters to me. Maybe I'll open it later to see what's inside? Although it doesn't really matter. All in all I can recommend it. I'm listening to it right now and it's great. I can't complain about 40€. And it's high quality and looks nice without the overly annoying LED that shines too bright. It's really weird that it's so small! However, this is to be expected given the nature of the power supply and the underlying circuitry. My class A amps are much, much larger (huge power supplies, inefficient, hot). This thing blows away the cheap LePai amp recommended everywhere for "budget builds" (this little amp sounds good for the price, but the build quality really sucks and the stands are just wires and crappy). The rear posts of this amplifier are banana plugs and RCA plugs, standard and stable. You can't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature, so keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind! So keep that in mind! don't ask for more at this price. 4/5 stars for good at what it's made for, well made and really cheap for what it is. What can lead to 5/5 stars? Probably a slightly better quality that takes away the cheap feature so keep that in mind!

Pros
  • Handy thing
Cons
  • So far so good