So once upon a time, PE was selling a little amp for $15. $15!!! So I bought two. And with a friend about to swap out receivers, that seemed like a perfect time for a bit of listening comparison. In this corner, the Dayton Audio DTA-1, and power supply: and the last picture shows the cable setup. Knowing those expensive custom AudioQuests have a particular resonance, I used and LCR meter and oscilloscope to counter-tune that with the short strands of AWG24 you see in the picture. The trick is in how you wind the stripped ends around the pins, my friends. In the other corner, a Denon AVR-X3600H, $1099. Trust me, it's a bit beefier than the DTA-1 Denon AVR-X3600H (2019 model) 9.2-channel home theater receiver with Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, Apple® AirPlay® 2, and Amazon Alexa compatibility at Crutchfield In between the corner-or something like that-a pair of Focal 936 Focal Aria 936 Loudspeakers (each) This round, we listened to - Lee Ritenour "Night Rhythms" and "Latin Lovers" - The Doobie Brothers' "Wheel of Fortune" and "Takin' It To The Streets" - Steely Dan "Aja" no classical this round, we need to find some common performances we both know well. This round was time limited due to the desire to get the new toy set up and calibrated before LA traffic got sour (yes even in these COVID days it's bad). These selections played from CD (but "Aja" on SACD) via Oppo UDP-203's analog outputs. Volume was set moderately loud on the Dayton, then the output voltage measured with a 120 Hz test tone (1.400V). After the X3600H was set up (no Audyssey or EQ or anything), I set the volume to match (1.375V). So as you might expect, the Denon just killed the Dayton. Way more bass, so much more detail and image depth. OK, not really. The DTA-1 sounded very good! Nothing to fault, really and incredibly. If we tried to turn it up more than moderately loud, audio would start cutting out, which we assume is clipping. Refer back to the picture of the power supply, and maybe that's not a surprise. It would be really interesting to run this thing with a really massive 12V supply. Anyway at moderate volumes with the DTA-1 you could hear all the different instruments and bass lines delineated, imaging, depth. "Aja" in particular I use as a reference and didn't find anything obscured or lacking. Yow! My friend just wasted like $1200 with tax!!! Well, kinda. After the official testing, of course the Denon can play much much louder. And even at the same volume, the bass was firmer, the images deeper. OR were they? Ah, audio memory is so notoriously fickle. I shall someday have to figure out how to do this with more instant switching.
Those little things are amazing for what they are. I bought a Lepai 2020 (maybe 7-8 watts into 8 ohms) with the Tripath chip for my daughter's "2.0 home theater" years ago and had enough fun with it to buy myself one for the desktop. I tried it with the NHT SB1, which was fine, but limited in terms of volume with their 85 dB sensitivity. It and my son's 89 dB Polk Rti4s were quite good, the speaker's somewhat flatulent bass still being flatulent, but very nice on the top end. I grabbed some Energy 5 inchers for my daughter, which were better in the bass, while not handling volume quite as well as the Polks. I would like to have tried them with a 6.5" 2 -way with 89-91 sensitivity. (I didn't want to try my SB2s) Something with a mellower treble character might be what the doctor would order. At the time, I made what was possibly the worst YouTube demo of all time, just turning on a camera in my son's 8 x 15 basement lair. Even with the awful phone booth recording quality, one can kinda sorta surmise that Steve Tyrell's voice was front and center tangible, Snooky Young's trumpet was well placed left of center and the guitar right of center. The piano had pretty good size and weight. Certainly not what I'd want for a system (though I'd have been thrilled with it in high school), but- gasp- fun to play around with and certainly better than what so many people have (or actually don't have). Apologies for unleashing this "skeleton in the closet"...
You are picking up the link of the GALLERY of photos, not the URL of the actual image. I was having the same problem when I tried to make this thread. I ended up right-clicking to "Copy Image Address" and then it worked (at least out of imgurl)
Nobody? Really? One interesting result was we agreed it really brought home how transient, short, and fallible our audio memory is (since the switching was not instantaneous)
I’m sorry that I missed your original post. These Chinese sourced mini amplifiers have no snob appeal but can deliver healthy sound. Brent Butterworth, ex Hime Theater Magazine contributor, did a shoot out of mini stereo amplifiers. The Best Mini Stereo Amplifier I bought his recommendation and love it. My Fosi is powering the top half of some Polk floor standing speakers with built in bass amplifiers. You’re certainly on to something when using one of these micro digital amplifiers for casual listening. Careful attention to sensitivity and impedance are the only restrictions. My Craigslist $100 Polk speakers are 90db and 8 ohm so they’re an easy load for a sub 10 watt amplifier. 99% of my listening will be lossy stereo from streaming and over the air television. My mom has Alzheimer’s so she can’t watch regular movies but she does enjoy classic movie musicals and the Tony Bennet station on Pandora. Yesterday I was impressed with the stereo sound of Funny Face on Amazon Prime and Fiddler On The Roof. The dialog on Fiddler was s bit harsh but that’s source material, not hardware. Last night the same applied to Prince’s concert fantasy Sign ‘o The Times on Amazon Prime. The drums during The Cross just get muddy. The same muddy thing happened with my previous rig that included a Paradigm Atom based 5.1 system amplified by a Pioneer Elite THX/AIR certified receiver that put out an honest 85 wpc all channels driven simultaneously. Anyone looking to setup a small and inexpensive system should consider this path. The biggest challenge will be finding inexpensive floor standing speakers with on board low frequency amplifiers. Happy hunting and listening, Michael Cheap stereo TV & streaming sound
Ive got an original Sonic Impact T amp powered by 8 AAs in my shed powering (actually biwired) some JVC speakers that I think are from a mini system. Works great and sounds very good as well. Ive never directly compared it to a larger traditional amp but I am fully happy with this setup and it plays loud enough. I do plan to power this shed with solar and will probably buy a power supply for it as it is my most efficient amp by far. This amp looks just like the one in the OP.
Surely it is the same. We did notice clipping particularly on big bass passages, so I do think a really good power supply would make this little thing much more robust. Now having spent $15 I'm not gonna do that, but then again my wife is just using the amp for strictly background levels and she is close to the speakers.
Some further results of various comparisons: Denon AVR-1612 ($349, 2011) vs AVR-2312Ci ($850, 2012): I loved the -1612, felt it sounded like nothing at all. Changed to the -2312Ci for AirPlay, oh so wonderfully convenient. I don't feel it sounds quite as "nothing" as the -1612 but can't really say it sounds different. I know, that makes no sense. Not a particularly controlled test, Audyssey off, listening, switched amps when moving stuff. Audyssey still off, listened. AVR-2312Ci versus AVR-X3600H ($1100, 2019): We felt the 3600 sounded maybe a bit clearer...but within the limits of audio memory would not have bet our testicles on it. Audyssey off, listening, switched, Audyssey still off, listened. AVR-X3600H vs Integra DHC-60.5 ($2000, 2011?) + ATI 525NC ($3600, 2021): Both gave a really clear solid presentation. The image height and width seemed different, not better just different. This is not necessarily a shock since Audyssey was on in both cases due to time limitations, and the Integra could not be set the same as it is not App compatible. Integra DHC-60.5 + ATI 525NC vs Anthem AVM70 ($3800, 2021) + ATI 525NC: We noticed a bzzzzzttttt sound with ear close to the tweeters. Audyssey on. Swapped out to the AVM70 and ran the automatic ARC configuration. Nothing out of the tweeters, black sound, nada, zilch, nein, nought. The sound seems cleaner and more coherent. It's really nice. We definitely felt the AVM betters the old Integra. No, the -3600 is not around any more unfortunately, THAT would have been a very interesting comparison. My feeling of recollection is the AVM/525 while sounding great does not sound significantly better than the 3600 which also sounded great. Different? Maybe. I do not think the sound is $6k better; looking through the retrospectoscope the funds would have been far better spent upgrading the speakers an entire level.
Someone is prepping me for a AVM90 but I think the price is excessive. Have you compared the AVM70 vs a Marantz processor?
No. AVM70 is definitely better than the Integra DHC 60.5 which preceded it though. That could be due to the room correction, but also with my ear near the tweeter I could hear hiss. AVM70 nothing...to begin with. Now hiss. Grrrr. Gotta track down why. - What does AVM90 have that AVM70 doesn't? I think the ARC will run on a phone or tablet instead of laptop but any other features you need? In the end, from Denon AVR-X3600H to AVM70 + ATI 525NC the sound is still great but no better. $6000 could have been not spent. Note that we play loud but not window-cracking levels at that location. The system is in a large open space cathedral ceiling layout. - Doing it over we'd have kept the 3600. Starting again, I'd look through the threads at Home Theater AVR and Processor Review and some here, and find a Denon where you can turn off the internal amplifiers (those generate heat even if not connected to speakers) - Get one of these to have mercy on the AVR Equipment Cooling - ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS - Component Fan Systems - AC Infinity - And if you need more power we LOVE that ATI, runs room temperature all the time. My engineer brain likes the efficient advanced Class D hybridized with a traditional massive power supply. Heh, it occurs to me we need a round two, T-amp versus Anthem/ATI. Maybe with an SPL meter this time, and battery power.
I have a Topping TP22 and it is better than it has any right to be. 8 wpc makes the Cornwalls sound convincing.
The AVM90 is still not out -so far as I know- but one of the dealers I often visit, told me that it is likely to be worth waiting for, and to expect better built quality and more refined circuitry. People who had the two, top, current, Marantz processors found exactly that difference between them. so what the dealer told me doesn't sound far fetched. It does have more features and channels I would never use but I am more interested in the final quality of what I'll use. In fact, my current Yamaha has already lots of features I don't use but I am now after better sound. I am starting to feel like a cheapskate and I am considering changing the caps in selected boards in the Yamaha to see if I can get closer to what I would like. I already bought the service manual to study it. All these units are starting to become too expensive for something that becomes obsolete within a few years, luckily for me a 4K AV receiver is enough but I will see how things develop. The idea of disconnecting the amp section did not occurred me, I will consider it, for the moment they are all thoughts. Thank you!
You can look here for some interesting reading Home Theater AVR and Processor Review SPOILER you may get very depressed. And yes some claim can be made that measurements aren't everything, but the HDMI thread shows that excellent performance IS possible for multichannel...but even expensive receivers aren't near the state of the art. How much does that matter? Good question-the AVR-X3600H I noted above sounded great but did not measure state of the art (however it did measure well). I felt an older Denon AVR-1612 sounded like nothing at all. - AVM90 has 4 sub outputs, does the ARC EQ those independently? Do you care? - At $7500 I'd surely wanting a reasonable return policy, and also I'd be getting a Denon X....H then spending some time comparing the two!
Thank you, I'll read it later and get depressed accordingly I can give you an update, I've just put back together my receiver, I couldn't wait any longer, luckily I had some new parts lying around. I've replaced only some capacitors for the front and center preamp channels. I've only played for about an hour but it gave me exactly what I've craved -at least for now- it definitely sounds better. I need several days to test properly but at least those channels are more in line with my desired sound, I might do the surrounds some other day. Yes, that is the problem $7500 takes a lot of convincing, even if it sounds better than the Yamaha with my modifications. I am still not that keen, I prefer to put money towards my 2ch set up rather than on AV. Denon and Marantz were initially my other options, I've narrowed it down to just Marantz or Anthem but if this fix works I might put the purchase off for another 2 years or so.
I’m still rocking my Fosi. I’ve watched many YT videos about a replacement, but haven’t clicked the buy now button.
Me. I have a slew of cheap Class D amps I bought on Ebay and giving them a LARGE power supply is a MUST if you want power and better sound. I use a 24V 15 amp Mean Well power supply. One small 100 WPC stereo amp (Douk) and the power supply drives 4x12" subs with no problem! Bass is tight and goes plenty loud!!
What are the subs and box? I'm betting they are quite efficient, especially 4 loading each other. One fellow at I think Audio Science Review was driving monster subs from the Zone 2 amps in an AVR. They were so sensitive they just didn't need much power!
Would love to see some comparisons with there new big tube integrated amps. Like $270 for a class A tube amp with 200wpc something like I forgot...but Guttenberg really liked it.
