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 guess I've gone nuts - right 'round the bend. I sold my Adcom GFA-5503 three-channel behemoth-amp and replaced it with this inexpensive lightweight. The Adcom was about $1500 when new, with ten MOS-FET devices per channel, rated at a high-current 200wpc RMS into 8 ohms and 350wpc RMS into 4 ohms, and stable into a load less than one ohm. Heavy. Very warm to touch at idle, hot in use. Inefficient, using a lot more power just turned on and idling than the SMSL does at full output. But the Adcom sounded great, and looked new. No, I haven't fallen on hard times; I simply wanted that space in my custom-built walnut audio cabinet for a different component. So, I needed to downsize my amplification. How many people are using this amplifier with a Lexicon preamp, I wonder. The speakers are a 30-year-old pair of the Klipsch Forte 1, oiled walnut, in pristine condition, consecutive serial numbers - a pretty large speaker that the wife kept saying "they're too big" for the first month we had them. Now she'd throw a fit if I wanted to sell them, and she was very doubtful about this little SMSL, she keeps saying "it's too small" which makes me feel as though I'm in an episode of "The Twilight Zone." So, we've been sitting together listening to music with the SMSL providing the power. So, what's the verdict, will this little SMSL hang onto front channel duty, or will it be relegated to rear-channel and something like possibly an Emotiva take its place? I'm not yet certain...which I consider high praise for this amplifier. Yes, the Adcom sounded a little better, but it's a long, long way from night-and-day better - I wouldn't like to stake my life on identifying which was which in a blind test. Unless allowed to turn the volume way up. The Adcom could provide all the power the speaker could handle, and that was very, very loud - louder than I'd care to listen. And do it cleanly. The SMSL is, of course, not as powerful. However, due to the sensitivity (some mislabel that as efficiency) of the speaker, the SMSL can drive them to very loud levels. Loud enough for me, which is sometimes pretty darn loud. The Adcom had a bit more finesse, but the difference is not nearly what I expected. Actually, I'm in a bit of a quandary. Right now as I listen, I think I may just listen to it this way for awhile to determine if this is good enough, and really...I think it is. So, yeah, even though it may not sound like it exactly, I highly recommend this amp. EDIT: More than 2.5 years down the road, this amp still works and sounds great. Considering ordering another just to have on hand - and due to its compactness and light weight, it is indeed handy. Have used it in a variety of settings. NEW EDIT - This was a good choice in 2014 when I bought it, but now 2020 is all but done, and time marches on. The SMSL developed a loud popping noise which almost all this model did, sooner or later. I switched to Fosi Audio and have been getting good service from their amps for 3+ years now. If you're looking at SMSL, consider Fosi instead.

I've had this amp for just over a month and I really like it. It is well built and does an awesome job powering of Fluance SX6 bookshelf speakers. Thought it is rated at 50WPC I was only getting about 5WPC running my speakers at near max volume. Nonetheless, it still powers them loudly enough for my use. If you want a small, reliable desktop amp give this one a shot. AN UPDATE - FOUR YEARS LATER I have changed my mind a bit on the SMSL SA50. I still feel it is a good amp, but not as spectacular as I once did. I have since heard what real power sounds like and it is not this amp. It does an ok job for what it is, but there is certainly better out there. When compared to anps from Emotiva, ATI and Parasound this little amp just an't compete. It reaches distortion way before any of those amps do. It also lacks dynamic range compared to those amps. I know what you're thinking, those cost five to ten times as much as this amp and you would be correct, they do. My point is not to compare it directly to those more expensive amps. It is just this, if you're expecting it that it will sound as good as those and get as loud you will be surely disappointed. I also think that this amp is better with some speakers than others. I have tried it with Dayton B652, Dayton MK402, FLuance SX6, Micca MB42X, and Micaa Covo S speakers. It was ok on B652's and MB42X's. The SX6's sounded ok, but benefit form cleaner power. I did not care for how it sounded on the Covo S speakers. I felt they sounded anemic. Where it shined was with the MK402's. It really brought these speakers to life and pushes them to quite high volumes. My point is to simply keep your expectations in check. Do not expect the world form this amp and you will not be disappointed. You may even find a good use case for it. I use mine with the Dayton MK402 speakers in my bathroom and ti works great there! Nevertheless, I am downgrading its rating form five to four stars.

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!

I just got this amp so I have only been listening to it for a short time. I followed ZeoPantera on youtube and took his advice on building an alternative to a sound bar. reviewing sound equipment is subjective as my ears are not the same as your ears and my house/equipment is different than yours.I will try to put this in practical usage terms and describe my experience so far. the SA50 amp is 50 watts per channel and the sound is amazing. the voices are clear. the details are sharp. movies are fantastic. the soundtrack to 2001: a space odyssey is loud and clear. the highs are crisp and the lows are solid. the amp small and the sound is impressive. I am sending a strong source signal to the amp that's able to push a 4 ohm load with appropriate power levels through a decent speaker wire with good banana plugs into 2 Micca MB42 C speakers. nothing fancy. it's capable of being louder than I will want to listen to and the sound is clean. I use my laptop to adjust the sounds and it works pretty well to tune it in. I set the volume knob to 50% and use the remote on the source to control volume. By doing that, these speakers with this amp are filling my 1100 square ft house with clearly spoken vocals at a setting of "30" with the bar showing about a 3rd of the way to full volume. in the rooms farthest away from the speakers with the bedroom doors open, the movie dialog is clearly heard and understood, the music is enjoyable unless you are trying to sleep. with the doors closed, the sound is much less of a bother. reducing it from 30 to 20 is still plainly "enough" to be considered a normal listening level. my intended purpose is to have a set up that sounds good with a volume to match the projected visual image of the home theater. Following Z's advice has worked out pretty well so I give him a lot of credit for my choices. its my opinion that this amp and the Micca speakers being my set up as it is, would be able to keep up with a moderately sized / powered sub woofer and not be overwhelmed with bass. There is only 1 RCA input so I need to get a bluetooth receiver and RCA splitters so I can send music from my devices to my speakers . I would certainly buy this again because I am happy with it but I maybe should have gotten one with more inputs.

Tested with Inderaudio SA 200s, compared to an Elegant 50+50 Bluetooth Amplifier. Disregarding a comparison between a direct feed and Bluetooth, Frequence response and performance tested with the Sheffield / A2TB Test Disc, anecdotal tests with Classical (full-range) and Drum and Base (base-heavy) music served over Spotify Premium on high-quality via 3.5mm to RCA adapter from laptop sound-card (USB DAC arrived broken, no DAC testing available). This amp is decidedly not worth your time, Let's start off by saying this is not a DAC issue, as this laptop has served into many amps in it's lifetime via it's on-board sound card, and I am very well aware of it's capabilities. That said, this amp does not have any real frequency response under 60hz, and even with heavy equalizer adjustment over a hour of working with levels, I was unable to get any "feeling" out of my anecdotal audio tests. Most frequency sweeps showed nearly a full 20% less frequency response under 200hz and over 10,000hz than other amps, and even where there was a response in the low end, no amount of balancing on-board levels with the amps levels, or the the equalizer would result in any real body to the tones. This was especially evident when listening to full-range music, where it felt like a whole half of the song was missing, and it felt life-less. Despite having a trademark Bluetooth SNR hum, my cheap Elegant amp provides full range and solid low-end (down to around 27hz), as well as reaching all the way up in to 15 to 18khz, while *this* amp "made sound" at 60hz and kind of quit after 12khz. This amp is a waste of your time, plain and simple. When a cheap $25 amp can do better, and over BT non-the-less, you messed something up...

I previously had a mini amplifier that threw up to 40W to my Bose 251's. Recently that amp stopped working. Seems like the on/off button broke and since my soldering skills are non-existent, decided to look for a new amp. After about 3-days of searching, I decided to get this amp... and I am NOT disappointed in any way. Build quality seems solid. The power button nor the volume button seem flimsy. They feel solid. The connection jacks on the back are also solidly in place as well. The finish on the black unit is nice and the bottom does have 4 rubber stands. The unit weighs a bit less than I actually thought it would but it is by no means a light weight. Hook up was a breeze. The additional power was noticeable right off the bat and I had been more than happy with my previous amp's power. The sound is crisp and very clear. The only thing I wish is that the amp had bass/treble control but I knew this ahead of time and I use my software to adjust as I see fit so no biggie. I have to say that I am hearing a bit more definition in my music now. So far I just place this amp's volume at the half way mark and leave it there since I am using this off of my computers sound card. Oh, and speaking of power and volume setting, I have played over 4 hours of games, music and videos and the amp is barely warm to the touch. This leaves me to believe that I can push it along even more without any kind of issue. The seller - BangK... outstanding service as well. After placing my order I was told I would receive my amp by 7/24. It arrived on 7/23. I love being tricked this way!!! ;) I consider myself as tech saavy but not an expert. I can certainly say that I recommend this amp to anyone looking to get into this kind of setup for the first time or who, like me, is not such an audiophile that can knit pick about their their musics sound at 20Khz. Just do it if you are a beginner or a weekend-audio-warrior like me. For computer games, music (I am a 70's/80's rock and jazz aficionado) and video watching... you will think you have a $3000+ system on your hands. Just make sure you have a decent sound source and speakers. In fact, I'd get this amp (as my budget piece) and spend a bit more on good speakers and sound source (receiver or computer card).

This is an good small amp with a tremendous amount of power considering how small it is, but if you're shopping for mini amps, you're likely comparing this to the two other big boys in this realm: The Topping TP20 mkII and the Lepai. Note: I'm using these amps with a pair of Polk Monitor 7 speakers. I started with the Lepai, as it's the gateway mini-amp for a lot of people. With a decent power supply (not the one it comes with), it's perfectly fine. Perhaps a little sterile and lacking in the bottom end, but decent enough for a pair of bookshelf speakers in a small room. The built-in EQ is worthless so don't even bother using it. For $20, this thing is pretty killer. Next up, I tried the SMSL after reading the good reviews on here. It does have quite a bit more power than the other two and it's a noticeable increase over the Lepai. But I found that it was very bass-heavy and quite shrill in the highs. Some may mistake this for clarity, but I found it was unnatural and made the entire soundstage feel scooped in the mids. It was fatiguing and not pleasant to listen to after a short period of time. Lastly, I tried the Topping TP20. This amp beats both the Lepai and the SMSL for accuracy. More low end than the Lepai, but not overwhelming like I felt that the SMSL was, and without the exaggerated high end. The Topping seems to have found the right balance, and allows the mid-range to sing much better than either of the other ones. It does have significantly less power than the SMSL, so if you're looking to fill a large room or use it with inefficient speakers, then don't bother with the Topping or the Lepai. My Polks are fairly efficient, but this amp certainly isn't going to blow the doors off my house. In conclusion.. the SMSL is a great amp with a lot of power in a small, inexpensive package. But if you're searching for the most "accurate" sound quality and don't need the power, the Topping TP20 is probably a better bet.

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.

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.

Simply an amazing amp! Best mini amp out there! Sound reproduction has amazing clarity. True 2x 50W. Very powerful! (Hardly ever go over 12 o’clock on the dial - at full volume it can peel the paint off your walls WITHOUT distorting). Recommended!

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.