"Nobsound" ... err, OK
Discussion
I was casting around for a compact power amp to drive a couple of ancient book shelf speakers that have been sitting on my book shelf (naturally) unused for the last few years. I came across "class D" power amps for the first time (which probably just goes to show how long it has been since I last looked for an amp). Very much like a switch mode PSU, they use transistors as a switch rather than as a variable resistance and are consequently vastly more power efficient than more traditional designs and can therefore be mounted in a tiny box for a few quid by companies with poetic names like "Nobsound". (Perhaps inspired by "NAD"?) On the basis of "how bad can it be for £30?", I bought a 50W per channel (ahem) stereo amp with integrated bluetooth receiver from the aforementioned Nobsound and it arrived in the post today. It's the size of a fag packet, and to my amazement it is not too bad. In case there was any doubt that the 50W claim is "a stretch", the 60W PSU they provided is I think the clincher. But it is doing a perfectly adequate job sat unobtrusively on the shelf in my study being driven from my phone. There's a tiny bit of mains hum that I might try to address just coz I like fiddling with things, but it's genuinely not bad as it stands, and for £30 seems like a bit of a miracle.
It comes in an in-your-face bright red aluminium case. No PSU, but I've got a few lying around at home (12V 2A) which should be OK with it - unlike yours it's only rated at 20W anyway.
I was originally looking at Lepai 2020 amps which seem to be quite highly rated and cost around £20, but they are well known enough to be copied and faked now, so I thought I might as well just go with the cheapest I can possibly find. I've been wanting to build a boombox for the garage out of an old ammo box for a while - this + old car speakers + phone or mp3 player should do the job.
I was originally looking at Lepai 2020 amps which seem to be quite highly rated and cost around £20, but they are well known enough to be copied and faked now, so I thought I might as well just go with the cheapest I can possibly find. I've been wanting to build a boombox for the garage out of an old ammo box for a while - this + old car speakers + phone or mp3 player should do the job.
I absolutely love the little digital amps made by SMSL. You'll fine the cheap ones on Amazon for about £40. If you want ones with digital inputs, they're around £80.
I'm no audiophile but, to me, these sound awesome. I have one driving QAcoustics 2010i's (I think) in the office and it sounds awesome. I have another with a fibre optic input driving some old Denon bookshelf speakers in the living room and it sounds awesome.
To me, anyway.
I'm no audiophile but, to me, these sound awesome. I have one driving QAcoustics 2010i's (I think) in the office and it sounds awesome. I have another with a fibre optic input driving some old Denon bookshelf speakers in the living room and it sounds awesome.
To me, anyway.
heisthegaffer said:
I've mentioned this before but I have a Topping VX2 with some Dali Zensor 1s and it sounds fantastic. This amp has USB in to a DAC, optical and coaxial but no line in which is a shame as it means i can't plug my phone or tablet in - I should have spotted this when I bought it.
By coaxial do you mean phono? You can buy a phono to 3.5mm jack cable. Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff