These tiny/cheap amps with Bluetooth - Are they any good?
Discussion
I listen to music pretty much all day while working in my home office, and currently have an old Sonos One as my only speaker.
All my music is streamed off my iPhone (Apple Music) via Airplay.
To my ears, the Sonos sounds decent, but I fancy some bookshelf speakers and an amp, as even just hearing my music in stereo would probably be an advantage.
I haven t looked at hifi products in years, and was quite surprised to see shops such as Richer Sounds selling a number of really cheap palm-sized amps.
The brand is Fosi Audio and their amps were from about £80, which to me is suspiciously cheap.
The product I m now looking at, after a bit of reading, is the Fosi BT20A Max, which is more expensive at £230, but still seems a good price. Reason I m looking at this one is that it supports Bluetooth 6 (as does my phone) so I thought if I was buying one, why not get the one with the latest Bluetooth spec (better audio quality).
Are these tiny amps actually ok or would I just be buying junk?
Additionally, can anyone recommend any keenly priced (up to about £300 a pair) bookshelf speakers?
All my music is streamed off my iPhone (Apple Music) via Airplay.
To my ears, the Sonos sounds decent, but I fancy some bookshelf speakers and an amp, as even just hearing my music in stereo would probably be an advantage.
I haven t looked at hifi products in years, and was quite surprised to see shops such as Richer Sounds selling a number of really cheap palm-sized amps.
The brand is Fosi Audio and their amps were from about £80, which to me is suspiciously cheap.
The product I m now looking at, after a bit of reading, is the Fosi BT20A Max, which is more expensive at £230, but still seems a good price. Reason I m looking at this one is that it supports Bluetooth 6 (as does my phone) so I thought if I was buying one, why not get the one with the latest Bluetooth spec (better audio quality).
Are these tiny amps actually ok or would I just be buying junk?
Additionally, can anyone recommend any keenly priced (up to about £300 a pair) bookshelf speakers?
For the last few years, I've been regularly exercising on a turbo trainer in the garage. Not interested in fake roads, I just pedal away and track watts and heart rate.
But I wouldn't be able to do it without music!
I've been using this for the last four years. Just streaming spotify from my phone.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0932B6VX6?ref=ppx_pop... It's cheap.
I was quite happy for some time just feeding it into a pair of rubbish speakers from a mini hifi system. However, since upgrading the main system, I've replaced the rubbish speakers with a pair of Mission MS10 bookshelf speakers. The difference is amazing, the little amp sounds so good now. The better speakers have transformed the quality.
Yes, a little amp can be good. You might not need to spend as much as you think on the amp, but decent speakers are a must.
But I wouldn't be able to do it without music!
I've been using this for the last four years. Just streaming spotify from my phone.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0932B6VX6?ref=ppx_pop... It's cheap.
I was quite happy for some time just feeding it into a pair of rubbish speakers from a mini hifi system. However, since upgrading the main system, I've replaced the rubbish speakers with a pair of Mission MS10 bookshelf speakers. The difference is amazing, the little amp sounds so good now. The better speakers have transformed the quality.
Yes, a little amp can be good. You might not need to spend as much as you think on the amp, but decent speakers are a must.
Paul Drawmer said:
For the last few years, I've been regularly exercising on a turbo trainer in the garage. Not interested in fake roads, I just pedal away and track watts and heart rate.
But I wouldn't be able to do it without music!
I've been using this for the last four years. Just streaming spotify from my phone.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0932B6VX6?ref=ppx_pop... It's cheap.
I was quite happy for some time just feeding it into a pair of rubbish speakers from a mini hifi system. However, since upgrading the main system, I've replaced the rubbish speakers with a pair of Mission MS10 bookshelf speakers. The difference is amazing, the little amp sounds so good now. The better speakers have transformed the quality.
Yes, a little amp can be good. You might not need to spend as much as you think on the amp, but decent speakers are a must.
Thanks, that sort of thing is what I mean. There seems to be loads of these really cheap little amps now, that people are using to drive all kinds of decent speakers…. And I was just surprised about how these things could be any good given the price.But I wouldn't be able to do it without music!
I've been using this for the last four years. Just streaming spotify from my phone.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0932B6VX6?ref=ppx_pop... It's cheap.
I was quite happy for some time just feeding it into a pair of rubbish speakers from a mini hifi system. However, since upgrading the main system, I've replaced the rubbish speakers with a pair of Mission MS10 bookshelf speakers. The difference is amazing, the little amp sounds so good now. The better speakers have transformed the quality.
Yes, a little amp can be good. You might not need to spend as much as you think on the amp, but decent speakers are a must.
I’m looking at something like this:
£92:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-bt20a-pro-...
£159:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-mc351-blac...
£229:
https://amzn.eu/d/0jaNPMZy
If all I’m doing is driving a pair of bookshelf speakers via a Bluetooth connection, I’m not sure I need anything more than the £92 or £159 unit?
Would I really notice any difference with the more expensive unit being Bluetooth 6.0 (technically a lossless connection)?
£92:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-bt20a-pro-...
£159:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-mc351-blac...
£229:
https://amzn.eu/d/0jaNPMZy
If all I’m doing is driving a pair of bookshelf speakers via a Bluetooth connection, I’m not sure I need anything more than the £92 or £159 unit?
Would I really notice any difference with the more expensive unit being Bluetooth 6.0 (technically a lossless connection)?
There are ebay bluetooth amplifiers under £10 which don't sound bad, given reasonable speakers and reasonable volume levels for listening.
The nobsound amps for about £25 are amazing. We tried one with a pair of Gale monitors we had on the shelf and it was fine if you don't need too much power. When you start cranking up the volume to compete with the noise of tools or something, then these things find their limits and also I think, demand very good power supplies.
I think it pays to be aware that many 'good' speakers make a lot of demands on the amplifier, with the crossovers having impedance dips and the drivers wanting damping from the amp and all that stuff. The class D amps in these bluetooth devices may interact worse with some speakers than a conventional amp. Or possibly better!
The nobsound amps for about £25 are amazing. We tried one with a pair of Gale monitors we had on the shelf and it was fine if you don't need too much power. When you start cranking up the volume to compete with the noise of tools or something, then these things find their limits and also I think, demand very good power supplies.
I think it pays to be aware that many 'good' speakers make a lot of demands on the amplifier, with the crossovers having impedance dips and the drivers wanting damping from the amp and all that stuff. The class D amps in these bluetooth devices may interact worse with some speakers than a conventional amp. Or possibly better!
OutInTheShed said:
There are ebay bluetooth amplifiers under £10 which don't sound bad, given reasonable speakers and reasonable volume levels for listening.
The nobsound amps for about £25 are amazing. We tried one with a pair of Gale monitors we had on the shelf and it was fine if you don't need too much power. When you start cranking up the volume to compete with the noise of tools or something, then these things find their limits and also I think, demand very good power supplies.
I think it pays to be aware that many 'good' speakers make a lot of demands on the amplifier, with the crossovers having impedance dips and the drivers wanting damping from the amp and all that stuff. The class D amps in these bluetooth devices may interact worse with some speakers than a conventional amp. Or possibly better!
Thanks for that, useful to know.The nobsound amps for about £25 are amazing. We tried one with a pair of Gale monitors we had on the shelf and it was fine if you don't need too much power. When you start cranking up the volume to compete with the noise of tools or something, then these things find their limits and also I think, demand very good power supplies.
I think it pays to be aware that many 'good' speakers make a lot of demands on the amplifier, with the crossovers having impedance dips and the drivers wanting damping from the amp and all that stuff. The class D amps in these bluetooth devices may interact worse with some speakers than a conventional amp. Or possibly better!
I have heard of Nobsound which I was also looking at. They seems great value if you can get past the amusing name
I don't need anything loud at all, I only ever listen in a quiet office at low-ish volumes.
Renegade Master said:
All my music is streamed off my iPhone (Apple Music) via Airplay.
To my ears, the Sonos sounds decent, but I fancy some bookshelf speakers and an amp, as even just hearing my music in stereo would probably be an advantage.
I don't want to deter you from spending money but the easy solution would be to get another Sonos One and pair it up, instant stereo and will sound much better than a single.To my ears, the Sonos sounds decent, but I fancy some bookshelf speakers and an amp, as even just hearing my music in stereo would probably be an advantage.
cb31 said:
Renegade Master said:
All my music is streamed off my iPhone (Apple Music) via Airplay.
To my ears, the Sonos sounds decent, but I fancy some bookshelf speakers and an amp, as even just hearing my music in stereo would probably be an advantage.
I don't want to deter you from spending money but the easy solution would be to get another Sonos One and pair it up, instant stereo and will sound much better than a single.To my ears, the Sonos sounds decent, but I fancy some bookshelf speakers and an amp, as even just hearing my music in stereo would probably be an advantage.
The Sonos will be more than loud enough and robust enough for garage use. No separate speakers or wires to mess with.Either way I'll have to buy something new, so might as well be something a bit nicer for my office.
Just need to decide on the amp and some half-decent bookshelf speakers.
Why not look at Active speakers to get the full package in one rather than amp and speakers ?
https://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio-l-r-s...
https://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio-l-r-s...
I've had a nobsound amp for a few years driving some old speakers that came as part of a cheap mini system. The amp is miles from being the limiting factor. D type amps are pretty much glorified switch mode power supplies, and are therefore super efficient ... hence they produce very little heat ... hence they can be tiny. And tiny is quite a large part of being cheap. Small case, simple construction because no heat management, cheap shipping, etc
These mini amps are astonishingly good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/XRLUC-Amplifier-Channel-P...
Its all about the chipset apparently.
I use one in the garden to power a pair of Q-Acoustics bookshelf speakers and its one of the nicest sounding setups I've ever had. Largely due to having the speakers outside I believe, but lots of good things are said about these little amps on the net.
I powered mine with a car battery and solar panel but the one above comes with a plug in power supply
https://www.amazon.co.uk/XRLUC-Amplifier-Channel-P...
Its all about the chipset apparently.
I use one in the garden to power a pair of Q-Acoustics bookshelf speakers and its one of the nicest sounding setups I've ever had. Largely due to having the speakers outside I believe, but lots of good things are said about these little amps on the net.
I powered mine with a car battery and solar panel but the one above comes with a plug in power supply
Renegade Master said:
I m looking at something like this:
£92:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-bt20a-pro-...
£159:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-mc351-blac...
£229:
https://amzn.eu/d/0jaNPMZy
If all I m doing is driving a pair of bookshelf speakers via a Bluetooth connection, I m not sure I need anything more than the £92 or £159 unit?
Would I really notice any difference with the more expensive unit being Bluetooth 6.0 (technically a lossless connection)?
Those all are just dressed up versions of what can be had for £17 (I linked one with the power adapter for £30).£92:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-bt20a-pro-...
£159:
https://www.richersounds.com/fosi-audio-mc351-blac...
£229:
https://amzn.eu/d/0jaNPMZy
If all I m doing is driving a pair of bookshelf speakers via a Bluetooth connection, I m not sure I need anything more than the £92 or £159 unit?
Would I really notice any difference with the more expensive unit being Bluetooth 6.0 (technically a lossless connection)?
The alarm bells should be "300W" - they are not even trying to hide the lies - that'll be 300w peak. Probably 30 or 40 rms - which is still enough, but the lies woudl concern me - that's proper 1980's spec lying :-)
Honestly, try a cheap one - you can always send it back. Its the amp chip that does all the work. I've got a seperate thread on here somewhere asking HOW that little thing can sound SO good with a small pair of Q Acousting speakers.
Edited by Griffith4ever on Sunday 19th April 09:27
I have the fosi V3 in the garden room driving some old Eltax Monitor IIIs, it is also hooked up to the Eltax active sub which makes the total sound much richer and immersive, the amp itself while rated at 300w (probably less than that) but has the 48v power supply and easily with outstanding quality drive the speakers, it's not a large room but it is great for my needs.
In terms of bluetooth I just took the UGreen 6.0 HQ bluetooth car dongle and have plugged that into a Fosi P4 three way pre-amp selector, that way I can have the phono (another Fosi) from the Turntable, the Dongle for the Bluetooth and the e-ARC from the TV (via an SMSL cheap as chips PS100 DAC box) all selectable from one remote.
In terms of bluetooth I just took the UGreen 6.0 HQ bluetooth car dongle and have plugged that into a Fosi P4 three way pre-amp selector, that way I can have the phono (another Fosi) from the Turntable, the Dongle for the Bluetooth and the e-ARC from the TV (via an SMSL cheap as chips PS100 DAC box) all selectable from one remote.
I used one of these tiny cheap Nobsound amps (and yes childish chuckles were had) to drive desktop PC speakers for a few years:
https://doukaudio.com/products/nobsound-ns-01g-pro...
Sound quality was decent and power was ample for that use but it had a few drawbacks -
- A bit of background hiss at lower levels, I think the issue was in its volume dial as I could largely avoid it by setting the amp above ~40% and turning the input down low instead. May be less of an issue for room (rather than desktop) use, with bigger less sensitive speakers and not sitting as close to them.
- I had it connected to the PC by USB, and every time the PC started or woke from sleep the amp would recite "BLUEOOTH MODE. PC MODE" in its little computerised voice as it automatically started up. It didn't have a proper off switch, if you switched it to 'off' while plugged into USB it would still just run off the USB supply. So I got into the habit of turning the volume dial right down when not in use in order to mute the startup recital.
- No headphone jack, so you still had to plug into the PC directly to use headphones.
https://doukaudio.com/products/nobsound-ns-01g-pro...
Sound quality was decent and power was ample for that use but it had a few drawbacks -
- A bit of background hiss at lower levels, I think the issue was in its volume dial as I could largely avoid it by setting the amp above ~40% and turning the input down low instead. May be less of an issue for room (rather than desktop) use, with bigger less sensitive speakers and not sitting as close to them.
- I had it connected to the PC by USB, and every time the PC started or woke from sleep the amp would recite "BLUEOOTH MODE. PC MODE" in its little computerised voice as it automatically started up. It didn't have a proper off switch, if you switched it to 'off' while plugged into USB it would still just run off the USB supply. So I got into the habit of turning the volume dial right down when not in use in order to mute the startup recital.
- No headphone jack, so you still had to plug into the PC directly to use headphones.
I used to use smsl digital amps around the house. They sounded pretty decent, I thought.
Then a got a fosi V3 for the bedroom, which is fine. Didn't seem muscle better than the smsl for about half the price, though. It amplifies a WIUM Pro which enables every kind of steaming you could imagine. Also fine, but the standout feature being the room correction at such a low price point.
Then I got a WIIM Ultra and Vibe amp combo driving QAcoustics 3010is for the office for use throughout the day.
It blew my sticks off. I could heat a genuine improvement in the clarity of the midrange. Drums stood out and were distinct in tracks I'd been listening to for thirty odd years!
The DAC in the ultra and the digital amp may not be for the purists. But, for me, they're nigh-on perfect.
Oh, and like Sonos, the WIIM kit can all be interlinked to distribute audio around the house. Because if this, I have a second Pro feeding ceiling speakers in the kitchen (still with an smsl amp there as they are only ceiling speakers).
Then a got a fosi V3 for the bedroom, which is fine. Didn't seem muscle better than the smsl for about half the price, though. It amplifies a WIUM Pro which enables every kind of steaming you could imagine. Also fine, but the standout feature being the room correction at such a low price point.
Then I got a WIIM Ultra and Vibe amp combo driving QAcoustics 3010is for the office for use throughout the day.
It blew my sticks off. I could heat a genuine improvement in the clarity of the midrange. Drums stood out and were distinct in tracks I'd been listening to for thirty odd years!
The DAC in the ultra and the digital amp may not be for the purists. But, for me, they're nigh-on perfect.
Oh, and like Sonos, the WIIM kit can all be interlinked to distribute audio around the house. Because if this, I have a second Pro feeding ceiling speakers in the kitchen (still with an smsl amp there as they are only ceiling speakers).
I've had an SMSL desktop amp with Bluetooth for years now and it does a superb job in the spare room with a pair of Dali Lektor 2 speakers
It's an older version of this basically: https://www.amazon.co.uk/S-M-S-L-Infineons-technol...
Even used it to power a pair of KEF LS50s when my Cyrus 8DAC died and it didn't break a sweat at all
They're superb little things
It's an older version of this basically: https://www.amazon.co.uk/S-M-S-L-Infineons-technol...
Even used it to power a pair of KEF LS50s when my Cyrus 8DAC died and it didn't break a sweat at all
They're superb little things
I have a ‘stereo pair’ of Apple HomePods in my living room. I have another single one in my kitchen,/breakfast room. Given each one contains a speaker array, so there is no sense that one is mono. They are excellent and a bargain at £299 for what you’re getting. Also, because it’s Apple, everything works seamlessly.
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