Is it 200 watts or 320 watts? Lepai LP1601S Amplifier Review and Test

The Lepai LP1601S is Lepai's latest amplifier and fits in the higher end of mini home amps. It sells for just under $100 USD and is stated to be a "200 watt Class D amplifier", yet the manual states the amp is capable of 160x2 at 10% THD. Class D design offers high efficiency and decent sound quality in a small package. The amp has RCA and Bluetooth capability and can drive most speakers for room-filling sound. Back to the wattage ratings, you know we are going to test and see what it really does...let's find out together!

Full disclosure: I purchased this amp, it was not provided by the manufacturer. All of the opinions in this video are my own and the content wasn't reviewed by anyone prior to posting. Affiliate links are provided for your convenience. I receive a portion of the sales from these links, which help me bring you more unbiased content for this channel.

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[chadtarleton]

I like that you test all types of amps.

[jamesplotkin]

Most impressive to me is that each channel is so close, to spot-on watts equally. I'd never run it to max, so the THD would be a lot lower at reasonable listening levels.

[Cynyr]

the included PSU is 32V @ 3A, or 96watts, so the fact that you could get close to 150watts out of it before the overcurrent limit kicks in is pretty impressive. I also expect there was some sag in it's output voltage at that power level as well. I bet if you ran at 70W/ch you'd see the brick get very hot, and probably shutdown on thermal at some point.
at 32V input to get 320Watts out you'd need 10A input.

[Acoustic_Theory]

In amps for sale in the EU, the binding posts are not allowed to be spaced according to the spacing required for dual banana plugs, because some European power cords with round pins use exactly the same spacing, and the profoundly efficient rule-makers in the EU government don't want people getting the two confused with each other. So even most new high-end amplifiers don't use the standard spacing.

[zxWhite]

Alright here it is. I've been waiting for this since I saw your comment on another video. Thanks Derek, time to watch.

[ChrisDIYerOklahoma]

I know this is an older video. But, just wanted to say "thanks" for doing what you do. I have learned a TON from watching your videos and learning how to get the most out of my chip-amp DIY ammo can speaker builds. 😎

[randallcromer]

I bought this about a month ago and I couldn't be more happy with the quality of both the sound and build quality. I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys listening to music.

[ChrisDIYerOklahoma]

Do the Texas Instruments TPA3116 chips work the same way? I purchased a 100 x 2 Bluetooth 4.2 mini amp with dual TPA3116 chips. Currently, I am running 24v input (I am using a DC-to-DC step up booster from 12v). Works excellent, sounds excellent. There is a guy saying I can run it all the up to 36v voltage input to the amp. What do you think? Thanks...great video!

[wal]

Full disclosure: I purchased this amp, it was not provided by the manufacturer. All of the opinions in this video are my own and the content wasn't reviewed by anyone prior to posting. Affiliate links are provided for your convenience. I receive a portion of the sales from these links, which help me bring you more unbiased content for this channel.

[jeffneedstogivejakeaturnon]

I have the last generation of this amp(silver one) and it's made it into multiple boom box projects of mine simply by virtue of it being so versatile. I had the same issue with a small bit of black noise with the supplied power brick, but when I hooked it to a 24 v werker sealed lead acid battery, noise went away.
Thanks for the video man, these amps are a great diy bargain.

[Toid]

Great video! It is so nice to see what it is actually capable of both with the supplied and an upgraded power supply. I am linking your video to mine now. Thanks for taking the time to do this video! As always, great content!

[olorinhenderson]

Yeah, the PSU can output an absolute maximum (on paper) of 108w. It won't, or shouldn't, be a problem for music since you're not playing pink noise at maximum volume, and the likelihood is, the capacitors in the PSU will allow higher current/wattage bursts to handle the transients in music.

[focibc]

Fantastic overview of this little amp. Really appreciate your attention to detail and on camera presence

[Toolstilediy]

What’s a good marine amp under $100 for my side x side? Any recommendations for speakers that also have really good base? Thanks Big D!!

[gereral_jackofalltrades]

Would it be good to run 4 of these as 7 channel surround and .1 go to powered sub. Would to audio be better than all in one 7.1 receiver?

[UnrealVideoDuke]

Whole case can act like a heat sink. No Ventilation for the heat sink on the main chip inside the case. Priceless!
I wouldn't expect to be pushing this amp to the max for any extended period of time.

[Darieee]

Great video .. was starting to get scared you weren't gonna take the heatsink off .. phew. Again for those interested the chip is (according to bigD) the ST TDA7498e

[themadmallard]

Most of these amps I've seen that carry an external power transformer/rectifier package connection have cheaped out on the included ones. By the time you add the cost of a quality one in to reach the advertised power ratings, you reach the same cost as typical big-name amps with internal power guts.

[TechGorilla]

Not a lot of people would test this with a different power supply. This is what sets you apart from the rest. Nice.

[Acoustic_Theory]

These amps are almost always limited by the voltage and current available from the power supply. Also, power for these commodity chips is normally rated at 10% THD. Class-D chips tend to have very low THD up to a "knee" where the onset of clipping occurs, then they rise rapidly, but the benefit of this is that the 1% or 0.1% THD power output is not very much less than the rated power rating. Also, your speakers are usually generating much more THD than the amplifier, even at the amplifier's full rated power.