SMSL A200 is a feature-rich and affordable amplifier

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00:00 About A200
01:11 Sound
02:57 vs AO200 MKII and A300
05:02 vs Fosi ZA3
06:13 Is it just me?
06:43 Conclusion

Test setup
Streamers:
Allo DigiOne Signature (with GentooPlayer and Diretta protocol)
DACs:
Preamps:
Amps:
Speakers:

Head-Fi test setup:

#hifi #audiophile #amplifier #stereo

[DN]

But but it has VU meters! two of them.... Seriously. why even review this one?

[keenmate]

I was wondering, do you have a list of devices you currently recommend to buy in given price range, for an average listener that is.. of course, we all have different hearing but still.

[stevezeidman]

Loved the ending! Another upfront review. When you put out a new product every 3 weeks, some will be terrible.

[dragonstone]

Great review.
Can you also review the new Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G and compare it to Wharfedale ELYSIAN 2?

[PhillioDoede]

This amp despite being newer is a weird and pointless step backwards for SMSL. The AO200 MkII, AL200, AO300 all use the same Infineon MA5332MS amplifier module and Cirrus Logic DAC and are essentially the same thing with different IO but all sound excellent. This uses something different from Infineon is inferior yet this amp costs more. Personally I'd like to see a end game SMSL VMV amp based MA5332MS with all the features and IO.

[SastusBulbas]

When can we have a power amp only item with internal power supply and no nonsense. All some of us want is a budget amp, Stereo RCA inputs, left and right speaker outputs on binding posts, with a front panel power button and IEC lead.

[valentinvalentin]

Hello, Sir! Topping b100 monoblock amplifier it s out!! We are waiting for your review 😊

[TheVeganVicar]

I want to thank you for another wonderful review! 👌

Reverend Dr. Thomas,
✝️ The Vegan Vicar 🌱

[michaelstanley]

I have a FOSI ZA3 (upgraded with MUSES02 op amps) in my home office and a SMSL AO300 in the dining room. The upgraded FOSI blows it away, but I believe the SMSL is better at the stock configuration. Neither of them seem to deliver the power output that they claim, but they are certainly loud enough for what I need. We are living in an amazing time for budget audio, you have to spend a lot of money to get anything better.

[shaunyweaver]

Just buy the Sabaj A30a and forget about the rest, at 500 it's a sleeper .

[paulwoaert]

I just posted a comment on your old video "iFi Zen Can DEEP DIVE REVIEW ». 

In case you are not going to consult answers on older videos, I paste here my comment-question :

«  2 years have passed since this video.

Have you tested the JDS Labs Atom Amp 2 which is often praised for its perfect sound fidelity (without modification) and its apparently impressive lack of distortion. How do you compare it to the Topping A30 Pro and the Ifi Zen CAN?

Do you know the Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid - CTH? (I know it came out about 5 years ago). But the reviews are often glowing.

Your judgment of the Beyerdynamic headphones surprised me a little. They are not all analytical. The DT 770 pro (closed headphones) and the DT 990 Pro (open headphones) still offer a lot of bass and sound roundness, which offers an excellent sound perspective (wide, warm and defined) for listening to music (especially the DT 990 pro). Other models are more analytical: the DT 900 pro X for example » .

[Vinylbop]

This is the first critical review I came across on YouTube 😅 Great!

[whocares]

Look, there is a lot of budget gear out there, and I totally encourage it! There are different class D chips and they do have a different sound signatures, noise floors, and some are most definitely better than others. I even bought 2 of the new Fosi balanced monoblocks, as they were a bargain. I also own an SMSL VMV A1 10w biased class A amp, which is another class in price higher. The A1 maybe worth it, for the money, if you have the speaker efficiently. As always, thanks for another good review. People on a super tight budget need reviews to sort out the more inexpensive gear.

[d.s.]

Thank you for the review, but iirc, when recommending other products or combination of products you completely disregard the HDMI ARC that's missing from all of them and is a big selling point of this product.

[bullwinklemoose]

It's not a bad portable amp for $90

If you check the specs, you will see that the internals seem to be exactly the same as the SMSL A50Pro which costs about $90

The A50Pro is portable and can be powered from a small battery bank like the Anker 537
The A200 is not portable and costs $180 dollars more just to get 2 VU meters on the front

The A50Pro also has the 3rd 100 Watt channel for a Subwoofer if needed

The Digital USB input is basically SPDIF over USB, meaning that it is compatible with most game consoles and even Windows XP which does not have USB Audio Class 2 support
* No drivers are required!

The A200 is definitely not worth the asking price, but for $90, the portable A50Pro definitely is

The A50Pro only draws between 2.5 and 3 watts of power from the 12 Volt USB-A port of my battery bank at ANY Volume level with extremely efficient Klipsch desktop speakers attached

12 Volt Trigger adapters available on Amazon to power it from any USB-A port that also supports 12 Volt output

The sound quality is as expected when powering the A50Pro Amp anywhere from 12-24 Volts
The sound quality is NOT what is expected when powering the A200 from 120 Volt AC and jacking the price by 3X

[FunFiEmpire]

SMSL does Aiyima from three years ago. I think this would pair better with Sony SCSS5s. I don't understand this release with better offered for the same price as you point out. Not FunFi, its MehFi.

[vladimirjovanovic]

Good review Srbo, thank you very much.
Goes to show that not all inexpensive ChiFi gear available lately is "giant-killer" or "best value", or whatever hype adjectives are currently modern on YT.
For sure there are little gems (like the SU-1 you mentioned in the review) which represent a very high value for the money, but I reckon that most of it is just not recommendable at all.
Of course, one can't get to review/audition all of the gear that appears so fast, and of course there are prejudices against cheap gear, so it's easy to maybe miss some great cheap pieces as well.

[basukisugito]

Thanks for the review, 70w is not enough... but I really wish an amplifier with two vu meters

[cbayardelle]

USUALLY SOUNDSTAGE COMES FROM SPEAKER PLACEMENT, UNLESS THE AMP IS DEFECTIVE 😊

[markovlasic]

ja imam DiY 1 i 2 oma tranmission 8 inča zvučnike Dragića Dragićevića i guram ih sa 3 vrste pojačala. Jedno od njih je i Fosi Audio koji odlično radi na 2 oma i sa 15 volti napajanja. Zvučnici su sa preko 120 db osetljivosti, takav je patent. Nisam siguran da bi se SMSL dobro pokazao, dok recimo DAC smsl su-1 odlično stvara zvučnu sliku.