The smsl SAP-8 is a fine little amp for the money, but no one seems to know about it. Most places have it for $100, but I got mine for about $85 shipped, although it took 3 weeks to arrive. I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's detailed and warm, with a large soundstage. It advertises "soft class A sounds", but I don't know if it's true class A. The softer sounds seem to come from the 3 op amps (brand VMV). I replaced them temporarily with my own LME49990, which are quite good, but I think the smsl op amps are a little better. Maybe they are trying to copy the famous MUSES01 op amp.
Hi ! thanks a lot for the confirmation of the good sound. Your comments mirror my impression. A very enjoyable sound.
However
i wonder if a better power supply could help with the SAP-8 .
Have you tried anything better than the stock one ?
I have the smsl VA2, which is also very good, but costs more. The VA2 may be slightly more detailed (hard to tell), but the natural sounding warmth and larger soundstage of the SAP-8 sound very good to my ears. I've noticed that amps with a large soundstage also have good "crosstalk" or "channel separation" specs, and that holds true for the SAP-8 vs VA2.
Good to know ! i would stay then on the Sap-8 ... soundstage is a big challenge for an electronics ... and musical sound is very important to me.
I could buy another one as spare ... the price is so nice.
But the VA1 crosstalk is an amazing 135db at 1kHz, so I would guess it has the largest soundstage. The other VA1 specs are excellent as well.
I have also the VA1 ... i am not using it now. I want to be honest.
I bought it on the basis of the spectacular low noise and distortion specified. I am a believer on measurements.
When i opened it
i found only op-amps ---
However the sound was ok ... less beautiful of the sap-8. BUT ! i have now the feeling that i should have been more patient.
I am pretty sure it is not broken-in rightly. I should give it more time to flesh out completely ... and then listening seriously.
I bought it also for the balanced input (my dac has XLR outs).
Also i do not like the mains transformer inside ... i like so much external transformer with umbilical ... i have something in mind actually ...
One impressive thing is the amount of uF in the power supply ... it is a lot indeed.
To end i would like to ramble a bit.
I have a very very strong feeling that taken a basically "robust" design and modify the ancillary parts like volume pot, connectors, box, wires and so on a very good improvement can be obtained. For instance i was shocked by the improvement given by using a decent stepped attenuator on a same line preamp. Unbelievable.
And this would be my long term project.
Take the board of one of these very nice units and upgrade the parts around it (and maybe better parts on the board).
The result could be very remarkable.
But i need time ... and i have very little now.
Thanks a lot again for the important confirmation on the sap-8 sound.
Regards, gino