[Ebonyisland]

Has anyone experienced the Sonic Impact Class T amp?
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/t-amp_e.html

Someone recommended it, along with its big brother the Sonic Impact Super T amp to me, to amp my Epos ELS-3 speakers via my PC.
http://www.si-technologies.com/front...p?productID=35

For $30, it seems like a really solid little amp. Any thoughts?

 

[tkam]

Do a search there was a ton of threads on the T-amp awhile back.

 

[patgod]

I bought one for a pair of BayAudio speakers I have. The amp works great! Since I have kids, I don't really crank it too high, but since the only other speakers we have are the ones built into the TV, they make these bookshelves sound awesome.

I've had the t-amp over 6 months and no complaints. Can't believe what a good deal that thing is.

-p

 

[ChaosCow]

If it can fit to your purposes, buy it. Search google for "Sonic Impact 6Moons" and there will be a VERY glowing review of it.

I've been using it for my Diamond 8.3s and it's been quite nice. Definitely an improvement over the sony that cost 7x as much!

 

[velogreg]

I have purchased a number of these amps both in their current T-amp format and DIY modded versions. I also own the standard five channel Pioneer Elite receiver and I can tell you that the Sonic Ts are really nice sounding and dead quite amps. I actually prefer the T-amp sound to the veiled sound of the Pioneer. Since the T-amps only put out about 15W you need efficient speakers of at least 88db. The amps really need about 30+ hours to break in, about three sets of AA batteries but the wait is worth it. Because of the low price I have added seperate systems through out my house wiring every TV and spare portable cd player laying around with it's own system.

 

[Ebonyisland]

My speakers sensitivity are rated at 87db. I have them in a small room, connected to my PC, so I don't think I'm going to need a ton of volume. Do you think I can get away with a 87db sensitivity?

 

[velogreg]

The T-Amp should drivethe speakers pretty well as long as you are not looking for floor shaking bass or loud rock and roll. Note the input to the T-Amp is a 3.5mm stereo input so if you use your computer as the source that means the (computer) line or headphone out. If you were planning to use a USB DAC then you need a Y cable taking two RCAs to one 3.5mm to plug into the T-Amp.

 

[kdaq]

The T-amp is stunning. You need efficient speakers, though. My roommates and I hooked one up to some Dahlquist DQ-10s, and DAMN. Clarity across the spectrum is razor-sharp, and it brought out a sweet, round and warm bass.

Note - the power supply is very important. There are recommendations around for specific ones. We used a regulated one from a local electronics store, and it sounded great. When we hooked up a regulated bench supply with much higher power handling, though, it really opened up, and sounded quite a bit better.

 

[cotdt]

it can also be used with a headphone with a resistor in parallel. sounds great, especially modded!

 

[JakeAmes]

There is a huge following of the Sonic Impact T-Amp over at diyaudio.com
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...0&pagenumber=1

I bought one a few months ago and played with it enough to convince myself all the glowing reports were real. So ... being adventurous I bought a couple more with the intent of making a killer semi portable patio, backyard, and maybe camping system. If you are somewhat handy with a soldering iron and want to eek more from these amazing $30 boxes it does not take much. Following the tips and/or recipes at diyaudio is easy and rewarding.

jake

 

[Ebonyisland]

I'm getting alot of feeback back in both directions. Some say that the amp won't be able to power my speakers, and the possibility of clipping may damage my speakers. Others are saying it will work well as long as I don't expect enough output for the neighbors to enjoy along with me. I guess there is only one way to end the dispute.

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebonyisland I'm getting alot of feeback back in both directions. Some say that the amp won't be able to power my speakers, and the possibility of clipping may damage my speakers. Others are saying it will work well as long as I don't expect enough output for the neighbors to enjoy along with me. I guess there is only one way to end the dispute.

Sonic impact is only 6 watts (8 ohm) for low distortion play, but I made a tripath amp (that sounds just like the sonic impact) that can do 100W/channel (160W 8ohm bridged!). If you upgrade the input and output capacitors, it sounds even better! You might want to check out the AMP5 at 41hz.com if you have the skills and time. amazing stuff.

but SI amp is enough to drive headphones! all you need is a resistor and it works great! upgrade the caps for bass output however.

 

[blueice]

Is AMP5 better sounding than T-amp unmodded/modded?

 

[SK138]

I have both Super T-amp and T-amp. Both sound very good. If I had to choose one I would choose Super T-amp for it's slight deeper bass extension. It also has more caps than the regular T-amp. I think the "best" (and simplest) mod you can do it is to feed it higher voltage. I use 13.5VAC (1.7amp) for both and they sound better with greater bass extension. Anything beyond 13.5v you are liable to damage it.

The best part about T-amp is you can hack it and put it in any "box" you want. Right now, I am in the process of putting the T-amp guts and the power supply in a small wooden jewel case with real speaker posts and RCA input plugs

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueice Is AMP5 better sounding than T-amp unmodded/modded?

it sounds the same but takes longer to burn in. it uses the higher output version of the same Tripath chip. how good it sounds depends on the parts you use for it, the way most people make the amp5, it will have a very nice power supply and nice capacitors so it will sound much better (more detailed, more transparent, better bass, "speaker-disappearing" effect) than the stock t-amp, not to mention much, much louder. but it works best with low and medium efficiency speakers since distortion is lowest at 40-70W output, whereas a well-modded t-amp has lowest distortion at 3-6W output. anyway, in my opinion the rigid cone speakers sound better (more detailed and neutral, lower distortion) and they are lower efficiency so i don't think it's worth it to buy/build high-efficiency speakers just so one can use a 6W t-amp/tube-amp since high-efficiency speakers have inherent limitations (such as resolving many complex intruments at once) due to the way they are designed.

not to mention that the tripath chip has features for being a headphone amp that isn't used in most commercial designs of it, but on the amp5 you have the option of utilizing the headphone amp features. i've never used them, opting to use speaker outs with resistor, but i bet they probably will sound very nice.