Sonic Impact T-Amp Amplifiers

Sonic Impact T-Amp Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

  • 15 watt
  • "Class T" switching amplifier technology
  • Portable
  • Battery or AC powered

  • USER REVIEWS

    Showing 11-17 of 17  
    [Feb 24, 2006]
    jonlane31
    AudioPhile

    Strength:

    sound stage , sound quality

    Weakness:

    power output, no rca inputs, should come with power adapter, using radio shack 12 volt 1.5 amp wired to 3 amps

    i had purchased the sonic t-amp a few months ago with the intent of using it to power a pair of outdoor klh 3-way speakers so i could listemn to music out by the pool in the summer. christmas came and my brother gave me a 50.00 gift card at best buy so i bought another set of insignia 3-way speakers to run the amp at 4 ohms instead of 8 to get alittle more output from the amp.then i came up with the idea of surround sound for my home stereo it is 800 watts pec channel i am running 2 carver a-500x amps driving a pair of infinity sm-155s. so what i did was buy 2 more sonic t-amps and a vidsonic model mg-84c center channel speaker and i plan to use a passive sub woofer.i have 3 sonic t-amps hooked to 1 of my sont dvp-cx985v 400 disc dvd changers it has all of the surround sound featurs as a seperate processor even a tone generator. what a combination i was never much of a surround sound person with 800 watts per channel on tap. i was very impressed with this set up i have 10,000 worth of equipment on the rack and laugh when i tell them it is 800 watts per channel and 6 watts per channel in surround sound lol

    Similar Products Used:

    none

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Oct 21, 2005]
    eggzy43
    Audio Enthusiast

    Strength:

    richness, soundstage, stunning VFM

    Weakness:

    underpowered otherwise beyond critisism at this price

    Hi Guys, I'm new here-please excuse my lack of technical knowledge. I got a T-AMP from ebay UK for £34.77 inc. P&P, it duly arrived about 9 days ago from San Francisco [very fast delivery!] My goodness it's small! It looks more like a £1.99p air purifier you would get from Wilkinson’s! [cheapo dime store]. Actually the case is fairly well made and all the parts fit together okay, the spring-loaded speaker inputs are poor though, it came with a ridiculously short input lead and that’s it! I went and bought 8 AA batteries which filled up half the amps inner space, That’s how small it is! Anyway because I had no phono-to-1/8” jack adaptor I hooked it up to my Soundblaster soundcard, and Mission 731 speakers [89db allegedly] with some generic so-so OFC cable. I turned the wick up to 10 0’clock and played some tracks through Winamp. My first reaction was how intense and “brassy” thing sounded, not grating nor offensive, it just seemed to have a ‘chrome-plated’ sound, I noticed a presence and clarity on Nat King Cole’s’ voice I had never heard before, a glass-clear silkiness with gorgeous rich-sounding strings, drums on some U2 tracks sounded very much like wood hitting skin, the snares gave out a papery ring if you know what I mean, and yet some tracks sounded bloody awful! The bass was pretty dwindling…but all-in-all it was a good experience really, it was certainly different from my aged Cambridge amp which by comparison now seems very muffled and thin. When I turned the volume up some more it quickly ran out of steam which I put down to the cheapo AA batteries. I think they have a lot to answer for! I got a 12v 2.2Ah battery from Maplin, hooked that up and immediately I was able to turn the volume up some more without any harsh clipping. And there’s bass too! I want to do some modding but before that I want to try an external mod by placing capacitor across the battery terminals, which I believe will give it a more welly: I’ve been offered a big 10,000uf 24v electrolyte to put across the battery terminals, and would gratefully welcome any advice on this before I go ahead. The T-AMP is definitely getting better by the day, it seems to have rounded-off all the hardness, it’s very listenable and musical, so all I can say is try one coz’ if it sounds this good in it’s ‘raw’ state how will it sound when it’s properly set up with a better source? I’ve just ordered another T-AMP for backup. Update: capacitor fitted, now I have more bass and richness, this amp is phenomenal, it can only get better. I’m not asking you to throw your expensive old amplifiers in the bin, just you preconceptions. Eric Runcorn4@hotmail.com

    Similar Products Used:

    none

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Sep 21, 2005]
    j416
    Audio Enthusiast

    Strength:

    Cheap price. Great value.

    Weakness:

    Low power. Cheap connectors.

    I bought this out of curiosity and have no regrets. It is fine for a small, cheap system in a small room or for background music outside, but I wouldn't call it a high end product. It is lean sounding and its power limitations are quite obvious. It does an ok job driving small, cheap speakers like Radio Shack Minimus 7, ADS L210 or Onix Rocket Outdoor speakers, providing you don't play them very loud. With these speakers it is better than any boom box, computer speaker or ipod accessory product that I have heard. It cannot drive inefficient, revealing speakers, like the small Spendors I tried it with. It is a great value for the money. It is designed to work with a portable music device and cheap speakers and that is where I have found it to work best. I tried it with both batteries and an ac adapter and heard little difference.

    OVERALL
    RATING
    4
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Sep 15, 2005]
    montexr20
    Audio Enthusiast

    Strength:

    same as 1st review

    Weakness:

    ac power supply has a affect on sound.

    This is just a quick follow up to my review. I was using batteries to power the unit when the review was written. I then purchased a $15.00 regulated power supply from PartsExpress.com and it sounded awful! Sterile and lifeless. I went to RadioShack and purchased a 12V 1500ma ac adaptor and things are much better. I still think this thing sounded the best with batteries though. Be careful with the power supply you get and good luck. This little guy is amazing!

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Sep 13, 2005]
    montexr20
    Audio Enthusiast

    Strength:

    Price point Soundstage Size

    Weakness:

    none I can think of.

    First let me say my hobby has been home audio since my teens and I have had the opportunity to own many different types of receivers, amps and integrated amps. My most recent system consisted of a 1978 Harman Kardon Citation 19 amplifier with a Chase Technologies Line Controller as a pre amp, Onkyo Integra CD player and Pinnacle Classic Gold Aerogel Tower speakers. The HK Citation 19 is a 100wpc amp that has a beautifully sweet midrange and a clean top end. Bass control is good but not great. The amplifier had been brought up to operating specs by an electronics engineer. This combo sounded excellent with plenty of power and a nice almost tube like midrange. I then saw a McCormack DNA 0.5 amp on Ebay and picked it up for $550. The McCormack absolutely thrashed the HK in terms of soundstage and resolution and became my new reference amp. Then I began reading about this little T-Amp from Sonic Impact after many reviews I purchased one from Target.com. I dug up some smaller high quality speaker cable because I knew my cable would probably not fit into the T-Amps little spring clips. I also purchased a gold plated mini-headphone plug to RCA jack adaptor at Radio Shack for $6.00. I made sure I had a fresh pack of alkaline AA batteries ready to go. The amp arrived and I unpacked the little plastic unit. It is very light and looks a little like the AR Sound Enhancer. I installed the batteries, which made it feel a little more like an amp, and wired it up. I turned it on and turned the volume to about 9:00 o’clock and let it sit for about a minute before hitting play on the CD player. Right away I new it sounded much better than a $30.00 plastic amp should sound. Vocals and string instruments sounded finely detailed and clean. The sound stage was big and I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My brain listened with anticipation for each note and things only got better as time went on. Let me put it this way, after listening to this little wonder for two days (same batteries) my son said “Dad why don’t you listen to the McCormack? You just got it”. So I wired up the McCormack and we sat and listened to the same song that was playing on the T-Amp we looked at each other for a while and said this does sound better right? How could this $30.00 6 watt flea amp be sounding good enough to be in the same company as a McCormack and not be completely embarrassed! Don’t get me wrong it does not sound like the McCormack but it does sound amazing. If you told me I must give up the McCormack and live with the T-Amp I think I would be fine. One thing I noticed about the T-Amp is that it’s kind of like an addiction, when you’re listening to it your content, when you’re not your thinking about it wishing you were! I just ordered a regulated power supply and another amp so I can try Bi-amping the Pinnacle’s. One note- my Pinnacle’s are rated at 95db sensitivity so in my 24’ X 18’ listening room the amp is able to drive them reasonably well. If you have an ear and efficient speakers you must try one of these little miracles. It’s the best $30.00 I’ve spent.

    Similar Products Used:

    there isn't any I know of.

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Jun 01, 2005]
    mleghorn1
    Audio Enthusiast

    Strength:

    * Sounds better than amplifiers 100 times more expensive (no joke!) * No need for pre-amp. * Easy to tinker with (e.g. add better volume control, RCA inputs, speaker posts) * Stunning detail, musical, ethereal highs, huge soundstage, excellent imaging.

    Weakness:

    It would be ridiculous for me to find any fault with something that sounds so good for $30.

    This product is unbelievable. It is the audiofile's dream come true. I took the guts out of mine, and plopped into a decent metal box with decent RCA inputs, and speaker terminals. I replaced the volume control with a TKD stepped attenuator ($375 -- many times more expensive than the T-amp -- you do the math). My source is a Proceed PDT3 transport and a Proceed PDP3 DAC and very high quality Transparent interconnects. The speakers are homemade with Audax drivers -- 2-way, connected to the amp with high quality Transparent speaker cable. What a huge improvement over the Norh SE-9 class A tube amp (with EL34 output tubes), which I was using happily up until now! Compared to the Norh, the T-amp has much better detail, extended, airy, ethereal highs, more dynamics, and better imaging. I've been listening to my "new" system for a few days now, and I still can't believe my ears. I tell my wife that this $30 investment has resulted in my no longer being interested in spending a couple grand on an amp sometime in the distant future. You might say that the T-amp has the ultimate WAF.

    Similar Products Used:

    Bryston 3B-ST with Audiolab 8000Q preamp. Norh SE-9 class A tube amp.

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    Showing 11-17 of 17  

    (C) Copyright 1996-2018. All Rights Reserved.

    audioreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation

    Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network:

    mtbr.com | roadbikereview.com | carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com