I got this amp to hook up with a pair of small bookshelf speakers in my bedroom, where I'd mostly listen to streaming stuff and lack of space for a huge amp; this small AD18 with inbuilt DAC and Bluetooth made a great choice overall.
Initial impressions :
Its pretty small compared to my NAD or Onkyo, Almost half size of a brick, pretty light as well. Its portable and can be hidden from sight easily if required. Funnily the power brick that comes with the amp is equally big as the amp itself. Comes with A Bluetooth antenna which needs to be fixed to the slot and here you go..
Set up and Menu :
A large dial on the front below the tiny display is multipurpose ; acts as volume rocker, power button, menu selection; all in one brilliant. The usage is very intuitive and quite brilliant effort at simplicity by Chinese engineers. The chassis is strong enough, no typical Chinese stuff weaknesses observed. The supplied remote is all aluminum! (pretty small as much as half size of a credit card and handy) didn't work at first, but I figured out that the battery was kept upside down to prevent draining. All functions can be controlled by the remote, and again very intuitive. Volume can be increased by round dial and max reaches to 60.
First menu selection is for sources five in total Aux, Optical, Micro USB, Coax and Bluetooth. BT is 4.2 and aptx compatible. Coax is a jack type and not RCA type.
Second option is for selecting the output between headphones and speakers ; it has a very good headphone amp output. Next is EQ : has some 6 settings jazz, rock etc. Next menu is for bass and treble settings, only +/- 3 levels, Next option to change the display color from white, blue or green all with very good visibility overall. The supplied manual is pretty basic, useful nevertheless.
Sound Quality :
I used MX cables, Tannoy speakers, IPhone streaming, Marantz CD 6006 via optical and Rpi music server via USB inputs. Compared with Same sources, Gungnir DAC feeding Nad C372 to the same set of speakers.
First via Bluetooth - Apple music streaming : very clear and distortion free sound. Bluetooth has exceptional range and reception. Initially I listened via headphones and it has a great headphone amp. Easily comparable to any fiio amp below 10k.
When I switched to the speakers they sounded quite engaging but hey wait a second, Where's the bass? I changed tracks/sources to look I'm missing something but default bass was pretty abysmal in otherwise a boomy room of mine. I went through the menu and increased the bass from 0 to +1 & voila! the bass was strikingly evident. As I increased it to +3 it was boomy enough to equal my Nad amp. I listened at +1 bass for the rest of it, as it's more than adequate for anyone. The equalizer settings will do the same bass correction but didn't appeal to puritan like me. I kept EQ off and bass at +1.
The source switching was pretty easy and inbuilt DAC is of good quality. The Aux input wasn't half as good as its digital inputs. I didn't like the analog feed from Gungnir to AD18, instead I preferred giving digital input to AD18 directly! So if you are relying too much on analog sources don't consider this amp. The Wav files and Cds playback from Marantz via optical input of AD18 was pretty perfect and the best output from it, comparable to amps costing 5 times it cost.
Casual Listening :
Its a very engaging, precise sound output, you don't need to crank volume above 35 (max 60 remember). Its smooth, no distorting sounds, hums etc. It is more than enough for casual listening. Sounds get horribly distorted if you increase the volume above 50, its unbearable to say the least. But you'd never need to raise it more than 35 as it was quite loud at 30 for my listening room of 19x14ft. It has enough power to rattle large sized rooms without sound distortion. It is very enjoyable for variety of music genre, best for new bollywood hits, Rap, R&B pop etc. Oldies are good upto Gazals & Kishore but Mukesh and older sounded bit harsh, had to change treble levels to - 1.
Critical Listening :
It has fair amount of Digital glare, bit annoying with Mp3 files and acoustic guitar notes. Most of it can be tackled by EQ or Tone controls but nowhere near to analog sound.
Stereo imaging and sound stage is bit (highlighting BIT) lacking compared to chunky, costlier amps.
The voices sound bit tiny, and shallow ; the wholesomeness is lacking again its a bit of a difference in Critical listening. Sounds appear to be coming from slightly smaller speakers than what you actually expect.
The details of on board DAC are quite amazing, its a bright amp nevertheless. The DAC's resolution is similar to Smsl M8 - identical signature of ESS chip based DAC.
The highs can get really harsh, avoid pairing with brighter speakers. The sound signature is almost identical to the Yamaha amps, powerful, detailed and harsh if wrongly paired.
The bass is lacking at default but as I've mentioned earlier +1 level of bass settings is more than enough for most of people.
Final Words (for people like me)
POSITIVES
VFM
Decent power output
Good on board DAC
Good headphone amp
Very good Bluetooth connection
Plethora of digital inputs
Small, power efficient
Ultra convenient remote
Good build quality, led display
Very Good sound quality for casual listening, SQ deficiencies are evident only during critical listening
NEGATIVES
Poor sound quality with analog input
Distorted sound at higher volumes
Default bass is lacking
Digital glare, needs tonal controls
Overtly Bright becomes harsh if speakers are not matched, ears will fatigue early
Wholesomeness of the vocals is bit lacking, so is sound stage and imaging.
After sales service support
Reliability is a concern, amp developed problems in 30hrs of listening. (read below)
RELIABILITY
Most importantly after some 30hrs of listening amp one day, suddenly became very damped and the whole volume and details are gone. It produced faint distorted sound. Cranking the volume to even max it was barely audible, leave alone the details. As if only 15% of power is being delivered. Surprisingly the headphone amp section is working perfectly fine. I don't know what's gone wrong. Aliexpress seller isn't responding properly, returning is the only option as it is in the window of return window of aliexpress. I have already raised a dispute ticket from my side hopefully I get a refund or a replacement (honestly I'm ok with this amp & it serves my purpose completely) ASAP. If the buyer guarantee does not work out, I'll end up with a non working amp or good headphone amp costing 11k!
[emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22]
Specifications :
Model Number: AD18
Signal to noise ratio: 90dB
Power amplifier output power (4ohm): 80W * 2 (45w*2 - 8ohm)
Headphone output (32 ohms):*53mW@THD = 0.04%
THD + N: 0.04%
EQ Quantity: 7 kinds
Treble adjustment range: 8dB
Bass adjustment range: 8dB
Bluetooth specification: BT4.2
Input interface: USB, coaxial, 3.5mm analog, Bluetooth, optical fiber * 2
Output interface: amplifier output port, headphone port
Chip: TAS5508C, TAS5342A, CS8422, VT1620A, MAX97220A, CS5341, BT4.2 Bluetooth module, NE5532
USB sampling rate: 16bit 44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz-192kHz; 24bit 44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz
USB Compatibility: USB2.0
Optical fiber sampling rate: 16bit44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz-192kHz
Coaxial sampling rate: 16bit44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz-192kHz
Power amplifier power consumption: 50W
Amp consumption: 4W
Standby power: 0.8W
Supply voltage: 24V
Total weight: 1.55Kg
Packing size: 275 * 231 * 74mm
Package:
Power supply
MICRO USB cable
Remote control
Antenna
Initial impressions :
Its pretty small compared to my NAD or Onkyo, Almost half size of a brick, pretty light as well. Its portable and can be hidden from sight easily if required. Funnily the power brick that comes with the amp is equally big as the amp itself. Comes with A Bluetooth antenna which needs to be fixed to the slot and here you go..
Set up and Menu :
A large dial on the front below the tiny display is multipurpose ; acts as volume rocker, power button, menu selection; all in one brilliant. The usage is very intuitive and quite brilliant effort at simplicity by Chinese engineers. The chassis is strong enough, no typical Chinese stuff weaknesses observed. The supplied remote is all aluminum! (pretty small as much as half size of a credit card and handy) didn't work at first, but I figured out that the battery was kept upside down to prevent draining. All functions can be controlled by the remote, and again very intuitive. Volume can be increased by round dial and max reaches to 60.
First menu selection is for sources five in total Aux, Optical, Micro USB, Coax and Bluetooth. BT is 4.2 and aptx compatible. Coax is a jack type and not RCA type.
Second option is for selecting the output between headphones and speakers ; it has a very good headphone amp output. Next is EQ : has some 6 settings jazz, rock etc. Next menu is for bass and treble settings, only +/- 3 levels, Next option to change the display color from white, blue or green all with very good visibility overall. The supplied manual is pretty basic, useful nevertheless.
Sound Quality :
I used MX cables, Tannoy speakers, IPhone streaming, Marantz CD 6006 via optical and Rpi music server via USB inputs. Compared with Same sources, Gungnir DAC feeding Nad C372 to the same set of speakers.
First via Bluetooth - Apple music streaming : very clear and distortion free sound. Bluetooth has exceptional range and reception. Initially I listened via headphones and it has a great headphone amp. Easily comparable to any fiio amp below 10k.
When I switched to the speakers they sounded quite engaging but hey wait a second, Where's the bass? I changed tracks/sources to look I'm missing something but default bass was pretty abysmal in otherwise a boomy room of mine. I went through the menu and increased the bass from 0 to +1 & voila! the bass was strikingly evident. As I increased it to +3 it was boomy enough to equal my Nad amp. I listened at +1 bass for the rest of it, as it's more than adequate for anyone. The equalizer settings will do the same bass correction but didn't appeal to puritan like me. I kept EQ off and bass at +1.
The source switching was pretty easy and inbuilt DAC is of good quality. The Aux input wasn't half as good as its digital inputs. I didn't like the analog feed from Gungnir to AD18, instead I preferred giving digital input to AD18 directly! So if you are relying too much on analog sources don't consider this amp. The Wav files and Cds playback from Marantz via optical input of AD18 was pretty perfect and the best output from it, comparable to amps costing 5 times it cost.
Casual Listening :
Its a very engaging, precise sound output, you don't need to crank volume above 35 (max 60 remember). Its smooth, no distorting sounds, hums etc. It is more than enough for casual listening. Sounds get horribly distorted if you increase the volume above 50, its unbearable to say the least. But you'd never need to raise it more than 35 as it was quite loud at 30 for my listening room of 19x14ft. It has enough power to rattle large sized rooms without sound distortion. It is very enjoyable for variety of music genre, best for new bollywood hits, Rap, R&B pop etc. Oldies are good upto Gazals & Kishore but Mukesh and older sounded bit harsh, had to change treble levels to - 1.
Critical Listening :
It has fair amount of Digital glare, bit annoying with Mp3 files and acoustic guitar notes. Most of it can be tackled by EQ or Tone controls but nowhere near to analog sound.
Stereo imaging and sound stage is bit (highlighting BIT) lacking compared to chunky, costlier amps.
The voices sound bit tiny, and shallow ; the wholesomeness is lacking again its a bit of a difference in Critical listening. Sounds appear to be coming from slightly smaller speakers than what you actually expect.
The details of on board DAC are quite amazing, its a bright amp nevertheless. The DAC's resolution is similar to Smsl M8 - identical signature of ESS chip based DAC.
The highs can get really harsh, avoid pairing with brighter speakers. The sound signature is almost identical to the Yamaha amps, powerful, detailed and harsh if wrongly paired.
The bass is lacking at default but as I've mentioned earlier +1 level of bass settings is more than enough for most of people.
Final Words (for people like me)
POSITIVES
VFM
Decent power output
Good on board DAC
Good headphone amp
Very good Bluetooth connection
Plethora of digital inputs
Small, power efficient
Ultra convenient remote
Good build quality, led display
Very Good sound quality for casual listening, SQ deficiencies are evident only during critical listening
NEGATIVES
Poor sound quality with analog input
Distorted sound at higher volumes
Default bass is lacking
Digital glare, needs tonal controls
Overtly Bright becomes harsh if speakers are not matched, ears will fatigue early
Wholesomeness of the vocals is bit lacking, so is sound stage and imaging.
After sales service support
Reliability is a concern, amp developed problems in 30hrs of listening. (read below)
RELIABILITY
Most importantly after some 30hrs of listening amp one day, suddenly became very damped and the whole volume and details are gone. It produced faint distorted sound. Cranking the volume to even max it was barely audible, leave alone the details. As if only 15% of power is being delivered. Surprisingly the headphone amp section is working perfectly fine. I don't know what's gone wrong. Aliexpress seller isn't responding properly, returning is the only option as it is in the window of return window of aliexpress. I have already raised a dispute ticket from my side hopefully I get a refund or a replacement (honestly I'm ok with this amp & it serves my purpose completely) ASAP. If the buyer guarantee does not work out, I'll end up with a non working amp or good headphone amp costing 11k!
[emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22]
Specifications :
Model Number: AD18
Signal to noise ratio: 90dB
Power amplifier output power (4ohm): 80W * 2 (45w*2 - 8ohm)
Headphone output (32 ohms):*53mW@THD = 0.04%
THD + N: 0.04%
EQ Quantity: 7 kinds
Treble adjustment range: 8dB
Bass adjustment range: 8dB
Bluetooth specification: BT4.2
Input interface: USB, coaxial, 3.5mm analog, Bluetooth, optical fiber * 2
Output interface: amplifier output port, headphone port
Chip: TAS5508C, TAS5342A, CS8422, VT1620A, MAX97220A, CS5341, BT4.2 Bluetooth module, NE5532
USB sampling rate: 16bit 44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz-192kHz; 24bit 44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz
USB Compatibility: USB2.0
Optical fiber sampling rate: 16bit44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz-192kHz
Coaxial sampling rate: 16bit44.1kHz-48kHz-96kHz-192kHz
Power amplifier power consumption: 50W
Amp consumption: 4W
Standby power: 0.8W
Supply voltage: 24V
Total weight: 1.55Kg
Packing size: 275 * 231 * 74mm
Package:
Power supply
MICRO USB cable
Remote control
Antenna
Last edited:
