Amp suggestions

[drlowmu]

FLAC files on laptop is my source. I use 3.5mm to RCA to connect the amp. I don't have any DAC, so can't check. I tried all the inputs. It's same with all inputs.

Thanks for the response. But I don't think this is due to amplifier cliping or feeding more power to speaker. The amp has volume level upto 60. I never crossed 40 level.

My guess :


You may be wrong, Indian Ears right.

 

[MasTerasTrix]

Hi Guys,

I recently bought SMSL A300 and Q Acoustics 3020i speakers. I'm really enjoying the new setup, the sound was very good at low volumes under 30(Amp has volume upto 60). But when I crank the volume above 30 on the A300, the highs become piercing and it is unbearable in some songs. I even tried adding a tube amplifier to the chain but I didn't hear any noticeable change.

Before this setup I used Fosi BT20A with Micca RB42 speakers. Same case with that setup as well.

Now I'm thinking of buying DA-9. Will it be any better than the A300 or should I look for something else?

I use DAC 14 AWG speaker cable with DAC banana plugs. Shoul I change the speaker cables?

This is for the desktop setup so that I'm looking for amplifiers with small footprint.

Heyya brother....i feel Kannan has given you all the answers you need and is the simplest and most efficient way to have sorted this issue out.
Since you have sold the amp there's no way to check that now. When you do get yourself a new amp I'm sure if this persists then you know the root cause. Try it and I'm sure you will have found the answer.
I'm using a SMSL A100 amp, with an LDAC streamer with bookshelf speakers and even at Max volume there's absolutely no clipping or distortion . The music sounds clean and loud. I'm sure it's the output from the source that's causing the issue here.
Cheers.


Hi Guys,

I recently bought SMSL A300 and Q Acoustics 3020i speakers. I'm really enjoying the new setup, the sound was very good at low volumes under 30(Amp has volume upto 60). But when I crank the volume above 30 on the A300, the highs become piercing and it is unbearable in some songs. I even tried adding a tube amplifier to the chain but I didn't hear any noticeable change.

Before this setup I used Fosi BT20A with Micca RB42 speakers. Same case with that setup as well.

Now I'm thinking of buying DA-9. Will it be any better than the A300 or should I look for something else?

I use DAC 14 AWG speaker cable with DAC banana plugs. Shoul I change the speaker cables?

This is for the desktop setup so that I'm looking for amplifiers with small footprint.
[/QUOTE]

 

[SanVJ]

Heyya brother....i feel Kannan has given you all the answers you need and is the simplest and most efficient way to have sorted this issue out.
Since you have sold the amp there's no way to check that now. When you do get yourself a new amp I'm sure if this persists then you know the root cause. Try it and I'm sure you will have found the answer.
I'm using a SMSL A100 amp, with an LDAC streamer with bookshelf speakers and even at Max volume there's absolutely no clipping or distortion . The music sounds clean and loud. I'm sure it's the output from the source that's causing the issue here.
Cheers.

I sold the SMSL amp and purchased the Aiyima A08 Pro shortly after creating this post. This resolved the issue as the sound was not harsh even at maximum volume.

However, I later decided to sell the Aiyima amp as well in order to try out something else. The Marantz 6007 is currently on its way.

 

[mbhangui]

FLAC files on laptop is my source. I use 3.5mm to RCA to connect the amp. I don't have any DAC, so can't check. I tried all the inputs. It's same with all inputs.

Thanks for the response. But I don't think this is due to amplifier cliping or feeding more power to speaker. The amp has volume level upto 60. I never crossed 40 level.

@IndianEars has given the right advice.h
You are driving your AMP line level input using headphone out. You should be driving your input with something with line level output. Your AMP expects max ~ 2v on the input above which it will start distorting. This will like having the volume control at the extreme position, even though physically the volume control is not at max position.

The headphone out is actually out of a small power amp which can drive a headphone. In laptops this will be a cheap amplifier with not so good noise level. However in many cases you may still get a decent output without distortion if your internal headphone amp inside the laptop is of good quality and you have kept the adjusted the volume level on your laptop low enough to be at around line level. But in most cases it is best to avoid connecting the headphone out to line level input of the AMP. Many devices have line level outputs. Many external dacs have line level output. You get many DACs (so called desktop DACS) also come with a headphone amplifier. These dacs will have both line level out as well as headphone out. Many PC have soundcards that have both line out as well as headphone out. I have even owned laptops which had both line out as well as headphone out. But I now longer see laptops coming with both.

Remember that that headphone is actually a small speaker. What you are doing is connecting speaker output from one power amplifier to the input of another power amp. It will be rare to get un-distorted output unless you adjust the laptop output to be around line level.

If you are keen to read further

Headphone outputs are another flavor of line-level, with variable amplification, that can get louder than the line level of a fixed output. Headphone outputs are notoriously noisy, and should only be used as a last-resort for anything other than driving headphones, Some small minidisc recorders only provide a headphone output, and so, one needs to use that connection to simulate a line-level signal. This can actually be an advantage in some circumstances, as one can use the headphone volume control to send the optimum level into the computer’s input. https://transom.org/2002/basics-analog-audio/