Customer Reviews

AudioSource AMP-100 Stereo Power Amplifier

5 star:		(111)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I've owned one of these amps now for about six months. All the complaints I've read in the reviews have come from people who obviously can't be bothered to read, pay attention, or think things through. I'm specifically referring to Auto Input Switching/Power, lack of features, and output power.

First, this is NOT an integrated amp. Nor is it designed to be used primarily as a standalone system. It is intended to be used as a node on a distributed music system. The feature set for this unit has this use in mind.

It can function as a standalone unit but if you are going to use it as such you need to use it with a pre-amp or with an input source that provides adequate line in, input selection and the tone/equalization control you want.

Second, the auto input switching. The manual isn't clear on this and the feature can't be switched off, which is why I docked it a star. But some reading and thought will provide the solution. The auto input feature is only on input 1. If you run your primary input to input 2 you will have no problem with auto switching cutting off your music during quiet passages or after the track has started. If you need to use multiple sources without the auto switch cutting the input then you need to use external input switching (see pre-amp above) and make sure the switch/pre-amp is fed to input 2 on the amp.

Auto-power on issues: This feature can be turned on or off by way of a selector switch on the rear panel of the amp. Default is on. This is in the manual.

"It doesn't have a sub out": No, but it does have a line out/pass-through for input 2 which can be used for a sub out.

"It isn't loud enough": One of two things is happening here; 1. The line in isn't sufficient to properly drive the amp. 2. The speakers aren't efficient enough. If you are running speakers with less than 90db sensitivity you won't get decent performance from this or any other "low power" amp. I'm using Athena AS-B1.2's and I'm getting more than adequate volume and bass response. I recommend these (under $100 if you shop around) or the Athena AS-B2.2. Klipsch, Infinity, JBL, and Yamaha all make some nice bookshelf units with 90db sensitivity or better that would work nicely with this unit. Just because this is an inexpensive amp doesn't mean you can get away with cheap speakers.

"There isn't enough bass": 1. Make sure the source is providing enough bass input. If the source doesn't have a tone control for bass you may need to use a pre-amp. 2. Use better speakers. When I first got my amp the speakers I had ordered for it were delayed, so I used some old early 80's bookshelf speakers to test the amp out.

Those speakers had no bass at all, or treble, or much midrange. Basically it sounded like an AM pocket radio. When the Athenas came in and were properly broken in the sound improved greatly. It also helps to have the speakers placed properly. If your speakers are rear vented they don't need to be in an enclosed space or pushed up against a wall (I see this all the time, even on store displays).

My experiences with this Amp: I ordered this amp with a pair of Athena AS-B1.2 bookshelf speakers for use in my home office. Inputs are from my PC (by USB DAC) and an iPod dock. Both inputs run through an audio switch to input 2 on the amp. The files played through it are a mix of OGG, FLAC, AAC, ALAC, WAV, and MP3. Mostly FLAC.

I was impressed by the fit and finish of the unit out of the box. I've seen many allegedly high end products that don't have this level of finish (Cameras, turntables, TV, PC Cases, Cars, etc.). The weight is substantial. As near as I can tell by looking through the vent slots the transformer takes up at least half the case. The power lines in my house aren't very clean and I have hum issues with most A/V equipment I own, but I have yet to hear any hum (in normal conditions) from this amp when turned all the way up, even when it's been plugged into outlets that give other equipment fits. The only way to get hum is to touch an input with a finger. In normal use the background is dead silent. Good power supply.

The design is minimalist and clean. The only panel controls are power, speakers, volume and balance. It is low profile and unobtrusive and gives off very little heat, even when left on (with the volume turned down). Mine doubles as a monitor stand, LCDs only.

There are two inputs but they are auto switched. The first input is the auto switch input, as stated above. This means that if an input is detected it will switch to input 1 over input 2. It is fairly sensitive and will switch back and forth during pauses or quieter passages in the music. If you listen to a lot of Jazz, classical, or chamber music with pauses and quiet bits you will definitely want to use input 2 to prevent it from dropping out during those passages.

There is an autopower feature as well. If left on it will cause the same problems with the amp cutting out during quiet passages as the autoinput switching. However it can be disabled by a selector switch on the back of the unit. This is clearly explained in the manual. The intent is to allow the unit to be powered on remotely when used with a distributed music system. If you want a standalone system disable this feature and turn it on and off manually.

The sound is deep and rich with excellent separation, depth, and imaging. There's plenty of bass for most of what I listen too (Jazz, folk, and classic rock), and outstanding midrange. Treble does seem to roll off a bit, but that may be the speakers. Volume is more than enough to shake the walls and floor of my office and the music can be heard clearly throughout the second floor of the house. Personally I think it's more than loud enough to use as a primary system if you have a smallish living room (but with larger speakers). I haven't heard any distortion at loud volumes, but excessive line in might change that. More importantly to me the sound doesn't get muddy at low volume levels. It remains clear and detailed. I have no problem listening to most of my collection for hours on end with this amp while I work, or kicking back on the office sofa with some whiskey.

Most of my music files on the PC are lossless, but I do have a few dogs among the MP3 and WAV files. It's no great feat for an amp to sound good with a lossless file so I ran a few of the nastier files through it to see how it did. For the most part it took the edginess off most of the rougher files and made them almost pleasant to listen to. There are a few bad tracks that are best left to regular PC speakers, and a few FLAC files ripped from CD where bad mastering shows up more clearly now. Win some, loose some.

Nitpicks: My amp pops when turned on and off, which has the potential to damage speakers. It's not loud, but I turn the volume down before I hit the switch. I would prefer a manual input switch. Price has changed by as much as $30 on Amazon over a relatively short time.

Before buying this I listened to a friend's office setup with a Super T-Amp and a pair of Infinity Bookshelf speakers. To my ears the Amp100 sounds just as nice at lower volumes plus it can pack more of a punch when called for. It's not as compact as the Super-T or as stylish, but it fills my needs.

I had the reported switching problem ("UPDATE: This device has one annoying defect ... a "clever" feature of switching inputs automatically when it senses no input on one of the two stereo inputs ... any stretch of silence will cause it to switch"). I called AudioSource and I have to give them credit. The problem is relatively easy to solve by using Input 2 instead of Input 1 if you're only using one input.

My stereo configuration is four KLH outdoor "rock" (they look like pieces of granite) speakers, an IPOD, and a ten-inch deep book shelf that I wanted to use as the location for the amplifier. I looked at Fry's, Best Buy, and Circuit City and couldn't find anything that was compact enough to fit on the bookshelf unless I went really high-end with a Bose setup. I had a spare Sony surround receiver that worked fine, except that it didn't fit the shelf, plus I wasn't really looking for all the bells and whistles of the receiver because I won't be using this setup to watch TV, my CD's are all on iTunes now, and I get crummy radio reception at my house. So, the technical requirements were to be able to drive the four speakers using a line-in level input coming from the IPOD. Pretty simple.

Anyhow, I purchased the Audiosource AMP100 amplifier on Amazon (to my consternation they dropped the price 3 bucks between the time I placed the order and when I received it) and it arrived in about a week using the free shipping option. It came well packed and sealed, and was as simple to set up as you'd expect of a unit like this. So far, I have tested it once and it worked fine, in fact it sounded a little better than the Sony. All four speakers were being driven normally in A+B mode. I haven't tested the auto-on feature, but it allows the box to power up automatically when it senses a signal on one of two audio inputs. The power plug on the back of the unit is unswitched (always powered). If I have any problems with the unit I'll update this post, but so far, so good.

My feature-laden Yamaha RX-577 receiver/amp finally gave up after 11 years of service, and since we now live in the country with little or no radio reception, I looked for a simple amplifier, with simple controls and adequate capacity (hint on the meaning of "adequate" - I am no longer 19). This amp is an understated black box, with basic minimalist styling and simple controls that adjust balance and volume, and speaker outputs to A and B. It does a fine job on my average home stereo system. I concur with other reviewers that the silly feature of automatically turning itself to a stand-by state when no input signal is present is essentially useless on any kind of music other than the constant drone of Scottish bagpipes or techno. Between tracks of a CD, or even in silent pauses in music, it dutifully and maddeningly turns itself "off", and then, oops! - back on again when the music resumes - after missing a few measures, of course. Happily this feature is only present on line 1 of the system. If you use line 2 as your primary source, it overrides line 1. As an engineer, I find this logic perplexing. Since when should a secondary line signal override the primary signal? Who thought of that? Anyway, this is the only fix that I know of to stop the automatic stand-by feature, and it does work.

Beyond that user-correctable deficiency, if you don't need 110+db sound anymore (or never did), this amp is a highly suitable piece of equipment that appears well built, is simple to use and understand, and simple to hook up. It is relatively heavy for its size, and like watermelons, heaviness potentially equals quality, especially with things that supply power.

I am overall quite satisfied with this amp.

This product had great potential and it does everything promised as long as you only use 1 source and you attach it to the LINE2 input. LINE2 is the default input meaning whenever there isn't any signal on LINE1 the unit instantly switches back to LINE2. The issue is with the "instant" result. When I play a DVD movie through LINE1 the AMP100 annoyingly switches back to LINE2 every time the audio goes quiet - even in between dialog. The switch makes a discernible "click" and usually does not return back to LINE1 right away so some of the audio you hope to hear is lost. Same issue with music tracks - during quiet passages the AMP100 switches back to line1 and if there is anything playing on LINE1 your other audio source starts chopping in and out. I have two AMP100's and they both operate this way. I spoke with Audio Source tech support and they acknowledged this shortcoming and tried to push me to buy the AMP200 which apparently has a time delay that prevents this undesired chopping of content that is connected to LINE1. They don't even provide a switch on the front panel to manually switch LINES, you have to unplug your cables to take control.

Otherwise a great product. It powers down nicely when no signal is sensed.

UPDATE: This device has one annoying defect. I'd drop the rating to 4 stars. It has a "clever" feature of switching inputs automatically when it senses no input on one of the two stereo inputs. Problem is, any stretch of silence will cause it to switch. A mechanical switch would have been a far better choice. Since I bought it I've added an external mechanical switch and given up on the secondary input.

Also, the manual Amazon deposited in my lockbox is for a different model.

Nonetheless, this is a unique device. I looked far and wide for it, and when I found it another reviewer had exactly the same need as me.

Firstly, let me help with some details. Amazon lists 3 different measurements for the depth of this device (main page, tech page, manual). The model I received is in fact:

- 8" deep using the cabinet measurement
- 9" deep including the banana plugs for speakers
- significantly deeper if one connected speaker leads with banana plugs, I use bare wire and screw in the connectors

I needed this to fit in a narrow shelf, so depth was critical. It fits perfectly, as long as I don't put banana plugs on my speakers. I threaded in the speaker wires and screwed down the banana plugs. It fit my cabinet.

The amplifier seems to have been designed to auto-switch from TV input to a CD player input. There are two rca plug inputs, one output. Two dials, balance and volume. Two sets of stereo speaker posts - A&B. You can drive A, B or both. Speakers MUST be at least 8 ohms resistance. There's even a headphone out, and you can direct sound to two speakers and the headphone. (As noted in my correction the auto-switch feature is problematic.)

I use low volumes and small speakers, to me the output is very agreeable. I am not, however, and audiophile.

The reason I bought this amp was similar to another customer - I wanted something to use with my iPod so I could hook up speakers of my choosing. I didn't want/need a big-bucks home theater receiver with all the gizmos. The amp works a treat, it is solidly built and very low profile - fits in a small cabinet. Interestingly enough, I had the exact same problem with the amp switching - you actually hear it switch over if you have any silent phases in a song playing on the iPod.....was bugging me till I read the other customer's review....simply changed the input from Line 1 to Line 2 - works a treat now.

I realy couldn't go wrong with this one. At under $100 with free shipping and Amazons return policy... I got one just to test it out. I sent the first one back because it made my speakers squeal when I turned the amp on. Audiosource said it may be a problem when bridging 4ohm speakers. It was a problem with 4ohm, 8ohm, bridged or stereo. Anyway, the second one was fine. This amp doesn't have much power, so don't expect to run much of a subwoofer with it. It will power a sub, but when pushed, it may dammage your speakers, so keep your hand on the volume control when testing. You'll know when to turn it down... trust me. This amp is great for versitillity. With two speaker sets and the ability to run one set at 4ohm or 2 sets at 8ohm. Or if your like me, bridge A and B. I use a 4ohm butkicker for quiet nightime listening on speaker A or hit speaker B for a 4ohm 12" Sony explode subwoofer. (Run 2 4ohm speaker at the same time bridged at your own risk!) This, I set up for my son's xbox360 as a perfect solution so I don't hear guns and bombs going off all night long. Bottom line is, for the price, it's great. I plan on taking it outside this summer to hook up to speakers on a gazebo. It's light enough to to carry around. It's a snap to connect. Just connect an mp3 player with a small headset to rca adapter and I'm done. Bannana connections are always a plus as well. A small complaint i have is the auto signal detector. It doesn't work at low volume. This is a bit annoying if you want good sound quality when somebody is sleeping in the next room. I'm being way to picky here. I just set it to manual. God forbid I have to push an extra button. If this thing breaks, I won't get to excited. Under $100 delivered! Amazon realy takes care of customers who buy damaged stuff "shipped and sold from Amazon". They don't pad their shipping items very well though...

I am giving this product a 5 star rating, even though I am waiting for tech support to get back to me on one issue. At least they have tech support, and they are very knowledgable and helpful.

I bought 2 of these amps to power 4 sets of AudioSource in wall speakers I have installed. I have one pair in each of 4 bedrooms (the review I wrote on the speakers is also on Amazon). These amps are connected to my Yamaha 5890 receiver which is capable of driving 3 different zones using 3 different inputs, which is cool, but totally overkill for me.

When I activate Zone 2 or Zone 3 from the receiver, the AudioSource amps kick on automatically, a great feature. At first, I was having a lot of distortion in the speakers though. I called tech support, and they told me to reset the jumpers in my Russound in-wall volume controls, to allow the amp to push more power to the speakers at 8 ohms. Apparently the volume controls were cutting the resistance to 2 ohms, and the amps dont like that.

Well, I made that adjustment, and voila. The music comes through clean and clear. Not deafening, but certainly loud enough to enjoy in the bedrooms. Thus far they perform admirably, and I found no other products that match their functionality, let alone value.

But more than that 5 STARS FOR REAL TECH SUPPORT!!! They even called me back to talk, and were familiar with my volume controls and walked me thru the process. I know just enough to be dangerous, and the tech I spoke with was top notch. You just dont get enough of that these days, and I hope AudioSource keeps such a wonderful feature and resource, its truely a differentiator in today's market. Real people, with real answers, imagine that.

I was looking for medium-budget whole-house audio system. Finding the right receiver at the right price was pretty easy. Using a speaker selector to split the audio to multiple rooms is an affordable option, but speaker impedance matching can be a problem and you need lots of power from the receiver if you want all rooms on at the same time. A power amp is a better solution, but the multi-room amps I found were over $1000. The AudioSource Amp 100 is a great compromise solution - even power distribution to all rooms, good sound quality, and enough power for enjoyable listening. I'm sure the $1000+ amps sound better and can drive more power, but the Amp 100 has what I need.

Some of the older review complain about the amp switching off too quickly when losing the audio source. I definitely don't have this problem - the amps shut off after about 5 minutes of no audio signal.

The one surprise I got when I received the amp was the volume selector. From the pictures I saw (with two knobs on the front of the unit), I assumed the two channels had separate volume controls. In fact, one knob is volume for both channels and the other knob is balance. Not a big problem, just not what I expected.