Customer Reviews

Sonic Impact 5066 15-Watt Portable Class-T Digital Audio Amplifier

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is my second attempt at a Sonic Impact review and I hope I get things right this time. :) I bought 4 amps at $20, but even as the prices have gone up, it's still a fantastic buy at $30. The amplifier has fantastic clarity and realism. Given its size, the sound can only be described as astounding. When playing instrumental or electronic music SI can vibrate the whole room at mere half volume. When playing vocals the clarity is also astounding. Considering the price and size of SI, this makes this amplifier even more amazing.

Sonic is best used with relatively sensitive speakers (SPL 90db+) and audiophile quality equipment or portable CD and mp3 players using audio out jack. With Ipod, use the sound output from the Ipod dock. Do not use earphone jacks on portable devices for sound output because that signal has already been distorted by those unit's built-in amplifiers and the sound quality will be anywhere from ordinary to awful.

SI requires burn in of at least 200 hours in order to sound its best. However even after a significant burn time SI tend to be rather bright when used with good quality audio cables. In my experience the best cables for SI are inexpensive 1/8 by 1/8 cables because they tend to muffle the treble. The one I really like is Monster iCable for iPod (A IC IP-7). The trade-off is that the SI's bass is also diminished; however SI becomes very warm sounding with no listening fatigue. In order to minimize distortion SI should be set at 10 o'clock and volume is best adjusted on a pre-amplifier volume control or the sound output volume control of a good quality CD player.

Power is an important consideration. SI works well with 8 AA batteries; in fact I still keep depleted AA batteries in SI to give it some heft. :) SI is so light that it needs some critical mass to hold all the cables in the back without tilting. :) When used with AA batteries SI sounds best only when batteries are fresh; it's also uneconomical so the best option for use at home is a regulated power supply. I like R. Shack (Model# 22-507) and a cigarette lighter power cord (#270-1594). Please note that the center pin on the power plug must be positive (+). *Please also note that incorrect polarity will permanently damage the amplifier.* This power supply is rated at 13.8Vdc (3amp) and produces 13.9Vdc, making SI sound louder and more dynamic than AA batteries or 12V adaptors. Another good 13.8Vdc power supply is made by Pyramid. If you want to save money, another good choice is SI's own 12Vdc adaptor. It produces 12.3Vdc, however it can only supply a peak of 1.5 amps, which does not leave you much in reserve.

Be careful of using many of the cheap 12Vdc adaptors available on the Internet, R. Shack or maybe laying around from other devices. Many are rated at 12Vdc *under load only* and actually produce as much as 18Vdc. However, SI does not have much of a load most of the time, especially when not playing music; 18V is 2 volts over the 16v limit of the SI's Tripath processor and will damage it. Additionally, many of these adaptors are rated at much less than 3A or the minimum 1.5A and are incapable of sufficient current. SI may need as much as 3A during peak demand. Most inexpensive adaptors are a switching type and may produce HF noise that may clash with the SI's own HF switching thereby producing more distortion. However when properly internally filtered, a switching power supply still produces the most dynamic sound. Some people use 12Vdc sealed lead batteries (SLA) with separate chargers from batterymart for a cleaner power source. Both can be had for $20 to $30 and with a simple DPDT switch the usage and recharging can be made automatic. I haven't tried this yet, the amperage of some of those 12 Vdc batteries (12A and up) is very tempting. :) However, the opinion at tnt-audio is that batteries still lack the liveliness of a quality regulated switching power supply. Despite the claims made by the SLA battery camp, the ultra expensive and most other high-end equipment does not use battery power.

Being the conscientious do it yourself kind of guy I usually am, I was looking around for an amplifier a couple weeks ago to power a set of home made book shelf speakers. I spent a lot of money making these speakers of mine (lets just say well over 10x more for the pair than the subject of this review) and wanted an equally expensive (read: better) amplifier. I am typically under the impression that, especially with electronics, the more expensive an item is, the better it is (in most cases). This opinion developed from years of buying cheap parts, medium priced parts, expensive parts, etc and realizing the more I spent usually the happier I was with the results. After looking at all the high end dealers I gave up on an amp in frustration (too much to choose from and I don't have enough money!). So when I came across this amplifier and all its great reviews I couldn't pass it up. I had a gift certificate for 35 bucks and picked this up for 34 shipped from Amazon. That was what my life was like then, before the Sonic Impact.

Fast forward to today, and I can honestly say I am completely dumbfounded by what has happened to all of my priorities and common sense and cost/performance ratios so well established in my brain. This little amp, marvel, dynamo, whatever you want to call it is the single best purchase I have ever made in my life, period. Taking into account bang for buck, which as a DIY guy I appreciate, this amp is somewhere on another level. When I got this amp I wasn't expecting it to be bad, but I wasn't expecting it to be great either. Well, here is what I have, after about 75 hours of listening both with batteries and with it plugged in (please forgive me as there won't be many negatives in this review, so perhaps it won't help you all that much):

Soundstage: This is, in my opinion, the greatest part of this amp. I have never heard speakers so alive as this amp makes mine sound (not the highest end Boses or Yamahas or Klipsch that I have heard - granted there are a lot of variables there and I am not making a blanket statement by any means). Songs such as Sarah McLachlan's "Arms of the Angels" sounds so mind bogglingly realistic I can barely believe my ears. When I close my eyes the piano she is playing is literally sitting there in my room, slightly in front of my speakers and slightly off to the left. Her voice sounds as though she is playing facing the left, but turning her head to face me, and sing directly to me. I have loved audio and audio electronics nearly all my life and finally I feel intimate with it, like I am truly a part of it (or at least darn close). The soundstage this amp can create is unbelievably wide and deep, with the latter being the key. Prior amplifiers I have used have had plenty of left-right space, but never an appreciable amount of depth, this one is different. With classical, jazz, country, rock, pop, R&B this amp is great. With the classical, it sounded like the orchestra was on a stage in front of me (I am not exaggerating). I used to love my Grado SR-80's for their soundstage but now they just don't have the same appeal...

Sound quality: As long as you have decently efficient speakers (mine are only 90.5dB/W at 1 meter) this amplifier will put out very loud audio with very crisp detail with no discernible distortion or clipping. Increasing the volume beyond its limits does result in a LOT of noticeable distortion (10% THD at max output!). Some of the songs which stick out as exhibiting a great crispness and prescence of the audio were on the Johnny Cash: American IV album. All of the songs sounded completely different through this amp compared to any others I have used. The soundstage was there and Mr. Cash was there in my room with me, but his guitar strums were VERY detailed, with the amp paying great attention to the individual strings, instead of lumping it all together into a "guitar strum" like so many cheap (read: bad quality) amps do. The sound quality generated by this amplifier will amaze you, especially if you have no experience with high end amplification. Expect to hear small details you never heard in your albums before. In fact, if you have only used standard reciever amplifiers before I'll bet you that you will be pouring through all your old albums to play them on this little amp when you get it.

Tonal Balance: As soon as I hooked this up, I noticed the treble was very very crisp, maybe even a little too crisp. However, this extra treble did not sound grainy or tinny like many solid state or IC based amplifiers. Actually, I have noticed that as I listen more and more the treble seems to be calming down and it is at a point now where it is perfect for my taste (perhaps it "broke in" if there is such a thing with solid state electronics - or maybe I am just getting used to the new dimension of sound I am hearing). The midrange is quite strong with this amplifier, getting back to Johnny Cash, you can hear the mids come through brilliantly in those guitar strums as it adds real life to the instrument as you would get if someone were strumming a guitar in front of you. The bass is very tight and controlled, much like a good quality subwoofer amplifier, but unfortunately this amplifier just doesn't have enough umph to power the bass to the levels it should be at, but with only 15 watts can you really be mad at that? Don't get me wrong, the bass sounds great, but this would definitely be complimented with a powered subwoofer.

Value: Read all of the above, note the price of this amplifier, and you will have the answer.

I highly recommend this amplifier if you are in need of a low power amplifier to power bookshelf type speakers or similarily sized ones, although I bet it would do a good job with good quality cube speakers and a powered subwoofer. It must be noted, however, that this amp will only be as good as your speakers and if you have crummy speakers don't expect this amp (or any amp) to salvage their sound.

Rating/Recommendation: 5 stars hands down, although I would also recommend buying a plug-in adapter to go along with this, as the sound is much fuller and the bass is deeper with it. Also, recharging batteries (or replacing them) every day gets annoying. Although with 8 1.2V NiMh recargeables I could listen for 4 to 6 hours at decent volumes, which I think is incredible efficiency. In short, buy this amp, you won't be dissapointed. It was good enough for me to feel the need to ramble on this long!

I giggled when the mail guy handed me the box. It felt like it was empty. I opened it and pulled out the cheap-yet-solid-enough plastic box and giggled some more . . . most of the case is just a battery holder. The actual amp is like a couple square inches.

My speaker wires were way too big (8 AWG) to plug in to this amp, so I had to make some little adapter wires to fit into the clips on the back. I didn't have any batteries either, so I used a 2 amp 12vdc power box and clip-leads (hooked up in the battery space) to power the amp.

My hi-fi isn't anything fantastic, but not bad either. A Jolida 202a (40 w/ch class AB-tubes) and some reworked DCM TimeFrames. More to the point, I am very familiar with the sound of my system. My basis for comparison is simply that I know what my current system does to music so I should notice when the T-Amp does different things to the music.

The T-amp is pretty darned amazing. The burn-in thing is fun by itself . . . the sound noticably improves while you listen . . . it started off as thin and narrow but after a couple hours, had started to expand and deepen. I'm really excited to hear it after a hundred hours or so!

I can tell it's going to be ruthless though . . . choose what you listen to carefully, as it will go right in and for instance, reveal just how much Aphex most modern pop recordings have . . . yucky!!

The poor guy that made the long review panning everyone else must be hurting bad. Why is he so upset over a $30 amp? He's unnaturally vehement about it, so I bet it's cause he spent a bunch on his hi-fi and now a $30 toy just stomps on it. How fun is that?! :)

At this point, the silly thing is so worth $30. And at the rate it's going, it will sound like something worth much more than that. I will definitely be buying more of these amps! Anyone interested in a used Jolida?

I bought this to make use of some extra speakers and cd players I had in my study room, and this amp was the missing link. As long as I don't want to play music particularly loud, this amp does the job fine. It can drive real bookshelf speakers that are at least moderately efficient. It isn't hissy or distorted at low levels. It sounds best to turn up the input signal strength (e.g. CD input) and use the first third of the amp's volume control. I have not used the amp to play my big $1,000 + speakers, but using this amp with a decent input and real speakers sound much better than a boombox or low-end "mini-systems". The speakers I'm using are some discontinued Radio Shack (RCA) speakers with kevlar woofers and Linnaeum tweeter, bought at 2 for $100. Pair the amp up with some real (list price >$100) speakers and this amp will play music decently in a small room.

At a price of $40, this is a great, handy little item. It does not sound bad at moderate volumes, which is all you can really ask for. At about 10 good quality watts, higher efficiency speakers would be better, e.g. I'd expect Klipsch to be a good fit. FYI, this is an integrated amp, meaning it has a volume control. There is one input for a minijack, (like portables typically use) but for a few dollars you can buy an rca to minijack converter cable to hook up a full size- CD or DVD player to it.

Yes, it's true. This small 30$ amp has an amazing sound, similar to a very expensive SET tube amp, when well run in (about 200 hours).
I hook it up to 5000 $ Prame speakers with 100 db efficiency, and they sound similar to an SET tube amp (I own a Decware SET preamp and amp costing $ 1600): the sound has plenty of dynamics (the single ended triode kind of dynamics at the first watt), the midrange presence of tube amps, the sweeteness, clarity and precision of SET tube amp in the treble, and a BIG soundstage, plus an authoritative bass response that is not mushy: you really here the detailed sound of a double bass, not just boom boom...
You can listen to it for hours and it never gets fatiguing, provided you have a good source, of course.
It sounds better than a well known US made $2200 2x50 watt per channel push pull tube amp on my high efficiency Prame speaker.
In fact I am selling it because this little box sounds better with my speakers...
The sonic impact is hooked up to a pair of Siltech pure silver HP cables costing $1500... But the interconnect is a cheap 3$ rca to mini plug cable...
I am still trying to figure which sound best of my Decware SET tube amp with preamp or the sonic impact. Both sound great, with lots a microdynamics, and I could live happily with any of them because they make the music really sound alive, effortless and clear as a bell.
They do sound different though, but very similar.
I have a group of tube fanatics coming home every week.
I had the sonic impact playing hidden behind my SET tube amp and preamp. Everybody said: "What have you done to your amp, it sounds different this time". They said "different", not "worse".
That means they could not tell the sound from a good tube amp + preamp combo costing about $ 1800 (Decware is the least expensive US made single ended triode tube amp).
When I showed them the sonic impact, they could not believe this was the amp that was really playing.
I did this trick to each of my friend that was coming home that day, each one believed that the tube amp was playing.
In my opinion, high end tube amp manufacturers have something to worry about now...

The Sonic Impact T-Amp is an amazing product, even more so considering the selling price. It's main selling point is as a device to enable a portable music player to play through a small set of speakers, but it has also developed a cult following among the high-end audio crowd. More on that in a second.

The T-amp is small, smaller than you would think by looking at the photos, and is very lightweight even when loaded with the eight AA batteries it takes to power it. The two battery compartments actually take up most of the space inside the T-Amp's case, and the amplifier itself is so small that if you placed it centered on top of a standard business card you would still have a 3/8 inch border around all four edges (Yes, I did this, and measured).

The T-Amp is very simple to operate. Connect a pair of speakers to the terminals on the back, plug whichever music player you like into the back using a standard 1/8 inch stereo plug, turn it on and you are listening to music! The black circle on the front of the case is the T-Amp's only control, which is both power switch and volume "knob". The knob is actually flush with the front of the case, which makes it easily operated with your thumb, and will feel perfectly natural to iPod owners. There is also a provision for an external power supply on the back that can be used with an AC adapter. The T-Amp will run a long time on battery power, and most people can skip the AC adapter.

A couple of potential drawbacks, which are minor enough to be considered "nit-picky", are that the speaker terminals only accept bare wire, and it needs to be fairly thin (18-gauge 'lamp cord' would be pushing it), and people expecting the T-Amp to be very loud may be disappointed. 15 Watts is the rated MAXIMUM output, so expect it to be able to deliver 8-10 Watts in real life.

About the sound: The better the speakers you plug into it, within reason, the more you can expect to be blown away by the quality of the sound. If you have efficient loudspeakers, 90db or higher, the T-Amp can fill a medium-sized room with wonderfully clear, detailed, and undistorted sound unless you try to push it past it's power limit. As I said earlier, this little amp has developed quite a following in the audiophile crowd, a group that does not impress easily, especially something that sells this cheaply. Understand, we are talking about people who won't bat an eye at spending hundreds of dollars for one set of interconnect cables, not to mention what kind of money a "good" (By their definition) amplifier can cost. Yet, many of these same people have posted in bulletin boards all over the internet singing the praises of the T-Amp, comparing it favorably with high-end amps selling for over 100 times the cost of the T-Amp. Yes, 100 times.

I am a musician by training/trade, and I also work repairing high-end audio equipment. I was skeptical at first by all the hype on the audio discussion boards, but i figured that 30-or-so dollars wasn't too much to spend to satisfy my curiousity. I was amazed by what I heard the first time I tried the T-Amp. It is good enough that people may want to be careful what signal they feed into it because, for the most part, what goes into this thing is definitely going to come out louder of the other end. If you have never been able to tell the difference in sound between a high-bitrate mp3 and a low-bitrate mp3 of the same song before, you will be able to with the T-Amp. In fact, you will be able to tell the difference between a high-quality CD player and a "normal" CD player playing the same disc. It's that good.

The T-Amp is built on Tripath's T-Series of amplifier chips, and the success of the T-Amp has caused the higher-end audio equipment manufacturers to take notice. It is not uncommon now to find higher powered versions of the T-Amp's chip selling in stereo amplifiers costing well in excess of $4000.00.

If you decide to try one, you won't be disappointed, unless you are wanting something insanely loud.

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 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.

I suspect that the reviewer who gave this amp two stars never heard the amp and is not qualified to judge. A little disclaimer like "I've never heard this amp, but..." would have been nice.

Driving my bookshelf speakers, my 5066 sounded just great for the money (for any money really), though it lacked tone and balance controls, looked awful and had cheezy interconnect terminals. I speak in the past tense about it because while re-arranging the multitudes of equipment on my workbench, I managed to plug the wrong AC adapter into the poor thing. Poof, my little 5066 became a thing of the past. I then bought the Super-T amp which performs like the orignal T-amp and also lacks tone and balance controls, but the Super-T has a nice looking metal case and better quality interconnects. I recommend the Super-T over the 5066 if only for aesthetic reasons, assuming you can afford the extra $'s. Otherwise, if you are on a tight budget, get the 5066. Either way, you won't be sorry.

I bought this amp with the idea of putting together a small bookshelf unit to use with my ipod in my bedroom. I had listened to almost all of the ipod boomboxes etc and found them all to be lacking, including the Bose Soundock and a Kliptsch system. I opted for a mini component system, starting with the SI amp. I also got a pair of the Mission 301is.

At first I was a bit disappointed. The system sounded tinny in the upper end and had no balls at all in the lower end. But after a few days of running it, I have noticed a considerable improvement. In truth, it's still a little early to tell how far this little system will open up, but I am hearing the detail that the audiophile magazine reviews raved about. My advice is to run this baby for a long time before passing judgement on its performance.

The limitations of lack of power and the limitations of these small speakers aside, there is a tremendous amount of detail in the highs and mids.I am hearing better separation and a pristine stereo image that allows me to hear stuff I never noticed before on CDs I have memorized. Upright bass, which so often sounds indistinct and mushy, has a presence that is truly impressive. What you get with this amp is detail, but don't expect too much punch at this power level.

I agree with the last review. This amp does seem to sound best with the output of the source all the way up and its volume being set at a moderate level. Oddly, at first the system didn't get very loud at all, even at a higher setting. But now that both the amp and speakers are breaking in, I could swear its gotten louder. It's plenty loud to fill up my bedroom set at 1/3. But I'm not a rock and roller or a hip hopper.It's fine for my listening tastes which run to jazz, world, some pop and classical. but It may not have enough power for people who need all that punch and bottom.

The harshness has lessened and the bass has definitely opened up. On good recordings, ones I encoded in lossless or aiff, I am hearing a creamy and airy warmth on vocals that really is pleasing to the ear. And as I mentioned, on very layered recordings, little details like percussion sounds have their 'place' so as to be able to discern discrete parts that are blurred on my home stereo and even my JBL pro monitors. And by the way,at a little over $150 (cost includes speakers and ipod dock, which is essential for a quality audio output,), this system I put together kicks butt on the Bose SoundDock ($299) .No contest there! If you have an ipod and are looking for quality sound and don't need the portability of a one piece system, this is the way to go

This little t amp really has me thinking: I have never been able to afford anything close to an audiophile system. Now I have heard rumors that SI is in the planning stages for a more serious version of the t amp. Even at a couple of hundred bucks, that will be steal!

The Sonic Impact T-Amp is good, it works and sounds great (i've got it hooked to a pair of JBL E10 speakers and my slimdevices SqueezeBox).

However it is lacking one major thing:

It does not include the AC power adaptor brick that anyone sane will need. As if I'm going to use 8 AA batteries for an amp. Ordering the 12V transformer from sonic impact costs as much as the amp itself. Are most people seriously buying this thing for portable use?