Sonic Impact Class T $39 amplifier review at 6moons

mcgsxr · « **Reply #20 on:** 29 Sep 2004, 05:34 pm »

That Russ Andrews RAVE does look interesting. Not sure what 200 pounds sterling translates to Canadian dollars - somewhere around 500 or so. For that $$, there are other digital amps around, but certainly this is indicative of more implementations of the technology.

mark

Dmason · « **Reply #21 on:** 29 Sep 2004, 06:07 pm »

That looks like a nice product from a hardened tweak-a-holic.

Does anyone know what amp topology it uses?

I like the idea of a carbon fiber case. Like the dashboard in a Hummer.

zobsky · « **Reply #22 on:** 29 Sep 2004, 09:10 pm »

Quote from: geofstro

Quote
i wish the 6moons guys had reviewed the amp with a lead acid battery supply, much better than using AA batteries

Which one do you use Zobsky?

Thanks

geoff

do you mean "which battery"?

if so, I picked up a 12V / 7 amp lead acid battery from my local electronics store . the bass was much better and the sound a tad smoother, ..

maxwalrath · « **Reply #23 on:** 29 Sep 2004, 09:15 pm »

Zobsky, can the unit take either type of battery without modification?

zobsky · « **Reply #24 on:** 29 Sep 2004, 09:22 pm »

Quote from: maxwalrath

Zobsky, can the unit take either type of battery without modification?

yes,

what i did was cut off the wire from a burnt out wallwart i had and plug one end into the A/C adapter socket on the amp and connect the other end to the battery tabs (after determing correct polarity first)

no further surgery required

a single 12V works just fine

if you dont have a useless wallwart lying around for sacrifice, . you may be able to buy this cord at an electronics store or maybe even radioshack.

geofstro · « **Reply #25 on:** 30 Sep 2004, 06:56 am »

Thanks Zobsky.

I haven't even taken my SI out of its box yet; but I had to have one after reading about it in Ed Schillings circle.

Been too busy listening to the JVC and Teac amps

When I do though, I'll definitly give one of these batteries a try. I've always liked the idea of isolating equipment completely from the mains.

geoff

eastein · « **Reply #26 on:** 30 Sep 2004, 02:14 pm »

I bought a Sonic Impact amp about 4 months ago and also have a 50w gaincard. I don't want to shatter anybody's dreams but there isn't even the slightest hint of a conparison between the two. If it were true, I'd sell the gaincard in a minute but in reality the gaincard absolutely trounces the SI. The SI an impressive achievement for the $ but the Gaincard is a truly impressive amp. The reviewer kind of loses all credibility with this comparison.

zobsky · « **Reply #27 on:** 30 Sep 2004, 04:05 pm »

Quote from: eastein

I bought a Sonic Impact amp about 4 months ago and also have a 50w gaincard. I don't want to shatter anybody's dreams but there isn't even the slightest hint of a conparison between the two. If it were true, I'd sell the gaincard in a minute but in reality the gaincard absolutely trounces the SI. The SI an impressive achievement for the $ but the Gaincard is a truly impressive amp. The reviewer kind of loses all credibility with this comparison.

could you mention associated speakers, .. wondering if that has anything to do with the conflicting opinions?

eastein · « **Reply #28 on:** 5 Oct 2004, 02:46 am »

my speakers are sehring 602's

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #29 on:** 5 Oct 2004, 03:17 am »

The reviewer most likely only uses the first watt or so when he's pumping his speaker out to concert levels. The graphs he shows for the tripath clearly demonstrates how if you surpass a certain power output level, things degrade quickly.

JeffB · « **Reply #30 on:** 6 Oct 2004, 05:03 pm »

Eastein, did you try the SI with AAs, a walwart or with a 12V lead acid battery?

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #31 on:** 6 Oct 2004, 05:56 pm »

Quote from: ooheadsoo

The graphs he shows for the tripath clearly demonstrates how if you surpass a certain power output level, things degrade quickly.

They certainly do

The SI needs some really efficient speakers to sound its best, unless you are playing at moderate volume levels...

mca · « **Reply #32 on:** 9 Oct 2004, 05:28 am »

My little Sonic Impact arrived today and seems to sound pretty good for spending a whopping 30 bucks. I was thinking of picking up the Pyramid 13.8v power supply that some have mentioned to see how it works.

Problem is, I have read that this PS is safe to use even with the higher voltage but have also read that it will heat the chip up and can cause damage.

Does anyone have this PS and confirm that it will work properly or not?

I don't want to end up blowing up such an expensive piece of gear

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #33 on:** 9 Oct 2004, 11:27 am »

mca,

I just got my SI recently and am damn suprised anything comes out of that little thing myself. I'm just using the 8 AA's now.

On advice somewhere here on AC, I bought a 12v 7aH sealed lead acid battery and recharger for $20-odd on BatteryMart.com (truly gret prices on SLA's there). You need to find a wire that terminates in an N type plug to insert in the SI, however.

If you have an old wall wart, it USUALLY terminates in exactly the conncector you need for the SI. Just snip the wire off from the wall wart, expose the two leads and hook them up to the positive and negative terminals on the battery. Ooola, direct and by it's very nature, regulated power to the SI. It doesn't draw much juice, so it should power the little guys for days to full rated power before it loses some juice.

EDIT: some cigarette lighter adapters too, have an N plug terminations. Probably not as many tho.

Or, at least that's my hope. My battery is coming in early this week. They are in VA, so it takes a week to get here for us West Coasters.

I'll try to assess what changes it makes. Unfortunately, I only have about 5 hours on the SI now...and Tripath stuff needs long break-in time. So, I don't know how much A vs. B comparo can be made while the unit is still in break in mode. It's pretty damn silly that there would be a break-in mode for a $30 amp, huh? Sheesh.

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #34 on:** 9 Oct 2004, 11:43 am »

Quote from: TheChairGuy

On advice somewhere here on AC, I bought a 12v 7aH sealed lead acid battery and recharger for $20-odd on BatteryMart.com (truly gret prices on SLA's there). You need to find a wire that terminates in an N type plug to insert in the SI, however. ....

I see the model you bought, but I'm unsure what the 7aH means (and why that particular value is appropriate for the SI.)

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #35 on:** 9 Oct 2004, 12:08 pm »

Tonto,

I'm no expert in battery terminology, but I currently use 8 rechargeable NimH AA bateries rated at 2400 milli-amp hours each. At 12 volts (each battery is 1.5 volt x eight), I get 2.4 aH (amp hours) for each set of 8 that I use. I don't know how much juice the SI uses, but I should get many hours of use from each set of 8 AA's I recharge and use.

However, the cells are small for each battery...and discharge from full power quickly. They will quickly lose full charge and float to 1.2 volts...meaning the SI will be starved for much of the time it is powered using the AA's.

Using a larger Sealed Lead Acid battery, to begin with at about 3x the storage at 7 aH (amp hours) will allow the SI to run longer. As well, because of the technology of sealed lead acid, the power is actually 13.8 volts and float pretty quickly to 13.2 volts (like your car battery - it too is actually as much as 13.8 volts when fully charged) and will take a long time to get down to anything near 12 volts. Either way, you are powering the SI to make it's full rated output of 15 watts or so with 13.2 volts, not the 12v and much less that AA's power it to.

I'm sure something in my laymen technical explanation is a bit awry, but the gist of it is true; this 7 aH sealed lead acid battery will last longer, and can power the SI to higher voltages, so it SHOULD sound better than the AA's. It's also just a cool experiment on the cheap for me and furthers my knowlege level to extend to rechargeable battery technologies.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #36 on:** 9 Oct 2004, 01:10 pm »

Nothing to add on the SI, but cool new avatar TheChairGuy!

Mark in Canada

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #37 on:** 12 Oct 2004, 03:37 am »

Thanks Mark....alas, no Maple Leaf's on the drawing board yet

I received the 12v 7aH battery from BatteryMart today. Very nice black color and it's about the same size as the Sonic Impact, overall. Despite them giving concise dims online, I imagined bigger. It's quite compact.

I'm using it up in the bedroom with a 10 year old Sony Walkman (line outs) hooked up to the SI by el cheapo cable that came with another SI product I have. With the 8 AA batteries, I was just surprised it played anything at all (thru some acoustic suspension Boston Acoustics speakers). With the new higher amperage battery, it's a lot cleaner and more powerful. Yep, more than enough sound for that room..plenty enough.

I'm quite impressed...and I imagine the SI needs considerable further break-in time. Total cost is about $55 for it all

I'll hook it up to the main system, using my Dynaco PAS-4 tube pre (quite decent) soon enough to see what chops it really has.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #38 on:** 23 Oct 2004, 01:03 am »

The 12v 7aH battery lasted about 75 hours right out fo the box. I don't know how much charge a Sealed Lead Acid battery loses just hanging around in inventory, but I'm pretty shocked.

I'm fully charging it now with the trickle charger for $9.95 from BatteryMart.com folks, as the SI further burns in on the 8 (rechargeable) NimH batteries in it.

The difference between the AA's and the SLA is pretty significant. It's barely there background muzak with the AA's, and appreciably good audio with the SLA powering it.

The Boston Acoustic speakers were already mounted on the wall when we moved in by the previous owners (with 16 ga cable in the walls), so I have the SI hooked up to it for background music to a portable Sony or Kenwood Portable CDP, or powering my laptop that doubles as my DVD player up there. The dialogue is a whole lot beter than thru those awful laptop speakers, for sure. Overall, so far,a terrific and cheap experiment for about $60.

The sucka' actually works. Someday I'll try it on the big rig and see how it fares.

Jay S · « **Reply #39 on:** 23 Oct 2004, 01:23 am »

TCG,

This sounds very interesting! Not sure why you'd want much more for a bedroom or for your computer desk. Let us know how the amp + SLA sounds in your main rig.