irl
11111This is the best sub-$100 class-D amp I’ve tested
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2020
If you’re looking for a desktop amp, you’re likely in awe of the glut of cheap Chinese chip amps. I did a lot of research and purchased several of them, as well as a dedicated high-quality bluetooth receiver to compare audio quality against. Remember that you’re looking at very low-cost desktop chip amps powering 8Ω speakers — this isn’t going to be in the same ballpark of quality of traditional analog amps. If your expectations are adjusted, you’ll love this little guy.
1. Connectivity
Bluetooth: It’s hard to find a bluetooth amp under 100 bucks with aptX HD. This is a big selling point. Qualcomm’s aptX HD codec gets you a high-enough bitrate that using bluetooth instead of a wired connection can actually get you decent results. When it is stable, the sound quality is quite good without noticeable latency or syncing issues when paired with videos. I did notice with this receiver that the bluetooth connection seemed to suffer from some occasional crackles. I’m wondering if there’s interference coming into play. I’m close to docking a star for the interference, but I have to determine if it’s something in my setup first. I’ll try to update when I have a better sense of the issue. UPDATE: I purchased a second unit and this one is not having the same problem with bluetooth signal drops. I’m happy to report that it’s working perfectly.
Aux in (3.5mm jack): sounded great plugged into my turntable (with pre-amp). No hiss or notable issues to speak of.
Noe that when bluetooth connects, it takes precedence over line-in. There’s no switch to choose inputs.
RCA/Optical/Coax: I didn’t realize this when purchasing the unit, but these connections are all *outputs*, not inputs. The only inputs to the amp are bluetooth and 3.5mm. I haven’t tested the output ports.
2. Audio quality
As an amplifier it does the job well. I’m not sure what chips they’re using, but there’s no noticeable clipping or distortion at 50-70% volume and it’s plenty loud. The sound is warm and clean, not overly processed-sounding. I didn’t notice any issues with hissing until I got up to 90%+ volume; at lower volumes, I couldn’t detect anything. I’m pretty sure the amp can deliver the 50Wx2 on the box.
3. Controls
The plastic bass and treble knobs provide some ability to dial in the sound, though their effects are not as prominent as I’ve heard in some other amps. There’s an impossible-to-see small circle on each dial to indicate where it is set. I would’ve liked to see painted lines. That said, all three knobs have a nice click of resistance when you get to the 50% setting, which helps you orient yourself without even looking at them. I noticed a slight lag to the effect of moving the knobs, which I later realized is due to the fact that the controls seem to make changes in “steps” rather than a linearly.
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Overall, I’m quite happy with the quality of this unit, especially considering its cost. You’re just not going to get better sound from your bluetooth devices to your speakers for under $100.
bmccune
11111 Great bluetooth extender with a longer range compared to most others and external controls as well.
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020
This is the 2nd Bluetooth extender that I have purchased. I use it for an old receiver that we have in our Living room that is connected to our pool speakers. This device gives us Bluetooth connectivity from our phones etc. while by the pool to control music, volume, etc. through the receiver inside. We no longer have to depend on radio, playlists, or people running in and out. Another bonus is the stereo can be controlled from any room of the house now. Both extenders I have purchased have worked great but this one is superior for two reasons:
1) External controls on the device allow you to manually control bass, treble, and volume.
2) The range of this unit is far greater to then the previous one I purchased.
I highly reccomend this type of device if you have a similar issue. Plus for a little extra you get external controls and a greater range.
Danny
11111Unexpectedly Good Grade D Amp
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2020
I believe most amps that are this size and with this level of functionality are considered Grade D (not entirely sure since I don’t exactly remember the classification from when I did research on amplifiers like these). I bought another amplifier before and I used it for a while but ultimately returned due to not liking it. There were too many issues that came with that amplifier. This one on the other hand, doesn’t have a few of the issues that I experienced before. This has aptX so there is little to no delay that I’m able to notice and even though there are a lot of wireless devices in my room, this one doesn’t get cut off from being a few feet away. I know that sounds odd considering it is BT 5.0, but my last amplifier did get cut off even with a direct line of sight. Overall this seems to be better quality than I initially expected (purchased this to test and see if it would be any better than my previous grade D amp.
This is also a gift I got for my cousin so any issues there may be, would be his). Some issues with Grade D amps would be how easy it is to connect to the device (while may not be an issue for some, imagine if someone was able to freely connect to your device without any pass code or something. Imagine someone connecting to your car system because it didn’t require a pass code).
My previous amplifier didn’t have an option to toggle the Bluetooth like this one so anytime someone connects to it while I’m using the AUX cable or something, it would get prioritized and I would not be able to hear my music. It would also lack priority between the two so sometime it would just go mute because it’s connected to both AUX and Bluetooth.
Only major downside is that the box came a bit damaged and there was extra layer of protection.
Kevin W
11111 You get less than what you pay for!
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2020
Bought this item because it could do a lot for a small device. I didn’t expect the best sound quality from the amp section, what I got was terrible sound while powering speakers. The treble was shrill with two different sets of speakers. The volume control on both the volume knob and through the iPhone were malfunctioning. There was just to much wrong with this device to even fully describe in any reasonable amount of time.
Stephen E.
11111 Good sound quality
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2020
This Bluetooth receiver with built-in stereo amp is easy to use and has really good sound quality. I love the variety of output ports on the back, that makes it easy to hook up to almost any type of speaker or additional amplifier. The 3.5mm input ports is handy as well, for those times it is just easier to plug in instead of connecting through Bluetooth. While I like having the knobs for volume, bass, and treble on the front, I would have also really liked having a remote control for at least volume as well (even though usually controlling volume through Bluetooth is good enough). It does have a plastic case, which feels a bit inferior to other products with metal cases, but for the price I can’t complain.
RFam5
11111Great sound and range
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2020
I finally found a solution for a Bluetooth amp to run my outdoor speakers from inside my house. The range on this thing is crazy. Sound quality is excellent (it’s plugged into two Bose outdoor speakers). AND, the customer service from 1Mii is exceptional. I’m obsessed with control music from my phone (i.e. skipping songs, changing the volume, etc). I don’t just turn on Spotify and let it play. When changing the music volume on my phone, the volume change reflected on the unit was basically on or off. There was no volume gradient. I contacted 1Mii about the issue and within a week I had a new unit with updated software. Now, the volume works perfectl
