68 Watts per Channel for USD 20 ?

Amarendra

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Hi,

Recently picked up a Chinese amp TDA 7498E which claimed to pump 68 W per ch into 8 ohm, 2 channel driven with < 1 % THD. It pumps out 110 W per channel at 4 ohms, 2 ch driven.

I was prompted by a test on Youtube which actually pushed the amp to 100 w + per channel when supplied with 36 V 10 A power supply. When used with a 24 V power supply, the output drops quite a bit.


The actual amp is tiny which fits in the palm of my hand. It comes with a nice acrylic transparent case (to be bought separately). The case actually costs INR 500 where as the amp costs just INR 1400.
I picked up the power supply from Amazon for about INR 1,200. All in all my amp was ready for about INR 3,500.

The amp comes with its own heat sink and a tiny fan that goes on automatically once the chip is heated.

I had very low expectations from the amp given my previous experience with a Topping TP20 which was quite weak.

However after making the necessary connections I was greeted by loud and clear music.

The power under the hood is immense. I was soon listening to music at reasonably loud levels with the amp volume dial at just 9 o clock.
I noticed a hint of brightness when connected to my phone directly using a 3.5mm cable. Hence I changed the source to my CD player (a Panasonic Blu Ray player). This took away most of the brightness and the soundstage as well as the separation were phenomenally good.
The speakers that I was using were the Wharfedale Diamonds 220 book shelves which have a low sensitivity at 86 db. But the amp was just pushing the speakers effortlessly without a sweat. The fan came on once or twice for about 15 seconds. After shutting it down I noticed that the heating of the board was negligible (not even warm).

After this experiment I connected the amp as a power amp to my Denon 2500H AVR to drive the front L & R speakers. With Audyssey run, the performance was fine tuned further compared to the CD player. I had to check and see the amp during a movie if it was really powering the fronts or had I mistakenly connected the Rotel/ Pioneer.
The amp is oozing with power and leaves me puzzled each time I turn it on. This could be because of my low expectations or the low price or both.
Honestly I don’t understand how an amp at this price can belt out this kind of performance or am I missing something ??
 
Stop being puzzled and start being glad and happy!

TDA 7498E based Class-D amps are really good. I have been using one for the last 6-8 weeks as a secondary music system and I am impressed with the sound. TI has done well with the chip, though, the SNR and other factors are not that good, purely in terms of specs. But yes, the 7498E has been tested and proven to deliver 108W per channel if enough juice is given to it.

I will be posting a review of the amp shortly. Hopefully!! :):)
 
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