A300 HiFi Power Amplifier, Class D Integrated Amp SDB Sound Effects 2.1 Audio System Hi-Res Audio Receiver RCA/Bluetooth 5.0/USB Input 8 Modes of EQ 165W x 2 THD+N 0.004%(with Remote Control)

Just like with the A20a I had recently, I purchased the A300 with the intent to use them as monoblocks. I thought it would be cool to have amps underneath my Lintons on the stands, and admittedly, have gotten caught up in the swirling opinions regarding the benefits of “MORE POWER”. After some disappointments with the A20a, I turned to the A300 which I had just recently discovered. At the $150 sale price, I knew resistance was futile. Are these the cheapest entry into monoblocks? Naturally, I’ll be making comparisons to the A20a throughout this review. Starting with the build and functionality. Now, this is usually something I don’t care to spend too much time on, but this is where the main deciding differences lie between this and the A20a. For one, I think these just look better. Black just blends in effortlessly and they disappear visually much easier than the A20a. The volume knob is awesome! More like an infinitely spinning disc with gentle clicks for feedback. I love that it sits flush with the face of the unit, helping it look more streamlined. The power button is much preferred over the lever of the A20a. Bonus points for not having to hold it either! One click on, one click off. The blue display numbers aren’t too jarring, especially when turned down to 1 brightness, but are more difficult to read than the orange display on the DX3 Pro+. Binding posts look/feel cheap compared to the nicer ones on the A20a, but they function so I don’t really care. Same with the housing, A300 is thin and hollow whereas the A20a feels more substantial and hefty. But again, here we have a mediocre implementation of bluetooth. A feature most of us won’t use but have to pay for. Pass. On the brightside, the included remote is a glorious addition! Being able to power the units on/off remotely is invaluable, as is being able to control the volume if not using a preamp (more on that later). The included digital filters (tone controls) are also a nice bonus, being able to mess around with the sound if one wishes. And I’ll take the digital volume of the A300 over the analog volume of the A20a any day! All said, here we already have a better featured, more versatile package than what was offered with the A20a. On to power. I tested a single A300 in stereo, dual A300s in mono, and my PA3s in stereo. I set my UMIK-1 up at my listening position 6ft away from my Lintons and used REW to produce a 75db test tone in these different configurations. The amps were maxed out on the dials and my DX3 Pro+ was used as volume. The results: (2) A300 in mono: -43 volume (1) A300 in stereo: -37 volume (1) A20a in stereo: -34 volume (1) PA3s in stereo: -22 volume Much greater volume and power than the PA3s! But a less significant change going from stereo to mono. Using these as monoblocks, I detected a level of hiss that was consistent from 0 to about 50 on the volume. Onwards past 50 and especially at 55-60 (max volume), the hiss got louder and more distracting. Thus, I settled on using these at 50 when using the DX3 Pro+ as the preamp. However, I soon ended up stacking both A300s front and center, switching the DX3 Pro+ into DAC mode and using the volume normally on the A300s. Close proximity offered the advantage of using the remote to control both at once, although I didn’t always find this consistent and it would change the volume of one and not the other. Sometimes they both magically “rematched” themselves when adjusting volume, but other times, I had to get up and manually adjust one dial to rematch them. I liked this configuration better, knowing all the power was available and I wasn’t cutting a significant portion off at 50/60. The digital volume kept things perfectly consistent, being able to listen at 1/60 and the channels were perfectly matched. So what now? Well for one, these are definitely usable as monoblocks with their unbalanced RCA inputs, the A20a were not (much too noisy in unbalanced mode). Both are still perfectly viable to be used in stereo with a single unit, so don’t sleep on that. As mentioned earlier, the biggest differences between units come cosmetically and in functionality. It really depends on what you value most, but I just don’t see much advantage of the A20a unless you love the look or need balanced inputs. Otherwise, the A300 is an easy pick over the A20a for me. Grab ‘em at $150 and the decision is almost too easy. Finally, the reason I’m sticking with the PA3s lies in the hiss volume that emits from the speakers, or lack thereof! Seriously, the PA3s is so dang quiet and now I have a true appreciation for it. The A300, like the A20a, is definitely audible especially if in a quiet room. Even when I thought I got used to it, I’d hit mute on the remote and was like “ahhh quiet”. Some may never care or even hear it depending on your ambient noise levels and speakers. Personally, since I’d never approach even a fraction of the available volume and my preference for as quiet as possible devices, the PA3s becomes the winner by default. Plus, we all know that splitting a matching equipment “stack” is blasphemy. Oh. I almost forgot. They all sound the same to me.

As an aged audiophile, I've been playing with mid-fi equipment for over 50 years. I've had amps from Rotel, Acdom, Marantz, Analogue Audio and others. Most recently I've been using a Schiit Audio Saga+ preamp with a Sonance power amp and KEF Q350 speakers. The Sonance is a quality amp, if relatively unknown. I was looking to reduce the footprint of my setup while retaining reasonable power. So I decided to try the A300. Swapped it in for the Sonance and started playing. Wow!! Another reviewer said the A300 was smooth, and that's pretty much the case. Smoother at least than the Sonance. I played Hi Res streamed from Qobuz and some CDs. Every part of the range was great. I wasn't hearing bass, mids and treble - I was hearing a cohesive one-piece sound. Not edgy like the Sonance but complete with fine detail and well placed instruments in a beautiful soundstage. Utilizing the built-in high pass filter made integrating a powered sub easy and very effective. I experimented by removing the Saga preamp and plugging my sources directly into the A300. An even more resolving presentation. Even though the Saga is a passive preamp, in comparison to the A300 in direct mode the Saga seemed to add a slightly soft glow to the sound, not at all unpleasant but without the detail and clear top end of the A300. The A300 is quiet and runs cool. The EQ menus are nice to have though I use Direct Mode most of the time. The proprietary SDB mode is akin to a loudness contour and is helpful at lower volumes. The Soft mode can help tame down an overly hot recording. As mentioned the high pass filter is great. I don't object to the blue info screen although SMSL has more attractive screens in lots of its other equipment. So that will be on the short list of things to be improved. The remote is simple and effective but it does need precise line-of-sight to the amp. For my purposes a third RCA input would be valuable but most people should be happy with the two provided. I don't use Bluetooth but I tried it out and it works OK; convenient, but no match for my DAC, CD, or turntable. This is great Amp. Period. Honestly, it sounds superior to any amp I ever used. My KEFs never sounded this good. I had tried an Aiyima A07 amp complete with Sparkos discrete op amp upgrade and while it worked well it always lacked the detail and beautiful top end of the A300. Seems like the Infineon chip in the A300 is as good as reported. The A300 size also helped me clean up my stereo layout. I am very impressed and very happy. My thanks to iiWi and other YouTube reviewers that recommended the SMSL A300.

I needed a small amp to drive a pair of bookshelf speakers and needed a subwoofer out as a requirement. I started looking at units between $80.00 to $800+, upon looking I happened to find this. It looked to have more power than even some units costing more (even though I know manufacturers exaggerate the power output), a subwoofer out, remote, adjustable EQ, and an Infineon Amp setup. Upon receiving it, it turns out it is quite powerful, sounds fantastic with some tweaking, and I am fairly impressed by what I got opposed to how much I paid. It is by no means perfect, and I do plan on getting a better unit down the road, but this little unit delivers. Sound quality is very good; no audible hiss, low noise floor, treble, mids, and highs are nicely proportioned with no glaring issues. I like EQ1 with Treble and Bass at both +2. I have this hooked up to NHT SB2 bookshelf speakers and a RSl Speedwoofer 10s (which are incredible sounding) and outputting to it with a Topping E50 DAC with an Ifi power supply upgrade. This combo makes all my music and games sound incredible! I can highly recommend this amplifier, especially for the price! It delivers solid, clean output with more than enough power. You can also buy two and bridge them together for even more power, but I heard it is kind of wonky setup like that. Pros: -Sound quality. -Form factor. -Subwoofer out. -High pass filter. -Different EQ modes (I use EQ1 (Tone) for normal listening and EQ2 (SBX) for low level listening). -Adjustable Bass and Treble. -Plenty of power and able to drive most speakers without issue. -Has Bluetooth and USB-IN (can be used as a sound output device for the computer, but the quality is only so-so and inferior to most built in audio). Cons: -Blue display with limited characters (requires the manual to decipher what they mean). I would have gladly paid more for a full display! -Weird glitch, when scrolling through the menu, the display will make weird characters that are not supposed to be part of the menu items. These all have this! It happens when you scroll back and forth through the menu. -Remote is stupidly designed and does not sit flat. -Highpass Filter limited to 50Hz only. Adjustable would have been much better! -Not the best Bluetooth sound quality out there.

This thing competes with amps along the lines of the loxjie A30 and Topping MX5. It has more power than the Loxjie and is cheaper than the Topping. The sound out of it is incredible. I'm no audiophile and I'm confident that this is as good as my ear is capable of hearing, so anything higher end would just be a waste. It has power to spare for a typical stereo setup. I have a pair of OLD (90's?) Bose 301 Continental speakers set up with it (8 ohm speakers). They are loud enough to be heard throughout the house by volume 30-35... and it goes to 60. 10-12 is a nice low level background level. I also picked up a Nobsound G2 mono sub amp to use an old passive sub-woofer with the sub out on this, and that pairing is great. I'm running this as speakers for a desktop PC setup and connected with the included USB-A to USB-A cable (a ridiculous setup, but it works... seriously though has SMSL not heard of USB C???). That worked flawlessly with zero additional setup. In fact Windows is great about switching back to the onboard sound if I just turn off the amp or switch inputs, so it defaults back to my headphones which is nice (since this doesnt have a headphone amp built in, which is fine for my needs). Having some of the additional features not always found in an amp at this price range is nice too (like high pass for using a sub, bridge mode even if Im not planning to use it, etc). About the only thing I guess is lacking compared to similar amps is a more functional display. It just shows you volume, not the extended information some show. I'm OK with that as it just sits off to my right and I dont really need to know anything by looking at it. Something to note, though. Really, though, I cant speak highly enough of this. It's functional, sounds great, and is a great price for what you get. Its a no brainer if the feature set fits your needs.

This is my third D Class mini amp to power my Klipsch RB5 II speakers. The first wasn't powerful enough, the second was shouty and the A300 makes them sound magical. What a HUGE difference!! Definitely worth the extra cost. PROS: Solid construction. Comes with remote (no batteries) Sounds excellent. Plenty of power for home use. Easy to use menu. Internal power (no external adapter) Preset EQ (more like DSP) modes. Separate treble and bass controls. Powerful 5.0 Bluetooth. Subwoofer out for powered sub. One USB input. Banana plug speaker wire connections. 2 stereo analog inputs (great for CD player). Display is dimmable. Recessed volume knob. Attractive. Very thin. CONS: Remote connection SUCKS. You to be directly in front of it for it to work. Poor display. Old school 70s look. Incomplete directions. If you're looking for an amp that'll save you space and sounds great I would highly recommend the A300. Is it audiophile? Probably not but it's close. Highly recommended. Update: Picked up a new discontinued pair of speakers. The Q Acoustics 3050. Great match with this amp.

For $195 this thing is a steal. I’m not an audiophile, but I very much appreciate great audio. Especially for media (movies, games, etc). I have paired this with some Kanto 5.25 passives, an svs sb1000 sub, and a fosi tube p1 preamp as my desktop audio solution. It’s used mainly for gaming, but also YouTube and music. I couldn’t be happier. It has so many features built in. I especially love that it has a high pass filter built in for sub use. My sub also has one built in, but it’s really nice to see on an amp like this. People complain about the blue light looking cheap, but I don’t think that’s the case. I’m trying to decide if I like to wire my sub to it or wire my sub before the amp and speakers to use the hpf in the sub. I noticed my sub hits harder at the same gain level when it’s wired first via high level input then high level output to amp. But if I want to use Bluetooth I won’t have the sub. Also supposedly it allows the amp to handle the speakers better because it relieves the amp of sub duty, but I’m not sure I can tell a difference other than the sub hitting way harder at lower gains. I’m a bass man. Sorry but I love bass. I come from a long history of custom car audio and I know according to audiophiles “you’re not supposed to be able to tell you have a sub bc it should blend seamlessly” while I agree with that for certain types of music it’s not true at all for plenty of others. I like to feel my bass. So I’m torn whether to wire it that way. I’ve been bouncing back and forth. I digress, it’s a great amp. I replaced the Aiyima 08 pro with this because the sub was very weak with the Aiyima. Great little amp otherwise (minus the Bluetooth RCA quirk).

I compared the A300 with the Yamaha A-S301, Yamaha R-S202, and Aiyima T9 PRO, paired with both Emotiva B2+ and Klipsch RP-600M II speakers. Because I had two A300 units at hand, I compared them in both normal and BTL modes, using A300 as monoblocks. Let’s start with power, as that’s the easy part. I’m not sure if Yamaha is grossly underrating their amplifiers in terms of power output or if S.M.S.L is overrating theirs. Even the more affordable Yamaha R-S202, retailing around $150, has more power than the A300. The Yamaha A-S301, rated at 120W @ 4 ohms, notably outpowers two A300 units operating as monoblocks in BTL mode. This difference is evident with songs like “Enter Sandman” by Metallica or “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. The A-S301 has enough power to push the speakers to the limit, shaking the room and making you feel the bass viscerally at 65% volume. The A300 falls short, and it’s worth noting that if the volume increases beyond 40/60, distortion becomes noticeable, and 45/60 and up are simply not listenable for me due to excessive distortion. The same applies if the A300 is operating as two monoblocks. The Aiyima T9 PRO significantly lags in output power compared to any of these amps. Even when cranked to 99/99, the T9 PRO doesn’t have the power needed for songs like “Enter Sandman” or “Thunderstruck.” Overall, the Yamaha A-S301 emerges as the clear winner, even against two A300 monoblocks. A single A300 can compete with the R-S202, but even the cheaper Yamaha seems to have a bit more power reserve, or at least the sound is less distorted at higher volumes. Another straightforward aspect is heat. I don’t know how S.M.S.L achieved it, but this amplifier never gets hot, even after playing at high volumes for hours. This is particularly impressive as the power supply is in the same small case together with the amp. In contrast, the Aiyima T9 PRO uses an external power supply but still gets extremely hot, even when idle, and playing it makes it almost unpleasant to touch. Both Yamahas perform within the standard old-school expectations here, getting a little warm but nothing close to the Aiyima. Moving forward, I’ll focus mainly on the A300 and A-S301, as the other two amps are not worth considering - Aiyima due to underwhelming power, while the R-S202 is very close in performance to the A300 and not really the topic of this review. How does it sound? Well, it depends on the speakers. I think that the Emotiva B2+ sounds the best with the Yamaha A-S301 because the sound is open and balanced, the bass is tight and punchy, the stage is wide, and the sound is bright with an insane amount of details at the top end. The S.M.S.L A300 sounds close to this when paired with the Emotiva B2+, with the exception of a less punchy bass. Because the A300 has less real power than the Yamaha A-S301, the sound is smaller and less convincing when playing at loud volumes. On the other hand, the Klipsch RP-600M II sounds better when paired with the A300, as this amp brings so much more detail in the top end and makes the bass sound less muddy compared to the Yamaha A-S301. Overall, the best combination is the Yamaha A-S301 with Emotiva B2+ speakers, while the worst combination was the Yamaha A-S301 and Klipsch RP-600M II. Still, the Yamaha A-S301 will make any speakers sound bigger compared to the A300 amp, and this aspect is the most obvious and noticeable, while the other subtleties can be detected only during A/B testing. I was a bit disappointed with BTL mode (using two A300 as monoblocks). Firstly, two A300 units cost more than the Yamaha A-S301 and still deliver less power with more audible distortion at higher volumes. Also, it’s tricky to control the volume on two A300 units while in BTL mode. One remote changes the volume on both amplifiers, but as the remotes don’t work the best, often one amp will get out of sync, and then you need to stand up and move the knobs on the amps to put the volume back in sync. Overall, not the best experience, and I don’t think it’s worth buying two A300 units to put them in BTL mode. In terms of digital inputs, the A300 only offers BT and USB, which are both not very useful to me. I use WiiM streamer, and I prefer to use optical or digital coax inputs, which are available on the Yamaha A-S301. Some YouTube reviews say that the DAC in the Yamaha A-S301 is not the best, but I simply don’t hear the difference compared to the S.M.S.L. DAC or even the Schiit Modi+. So I quite like that the Yamaha A-S301 offers both optical and coax inputs and that I don’t need to use an additional DAC but can plug the WiiM streamer directly into the amp. S.M.S.L. offers a better version of the A300 amp named AO300 that has an internal DAC with optical and coax inputs, but the price is a bit steep as it retails around $290. I picked up the Yamaha A-S301 here on Amazon for $315 (don’t pay $350 for it!). So for a $25 or so difference between the Yamaha A-S301 and S.M.S.L. AO300, this is a no-brainer situation, as the Yamaha A-S301 is superior to the AO300 in almost any aspect. The only real advantage of S.M.S.L A300 or AO300 I can think of is a much smaller footprint in case you are constrained by available space, but at the same time the small A300 does look underwhelming compared to A-S301. Overall, I think that S.M.S.L. barely has a competitive offer here. I don’t think that the A300 is a bargain, even less so the Aiyima T9 PRO. It would be very hard for me to recommend the A300 because I think even the Yamaha R-S202 for $149 is a better deal for less money in case you are on a tight budget. If you can stretch a bit, go for the Yamaha A-S301 and you won’t regret it.

I have been using this to power a set of book shelf speakers for the past 6 months. I mostly use Bluetooth and it works great; no dropouts, plenty of power, stays cool, and doesn't take up much room. I tested it on a set of larger floor standing speakers and it sounded great on those too. If the wattage is ample for the speakers you are using, and the features fit your needs, I don't think you can do better for the price.