Dayton Audio's bargain power house amplifier
In May this year (2021) I finally unboxed and tried out my new Dayton Audio APA150 power amplifier. This only took 13 months, and a shelf rearrangement. I needed a more compact replacement for that old SAE TWO receiver, especially since I don't listen to FM anymore and stream the stations, that are so distorted on FM radio, clearly from the web instead.
To call the APA150 integrated, as TNT Audio does, is a bit of a stretch with only a volume pot and one input, but it could do for a single source system as a standalone ... for a starter system.
However, for today's generation, any HiFi culture is dismal, and they are outright ignorant in its requirements, which doesn't even include source switching anymore!
For myself though, I run a very compact remote controllable kit preamp, based on the now defunct Sanyo (no longer an entity) LC75342 chip set, with 4 line inputs, volume, gain, balance, and bass/treble controls, a sweet piece worth a lot more, were it to carry a major brand name on its brushed aluminium front plate. So the switching and sound control problem is taken care of, and the (power) amplifier can do its thing without getting niggled!
Aside from saving a LOT of shelf space, how is the APA150?
It is a HUGE bang for the buck!
This new amp, much like my vintage about 40 year old SAE TWO R3C, just simply is there, and makes anything from any line level source louder, with all the little details, no bloat, and no fowl attitude, that's it. Which is exactly what a good amp is supposed to do!
Its clean powerful sound reminds a lot of the days when I had a KA-1000 with its Sigma Drive, once Kenwood's top of the line ... when the damned thing worked and didn't need jiggling switches and resoldering the whole main board every few months 30 years ago. Frankly, every Kenwood piece I bought in the early eighties crapped out, so I am left with a really sour aftertaste about one of the big dreams of my teens.
But with this Dayton Audio APA150 you get really neat audio performance out of this comparatively cheap amplifier, that does not claim or pretend to be high end, but I would like to hear it run head to head against a 1000 dollar plus Creek!
Only time will tell, how long it will last, and if it will age as gracefully as my most beloved SAE TWO R3C (and the old Superscope, Marantz, Technics, and McIntosh gear piled up in various room systems, shelves and corners)
A nice review is here at TNT Audio:
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