The AO200 comes with a USB A to USB A cable already. Why did you not state this in the review?

I know manufacturers hate it when their products are compared to cheap, but consumers want to know the differences so they can decide how deep they want to go.

Loving the diversity of channel content; solid stuff

I have to agree with @ProjectOverseer re: "budget". I bought the AO200mkII to drive my beloved old $50 Sony bookshelfs at my work station, but as a cute experiment tried swapping it in for my Accuphase in my main system. I was completely shocked how easily it could drive my 89 db efficient Wilsons and fill the 300 square foot space with oodles of headroom to spare. It brought some new flavors to the table all its own: fantastic detail, energy, dynamics, and slam, all with a surprising degree of transparency which made it easy to resolve differences in cables, tubes, and components upstream. It doesn't cost a lot, but can scale way up, making me think this is a great way to get in the game to free up cash for where it counts: DAC, preamplification, and cables. In the end, I missed the Accuphase for its more refined sound: better air, space, separation, smoothness, imaging, more body to the notes at the cost of some attack, more grunt. But the SMSL held its own and could hang. Hats off to these innovative products.

I have just picked up a Topping PA5 II plus and I must say that I don't agree with this at all. The only SMSL amp I have had was the A300, so not sure how that compares to the two here, but my Topping out performs it hands down and without any need for using EQ settings of the SMSL - particularly with detail retrieval and sound stage. Quite an astonishing little amp IMO. It even out-performs my Rotel All Tribute in most areas, except for probably sound stage and depth, but I happily give up some of that in exchange for the Topping's articulation.

Great video of these budget priced speaker amps, technology is progressing in leaps and bounds, soon these budget amps will indeed compete with higher priced amps if they are not already. Very useful indded. Thanks

These are wonderful solutions where you have some smaller speaker solutions, and a smaller budget. Pick the one that makes sense. The small foot print is a bonus too. Class D is very efficient and heat is not an issue too so placement is allot more flexible. I am glad these are here.

The AO200 is a great little amp. I have it with a Bifrost 2/64 and have been very happy with the mk1 model over my old NAD D3045. Definitely a small room amp in my opinion or office.

Although I really dont currently have an application for one of these, it's worth noting we're so damn fortunate ... ie., the current state of affairs in quality affordable hifi ... fffnnn off the charts! Just extraordinary. Individuals much younger than me, may not fully appreciate the context of how good we have it today. A wealth of offerings, and all the data and content to explore and consume when making buying decisions. I been buying gear since the 70's, the landscape today is a phenomenal buyers market. These are the good old times. Certainly... there's pitfalls to avoid, but there's also clear best practices to pursue.

Speaker pairings are really important. I have Dali speakers that sound great with smsl , and small triangle speakers that sound great with topping. I have a REL sub attached to topping.

I happen to have both the SMSL DO300 and the AO200 mkII. Because they look very good, stacked on top of each other, I like simplicity. But also because of the positive reviews I found. Now, to explain, in a sense it's a step down for me, compared to the system I had 25 years ago. But I have moved to another country, smaller house, different climate. Couldn't keep the Thiel CS2.3 anymore! But I did keep the Marantz SR14 and the DV8300. For CDs. First I got the SMSL DAC because, living in 2023, I have to use Bluetooth (not just for music) and the 15 gb mp3 files of music I have on a notebook. With the SR14 was the idea. But that beast gave up after a month (something in the power protection circuit I believe) so I quickly purchased the SMSL amp, which had positive reviews too. So now I'm playing CDs with the DV8300, and I can choose between the internal, 20 year old, DAC (CS4392 Cirrus Logic) and the new, a ESS Sabre DAC. Well, the new DAC is clearly better, more transparent, without becoming harsh. Not at all. Bass is good, but like 15 years ago, you find out good or excellent recordings, and not so good recordings. I use the balanced connection between the two SMSL units. I hope to get the SR14 repaired soon, and then I can compare two amps! The tank and that small class D one, the old and the new. The Marantz will probably sound a bit warmer. Now, for loudspeakers. I still have my also 20 years old Sony SS LA300ED, on stands. Seems to work pretty good!

Seems like you should be comparing them to the budget stuff like the Fosi and Aiyima offerings

SMSL AL200 vs SMSL AD18 which sounds better? Which one will you recommend?

I have an original PA5 that doesn’t have the bass resolution of my LA90 but it’s very lush and listenable, not fatiguing at all. The treble is quite detailed. I ordered Topping TRS and RCA cables and they are pricey but excellent. Did you use the amp fully balanced?

I soooooooo need that tshirt. Great review and comparison - thank you!

I have a Douk amp. Volume,treble,bass banana speaker connection and Bluetooth driving a pair of Qacoustics 2020i speakers. For $85 it's exceptional. Not my main system which has Exposure / vienna acoustics combo but the Douk is unbelievable for amp that fits in the palm of your hand and is dirt cheap.

Hi Passion, I just came from watching your meze elite and focal clear videos. I trust your descriptions of the sound and I think I share your preferences. I'm looking for the foot tapping head bobbing grooving set of headphones. Would you say that Meze Elite are the best for this? Thanks in advance!

Passion for Sound!, Thanks Much !.......

I had the original AO200 And while it was good enough in bass and treble for me, the mids were dry and voices were thin. I thought I could address this with the tone controls. And while it had plenty of tone controls, all of them would change bass or treble, but never mids, which was a shame and finally the reason I got rid of it. It doesn’t seem like this has changed on the MK2. On top, you never seem to have talked about midrange reproduction, which is also important in amplifier reviews.

I've been involved in mid to high end audio since the early 80s. In this time I've collected a fair bit of kit. In the last few years I have collected a lot of SMSL amps and DACS ... Like I said, I have some lovely high end kit, i even own a pro home recording studio. So why SMSL? Number one. SMSL kick way above their price, and the first lesson I learnt was "Don't Treat Them Like Cheap Amps or DACS" ... Your bland "play it safe" review missed the potental possible by a mile. The AL200 is a mind blowing Amp and Dac combo ... Treat it like high end in regards to cables used and what you connect the digital input to. Also speakers ... I actually enjoyed the SMSL driving £3500 speakers. It did it with ease, and sounded as good as my mid range pre/power also costing £3500 Did you bin the supplied USB cable and replace with a quality sudio grade USB? The difference is very marked. Did you try the MQA feature? I've always been critical of MQA - until now. Bare wire speaker cable is best on these Amps and SMSL Amps and DACS with XLR is also very good. You didn't mention your reference kit or the room used to listen or even examples of your listening experience.

There are STILL no long vowels in "Sundara".

The future of class D and GaN technology in amps is pretty exciting if you ask me.

Would you recommend smsl al200 over ifi zen dac or fiio k7 at same price?

I believe the Topping used the TPA3255 chip.

Can ao200 mk 2 drive Usher x719 speakers ? With lower model denon receiver Ushers sound like crap but they sing with anthem mrx 720 . I wonder if something like so200 mk 2 is worth considering for Ushers ?

A truly excellent review. Thank you!

It'd be great if you could review the sabaj a30a digital amp! Seems excellent for the price and there aren't Many reviews on it.

I have always felt that the crossover distortion is the most annoying aspect of the sound of these cheap amps. But glad to hear your take.

I wil like to pair the Smsl ao200mkii with a pair of kefq150

Can the cross over for the sub preout be adjusted on the SMSL AO200 MKII?

Your showing topping pa5 ii Plus . which is higher power than the pa5 ii Am i been to picky .

Can anyone let me know if the volume pot on the smsl ao200 controls the volume on the subwoofer out. Im confused by the added caption "The sub output is not adjustable and just follows the main volume."

Please test SMSL SA400 or its DAC added version namely the WMV A2.

Was Topping used with its balanced inputs? btw. Topping is probably using something from TPA ps. Topping pa5 has almost completly flat frequency response even though its class D. I assume other two smsl has some load dependency, so you might end up hearing more highs that why topping feel "darker" or whatever you want to call it.

For few months I’ve been running a pair of ELAC Unifi 2.0 with the AO200MK2 and I’m absolutely pleased, wouldn’t change it unless I may go to the high end tier. WiiM Pro - Ifi Zen One Signature - SMSL AO200MK2 - ELAC Unifi 2.0 UB52 / Yamaha NS SW50 subwoofer

I absolutely *devour* your reviews -- and I know it would be way, way, way too soon after this one to be thinking about another SMSL product, but the AO-300 (confusing because of the similar name) has both a headphone amp *and* a subwoofer output, so if it's sonically comparable it might be the solution people have been waiting for from this company. Again, I know it's crazy to think you'd be willing to put another SMSL on the bench this soon, but I'd be grateful to know any industry-inside info that you may have, such as whether or not all the key chips are the same. The company literature is a bit vague about whether they are, or aren't.

I did not like thr ao200 mkii. Sounded tinny regardless of eq.

Try the Topping LA90

I think the real comparison would be with A/B 100W amps :)

no one ever does smsl vs Fosi speaker amps

If you really want to know what these Class-D chip-amps can do, cut them loose on a pair of workhorse speakers like the Heresy or L-100 ... you won't be disappointed.

A300 is better sonically than the Ao200

Didn't you say this channel was dedicated to headphone audio?

They're called Class D, not D Class! DUH! Do you call other stereo amps A Class and AB Class? No, they're called Class A and Class AB. Jeez!

These amps are dangerously approaching $300. Why are they always reviewed in complete isolation to tried & true entry-level A/B amplifiers? For crying out loud, just buy a refurbished Cambridge Audio amp for $300.

Class D 😂.

Ahem, pardon me...................... Who told you the rule-of-thumb that 85Wpc is pretty much able to drive any speaker? That's ridiculous. The noobs hear that nonsense & start regurgitating it as gospel. Reggae, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊

It was silly to hear reference being made to a $5,000 unit rather than a $500 AB integrated amp, ruined the presentation.