Friday, August 9, 2013

Sure AA-AS32171 TDA7492 Amp

I just got this in the mail today. At $38 with a power supply and free shipping it was hard to ignore. This new Sure amp has the same form factor as my much loved TA2024 Sure amp, but it comes with the higher power Texas Instruments TDA7492 chip which claims 50 watts per channel. It's got a few improvements compared to my other Sure amp: a headphone jack, as well as both RCA and 1/8" stereo miniplug inputs. My first impressions are positive. It's well built and sounds great. It has the best digital volume control I've used with excellent feel. While the volume control has discrete indexed settings, there are many and it takes a few rotations to go from silence to full on so it shouldn't be a problem to find the right volume level. The volume control also doubles as the on/off switch; pressing it turns it on and off. If you are looking for a more powerful amp than the TA2024 tripath amps you should definitely check out this one.
So, the million dollar question: Does it sound better than the TA2024 amp? (The TA2024 version is the one on top with the silver volume knob) Well, my initial impression is that I still favor the TA2024. The increased power of the TDA7492 is noticeable and the bass is much stronger with the new Sure amp. I'm using it currently with the supplied 19 volt power supply, but it's claimed to work with a variety from 9 volts to 24. I'll have to give it some time and experiment with other power supplies before I have a definitive opinion.