Sonic T-Amp "Audiophile Quality" Amp for $20

It appears that I'm a bit late getting to the party on this one but I think it's worth writing about anyway. A California company named Sonic Impact Technologies has put together a small, cheap power amp that is based on the Tripath TA 2024 chipset and it's been creating quite a stir in the audiophile community. The amp is called the "Sonic T-Amp" or the "Sonic Impact Model 5066." It is a single-input stereo amp that provides 6 watts per channel into a 8 ohm load. From the pictures it looks like a cheapie pastic box junk amplifier but from the reviews I've been reading it should not be judged by it's appearance!

From the TNT-Audio review dated 15 January, 2005:

"It is not easy to describe how a 20$ amplifier performs. First of all, as said, it has no competitors. The cheapest integrated amplifier I can think of costs 6-7 times the T-Amp. Trust me, it is NOT this kind of amps you should have in mind when comparing the T-Amp. In order to evaluate it you need to forget its price. Difficult? Not at all! It becomes very easy once you listen to it: tonal balance, dynamics, 3D imaging, transparency, detail...consider all these parameters critically and you'll be amazed by the results."



I may have to give one a try even though most (ok, all) of my music listening is done on an iPod* or via iTunes these days. Here are some more links:

Froogle Search
Second TNT-Audio review of the T-Amp by Carlo Morsiani
Reboxing Your T-Amp
SI+ Tri-Amp Chassis

* Actually this amp looks like it's targeted at the mobile audio market but I'm afraid that the other cube dwellers at work wouldn't appreciate the gift of my music as much as the should.