Today I spotted this amplifier with built in DSP which I thought might be of use to those members who want to investigate active systems and especially DIY.
What struck me is that it is a neat single chassis solution that contains 6 channels of amplification (Class D) and 10 channels of DSP. It is shoe box in format and reminds me of some British amps or the mid-nineties Sony 3000ES.
It is designed and assembled in the USA and seems to sit between the ‘budget’ offerings from Thoman and much higher end solutions. It’s not for everyone (digital only inputs, limited power and not the best speaker terminals) but I thought it was worth a mention.
The terminals look similar to those often found on car audio amplifiers - I assume for space saving reasons. Not great for big HiFi cables and banana plugs!
I do wonder if they plan to do a pre-amp only version at some point for those who want all the functionality but would prefer to use their own amplification.
I understand DSP when used with shortwave and amateur radios. How is it applied in this case, please? Would it be used to remove the pops and ticks on LPs?
In this application the DSP part is intended to function in a similar way to a Mini DSP type product.
For each of the 10 channels you are able to choose/adjust the crossover type, frequency, slope. You can also adjust phase, gain and carry out PEQ to tailor the sound to your speaker design/room/preference.
As a piece of electronics something like this is really handy for those who wish to design and build their own speakers but who find the complexities of designing a passive crossover (especially optimising it with different component values) too daunting.
However there are a number of affordable digital active crossovers out there that do the job. The ability to do room correction, or even use as a tone control for poor recordings, I would have thought may be of more popular interest than an active XO - but a modular one separate from the amp would be more versatile.
I suppose it depends what the end user is looking for. A neat all-in-one solution or additional boxes. Mini DSP flex products start at circa £600 but with fewer channels on the cheaper models. Of course you can then choose your amplification - that’s why I think a pre-amp version of this product would be a worthwhile offer.
When I’ve researched DSP the seems to be the Dayton Audio, Mini-DSP, pro-audio type gear or very expensive products. There are lots of car audio DSPs so, with a 12v power supply, that’s another option, if not the neatest.
