Amp review time - This is the Wuzhi Audio ZK-HT21. This 2.1 amp runs about $50 on Amazon. What makes it interesting is it is the first amp we review that is running the TDA7498E amp chipset. What this means is more power...
Big thanks to Puffdanny who sent this amp to me for review.
My overall thoughts: This is a nice step up in power from anything we tested so far. It easily sits atop the power output rankings. As far as overall sound quality, I'd place it on par with the Fosi. You will want to run this on a 36volt power supply with a minimum of 5-6amps.
Would I use this on any of my pins? It's too early to say. There are some other amplifiers I'd like to test that are capable of similar power outputs before saying for sure.
Note - This amp does have Bluetooth, it does NOT come with a power supply, it does not have a fully enclosed case.
This amp comes as an amp board with some standoffs and screws as well as a metal top and bottom plates. It's advertised as 2x160 watts 1x220 watts using the same TPA7498E chipset. It has 2x 4700 uF capacitors.
This amp can run on 12-36volts. Tests were run at both 24volts and at 36volts. I felt the quality of the sound was better at 36v.
Clamp testing the wattage(running 36volts input) shows it is consistently putting out about 90 watts on the 4ohm load Sub Channel. This is at max volume, max bass using the same testing criteria as all the other amps have gone through. This increase in output was noticeable even before taking the actual measurements. This is the first amp that drove the subwoofer to the point where I could smell voice the voice coil. The spinners were dancing, coin slots were pumping air, and the coin return flaps were flapping. If you had any thoughts of changing your subwoofer to a 10" or 12" you could do it with this amp.
**For reference the output was 63watts running at 24volts input.
Pro's:
- The highest power output of any amp tested to date.
- Inexpensive at $50
- Can be used with 1 button turn on. When the power is cut, it will revert to the Aux input.
- Bluetooth range was good, i walked around the house and went into a couple rooms and closed the doors without issue.
- Line noise was low, but this could be because the 36V power supply I was using is a good quality Mean Well.
- Fan noise is very low. Hardly noticeable. (Fan is always on)
- After 45 minutes of playing at tick off the neighbor volume levels, the amp was still cool to the touch.
Cons:
- The high pass filter for the L+R channel is a bit aggressive. It appears to start cutting off around 225hz, which is a bit high.
- Because the high pass is starts at about 225hz you are asking the subwoofer to come up and cover some higher frequencies. Which it can not do very effectively, so you end up with a small lull between 165-225hz.
- When running at 24volts the sound quality of the L+R channels sounded a bit muddled. This cleaned up a some when I fed it 36Volts.
- Looking under the hood - it appears as thought the chipset is a clone of some sort. There are no brand or chip identifiers on it. Unlike the last amplifier we reviewed with a clone 3116 chipset, I don't feel that this clone was a detriment. However; It does make me wonder what a legit chipset would sound like.
Electronic erotica below -
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Bloomingdale, NJ
Kelowna, BC
