SMSL AO300 Power Amplifier DAC Headphone Amp 2.1CH 165Wx2 Amplifiers with MA5332MS IC MQA MQA-CD DAC CS43131 IC 4.4mm/6.35mm 768K/32Bit XMOS XU316 USB/BT/Coax/Opt/RCA/HDMI ARC Input Amps

I've had the AO300 for a year now and I have been very happy with my purchase over that time. I just got my first speaker setup last year and needed something at a budget with good connectivity, and I didn't want to have to wait to find something worthwhile on the used market.I originally tried an Aiyima t9 pro but my tower speakers sounded anemic compared to how they did on the genuine hifi system of the guy I bought them from. The AO300 was a huge upgrade over the aiyima, it filled out the sound with more body and made everything sound like a real sound system. I may not be the most experienced ear to judge a speaker system, but I can say this speaker+amp setup lead to me falling in love with music all over again and has brought me to new levels of music appreciation, so I think that's pretty good.Using the hdmi-arc connection with my tv is so nice. Using my Fire Cube TV I can stream music through Amazon music and also have sound for all my video streaming services, I also get sound for my gaming console, and my computer I also have connected to my tv by hdmi - all without having to switch or change anything on the amp. That on top of being able to control music and volume by voice commands is just amazing for quality of life. I absolutely love the convenience of this setup and it would be painful to have to switch to another without hdmi-arc at this point.The built in EQ settings as well as tone controls are welcome. I understand the purists who just want to run everything flat and direct all the time, but I appreciate the options and do occasionally find myself playing with them a little bit. I'll have to admit I haven't been able to note so much of a difference between the different sampling modes yet. A subwoofer incorporates easily, I added an RSL 10e after having the AO300 for a few months and it has been great too.I think the biggest complaint with the AO300 is the user interface not being refined. Text is sometimes unnecessarily small on the screen, most settings and things like volume could be displayed much larger. You can't adjust volume while in any of the menus, there is no dedicated button for input switching(admittedly something I rarely need), it doesn't automatically switch to headphone out when one is plugged in, etc.. Minor things like that have been easy to get used to for me and don't cause me major headaches with my usage but could be better. Even if there could be improvements with the UI, I still think the AO300 is worthy of a 5 star rating for the features and performance at the price point.

Muscular, powerful sound and flawless hdmi functionality. For me, it lacked the audiophile sound presence/imaging. I ended up keeping the D4 hdmi amp from O-Noorus instead.

I am a budget audiophile since 1990s.Current setup: JVC Super Digifine XL-Z1050 single disc CD player --> Preffair Audiophile Digital Coaxial Cable--> A0300 --> TODN 5 AWG Audiophile speaker cable --> Apogee Centaurus (Hybrid) speakers (on Pailvens speaker spikes).(Old setup: I used Hafler preamp and amp, dedicated Museteaux DAC, and Kimber Kable for speaker cables).Sitting about 20 feet from my slightly angled speakers, I am very happy with the transparency and wide soundstage of the music. Vocals are clear. Treble is sharp. Midrange is focus. Bass is tight (I am not a heavy bass guy). I don't know if I can attribute the beautiful reproduction of music to the skills of the A0300 alone, but I think it is playing a positive role well in my system.I bought the high-end JVC CD player for about $600 and the Apogee ribbon-hybrid Centaurus for $1900 in early 1990s. I bought the other items recently. The CD player and the speakers still perform quite well after all these years, even with garden variety CDs and Youtube music. I have not used the JVC and the Apogee for about 18 years as I was busy with MP3 and streaming.With the lights turned down low, CD remote close by, and a cup of coffee, they sound amazing. With a good recording, I can hear the singer taking breaths between the verses. Living la dolce vita. I am back, baby!

Inspired (yet again!) by Srboljub's review on his IIWI channel, I bought this as an alternative to my Willsenton R8 for driving my Buchardt S400 Mk2's when I wanted to be free to come and go from the room or to fall asleep while music was playing (I don't trust tubes to behave in my absence!) I had been using an SMSL DA9 for this purpose. It did a good job, but was a bit under powered for large-scale symphonic and organ works. The A300's increased power really drives the Buchardts well. Decent sound stage. Good dynamics. Great clarity. It doesn't quite equal the exceedingly beautiful tonality of the tubes, nor the staggering sound stage, but it is very enjoyable to listen to and actually holds together very complex music at higher volumes a bit better than the R8 does. Would I give up the R8 for this? No. But, you have to add a zero to the price of this to get to the R8. The A300 is perfectly quiet in my system (The Buchardts aren't crazy sensitive), it only gets slightly warm with heavy use, and it produces resolving but never harsh sound from the speakers. For the money, I couldn't be happier.

Only master volume, can’t change volume or EQ settings of the speakers and sub separately. 3/5 is my speakers max, while full volume is my subwoofers max. (as it's externally powered and theres no more headroom) This is a fatal flaw for my use, as I wouldn't ever be able to hear my sub at it's full potential without blowing the speakers.HDMI input not compatible with HDMI audio out on Nvidia graphics cards. (manufacturer doesn't claim it to be, to be fair)