A few years ago Sonic Impact came out with a $30 amplifier that shook up the hi-fi market. It was compared favorably against amplifiers that cost thousands of dollars. It became so popular, Sonic Impact came out with another version, the Super T-Amp, using better components which is the one I bought. The heart of these little amps is a Tripath TA 2024 which gives the sound of a Class A-B amp but the efficiency of a Class D. Because the amp is only 5 watts per channel, it requires very efficient speakers. As an aside, highly efficient speakers (aka single driver full-range speakers) is a whole world I’ve just recently explored. To me, they just look like home made looking speaker boxes with one driver. The prices are usually in the thousands. Why is everything in hi-fi so expensive? The Bel Canto eVo 2i amp uses a similar Tripath chipset and costs $3200! This is why I like finding jewels like these T-amps. On another side note, hi-fi companies ripping audiophiles off is not uncommon. Gainclone, monster cable, and Virtual Dynamics Power 3 are other examples.

Anyways, to the point of this post. I was looking for a new DAC to hook up my Mac’s optical out with my Super T-Amp. This is when I found this interesting site that looks like was born from the t-amp craze. On the front page was a new amp called the Pop Pulse T40i that has caught my fancy. It too is based on a Tripath chipset but with a higher 40wpc. It even has a remote and a digital display! The price is only $225 which is a bargain compared to the other Tripath based amplifliers on this site.