Review and Pictures of 100W Sure Board Amp
I should have listened to PoppaC and read the manual. Instead I went with the quick set up and when no sound emerged from this board I thought it was DOA. After a few swear words I realized that all those tiny dip switches were turned off. Once I switched them on this mighty mite delivered the goods.
The board has no volume control other than the dip switches so a preamp or source with a volume control ( Ipod etc.) is worthwhile. The board amp requires an outboard 24V switch mode power supply but all connections with the board are straightforward.
I tried the board with three different pair of speakers and used an Aric tube preamp for the volume control and a CD player as the source. I listened to CDs by Steely Dan and MJQ.
The 83 db Aerials were first up and the little board drove them without a whimper. This combo surprised me with its power, detail, and sound stage. Bass response was just adequate. With the 93 db Tektons I expected more of the same but they just didn't seem to mesh as well. Imaging was there in spades but those full range drivers missed the warmth of a tube amp and they came off sounding a little on the thin side. The Tang Bands paired with the Sure Board sounded the best of the three. The board threw up a huge wall of sound with these big open baffle speakers and the bass, usually a weak point of OBs was better than I could have hoped for. The OBs sounded fuller than I ever remember and it was the only combo that caused my dogs to leave the room.
In comparing the Sure Board to the Dayton DTA-100 the Sure comes off as more powerful which is probably due to its beefier power supply. They sound similar as they share the same 2050 chip. The Sure is a more refined amp and probably benefits from not having a cheapo volume pot in the signal path. Nether produce heat and I'm not clear why the Sure has a fan as it never runs. The Sure Board Amp provides high end sound at a low end price of just $44. The large power supply is an additional $48 but its hard to image another amp on this planet delivering this much performance for under $100.
Note to moderator: I haven't been able to move the first six pictures from my gallery to this thread so would appreciate your help in doing so. Thanks