The SI has been discussed at length over at the Audio Circle Forums. I have used the Eval. board from T-Path as well as hacked into 15 or so of the SI amps.....yes they do sound good, not like tubes, not like Sand. I think my Eval board may be a little cleaner but they are very close. In any event, the SI does not sound all that good when driven by AA batteries....a regulated power supply is better....a big 12 volt amp feeding a capacitor bank is the best. My Cap bank has eight 6800uf and 4 10,000 uf caps in parallel. It will run the amp for 20-30 seconds after the battery is unplugged. The battery will power the amp for at least 30 hours. I use an "Everstart" "jumpstarter" battery from Wally World. The SI amp is a little hard to "hack" due to the SMD's that are very close to some critical connections....but it can be done! They make no heat to speak of so I like sticking them in nice wooden cigar boxes. They sound good and smell good too. Now, here I go again....IT IS MY OPINION that the 2024 chip used in the SI and my 2024 Eval board sound better than the higher power ones THAT I HAVE HEARD. The 2024 will easily drive "my favorite speaker" to over 100db....at the couch. What is really mind boggling is not just the amp but the "cardboard speakers" they sell (Sound Pax). The combo is crazy good sounding....way better than my mother in law's "Kenwood rack system". I use the "sound Pax" speakers for my TV ! I use a "Titanic" sub with them. I am sure most of you would guess that I just might have plenty of "real" speakers to choose from.....the "Sound Pax" simply sound good when used for HT.....and they are cheap and look cool. SI also sells the "Sound Pads"....honest to goodness.....NXT transducers fixed to cardboard circles and made to stick on surfaces to "turn them into speakers". I bought 20 pair and had a ton of fun. My shipping boxes sound pretty good with 2 transducers on them! And by "pretty good" I mean VERY good. I know it sounds like a bad joke but one listen to my buddy "Joel's" 2-driver "FedEx boxes" will destroy that notion. A college kid could put together a system with them and the amp that would kill his buddies and no one would steal it! There is a thread about the "Fed Ex boxes" over at the Decware forum if any of you are interested. Lots of fun to be had from Sonic Impact.
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