Tangent Ampster BT II Integrated Amp Review & Comments

Ed Selley

Tangent has been busy refining their Ampster and giving it some supporting source equipment - is this a lifestyle trinket or the point where serious Hi-Fi gets going?
Read the review.

Write your own review for Tangent Ampster BT II

Rockets

Sounds like a good little unit.

My thought is though would most buyers tend to stretch an extra £20-50 for one of the big boys (Yamaha, Sony, Onkyo) discounted units which do pretty well the same and will likely have more watts.

Paul7777x

None of its competitors, even at considerably more cash, can double the 8ohm output into 4ohms though.

That alone is going to make it sound mighty fine and in control up to its limits.

And in any case most of the one box competitors simply don’t have the power output they claim.

Rockets

Sort of true, but where are the figures for this?

The big guys hide true power by using high distortion levels/single frequency response. They don't actually tell lies.

But here is the problem.
We are only going on the face of it the power claims of this Tangent unit - there are no specifications for this unit what so ever.
No distortion levels
No power consumption
No frequency range at the recorded RMS
This double watts at 4 ohms could be a silly level of distortion at just one frequency response for all we know.
They could do themselves a big favour by supplying

So this Yamaha unit you can get for £199 specs.
https://europe.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/2/794532/web_ZU46040_R-S202_R-S202D_om_CRBGL_EnFrEs.pdf

Now I am not saying that the Yamaha unit is better (it does have a reasonable power consumption of 175w though so should have reasonable mph) but I have a feeling generally the people who would buy at this level would just tend to go for the Yamaha if both were in front of them. Just my hunch. I can't see people spending hours demoing at this level.

Phil Hinton

Click the specs tab, top or bottom of this page.

Mallardo

This Yamaha unit does not have an optical input. That would be a deal breaker for me if I wanted to use it instead of a sound bar.
But in general I agree, most people will go for a well known brand if it is available at this budget.

CrossyX

It's not aimed at people who are looking for a full-size amp though; some don't want a large unit sat in front of the TV or sideboard, this is a pint-sized amp with integrated Bluetooth and digital inputs that can negate the need of a soundbar at a low price point.

As an alternative and IMO better sounding unit would be the Denon PMA30 albeit at around £249.

Paul7777x

Generally agree except that the Denon’s seventy quid more expensive. And quotes less power at higher distortion. It also has a less modern version of Bluetooth.

Jamie

On the surface I think this potentially ticks a lot of boxes on my wish list and could very well do the same for others too.

I can see this being a very good option for use with ceiling speakers or a modest stereo or 2.1 system with or without a TV. I especially like the thought that's gone into providing such convenience functions as:

A suitable USB power source,
auto switching on BT and the analogue input
Built in remote extender and provided IR eye so the unit can be tucked away.

It's almost like I was asked what I'd like and they've made it. The only criticism is I'd like 2 optical inputs but I can work around that.

JokerJack

I have this product and have it connected to my computer with a pair of monitor audio apex a10 speakers.  They sound great for music and gaming, also it powers itself on from standby once a device is detected (only if you let it shut itself down) so no messing around when the computer starts.  It also does this with
Bluetooth etc, think it would also make a great amp for ceiling speakers etc.