Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review

Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review - Intro

WHo wants a new blue tooth portable speaker when you can use a chunky black box, attached to your phone with a cable? I appreciate that this is a guitar amp, but I also thought it might be good for playing music through. . . . .turns out NOT. It is not even a very good amp, and yes I am considering the fact it is small and runs on batteries.

A nice looking amp with a quality feel. . . . 

Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review - Battery

This GA-1 takes a 9v power pack (LR6) what a faff that is , why not 6 xAA? That would be so much cheaper and easier. So that is a really annoying feature. Considering the amps performance (low) then you need to keep the battery in prime condition to deliver good sound, otherwise more distortion, and there is PLENTY of that any way.

Really? That is the best battery option you could think of?

Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review - Sound Quality

Terrible. There is something to be said for it small size, and if you are playing in your bedroom or maybe at a BBQ in the woods. . . . but the sound quality is so so poor, its hardly worth having. Using it a speaker for say music from an iphone is a terrible idea, as the sound distorts at an incredibly low volume. 

The Insides let this amp down. . .badly

Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review - Insides

Inside the amp we see the board is centered around a panasonic (AN7142) 0.9W chip. This is well below the advertised 2W output, or leagues away from 5W max output touted.

Now I am not a electronic guy, but you can get amp chips that support 5W. So what have they done in there? Whatever they are doing it certainly looks as though the internals could be better.

A low power chip may be to blame for the terrible sound?

Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review - Manufacturers Blurb

This is the blurb straight from daphon:

Portable Performance Amp

A perfect beginner guitar amp or a busker's best friend. Because of it's battery power you can have amplification wherever you are. The amp has the capacity to produce decent volume and you have control over your sound through tone control. Flick the drive button for a crunchy overdrive. Also suitable for microphones, though an impedance transformer is recommend for best performance.

Hours of Fun on a Single Battery

Runs on a single 9 volt battery (the rectangle type) that can last many hours depending on volume, can also be powered by a 9V ac adapter. The amp is 20cm / 16cm / 8cm in size and a headphone output is included for silent playing.

Music On-The-Go

Also a great portable music speaker. Just plug in your Mp3, Ipod or Discman via the input and you can have access to music wherever you go.

Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review - Dimensions

Dimensions: 20cm x 16cm x 8cm
Weight: 1.2kg
Maximum power output: 5W
RMS power output: 2W

Daphon GA-1 Amplifier Review - Conclusions

A well built case a solid feeling controls, let down by very poor quality internals.

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