KAEI TAP-1S Amp: 4900 Milliwatts, Two in One

The video is in Arabic.

Hey everyone,

The KAEI TAP-1S is a one-of-a-kind amp: a tube amp and a solid state amp in one unit, portable and desktop. Thanks to brother Abdullah, who owns it, for supporting the channel. Four Raytheon tubes, and two swappable MUSES solid state chips. A 5000 mAh battery gives about 10 hours, it supports headphones from 12 to 600 ohm, and it’s fully balanced. It was $297 (about 1113 riyals) at the time of the review, and $365 (about 1368 riyals) with the power adapter.

Power according to the company at 16 ohm: on battery, 1200 milliwatts (3.5) and 3000 milliwatts (4.4), and on the adapter, 1980 milliwatts (3.5) and 4900 milliwatts (4.4).

Who is it for?

• Anyone who wants a very powerful amp that drives almost any headphone and wants to try tube and solid state in one unit.

Strengths

• Huge power you won’t find anywhere near its price, and it drives 99.99% of headphones.
• In solid state: better detail, excellent balance and a wider soundstage.
• In tube: a warmer sound, excellent separation, and a bit more bass.
• Really quiet: balanced from DAC to headphone, you don’t hear any hiss.
• The power adapter boosts it a lot, and I preferred the desktop mode.

Weaknesses

• With a balanced input and a single-ended headphone, the hiss rises a bit, especially with the TRI I3 PRO.
• At the lowest volume, the left/right balance gets off.
• The tube needs about 30 minutes to warm up on battery, and there’s a click before it turns on.
• The power adapter isn’t sold separately: you have to get it with the unit.
• It’s an amp only: you need a DAC.

Verdict

Worth every penny I spent on it: like buying three devices in one (tube and solid state, desktop and portable). Personally, I preferred the solid state mode. The question is: do you need all this power?

Note: this review is from 2022, so price and availability may have changed.

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