Verdict
Like a can of Ronseal , the Tangent does just what it say on the Sn . The TV functionality is brightly realised and it sounds great doing it even if it does n’t do much else .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Tangent Audio has done a fine job in late years of deliveringaffordable hi - fi productsthat oversee to offer utile functionality and seemly operation while undercutting most rivals .
The Ampster family of compendious separates is designed to carry out a motley of role , either as standalone equipment or used in groups of product . The Ampster TVII is a standalone gimmick and is a twist on the existing Ampster II integrate amp .
As the name suggests , it ’s designed to work with your boob tube ( in fact , as I ’ll cover , it ’s pretty muchonlydesigned to do this ) and if you have a flatscreen that ’s lacking in a bit of sonic oomph , it could be exactly what you need . Does it turn in on the premiss ?
Availability
The Ampster TVII has a UK retail price of £ 199 . The company does have dispersion in North America and Canada but it ’s not been possible to control the monetary value in US clam but it ’s potential to be similarly competitive . Tangent also sells into Australia but the TV II does not seem to have made it over to retail communication channel there at the time of writing ( Jan 2024 ) .
It is potential to buy integrated amplifier from other party at a similar sort of cost . Finding one that has the same connectivity as the Tangent is rather more thought-provoking though .
Companies like Yamaha and Cambridge Audio make more formal options with a selection of analogue inputs but you ’ll postulate to spend at least £ 100 more for something with anHDMI ARCconnection in the shape of the WiiM Amp . It ’s only fair to point out that the WiiM can do rather more than the Tangent can which needs to be take into account .
Design
The Ampster television set II apportion its casework with the respite of the family . This is a 195 millimetre wide and 194 mm mysterious metal chassis available in bootleg , pitch-dark or black . you’re able to reasonably fence that it ’s not the most exciting looking twist going but it ’s very well bolted together for the asking terms . The paint finish is dead consistent and there ’s no unwanted dialog box gaps or the same .
Around the front , you ’ll happen small LEDs that show the selected input and a volume node . This is more or less unusual in that it is a rotary encoder character ( that is to say , it has not start and ending point ) but has no means of showing the degree on the unit itself . This is a slight botheration but , in the case of the TV II , it ’s less of an issue than it might be on some other members of the range due to how its inputs body of work .
At the back is a big and slightly ungainlyBluetoothaerial and a pair of usefully stalwart speaker terminal . Considering the very competitive cost , the Tangent is assembled and finished to a very decent standard .
Features
The Ampster TV II shares an amplifier stage with the existing Ampster II and that ’s no bad thing . It ’s a class D building block and baron is quote at 50 watts into four ohms ( mean you ’ll get a bit less than that into an 8 Georg Simon Ohm verbalizer ) . It ’s not the sorting of electrical power that will level buildings but it should be enough to drive most similarly priced speakers without complaining . There is also a individual subwoofer out in sheath you want to run sub / sat style speakers or just give yourself a bit more low end welly .
While the Ampster II has a selection of analogue and digital input , the TV II is rather more specialised . The sole physical input on the building block is an HDMI ARC connection , designed to meet audio from the matching output on a television receiver . The just news is that this connection is really well implemented .
Turn the boob tube on and the Tangent responds in a flash and is outputting audio second subsequently . The volume controller of the telly assumes control of the Tangent ( it does occur with its own IR French telephone too ) and , this means that the deficiency of index on the TV II itself is less significant because it always sync to the TV level .
When you ’ve finished , turn the idiot box off and the Tangent mightiness down at the same prison term . I ’ve tested twist with HDMI ARC that cost more than ten time as much as the Tangent does where the connection does n’t make for as well as this one has .
Where thing get a little more strange though is that , in terms of physical connections , that ’s it . The only other means of sending audio frequency to the Tangent is via Bluetooth . This is av5.0 basewithaptX HDsupport which is respectable for Android gadget but there ’s no AAC capableness for iOS users .
Where almost any other amplifier you may think of can be connected to some other source equipment , the Tangent offer no scope to use it outside of these two stimulus , which means the amount of upgrade potential here is in effect non - existent . This can be part bypass by using your television as a media hub for sound recording as well ( which a number of smart telecasting do rather well ) but it does limit your options somewhat .
What ’s even more unusual is that on some web site , the television II can be found being offered as a pile with other Tangent products … when there ’s no immediately obvious elbow room of colligate them together .
Sound Quality
As the Tangent is very focussed indeed towards role with a television , it ’s jolly good news that it sound very good used in this manner . As noted , theHDMI connectionhas been utterly stable in role and the resultant role is a seamless extension of the telecasting itself , which is ready to hand if members of your house are less endow in good quality than you are .
Connected to a pair ofQ Acoustics 5020standmount speakers ; a plan that is more expensive than might commonly be the vitrine to partner with the Tangent but are about the ripe size and sensitiveness , the Tangent give a very good account of itself .
Using the TV II to deliver the sound for a few episodes of Reacher show that it sustain an painful caboodle right . Dialogue is unmortgaged and easy to follow , even when events on screen are feverish and the soundstage it produce never feel like the strait is happening on either side of the screen ; an area where systems of this nature can sometimes sputter next to a soundbar running directly underneath .
This is partnered with an power to crusade information out from the screen to give you a slap-up sense of scale and infinite . It ’s a dissimilar sort of ducking to theAtmos implementationonaffordable soundbarsbut it ’s effective , nevertheless .
What the Tangent also does very well is annul hardening up when you listen loud . If you really labour it to antisocial levels , it ’ll set about to lose a little of its equanimity but even fairly hefty built in TV loudspeaker system will have have in the towel before that happens . This makes listening to the Tangent for extended period more relaxing than heed to most integrate options , even when you are n’t inevitably looking for more output signal .
The absolute level of basso extension is going to depend on the speakers you select to use with it but in almost all cases , you are going to experience more bass weight than from most TV speakers and there ’s that U-boat output to bolster thing further too .
The Bluetooth operation is respectable but not quite so realised . Used via anOppo Find X5which has aptX HD , the performance is good but nothing to get truly excited about . listen to Peter Gabriel ’s i / type O onQobuz(which has a high - result version of this already outstanding transcription ) , the answer is utterly listenable but there ’s no huge saltation forward over listening to the same record album on Spotify ; where even some very affordable digital sources will make more show of these differences . There ’s also the more prosaic limit that notice and other unwanted distractions will make their way to the Tangent while your earphone is paired to it .
On a notion , I installed the Spotify app on the TV and tried that as a source and the consequence was both listenable and arguably nicer to control than it is staring at a phone all the clock time . If you are already using your television as a hub for all your medium , the Tangent will integrate rather well with this use pillowcase but , where most other amps at the cost could have something like a WiiM Mini connected to them to give you more streaming options , the complete absence of other connections on the Tangent rather rules this out .
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Should you buy it?
If you have a flatscreen that sounds a bit , well , flat and also have a span of unused speakers knocking about , the Tangent is an extremely price effective manner of touch base the two together . It does so while fathom very honorable at the same time
If you have other equipment you require to make use of , the TV II does n’t give you any option to make function of them . This is a brilliant way of boosting your TV phone … but not much else .
Final Thoughts
The Tangent is a rather niche second of outfit in that it does one ( and a bit ) thing , but it does do that thing very well . This is an passing cost - efficient way of boost the audio of a fresh screen , with excellent integrating and more than respectable operation . If you need it for its destine aim , it ’s inconceivable to do advantageously for less .
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We test every organization we review soundly over an extended menstruum of time . We apply diligence standard tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a intersection .
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FAQs
The Ampster TV II is only meant to be used with a video .
