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Author Topic: Smart TA 242 Amp- how many watts? Paul Vollmers Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Sister Lakes, MI, USA Registered: Jul 2001 posted 05-15-2010 08:50 AM                     I recently picked up two Smart TA 242 Power Amps. What is the watts power of this Amp? I'm assuming 2 Chanel ea.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-15-2010 09:51 AM                     120 watts into 8 ohms and about 180 into 4  |  IP: Logged Paul Vollmers Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Sister Lakes, MI, USA Registered: Jul 2001 posted 05-16-2010 05:38 AM                     Thanks Gordon  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 05-16-2010 08:21 AM                        Not a great amp. Probably MCM or equivalent. Oriental private label company source. Distortion is the same at all power levels, not good. About 1.5 to 2%. Louis  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 05-16-2010 01:06 PM                     The module was originally designed by Hafler and copied by many manufacturers. Smart sold around 4000 units.  |  IP: Logged Richard Hamilton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1341 From: Evansville, Indiana Registered: Jan 2000 posted 05-16-2010 01:20 PM                     I was going to say they were Identical to the Hafler amps, I believe the manual and the schematics were the same also.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 05-16-2010 03:39 PM                        Then the Hafler was a bad amp also. Put one on the bench and look at distortion. Louis  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 05-16-2010 07:22 PM                       If it is the Hafler version, it's a Mosfet output like the Ashly and your favorite, or so I thought.  |  IP: Logged Oscar Neundorfer Master Film Handler Posts: 275 From: Senoia, GA Registered: May 2000 posted 05-16-2010 09:01 PM                        Louis, I am not sure which amp you are talking about, but it is definitely not the TA242. It was and is an excellent amplifier, although not very high powered. But for its day, it was quite good. Whatever you measured that had such distortion was either a different amp, or you had a defective one. The basic design was the Hafler, but the power supply was far and away better. It was even stable into 2 Ohms, although you would blow the speaker fuse if you pushed it too hard. I have tested it at 2 Ohms with an oversized fuse, and it worked perfectly fine. There was the original TA240 which had a potted amplifier module of British origin which was a piece of junk. Later we changed the TA240 to the Hafler module. We should have changed the model number at the time but did not. Later there were some slight improvements (don't remember the details) and it became the TA242. We sold thousands of these amps, and I daresay there are still plenty in service. The most common problem was the Molex connectors which gave some trouble with poor connections.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 05-16-2010 10:14 PM                        Credibility, your name is Oscar! Many thanks. Louis  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-17-2010 07:58 AM                     I always like the original Hafler amps and the smart TA242 the original used a module from england made by ILP that had issues mainly due to heat The two issues that one can have is the DC offset null on the TA242 and the original Haflers will drift over time and needs to be adjusted occasionally the procedure is in the manual The other issue is that the mosfets are no longer made for them The later Haflers were crap  |  IP: Logged

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