The freakin Tin P1s sound freakishly good out of these amps… Like F-ing -A- man… High gain, balanced… just pump them with tons of wattage… The monoprice 788 would just end up shorting out and turning off with these things if you pushed it too hard… not HERE though…
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Yeah my P1 has been promoted to desktop duties plugged into 789. That tiny thing loves massive amount of power!
Does the 887 use internal power or an external power brick?
@giova05 Does the passthrough work as pre-out with controlable volume at a certain gain setting like the 789?
It’s 100% a passive passthrough. It passes the signal even with the amp turned off and unplugged from the wall. No power loss from the source, so it’s not splitting the power from the signal or anything, which makes it better than using a y-cable to split the signal from a DAC.
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oh but the thx 789 also has just passthrough, that was a missunderstanding on my part. Zeos told me i could just use the second gain setting to preamp. I thought he meant that its a switch from line out to pre out but he propably meant i can use the trs or balanced out in to my poweramp. Thats kinda annoying i was banking on that when i ordered the 789 
Ohwell i might as well cancel the order with drop and get the 887 now.
The 788 dac amp from monoprice does pre out with volume control. But it has its own quirks overall.
You could always get a passive volume control and that would fix that issue. The only thx that have a pre out seems to be the monoprice thx desktop
Yeah i dont like the looks of it and don’t want to fidle with the software but most if it seems resolved. I allready have a su-8 anyways. I can use that as preamp, as i do rightnow, it is just a little bit annoying to have so many different volumeknobs 
but then i could just buy the sp200 and save some money. Its also available in europe through amazon which is very nice for customer care. My OCD is preventing me from instantly canceling my 789 order.
Talk about OCD, the shape of the SMSL SP200 bugs me sooooo much, otherwise its everything from internal power to a THX amp, is everything I’ve ever wanted on my desk. But that tilt, THE TILT!
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Thanks to many of you that have helped a newbie out over the past couple months that I’ve discovered this forum. Soliciting opinions on my primary desktop setup.
TL;DR: Should I keep the Monoprice 887 or SMSL SP200?
Current setup is PC as a Roon endpoint, DAC is Topping DX7 Pro, SMSL SP200 as the AMP connected to SMSL SA-98E to Micca RB42 speakers.
Main headphones are Kennerton Vali (new version) & Thieaudio Phantom. Future headphones (hopefully) ZMF Auteur or Kennerton Magni.
I have the Monoprice 887 to be delivered next Tuesday. Is there any reason to keep this device over the SMSL SP200? Seems like they are so close it might be a better idea to eat the return shipping and return the Monoprice amp to use for the Auteur/Magni fund?
What do you guys think?
IMO the difference in power between the 887 and 888 is minimal. Going back and forward, it was hard to hear an audible difference when maxing both out. I had to go back and forward a few times moving all the balanced plugs… The 887 has a bit more balanced, but the 888 is still going to be have more power single-ended. Both sound extremely clean.
My take is that since you already have the 887 on the way, just compare them both for yourself and decide then… I’m personally starting to lean towards the 887 MAINLY because I like the look and the feel… a bit more control with 3 gain levels… I’ll probably keep the sp200 until january… since I got it through Amazon prime and holiday return policy is in effect… meaning I can return it by Jan 31st…
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Appreciate your impressions very much, thanks!
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Thanks for the feedback. Very useful!
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Man the tilt triggers me also…I’m thinking I’m gonna have to make a custom cases without a tilt for these amps and sell em cause we cant be the only ones…
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You do know that they made it slanted just so you can upgrade to the SP 500 if/when it gets released. Otherwise you wouldn’t have a reason to upgrade.
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It’s detachable. Standard power cable… like a lot of game consoles, DVD players use.
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