What quite shocking PCB build quality! This small amp came in dead, and whilst looks ok from the outside, the inside leaves a lot to be desired…
Everything is… sort of… just all over the place:
The soldering is some of, if not the worst I’ve ever seen… Even one transistor leg wasn’t even soldered:
Holes left behind in joints:
Anyway, found the main issue, electrolytics C6+ C8 had gone short so replaced (and soldered that poor transistor and touched up a few other joints):
And tested, working order again.
Definitely built to a price point these ones, although did find it novel that they socketed the two op-amps TL071 and 072!