Let me start by saying this little amp is a game-changer. The first thing that struck me was how surprisingly powerful it is for its size. When I paired it with my old passive bookshelf speakers, the sound quality improvement was night and day - crisp highs, punchy mids, and decent bass response (though you might want a subwoofer for serious bassheads).

The Bluetooth 5.3 connection is rock solid - no annoying dropouts even when I'm moving around my apartment with my phone. Streaming Spotify through it feels just as good as wired connections, which says a lot about the quality of the DAC.

What really sets this apart is the HDMI ARC support. As someone who hates cable clutter, being able to control everything with my TV remote while getting proper stereo sound (not that tinny TV audio) is magical. The optical input is perfect for connecting my gaming console too.

The LED display and physical knobs make adjustments super intuitive. I particularly love the bass/treble controls - they're not gimmicky like some cheap amps; you can actually hear the difference when tweaking them.

My only minor gripe? The metal casing gets slightly warm during extended use (though never concerningly hot). And while it claims 100W per channel, you'll realistically get about 60-70W of clean power - still more than enough for most living rooms.

For under $150, this checks all my boxes: great sound, multiple connectivity options, compact size that doesn't look like a spaceship on my shelf, and that precious HDMI ARC functionality. If your budget doesn't stretch to high-end separates but you want proper stereo separation and clarity, this might be your new best friend.