Another Tripath Amp

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fishline

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Joined 2008
Ah. yes. I checked mine and there are red stripes painted on one of the terminals (and the two terminals are different sizes--- the one with red stripe is larger). The left speaker does have the black wire on the terminal with red stripe, so I think it really was that the wires are reversed.
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
I have been looking for an inexpensive way to try out the T Amp and after reading about the Psyclone Nodus, I decided to give it a try first. Can't really go too wrong at only $21 and plus I'm planning to use the speakers to build a pair of BR speakers with (4) freebie 6"x6"x6" boxes that I have laying around. Going to use the Del Sol plans for my guidance and hope they sound decent enough to put upstairs in my bedroom.

I'll be sure to report back with pics on my "experiment".

Looking forward to hearing the T amp and see if it meets up to all it hype.
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
I got my Psyclone Nodus today and took the case apart and spliced the speaker wires going to the internal 3" speakers into my speakers (DIY RS 40-1354 bass reflex) and played some jazz, blues and soft rock from my Auditron networked MP3 player and all I can say is "WOW!!!" So this is what music is supposed to sound like?

I currently have my system being powered by a Yamaha CR-620 receiver and I always thought this sounded good and when I heard all the hype about the Tripath amp I thought "Right!". But I gotta' agree with most everyone's feedback - these really open up the sound stage and the sonics are very good. Bass is there and is tight, but not always plentiful and overpowering. Vocals sound great. I can't wait to mod the amp by getting rid of the Nodus preamp and the Bass Booster chip. Looking forward to hearing further improvements. I also took some time to put my own Mitsubishi preamp/equalizer in front of the amp so I can control the inputs coming into the T amp. Also will look at ways of adding bigger caps similar to the mods made to the Sure T amp board.

Further feedback and pics will be supplied.

Also I will be putting together some new speakers using the 3 inch drivers from the Nodus.
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
Chicks,

I've read through the old posts in the "other" thread and especially the one how to disconnect the preamp board from the amp board.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1641793#post1641793

Would it be possible to show some photos of the way this looks?

PLEASE!!!

I am a much better visual learner and a newbie at learning all things electronics. Besides I also think others would like to see these photos similar to what you did for showing how to get rid of the speaten filter. Besides I don't want to mess something up and make the amp board inoperable.

THANKS!!! :D

P.S. I think this is a bargain way of getting a Tripath amp, power supply and some modest and usable 3" full range drivers. I'd like to tell friends and others in the Internet world about this so they can buy one and mod it easily and then ENJOY, ENJOY & ENJOY!
 
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chicks

Member
Joined 2008
I'll take and post some pics over the weekend. IIRC, there isn't much to it, the shielded audio cable just needs an audio jack or plug soldered to it, and the red and black power leads just need to be soldered to a power jack available @ Radio Shack. It's a "K" power jack, IIRC...
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
chicks said:
OK, here's the supplied input cable soldered to a 1/8" audio plug from Radio Shack:

http://www.chicksolutions.com/dms1/100_1141.JPG

And the red and black power leads soldered to a K power jack from Radio Shack:

http://www.chicksolutions.com/dms1/100_1146.JPG

ericj's board mod is much neater than mine:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1692173&stamp=1229908664
Click to expand...

Thanks chicks ;) - pics look good and I'll report back on my mods with photos to help out others.

I listened a lot more to this amp this weekend and I'm still amazed how well this thing can power my speakers AND for only $21 this has got to be one of the audio bargains of the decade or maybe century. :D I have the amp connected to a solid state preamp and equalizer and I like this setup a lot. I'm even considering purchasing another one to use in another smaller system that will be fed music from a laptop. It will be a nearfield system that will use the 3" full range speakers that come with the Nodus. I already have the speaker boxes (got em' FREE) so it's just a matter of time and a few materials.
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
chicks said:
OK, here's the supplied input cable soldered to a 1/8" audio plug from Radio Shack:

http://www.chicksolutions.com/dms1/100_1141.JPG

And the red and black power leads soldered to a K power jack from Radio Shack:

http://www.chicksolutions.com/dms1/100_1146.JPG

ericj's board mod is much neater than mine:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1692173&stamp=1229908664
Click to expand...


Is ericj's board wired correctly even though he "cut" his board in half? It seems in the photo that the green mute wire is not being connected to the white signal ground wire. Also what are the additional wires for?

Also I see (3) black and (3) red wires soldered to the power jack. There is only (2) of each coming off of the amp board - what are the third ones? And where are they coming from?
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
chicks said:
BTW, I follow your jazz playlist postings on AK - excellent taste, I wish I had 1/10th of your jazz collection :) I'm guessing some vintage Brubeck sounds pretty sweet through this amp :cloud9:
Click to expand...

The T amp has opened up a whole new world for me when listening to jazz. The presence of the instruments on the soundstage is quite amazing and especially when playing in front of a "live" audience.

"Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz at Oberlin" sounds just GREAT using this amp and also "Ramsey Lewis - Hang on Ramsey (Live)" especially when sounds from the audience actually seem to appear coming from behind you. It's quite unnerving if you have never experienced this when using only a 2 channel system (full range speakers).

BTW if you see any jazz albums that you'd like to listen to, just send me e-mail and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks for answering the 2nd question, any idea about my first ones?

Is ericj's board wired correctly even though he "cut" his board in half? It seems in the photo that the green mute wire is not being connected to the white signal ground wire. Also what are the additional wires for?
 
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chicks

Member
Joined 2008
The connector's white wire is left channel audio in, red is right channel autio in, the black wire between these two is signal ground - he has the green wire connected to the black wire using the uninsulated wire on the bottom, then both tied to power ground (his black wire).

His yellow and red wires are L and R audio in, his white wire is connected to a 220K pullup resistor from V+ to the connector's yellow wire.

Looks correct to me, a very neat job. Only difference is that I used a 330K pullup resistor externally, on my 5.5V regulator board - his is a neater solution.
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
chicks said:
The connector's white wire is left channel audio in, red is right channel autio in, the black wire between these two is signal ground - he has the green wire connected to the black wire using the uninsulated wire on the bottom, then both tied to power ground (his black wire).

His yellow and red wires are L and R audio in, his white wire is connected to a 220K pullup resistor from V+ to the connector's yellow wire.

Looks correct to me, a very neat job. Only difference is that I used a 330K pullup resistor externally, on my 5.5V regulator board - his is a neater solution.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation - that helps me out a lot. I'm just trying to take it slow and ask questions so that I don't mess anything up and also to learn a little about electronics (newbies ask LOTS of seemingly stupid questions).
 
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greenmark59

Member
Joined 2008
Today I modded my Psyclone T amp card so that it no longer gets the "bass boost" from the EQ card. Not too hard a mod and since I'm pretty much a newbie I worked slow and made sure everything looked right. Hooked it back into my system and you can definitely tell a difference especially when played at louder volume. There also tends to be more of a openness in the sound and a bigger sound satge. All in all a very good mod. :D

I will attempt the next mod of making the amp card completely independent of the EQ card in the next week or so. I have bought a used 5 amp 12v PS to supply power to the card and hope to see an improvement when using the PS. :)
 
ericj

ericj

Member
Joined 2008
Necrobump

If anyone has any of the tripath boards from these knocking around that have stopped working, as i had two of them fail, the issue common to both of mine was cracked solder joints on the tripath chip itself.

Probably crappy early formula lead free issues.

I flooded with 63/36 and rma flux and used wick to remove the excess. Both are working fine again.
 
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