I used to own a Virtue Two amp with the 130 watt/30V SMPS. I bought it on a special promo from Seth at Virtue Audio. It was very well made and came with the Auricaps and upgraded transistors. I had it paired with a a pair of Fostex FX-120 monitors. When I had the Virtue Two paired with a DIY EF86 tube preamp, it sounded great. By itself, it still sounded good, but not as magical as with the tube preamp. Compared to my modded Sure TA2024 amp, I thought the modded Sure board held a sonic advantage in terms of a smoother, more life-like midrange. What the Virtue gave me more was headroom.
Eventually, I purchased a used pair of Klipsch Forte IIs and upgraded the crossovers, binding posts and internal wiring. I still have the Fostex monitors, but I prefer the Forte IIs for the full range capability and ability to cast a large soundstage and reproduce complex passages effortlessly (e.g., large orchestral crescendos, Pink Floyd's "Time". The Virtue could push the Klipsch speakers without running out of steam, but the amp had a transistor-type sound quality that always had me wondering if I should change the input caps to PIO types for a warmer midrange.
I also bought a used Magnavox console tube amp that I modded/upgraded as I could never get the warm life-like midrange I really wanted out of the Virtue. Rather than mod it, I sold it and made all my money back. The only problem with the tube amp is that it does get hot in the Summer and makes music listening almost impossible.
Enter in Arjen Helder's TA2020 MkIII board and MkII tube buffer. Though I still prefer my EL84 amp, the Helder TA2020 and tube buffer combo are very good. The TA2020 board by itself sounds as good , if not a bit better than the Virtue Two. I also like it more than the modded Sure TA2024 amp. It just seems to have a bit more headroom and deeper soundstage. With the tube buffer and an RCA 12AU7 black plate tube, I can really enjoy my music. It has a different sound than the EL84 amp, but it is equally as engaging and it has a warm tonality that fits my tastes. With 98dB efficient speakers, I can get away with a 6-10 watt T-amp. The tube buffer adds greater dimensionality to the soundstage and the sound is warmer and smoother. I am going to build a AMB Labs Sigma regulated linear power supply to replace the modded SMPS I have now to overcome the DC surge on power up/down of the buffer and T-amp pair. I hope to have it completed by the next Burning Amp Festival in October to bring to the show. Basically, this has become my warm weather rig.
Just bought a pair of Arjen's TK2050 mono boards. Been looking at the Sure & Hifimediy TK2050 boards for a while, but decided to go with Arjen's for the following reasons:
- No built in volume control (don't want one)
- extremely neat & optimised pcb layout
- heatsink rather than fan (won't be running these hard, so fan not required)
- proper input coupling cap (easy to swap out with something else)
- highly rated output filter inductors (better than the Sure)
- mono boards allow neater installation inside symmetrical case
- Arjen's excellent reputation on this forum
I plan on using a Meanwell SP-200-24 power supply, which is more attractive to me than the popular S-350-24. The S-350-24 has no power factor correction and the switching frequency is 25KHz. The SP-200-24 has active PFC and switches at 67KHz (PFC) & 134KHz (PWM). Obviously the SP-200-24 is less powerful, but is plenty big enough for me.
I plan on swapping the amp board filter caps for pairs of parallel 2200uf 35V Rubycon ZLH, and removing the standard input coupling caps and connecting large Siemens 10uF MKV via short links (the MKV caps are encased in metal and will be grounded via the chassis, so RF/EMI pick-up shouldn't be an issue despite their size).
Now I just need to wait 4-5 weeks for the amps to arrive
- No built in volume control (don't want one)
- extremely neat & optimised pcb layout
- heatsink rather than fan (won't be running these hard, so fan not required)
- proper input coupling cap (easy to swap out with something else)
- highly rated output filter inductors (better than the Sure)
- mono boards allow neater installation inside symmetrical case
- Arjen's excellent reputation on this forum
I plan on using a Meanwell SP-200-24 power supply, which is more attractive to me than the popular S-350-24. The S-350-24 has no power factor correction and the switching frequency is 25KHz. The SP-200-24 has active PFC and switches at 67KHz (PFC) & 134KHz (PWM). Obviously the SP-200-24 is less powerful, but is plenty big enough for me.
I plan on swapping the amp board filter caps for pairs of parallel 2200uf 35V Rubycon ZLH, and removing the standard input coupling caps and connecting large Siemens 10uF MKV via short links (the MKV caps are encased in metal and will be grounded via the chassis, so RF/EMI pick-up shouldn't be an issue despite their size).
Now I just need to wait 4-5 weeks for the amps to arrive
I have all of them except Sue amp burned by accident .
Hifimediy TK2050 board is excellent ,So is Sure board after mod.
Arjen's TK2050 mono boards i have only for two days so i cant say much yet.
There is something different about Arjen amp in a good way of course but cant put finger on yet .im using amps with cheap Chinese tube buffer but ordered Arjen one today.
Hifimediy TK2050 board is excellent ,So is Sure board after mod.
Arjen's TK2050 mono boards i have only for two days so i cant say much yet.
There is something different about Arjen amp in a good way of course but cant put finger on yet .im using amps with cheap Chinese tube buffer but ordered Arjen one today.
I have a pair coming. I hope they will sound as good or better than my sure 4x100 board.
I think Arjen’s 2024 boards sound better than the sure 2024 so I have high hopes for the 2050’s.
I don’t have any of his 2024’s left anymore; everytime I get one built some teen thing relative absconds with it. Time to order 4 more and go back to the craft store for more boxes.
I can’t decide what type of cases I’ll put the monoblocks in. If I go with metal it will be some kind of key box or lunch/cookie tin. Wood I would make my own or use a craft shop basswood box. Or I might just sandwich them between two pieces of lexan(The wet behind the ears crowd covets these with a tube buffer over top the most)
If I gave each monoblock it’s own tube buffer would you use only half ? or y in and out of the stereo buffer.
I am going to try to use them for my girlfriends manapans so I can swipe my parasound back. But if the piggish maggie’s or the girlfriend object they will drive the klipsch heresy ‘s at the cabin. The partsex 2024 driving the heresies now will be hard to beat at any sane volume level . A 2020 put in a respectable cozy night performance with the magnapans but would be out of it’s league at a party.
I have a love/hate relationship with these T amps. Everytime I listen to one I built I love it until I look over at the HK’s Bryson and Carvers and think how much money I spent.
I think Arjen’s 2024 boards sound better than the sure 2024 so I have high hopes for the 2050’s.
I don’t have any of his 2024’s left anymore; everytime I get one built some teen thing relative absconds with it. Time to order 4 more and go back to the craft store for more boxes.
I can’t decide what type of cases I’ll put the monoblocks in. If I go with metal it will be some kind of key box or lunch/cookie tin. Wood I would make my own or use a craft shop basswood box. Or I might just sandwich them between two pieces of lexan(The wet behind the ears crowd covets these with a tube buffer over top the most)
If I gave each monoblock it’s own tube buffer would you use only half ? or y in and out of the stereo buffer.
I am going to try to use them for my girlfriends manapans so I can swipe my parasound back. But if the piggish maggie’s or the girlfriend object they will drive the klipsch heresy ‘s at the cabin. The partsex 2024 driving the heresies now will be hard to beat at any sane volume level . A 2020 put in a respectable cozy night performance with the magnapans but would be out of it’s league at a party.
I have a love/hate relationship with these T amps. Everytime I listen to one I built I love it until I look over at the HK’s Bryson and Carvers and think how much money I spent.
Tried to answer your question but can't find the imput impedance of Arjen's amp in either the ebay listing or PDF manual (http://www.data.helderhifi.com/TK2050_info_file .pdf).
Once you know the imput impedance just use a calculator to find the correct cap value (Coupling Capacitor Calculator by V-Cap).
If the imput impedance is 22kohm, you would need a 0.09uF cap to give you a high pass filter with -3dB at 80.38Hz.
Bear in mind that this would be a first order filter with shallow roll off bellow 80Hz and phase shift up to at least 800Hz (unlikely to be ideal).
Once you know the imput impedance just use a calculator to find the correct cap value (Coupling Capacitor Calculator by V-Cap).
If the imput impedance is 22kohm, you would need a 0.09uF cap to give you a high pass filter with -3dB at 80.38Hz.
Bear in mind that this would be a first order filter with shallow roll off bellow 80Hz and phase shift up to at least 800Hz (unlikely to be ideal).
this is the best and smallest power supply i could find to run a stereo pair of boards !!!
Red Rocket inc.
Red Rocket inc.
Received my two mono boards mid-week, and put the new amp together last night. I replaced all electrolytics: 4700uF Elnas replaced with 2200uF Rubycon ZLH, 220uF 16V caps after the LM7805 with 470uF 16V Nichicon conductive polymer and 100uF 50V relay caps with 220uF 35V Rubycon ZLH. I also removed the standard input coupling caps and wired in a pair of 6uF KBG-MN foil/paper/oil caps.
I had a couple of issues changing the caps over. Firstly the traces running to/from the bulk decoupling caps are extremely thin (<1mm) and two of them lifted when I gently removed the standard caps. I ended up adding thin runs of wire to double up on the problematic traces. Secondly, while changing the caps I noticed that one of the legs on one of the standard 220uF 16V caps after the LM7805 had not been soldered.
I used a Meanwell SP-200-24 switch mode PSU, which has a far higher switching frequency than the S-200/350 PSUs that others have used successfully and also active PFC. While I had replaced the bulk decoupling caps on the amp boards with 2200uF instead of 4700uF I figured that I'd get away with a smaller capacity with the SMPS.
The SMPS has an internal fan that is supposed to speed up as required. I thought that when the SMPS is cool, the fan wouldn't engage. Unfortunately the fan always runs and is quite loud. Even with the case lid attached, the noise was unnacceptable. I tried adding a series R in line with the fan to reduce the speed and noise, but the fan continued to make too much noise even with the largest series R that still allowed the fan to turn. In the end I disconnected the fan completely. The SMPS is bolted directly to the heavy heatsink amp chassis, and doesn't appear to get warm at all, so I reckon it will be ok without the fan working.
Sound wise, the amp is far warmer and fuller than I was expecting. I expected clarity and dynamics (which are there) but not the overall sense of ease this amp clearly has. Previously I had a mini Aleph installed, which appears to have a bit more body around 100-200Hz, but doesn't in any way outclass the TK2050. The tripath definitely has more HF clarity and extension, tighter bass and more dynamics. I'll let it run in for a few weeks before drawing any proper conclusions. Very very happy so far.
Definitley recommend these amps - just watch the soldering and be careful if swapping out components.
I had a couple of issues changing the caps over. Firstly the traces running to/from the bulk decoupling caps are extremely thin (<1mm) and two of them lifted when I gently removed the standard caps. I ended up adding thin runs of wire to double up on the problematic traces. Secondly, while changing the caps I noticed that one of the legs on one of the standard 220uF 16V caps after the LM7805 had not been soldered.
I used a Meanwell SP-200-24 switch mode PSU, which has a far higher switching frequency than the S-200/350 PSUs that others have used successfully and also active PFC. While I had replaced the bulk decoupling caps on the amp boards with 2200uF instead of 4700uF I figured that I'd get away with a smaller capacity with the SMPS.
The SMPS has an internal fan that is supposed to speed up as required. I thought that when the SMPS is cool, the fan wouldn't engage. Unfortunately the fan always runs and is quite loud. Even with the case lid attached, the noise was unnacceptable. I tried adding a series R in line with the fan to reduce the speed and noise, but the fan continued to make too much noise even with the largest series R that still allowed the fan to turn. In the end I disconnected the fan completely. The SMPS is bolted directly to the heavy heatsink amp chassis, and doesn't appear to get warm at all, so I reckon it will be ok without the fan working.
Sound wise, the amp is far warmer and fuller than I was expecting. I expected clarity and dynamics (which are there) but not the overall sense of ease this amp clearly has. Previously I had a mini Aleph installed, which appears to have a bit more body around 100-200Hz, but doesn't in any way outclass the TK2050. The tripath definitely has more HF clarity and extension, tighter bass and more dynamics. I'll let it run in for a few weeks before drawing any proper conclusions. Very very happy so far.
Definitley recommend these amps - just watch the soldering and be careful if swapping out components.
Attachments
That is very well done, I like that case and those big oil caps. That is very annoying about your SMPS fan running all the time, I read everywhere that the fan only comes on when the supply is getting hot. I just ordered Arjen's 2050 mono boards and plan to go with linear power supply instead of SMPS (the fan being one concern) and will provide about 40,000 uF of capacitance filtering.
Now that you modified the boards, do you think it is worth it? I plan to leave them alone but I'd like to know.
Just ordered my boards yesterday. Quick confirmation email/schematics from Arjen/Stacy. I'm planning on using a tube buffer since I'm replacing a Glow SET amp. Haven't decided on the power supply. Maybe separate MeanWell 27v 2.4A 65W for each channel or a battery set up with LiFePo4 rechargeable. For the enclosure I'm thinking vertically stacked with hardwood and plexyglass or copper floors. Still sketching designs. Hope the shipping from China is quick!
After a few problems and sage advice from Arjen, I got my 2050 boards up and running. Okay, here's the bad news, I was so happy and it was very late so I decided to try a preamp with it and switched the output and input and blew one of the boards. Too much stress lately, I guess. That was, however, after having a few hours to listen.
This is my brief version.
1) It's a very laid back sound, but it's really really good as is running off a 31 volt HP printer power supply.
It's extremely good with timbres and there's just a very relaxed quality to the presentation that lets you hear through the music.
I'll try to report more when I get the board replaced, but construction is excellent. I don't know that I'd mod this much if at all. I haven't tried HI Fi Medley's board, but my guess is that the Helder is worth the extra money over either the SURE or Hi Fi Medley (obviously the latter is a guess)
I have the Sure board and as much as I've enjoyed the Sure 2050, the difference is pretty noticeable. The Helder just sounds much richer, something it has in common with his 2020 Mk III.
I now feel very guilty for ever recommending the Hlly t-90 based on the 2022. My only defense is that I hadn't heard either the Sure or the Helder boards at that time. The other very significant thing is that Arjen backs up his product.
This is my brief version.
1) It's a very laid back sound, but it's really really good as is running off a 31 volt HP printer power supply.
It's extremely good with timbres and there's just a very relaxed quality to the presentation that lets you hear through the music.
I'll try to report more when I get the board replaced, but construction is excellent. I don't know that I'd mod this much if at all. I haven't tried HI Fi Medley's board, but my guess is that the Helder is worth the extra money over either the SURE or Hi Fi Medley (obviously the latter is a guess)
I have the Sure board and as much as I've enjoyed the Sure 2050, the difference is pretty noticeable. The Helder just sounds much richer, something it has in common with his 2020 Mk III.
I now feel very guilty for ever recommending the Hlly t-90 based on the 2022. My only defense is that I hadn't heard either the Sure or the Helder boards at that time. The other very significant thing is that Arjen backs up his product.
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