I use an audiodigit mc4x100, fantastic amp! Lot better than a si t-amp, much more power, love it. Tripath amps can surely not be compared to one and other. We use ucd at work, sound is slamming, but they break down a lot.....(probably abuse...)
To do apples-apples comparison check out 41hz.com, they have really rocking tripath amp kits!!!
Nowadays I would've bought amp9 from them, it uses the same chip as my present audiodigit. Only it costs only a quarter of the price!!
To do apples-apples comparison check out 41hz.com, they have really rocking tripath amp kits!!!
Nowadays I would've bought amp9 from them, it uses the same chip as my present audiodigit. Only it costs only a quarter of the price!!
True, but my esls are under 85db average, and I like to play pretty loud every now and than.
But you're right, on a db scale the difference in output is only minimal....
I merely ment that the amp has bigger reserves, paired with a lot more grown-up sound. Another advantage is the amp can drive seriously heavy loads....
But you're right, on a db scale the difference in output is only minimal....
I merely ment that the amp has bigger reserves, paired with a lot more grown-up sound. Another advantage is the amp can drive seriously heavy loads....
Modern speakers usually need lots of power.
Still, power doesn't really say anything. There are lots of great sound systems out there with the 3W 2A3 power triode. Dynamics and "slam" have to do with dynamics, not power. Just take a look at Nelson Pass's First Watt. These would be a great match. 126db!
Still, power doesn't really say anything. There are lots of great sound systems out there with the 3W 2A3 power triode. Dynamics and "slam" have to do with dynamics, not power. Just take a look at Nelson Pass's First Watt. These would be a great match. 126db!
thomaseliot said:
That would be true if you always listen to a single 1khz sound
In real life a small chamber orchestra produces hundreds frequencies together at various power needs: dB spl would be a bit different.
All music is dynamic. The only time power becomes relevant is if there's too little.
v-bro said:
If you don't want to be yelled at, get bigger speakers. There's this myth that small speakers are good for small rooms. The largest speakers you can get through the doorway are the best speakers for any room.
You will get as good bass out of 10W as you do out of 100W.
Power is irrelevant.
phn said:
i agree with the idea of bigger speakers. i use dual velodyne DD-18 subwoofers. these puppies can liquify your insides, BUT, they are also 100 times more delicate with subtle bass than any of the others ive had.
also, i use line arrays, which are huge of course and throw out a lot of sound. but once again, subtle details are more appropriately presented with larger speakers than ive ever heard with smaller ones.
I agree in a way....
I went from a 5" driver bass system (TL) to a 10" system (also TL), this is for experiences in my own room... definately bathing in still pretty delicately reproduced bass sound. But the 5" was much more subtle, it missed a part of the bottom octave, though the sound was a bit less forced upon me. Which was nicer with guests or in certain moods.
Or against
neighbours...
I sometimes still switch over to other small speakers I have. Frankly I do find they sound better in other ways...
But large speakers in more ways
In the hifi shop where I worked for a few years sometimes pretty small speakers were my favorites for that moment (I felt adding a sub mostly just blew away the "sweetness").
By the way I find most hornloaded speakers suffer from a thing called "tetteren" in Dutch, wouldn't know the English word...it was what I ment to say by the word "yelling" in a previous post..
Therefore I prefer to go for a bit more amplifier power, afterall I use class D so consumption is not one of my worries....
http://www.41hz.com rules!
I went from a 5" driver bass system (TL) to a 10" system (also TL), this is for experiences in my own room... definately bathing in still pretty delicately reproduced bass sound. But the 5" was much more subtle, it missed a part of the bottom octave, though the sound was a bit less forced upon me. Which was nicer with guests or in certain moods.
Or against
neighbours...I sometimes still switch over to other small speakers I have. Frankly I do find they sound better in other ways...
But large speakers in more ways
In the hifi shop where I worked for a few years sometimes pretty small speakers were my favorites for that moment (I felt adding a sub mostly just blew away the "sweetness").
By the way I find most hornloaded speakers suffer from a thing called "tetteren" in Dutch, wouldn't know the English word...it was what I ment to say by the word "yelling" in a previous post..
Therefore I prefer to go for a bit more amplifier power, afterall I use class D so consumption is not one of my worries....
http://www.41hz.com rules!
cowanrg said:
Nice site for learning. I see there Aleph and UCD projects: can you make some comparisons about them?
Of course I'm not asking to say which is better, like the strange topic of this thread: why do you build X if Y is better?
I love my UCD and Tripath amps each one for their own character: what I'd love of Aleph amps?
thomaseliot said:
Nice site for learning. I see there Aleph and UCD projects: can you make some comparisons about them?
Of course I'm not asking to say which is better, like the strange topic of this thread: why do you build X if Y is better?
I love my UCD and Tripath amps each one for their own character: what I'd love of Aleph amps?
well, they are very very different. i have always used inefficient speakers. and big speakers. the alephs are nice, but really arent adequate for powering my main speakers. they served as rear-channel amps for quite some time. my room is also quite large. its about 20' x 20' with vaulted ceilings, and is open to the back. even an aleph2 wasnt quite enough juice to control the speakers (i would imagine). the UCD's control them quite well and also gives the system great micro-detail and soundstage. personally, the UCD is one of the best amps ive heard.
i really wish i had more time to spend on my site. i would like to have a whole lot more on there than i do. if someone wants to start paying me, i might do more with it, but i just dont have the time.
phn said:
I'm sorry, I don't normally measure in inches, the driver is 10cm which is 4 inches.....and it sits in a TL, not a big horn....
I was going over the 41hz site again yesterday and noticed it can be very handy to look in the 'amp overview' chart. In the chart it becomes clear how powerfull a T-amp can be (bridge the new AMP8 and you have over 2KW?)....look at the Y/N on bridgeable or not.....
The amp5 is probably the next one I'm going to order, I want to buy two and bridge both...than take it to a friend who has UCD180....
Pulling this back up to the top, as I've recently been thinking about a direct-coupled approach for the Teac tripath units I have.
There are a couple different thoughts here, so hopefully it isn't too jumbled.
First, in the relatively common case of using a SLA supply for the T-Amp, it seems to me that the approach of simply tieing signal ground to BIASCAP should work without problems as long as you don't have DC on the input signal - the entire amp is already floating, so you can select your one reference point arbitrarily. It makes me wonder why more amps/kits don't bring the bias signal out somewhere where it could be tapped easily, and why more folks haven't tried it. I'm planning a Red-Wine style full battery mod to my Teacs, and will look at trying this.
Second, the biascap pin sits at ~2.4V according to the TK2050 datasheet, which in another spot they call 'twice the bandgap voltage'. Looking at some of the AKM dacs (specifically the 4393 in the DCX2496), they output a differential signal that is floated at, you guessed it, 2.4V. Seems that there are a couple possible scenarios
a) both use similar mechanisms to determine their reference voltages based on semiconductor properties. If so, then with a common supply, there should be little or no offset to begin with, and direct coupling should be 'easy'.
b) one or the other uses the supply voltage (5V nominal) to determine the reference. In this case you should be alble to null the offset with a servo-regulated supply. This is a lot trickier than the floating SLA supply, but might be feasible.
In both cases of direct-coupling the AKM dacs, I *think* volume can be done via a pot connected between the two differential phases forming a divider with a fixed series resistor on both phases. Might be very tricky to get right with relatively low-ish values, though.
Thoughts? Am I completely off base in my understanding of the issues?
There are a couple different thoughts here, so hopefully it isn't too jumbled.
First, in the relatively common case of using a SLA supply for the T-Amp, it seems to me that the approach of simply tieing signal ground to BIASCAP should work without problems as long as you don't have DC on the input signal - the entire amp is already floating, so you can select your one reference point arbitrarily. It makes me wonder why more amps/kits don't bring the bias signal out somewhere where it could be tapped easily, and why more folks haven't tried it. I'm planning a Red-Wine style full battery mod to my Teacs, and will look at trying this.
Second, the biascap pin sits at ~2.4V according to the TK2050 datasheet, which in another spot they call 'twice the bandgap voltage'. Looking at some of the AKM dacs (specifically the 4393 in the DCX2496), they output a differential signal that is floated at, you guessed it, 2.4V. Seems that there are a couple possible scenarios
a) both use similar mechanisms to determine their reference voltages based on semiconductor properties. If so, then with a common supply, there should be little or no offset to begin with, and direct coupling should be 'easy'.
b) one or the other uses the supply voltage (5V nominal) to determine the reference. In this case you should be alble to null the offset with a servo-regulated supply. This is a lot trickier than the floating SLA supply, but might be feasible.
In both cases of direct-coupling the AKM dacs, I *think* volume can be done via a pot connected between the two differential phases forming a divider with a fixed series resistor on both phases. Might be very tricky to get right with relatively low-ish values, though.
Thoughts? Am I completely off base in my understanding of the issues?
Here's a shop that offers different models:http://www.bmm-electronics.nl/Producten_c.asp?Productgroep_B_ID=29&Productgroep_a_ID=7
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