I'll be using mine directly connected to active crossovers. the input caps will be moved form the trends board onto the crossovers, then the crossover board directly wired to the holes the header pins go in.
the unused tracks can be grounded then, it means there is no low level audio near the output filter.
If you;re recasing therm get some extra height and move the output inductors to the bottom side of the board. it's all ground plane and will screen them well.
the unused tracks can be grounded then, it means there is no low level audio near the output filter.
If you;re recasing therm get some extra height and move the output inductors to the bottom side of the board. it's all ground plane and will screen them well.
Ozmike, sounds like a good idea. What kind of speakers do you have in mind?
My Trends has started intermittent crackling noises... sounds like a turntable. I have done no mods at all so far, besides being battery powered w/ an Optima and a cap bank. I have a brass plumb bob sitting on top of the Trends, I picked it up and hit the Trends with a small amaount of force in frustration... and it went away (for now)
My Trends has started intermittent crackling noises... sounds like a turntable. I have done no mods at all so far, besides being battery powered w/ an Optima and a cap bank. I have a brass plumb bob sitting on top of the Trends, I picked it up and hit the Trends with a small amaount of force in frustration... and it went away (for now)
The inductors (and lots of other stuff) are cirled and labeled here:
http://www.michael.mardis.com/trendamp/mods-1.htm
http://www.michael.mardis.com/trendamp/mods-1.htm
eliminating the input caps
I'm going to eliminate the input caps from a pair of 10.1's and use the output caps from my Mapletree Line 3A to perform the same function. The pre's 1uf Auricaps will probably be replaced by 2.2uf Obbligato copper cased film caps. I'd prefer to go with the 3.3uf's but they are too large. Presently the Trends have 2.2uf PIO Obbligatos which I like a lot but, of course, I'm never totally satisfied.
Since, at this time, I'm essentially running the Auricaps and the Obbs, in parallel for a total of 3.2uf will sound quality suffer from the ~ 1.0uf less in capacitance after I make the mod.
When I pull the caps from the Trends do I just insert jumpers in their place to maintain the circuit or is there a more elegant way of doing this?
Thanks in advance.
--Roy
I'm going to eliminate the input caps from a pair of 10.1's and use the output caps from my Mapletree Line 3A to perform the same function. The pre's 1uf Auricaps will probably be replaced by 2.2uf Obbligato copper cased film caps. I'd prefer to go with the 3.3uf's but they are too large. Presently the Trends have 2.2uf PIO Obbligatos which I like a lot but, of course, I'm never totally satisfied.
Since, at this time, I'm essentially running the Auricaps and the Obbs, in parallel for a total of 3.2uf will sound quality suffer from the ~ 1.0uf less in capacitance after I make the mod.
When I pull the caps from the Trends do I just insert jumpers in their place to maintain the circuit or is there a more elegant way of doing this?
Thanks in advance.
--Roy
Davec113 said:
Fostex FE207E with many modifications (95dB/W), with Fostex FT17H supertweeters. I've been listening to one channel from each of the Trends fullrange into the FE207E, in parallel with that is the tweeter with 0.57uF and 8 ohms in series. Speaker cable is 4 metres of 24AWG solid copper wire, untwisted and separated.
Treble is extremely detailed, it shames my Harman Kardon amplifier. These amps preserve the microdynamics in the music very well (assuming your source and speakers can reproduce it.)
My friend had a listen the other night, his system is quite high end using the same speaker cabinets with different drivers (one driver cost the same as my entire system). He was most impressed.
I am currently building my active crossovers at 10.3kHz, 24dB/oct.
Power supply:for two Trends TA10.1 is an external Motorola 10A Switchmode. A cable from that to the Crossover/amp box with ultra low ESR capacitor boards wired very closely to the bare Trends boards. I'm using reasonably good op-amps in the crossovers but I may need to upgrade them, I have three different ways to play a Cd and the transparency of these amps quickly showed which way was the best. I cant wait to get these crossovers built. I've been at ir for months, I started a thread on it a whiile ago. I'll be using motor start capacitors on the tweeters to protect them from any accidental DC offset.
panomaniac said:Just using wire jumpers will be fine and easy to undo if you need to.
Be SURE to measure for DC offset before you hook up your speakers! You may find 12 volts.
Thanks Pano!
I'm also considering bypassing the copper Obbs. with Sonicap Platinums .01uf which, unfortunately, require at least 200 hours burn-in, some say 1000hrs
. It was my experience that the Obb. PIO's needed <100 hours to reach maturity.I've also considered experimenting with the PIO's in the Mapletree first since I will have 2 burned-in pairs available. Of course I'd have to mount them externally which is a bit of a headache.
--Roy
shot of the speakers is here. rather ugly. I hate the chrome ring, they look like they have been hacked out of a 1980s ghetto blaster.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1265960#post1265960
Going to mount them on the inside of the baffle in the next cabinets with the horn blended smoothly with the front of the baffle.
Just to bring it back on topic, I put a few hours into my amp today, Two trends TA10.1 boards with active crossovers.
At the front the transformer and supply board for the crossovers.
The little vero-board in between the crossover board and the amp are muting relays, the input capacitors will be moved to this board as well.
In the middle are two capacitor banks on one moard, each bank is 8000 uF of ultra low ESR capacitors which will be connected via a short wire link straight onto the track on the underside of the trends board in between the trends's power supply caps.
Next to it is the 10 amp continuous SMPS I will be using.
I've used a 1U rack case sideways. A little bit too small but it just fits. I've left room for a big toroid in the front left if I find one, I can then have a 12V discrete supply. there is enough real estate on the capacitor board for some regulators.
The other trends amp is in its original case, note the standoffs ready to mount it. The mounting holes in the board are all over the place.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1265960#post1265960
Going to mount them on the inside of the baffle in the next cabinets with the horn blended smoothly with the front of the baffle.
Just to bring it back on topic, I put a few hours into my amp today, Two trends TA10.1 boards with active crossovers.
At the front the transformer and supply board for the crossovers.
The little vero-board in between the crossover board and the amp are muting relays, the input capacitors will be moved to this board as well.
In the middle are two capacitor banks on one moard, each bank is 8000 uF of ultra low ESR capacitors which will be connected via a short wire link straight onto the track on the underside of the trends board in between the trends's power supply caps.
Next to it is the 10 amp continuous SMPS I will be using.
I've used a 1U rack case sideways. A little bit too small but it just fits. I've left room for a big toroid in the front left if I find one, I can then have a 12V discrete supply. there is enough real estate on the capacitor board for some regulators.
The other trends amp is in its original case, note the standoffs ready to mount it. The mounting holes in the board are all over the place.
Attachments
I bought a modified Trends from Audiomagus in late October.
As expected it has the Tripath signature (incredible detail) and excellent bass. However despite these strengths I much preferred my 2A3 SET.
The 2A3 isn’t as analytical with the detail nor does it have the bottom end strength and depth of the Trends. However the size of the soundstage, tonal body and dynamic range of the 2A3 made it much easier to listen to.
In my system the soundstage of the Trends was limited to the width between the speakers and the individual instruments were too minute. Instead of creating a semblance of being there, the presentation was reduced to a microcosm.
As much as I like detail, timbre is more important to my ear. Ideally it would be nice to have them both. Perhaps if I had a tube source/buffer in front of the Trends it would have been a different experience?
It’s been a while since I heard the Charlize, but I think it’s still my overall favorite of the Tripath amps I have heard to date.
As expected it has the Tripath signature (incredible detail) and excellent bass. However despite these strengths I much preferred my 2A3 SET.
The 2A3 isn’t as analytical with the detail nor does it have the bottom end strength and depth of the Trends. However the size of the soundstage, tonal body and dynamic range of the 2A3 made it much easier to listen to.
In my system the soundstage of the Trends was limited to the width between the speakers and the individual instruments were too minute. Instead of creating a semblance of being there, the presentation was reduced to a microcosm.
As much as I like detail, timbre is more important to my ear. Ideally it would be nice to have them both. Perhaps if I had a tube source/buffer in front of the Trends it would have been a different experience?
It’s been a while since I heard the Charlize, but I think it’s still my overall favorite of the Tripath amps I have heard to date.
I'm using a tube preamp, and have used a good ss preamp and no preamp. The tube pre makes a huge difference in tone especially, and it is far better overall. The ss preamp didn't make hardly any difference, it was a little smoother maybe.
I do like the Trends, and plan on keeping it, but I'm also building a SimpleSE 6550 amp using the JJ ecc99 driver tube and the Tung Sol 6550s. I think it will be better as far as tone, presence, and soundstage, and as long as its close in detail I'll be happy.
I do like the Trends, and plan on keeping it, but I'm also building a SimpleSE 6550 amp using the JJ ecc99 driver tube and the Tung Sol 6550s. I think it will be better as far as tone, presence, and soundstage, and as long as its close in detail I'll be happy.
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