Which Chip AMP you like most?

[Redshift187]

Originally posted by dynabok
By the way, I come up with a idea, is it possible that we can make them as module, for example: make power supply as a module, make regulator as a module and make chip amp as module(1875 chip amp as a module, 3875 chip amp as a module, 3886 chip amp as module).
so that we can change the chipamp and hear different sound from different chip and different circuit design? and also we can change the different regulator to see how it can affect the sounds, how about this idea?

I will not be testing different amps, but I am building a setup where I will be testing 4 different PSU configurations with the same amp. The rectifier board is modular and will be changed out. I have 2 rectifier boards, one with a single 2,200 uF cap per rail and the other has a single 15,000 uF per rail snubberized with a 0.1 uF and a 0.1 uF in series with a 1 ohm resistor.

One amp board has 0.1 uF + 10 uF + 1000 uF and the other amp board only has 0.1 uF + 10 uF. So I can compare channels to see about the extra 1000 uF on the amp board. The amps are bridged LM4780s.

[Ted205]

would be easier to buy a set of crocodile leads

[Redshift187]

Sure, but then I'm adding quite a bit of lead length.

[zebra100]

I have to say LM3875. Mine is configured in dual mono (120VA per channel). Plenty of head room. Clear well defined vocals. Well controlled bass (if a little light), and nice clean treble. I've heard it against a LM1875, and for me the 3875 just sounded more life like.

[jayan]

Originally Posted by dynabok

oh,,,,,seems everyone like national semiconductor LM series, is there any different from TDA series? how about TDA series, I never tried TDA series before, is it also good? can anyone share their DIY experience on TDA series? I want to build TDA for my next chip AMP.

TDA is my favourite! i ve built 2 x TDA 2005 (20+20) TDA7386 (4 x 45w) 2 x TDA 2002.. amps so far.. they are excellent. the only lm ic i tried was LM386.. my very first amp.it is awesm too

[Tekko]

I like the TDA7293 the most of the chipamps, the LM3875 and LM3886 takes second place.

The LM1875 i dident like at all, it had a sound that made you wanna turn it off after a few minutes.

[danielwritesbac]

Both TDA7293 and LM1875 accurately reflects the quality, care, and design that goes into support circuit creation. As a simple op-amp, LM1875 faithfully obeys, so if you ask it for garbage, then it will give you garbage as precisely as possible. But just think of how nice it could sound if you built it correctly. For example, consider that a correctly built TDA7293 sounds almost exactly like a correctly built LM1875 because, and in this case they sound almost exactly like the music source, which is the point of doing a good job.

[wazzy]

I have to agree, I have built several LM1875 amps and i really enjoy the sound from them, to me they seem to have a warm sound which i find really pleasant.

[budget minded]

OK, i guess i'm not exactly finding the answers i'm looking for here YET as there doesn't seem to be a total consensus, several are bi-amping, and there isn't a lot of comparison talk about the sound of each unit.

i recently bought a NICE pair of energy RC-10s on closeout for about $220 and am finding they're a little clinical sounding with my already clinical sounding panasonic class D that really woke my NHT superzeros up like onkyo and especially NAD just couldn't, so i'm looking to get a warmer more organic sound. right now, i'm just researching, but the plan is to build a dual mono system and drive it using an eastern electric tubed minidac ("the hot $750 DAC" from what i've been reading) as a pre-amp in the future after getting a behringer DEQ2496 to flatten my EQ as i'd expect that to have mediocre DACs at best.

i do all of my listening at low levels, so low level resolution is a top priority along with speed and imaging. i love the sound of properly broken in maggies when they lose their aluminum foil ping sound, but the superior imaging of minimonitors too if that gives you an idea of the sound i like. rolled off bass, as long as it's tight, works for me. after already having a boxy sounding pair of mission M71s with foam port plugs to play with, i'm sticking to my acoustic suspension speed & clarity guns and not even trying my energys without their plugs. actually, that's a big reason why i wanted those. i loved the speed and imaging of NHT classics, but they have some aluminum in their sound. so far, my energy tweeters have been ping free and FAST as reviewed if not quite as revealing as bowers' $20k. besides, it's easy to boost weak bass with a digital EQ. i think i could be happy with as little as 15wpc as my sonic impact amp had more than enough power for the levels i listen to at home.

as the amps will be driven directly from the DAC, pre-amp concerns should be moot.

taking all that in, what would you suggest as the clearest sounding chip amp, not class D... too sterile on my aluminum domes, that can be used as a monoblock.

i see that the audiosector (patek... very respected) LM3875 is very popular, haven't seen much about their 4780 to even make a comparison and am now just hearing about the LM1875 which it sounds like it might be where my "first watt" preferences are leaning. i'm NOT a techie, so slew rate this and damping factor that etc. don't mean as much to me as "liquid treble with an expansive soundstage" does.

i'd like the absolute most bang for the buck amp i can build and would like to use premium components like really good caps, and like the idea of the PCB free direct soldered approach and would prefer to buy the components separate then in a kit for that shortest circuit path approach. i don't care if it looks fugly as long as it sounds beauteous.

anyone have anything to recommend to this noob for the "ultimate hot-rodded" low power chip amp? i was planning on modding my own case & inputs too. dual torroids? 1 cap vs a bank of smaller ones?

just reading this thread alone, my eyes kind of glazed over at all of the technospeak and little of the plain english. is LM1875 what i'm looking for and even MORE resolving than the more popular 3785? are there differences in sources for chips? what about heat sinks? i don't see them in most designs. i'm a little out of my element here, but i DO like elegant simplicity in all of it's minimalist forms. i love acoustic suspension minimonitors afterall, and don't even sub them usually.

i could read every page of every thread here and only get more confused than i am at the moment with the 1875 thrown in the mix, so i'll just take the direct route asking everyone what they think suits my priorities.

as a suggestion, it would be nice if everyone that's tried different chips and mods too would directly compare their SOUND as to which stuff does what better. bass rolloff and low power? that's not a big issue with me as long as the sound is organic. class D does that a lot, but with resolving speakers on lower end amps, yeah, it starts to get dry and clinical. chip amps sound like the middle ground to warmth without as much wet blanket sound as i've been unimpressed by the one time i auditioned a tube amp.

i guess the simple question is
"how can i get even better sound than a patek with the best bang for the buck, but taking no shortcuts?"

my RC-10s are still breaking in, but i'm finding a weird dichotomy... they have speed and intimacy that superzeros can't match with vocals and percussion, but they sound like they'd rather be turned up more to reveal the low level details. they don't seem to like playing at low volumes as much, but man are they ever ruthless on crappy TV station boom mics! LOL

[danielwritesbac]

Believe it or not, expansive soundstage is hard to do with a chip amp. Setting low gain and using a CRC power supply with a good (watts*3=VA size) transformer can help. But, setting low gain on your power amp can can get you into a preamp project with today's modern sources, such as a computer, that isn't quite as loud as a CD player.

Some of the warm organic sound you mention can be done with a Class A preamplifier, that could be quite handy in several ways. Run on regulated power, the portion of gain provided by the preamp is very clean, and if Class A, it is not polluted by switching/crossing noise.

Amplifier options should sound very similar. In fact, all "good" amplifiers sound very similar because they're supposed to be linear. If you want a different effect, try that with a fun preamp project.

Moosefet at Classic Valve Design is one such preamp.
Parts:
Board, ferrites, resistors, and matched IRF710's from Classic Valve Design.
Nichicon ES 50v 0.47u (input) and Nichicon ES 50v 1u paralleled with Elna Cerafine 16v 47u (output) from Handmade Electronics
Panasonic FC, a voltage regulator chip, heatsinks, and some 10 turn trimmers from Digikey
And a little metal shielded transformer from the Radio Shack.
IRF710's will give you 6922 sound (warm sound that younger men like). IRF510's will give you 6n3p sound (has treble that older men like to freshen up mp3's). Either can have RF filtering added to the preamp just in case your DAC is brash.
After choosing either mosfet selection, you can vary the sound a LOT by turning the trimmer dials.
That tube simulation preamp project lets you dial in clean sound or add some triode sound. This is quite a bit cleaner and clearer than typical tube distortion though, so its not useful for guitar amp at all.
The audio caps mentioned are for the purpose of minimizing insertion loss, as it is always necessary to exercise some care in the selection of audio caps for singleton preamplifiers. No need to stock up excessively, since ideal caps are different per each project.
Decibel Dungeon also has some Class A preamplifiers that can be fine tuned however you like.

I'm suggesting to fine tune the preamp because it has regulated power and lower gain, so the chances of causing noise are a bit less than an overly tweaked power amp can do. AND, you might not have to replace your power amp at all.

P.S.
Some of your description sounds like you need to subtract the inbuilt ear curve from your speaker crossover so the treble doesn't annoy you. All good amplifiers sound REALLY similar if they also test out for low distortion, and that's because they're all supposed to be linear. In your description, it seems like endlessly replacing amplifiers because speaker crossover has a glitch.

So, places to start, include sorting the speaker crossover and some fun class A preamp projects. Some of the preamp projects are designed to facilitate tone variations, in which case it is done far cleaner and clearer than an EQ could do. Any super clear preamp can make the less obvious become more obvious simply because of a gain stage run from clean power. A good practice would be to rig a cancel/bypass switch (to any tone modification devices) for whenever a particular source or track does not require that sort of help.