Ok, I am going to ressurect this thread.
So after testing almost everything that has a tc2000 IC inside I decided to give the new tk2050 sure boards a try.
I own all the tk2050 based boards from sure, 41Hz and even the hifimediy t1 and t2, the lame LCM boards and all the non branded things.
If you get a stock sure and compare it to the stock41Hz or even the hifimediy then the Sure is all bad. Once you mod the sure boards to the tripath ref. then the 41Hz or hifimediy tk2050 based amps are no match. Why ? I am not sure but I will give you a clue or two bellow.
This new board from sure uses a combination of what hifimediy does, tc2000 and sta508 in the place of tp2050 . Unlikely the 41Hz and hifimediy amps, sure provide us with one output chip per channel, parallel config and that alone will provide you with a much better channel separation with a very funky bass.
In these new boards almost everthing is SMD and so space is limited for mods but you can always make a separate board for the output filters and you have enough space for the mods that really matter like a fast cap on tc2000. They have also added pads for snubber circuit and also there is pop on suppression circuit that leave very, very litttle pop noise on turn on, less than the hifimediy t2 amp.
What I have learned during the last years is that you should not overmodify ( as I did with the Litz coils ) your board as parasitic inductance's will degrade the sound to an level that you will end with a modded board sounding worse than the stock sure board. I know i'ts fun and that we can't help but to try and squeeze these boards till we achieve the highest level of sound, but it is always a trade.
What I have done with this board ( Ver. AB32186V220 ) :
1- Replaced all electrolytic capacitors with panasonic FM and FC.
2- Replaced inputs caps with 2.2uF mundorf ( keep legs short ) .
3- Added 550uF electrolytic to the tc2000 .
4- Added a separated board for the output filter;
- Low pass Rifa PHE 426 ( I love these caps ) .47uF and baked air cored Litz inductors of 10uH ( Will replace inductors with wurth 7447709100 ) .
- High pass Rifa 0.56uF and MOX 4.7 Ohms 4W .
5- These new boards even have the pads for the snubber caps and resistors, Go for 300/330pF and for the resistor go for 20 Ohms 1/4W
6- Inverted the fan for better air flow.
7- provided a case, alps pot and all the wiring was done in Litz because I had these around and someone said that I could avoid proximity effects by using it.
The look is good but the overall sound quality is solid, with a ridiculous funny and tight bass. Built for under $ 200,00 .
Okay, I want to build two more of these and so I need to raise funds.
If someone in Brazil is interested In a good finished tripath board I can sell my hifimediy 2x80W @ 8Ohms for $ 30,00 and four unfinished but brand new LCM Tk2050 2x50W or mono, 1x100W for $ 60,00.
Sheng leng staring at me at the end of a looong night in the basement:
So after testing almost everything that has a tc2000 IC inside I decided to give the new tk2050 sure boards a try.
I own all the tk2050 based boards from sure, 41Hz and even the hifimediy t1 and t2, the lame LCM boards and all the non branded things.
If you get a stock sure and compare it to the stock41Hz or even the hifimediy then the Sure is all bad. Once you mod the sure boards to the tripath ref. then the 41Hz or hifimediy tk2050 based amps are no match. Why ? I am not sure but I will give you a clue or two bellow.
This new board from sure uses a combination of what hifimediy does, tc2000 and sta508 in the place of tp2050 . Unlikely the 41Hz and hifimediy amps, sure provide us with one output chip per channel, parallel config and that alone will provide you with a much better channel separation with a very funky bass.
In these new boards almost everthing is SMD and so space is limited for mods but you can always make a separate board for the output filters and you have enough space for the mods that really matter like a fast cap on tc2000. They have also added pads for snubber circuit and also there is pop on suppression circuit that leave very, very litttle pop noise on turn on, less than the hifimediy t2 amp.
What I have learned during the last years is that you should not overmodify ( as I did with the Litz coils ) your board as parasitic inductance's will degrade the sound to an level that you will end with a modded board sounding worse than the stock sure board. I know i'ts fun and that we can't help but to try and squeeze these boards till we achieve the highest level of sound, but it is always a trade.
What I have done with this board ( Ver. AB32186V220 ) :
1- Replaced all electrolytic capacitors with panasonic FM and FC.
2- Replaced inputs caps with 2.2uF mundorf ( keep legs short ) .
3- Added 550uF electrolytic to the tc2000 .
4- Added a separated board for the output filter;
- Low pass Rifa PHE 426 ( I love these caps ) .47uF and baked air cored Litz inductors of 10uH ( Will replace inductors with wurth 7447709100 ) .
- High pass Rifa 0.56uF and MOX 4.7 Ohms 4W .
5- These new boards even have the pads for the snubber caps and resistors, Go for 300/330pF and for the resistor go for 20 Ohms 1/4W
6- Inverted the fan for better air flow.
7- provided a case, alps pot and all the wiring was done in Litz because I had these around and someone said that I could avoid proximity effects by using it.
The look is good but the overall sound quality is solid, with a ridiculous funny and tight bass. Built for under $ 200,00 .
Okay, I want to build two more of these and so I need to raise funds.
If someone in Brazil is interested In a good finished tripath board I can sell my hifimediy 2x80W @ 8Ohms for $ 30,00 and four unfinished but brand new LCM Tk2050 2x50W or mono, 1x100W for $ 60,00.
Sheng leng staring at me at the end of a looong night in the basement:
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Hello
I have some zalman zm-nbf47 on hand but I also have played with the fan on and off and noticed that it did no harm to the sound.
Cutout with sure plus airplay
Guys, I have a Sure 2*100 with a sure PS that's like 2 years old (I can check the model but I need to dissassemble it). I have it fed with an apple airport express and output to my PSB speakers. I am very pleased except I get some dropout. I expect this dropout is 100% due to the AirPlay network. My PS+amp are in a tower that is a mailbox on end (works great as it is also the speaker stand). i i have large areas of venting, and it sits in my family room. I doubt I hit any temp issues due to my packaging (it's vented and I kept the fans connected and I never hear them, but they'd only come on when the music is loud!).
Have you ever had dropouts from the amp with your Sure amp (or PS)? I'd like to do more of these but want to isolate the issue to the airplay network that I cannot fix, or build the next one with whatever insights you can give me!
Guys, I have a Sure 2*100 with a sure PS that's like 2 years old (I can check the model but I need to dissassemble it). I have it fed with an apple airport express and output to my PSB speakers. I am very pleased except I get some dropout. I expect this dropout is 100% due to the AirPlay network. My PS+amp are in a tower that is a mailbox on end (works great as it is also the speaker stand). i i have large areas of venting, and it sits in my family room. I doubt I hit any temp issues due to my packaging (it's vented and I kept the fans connected and I never hear them, but they'd only come on when the music is loud!).
Have you ever had dropouts from the amp with your Sure amp (or PS)? I'd like to do more of these but want to isolate the issue to the airplay network that I cannot fix, or build the next one with whatever insights you can give me!
Id better sell things that I will probably never put in use
[]'s
Virpz, would you mind providing some more details on the backend of the build?
I did my sure front end mods, but havent done the backend yet, your build seems exactly what I was thinking about!
Thanks for sharing your work.
Guys
I'd also like to mount my configuration in a box for outside. I am not sure how much heat this generates, and it would be on my deck outside. Plus, there's condensation to consider. My idea is to put this in a sealed box, vacuum it, add a bag of desiccant and set it on my deck in the shade. I'd expect the ambient can reach 110 due to sun etc. If I built a heat exchanger into it I'd be swapping 110 degree air and I am not sure that's enough. The unit I run (power supply, amp 2*100, and airport express) will generate some heat. The PS is 350 watts, the amp 200w peak, so I'm guessing I'm generating 300 watts nominal over time, and have to extract that. Anyone have any experience here and provide some advice? I do not have an amp meter and have no idea what power I really draw at a decent volume sustained over time. Thanks in advance. This is a great board. I'd like to try to buy from you guys a modified sure board. I like to handle the packaging but I am not so experienced with the electronics!
I'd also like to mount my configuration in a box for outside. I am not sure how much heat this generates, and it would be on my deck outside. Plus, there's condensation to consider. My idea is to put this in a sealed box, vacuum it, add a bag of desiccant and set it on my deck in the shade. I'd expect the ambient can reach 110 due to sun etc. If I built a heat exchanger into it I'd be swapping 110 degree air and I am not sure that's enough. The unit I run (power supply, amp 2*100, and airport express) will generate some heat. The PS is 350 watts, the amp 200w peak, so I'm guessing I'm generating 300 watts nominal over time, and have to extract that. Anyone have any experience here and provide some advice? I do not have an amp meter and have no idea what power I really draw at a decent volume sustained over time. Thanks in advance. This is a great board. I'd like to try to buy from you guys a modified sure board. I like to handle the packaging but I am not so experienced with the electronics!
Hello
The reason of your dropouts could be radio interference gererated from the board, power supply or any other device on your home/ neighborhood . You should test your airplay by connecting it to another device na check if the dropouts still happen. If the dropouts only happen when you have the airplay connected to the sure board then you have a winner.
Few tips on your application :
- Desiccant will not last forever and so you will need to replace or recycle it from time to time. The time depends on how much humidity you have there and the ammount/placement of the dissecant.
- Provide your board with a fan unit that can increase the airflow but also is from a reliable brand like sunon. The fan provided with the sure boards works but is low quality and medium airflow.
- Music is not a constant and so if you don't plan on reproducing sine waves then 350W is more than enough. They will hardly go above 8A.
[]'s
Here you go !
This guide is for 2x100 board version 210. I will do the v220 guide as soon as I can get another board since I am not in the mood to take mine v220 out of the case. Do it at your own risk.
Notice that you should remove ALL the ouput capacitors c31, c32, c33, c34, c36, c35, c37, c38 and also inductors L1, l2, l3, l4. You can optionally cut the traces for the part of the sure board that will become useless.
You are basically making an extension of the board and In the pictures attached schematics you can check the areas wer you should connect this new board with ease. You can do this mod in many ways but that is the more say "easy and friendly way".
The third Picture shows wer exactly you need to bridge the pads on C33 and C34. Only the pads facing each other like in the second picture. all the other pads should be open. At this point If you bridge anything else along with these you will have problems.
The first two pictures have the schemathic for the output filter board and it's realitive connections to the sure board. The first is for a full filter and the second is the basic with only hi and lo pass.
I liked the idea of selling these boards with mods or only the filters board. Ill ebay these in a few days
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Hi there,
anyone to explain how Sure has done the Mute on their board ? Cap, 5v and R... can't figure what it does.
Anyway, Mute pin not connected mutes the amp and Mute pin to ground un-mute, right? Or +5V to Mute pin to mute?
Having a terrible thump at power off (nothing at power on, not that big 2uF input caps) I hope muting the amp prior to power off the amp can save my speakers and sanity.
anyone to explain how Sure has done the Mute on their board ? Cap, 5v and R... can't figure what it does.
Anyway, Mute pin not connected mutes the amp and Mute pin to ground un-mute, right? Or +5V to Mute pin to mute?
Having a terrible thump at power off (nothing at power on, not that big 2uF input caps) I hope muting the amp prior to power off the amp can save my speakers and sanity.
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Removed all the Sure's stuff, a switch to "floating"/grounded state, used prior to power on/off to mute it manually. Simple and smooth.
That was my DC supply switch, now my "amp ready" switch
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/87913-class-d-amp-photo-gallery-80.html#post3664472
That was my DC supply switch, now my "amp ready" switch
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/87913-class-d-amp-photo-gallery-80.html#post3664472
Nice idea putting heatsinks on the inductors, I'm tempted to try that myself as mine are still getting pretty warm. Also I'm tempted to try a simple timer circuit so the amp starts off in a muted state, then unmutes after a second or so...
I'm using the old revision board however, and as for a turn off thump I do not really get much of a thump so never needed to touch the mute switch (yet)...
I'm using the old revision board however, and as for a turn off thump I do not really get much of a thump so never needed to touch the mute switch (yet)...
Hello to all!
I read almost the whole thread because I have this board and I like it a lot.
But I tried to do something (to use the board for something other than drivin a speaker, please don't ask yet what) and I made a wrong connection and the amp doesn't work anymore.
The wrong connection was to connect a +12 volts (relative to input ground) to the + side of an OUTPUT channel.
Does anyone have the knowledge what would this do to the amplifier?
I read almost the whole thread because I have this board and I like it a lot.
But I tried to do something (to use the board for something other than drivin a speaker, please don't ask yet what) and I made a wrong connection and the amp doesn't work anymore.
The wrong connection was to connect a +12 volts (relative to input ground) to the + side of an OUTPUT channel.
Does anyone have the knowledge what would this do to the amplifier?
I have the new sure 2*100 aa-ab32186 and it seems to operate differently than my older board. I recall the older board turning off the fans when idle. But this one the fan runs all the time. Also, I bought the sure PS 27v for this and the fan noise sucks! It is way too loud. Any recommendation to quiet it?
Hi there.
You can replace these fans with other more silent for the amp and PSU. For the amp you can also provide a good passive cooling solution like a good copper fanless heatsink.
[]'s
Sure PS noise
I remounted the fan with some elastic material between it and the housing. The noise went down a lot, but still it's loud. My old sure PS (which was MeanWeil) and amp did not have the fan come on until the temp hit a certain limit. I'd like to do the again, as I have the amp near a chair and you hear the fans when no music is playing. Any ideas how to have the circuit kick in when the temp hits say 100F?
I remounted the fan with some elastic material between it and the housing. The noise went down a lot, but still it's loud. My old sure PS (which was MeanWeil) and amp did not have the fan come on until the temp hit a certain limit. I'd like to do the again, as I have the amp near a chair and you hear the fans when no music is playing. Any ideas how to have the circuit kick in when the temp hits say 100F?
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