Tripath chips shootout

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oon_the_kid

oon_the_kid

Member
Joined 2008
Hi,

I've been thinking about building another tripath amplifier. I've built one based on the TA2022.

I was wondering if there is somebody out there who have heard a whole bunch of Tripath Chips, TA2020, TA2022, TA2024, TK 2050 etc and have some comments on the sound coming from them.

Which sounds bests....?

I don't need a lot of juice, I reckon 20W should be enough for me...

Oon
 
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kristleifur

Member
Joined 2006
oon_the_kid said:
Thanks Joes,

But i was thinking of something a bit lower powered. I find most amps (maybe not tripath) tend to sound a bit lethargic unless it is driven into their sweet spot. At 300W, I doubt I will even hit the 5% point...

Oon
Click to expand...

You can make the big-iron Tripaths behave more like the smaller ones:
- They can operate on a much lower voltage than the default (at least down to 18V).
- You can also lower the gain, gearing the noise floor away from reproduction at 300W and towards 20W operation

The reason why you'd want to do something like this is that the bigger, more complex chipsets do sound better, irrespective of power. The datasheets show this: There's simply less distortion. Subjectively, terms like "blackness", "microdynamics" and "soundstage" have been used.

Of the 41Hz line, pick one of these, starting with the best sounding:
- Truepath - TA3020
- Amp15 - TA3020
- Amp4 (maybe Amp11) - TC2001 + TP2050
- Amp6 - TA2020

AFAIK this that is the descending order of build difficulty, and also the descending order of sound quality. Take a close look at the Amp4!
 
oon_the_kid

oon_the_kid

Member
Joined 2008
Thanks for the reply.

Found a thread that seems to address some of my questions.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141309

Thanks for the info on the truepath. I bought the Amp6 and quite happy with it.

I think the Truepath specified voltage is +-35, so it will still be quite a powerful amplifier. I am still a bit worried about underdriving it.

But the TK2050, Amp 4 sounds interesting. Had very good reviews from Winsome mouse and Virtue one.

Many thanks.

Oon
 
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kristleifur

Member
Joined 2006
oon_the_kid said:
I think the Truepath specified voltage is +-35, so it will still be quite a powerful amplifier. I am still a bit worried about underdriving it.
Click to expand...

I had the same thoughts a few months ago, I got it confirmed that the Truepath (and any other TA3020 design) can be taken down to +/- 18V, at least. All it takes is a few different resistors to change gain and voltage sensing, a very simple calculation. (Also, I must state that underdriving these amps isn't as bad as it might seem, if they're properly built w.r.t. noise and appropriate gain.)
 
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