No love for Tripath amps in the audiophile community

[Doglover]

Greetings,

I'm a newbie to DIY electronics and have recently built my first amp, a 41hz AMP6 which I'm extremely satisfied with.

Having owned a couple of other Tripath-based amplifiers in the past it goes without saying I'm a big fan. If nothing else they give those of us on limited budgets a taste of the high end, and don't require complex or expensive power supplies to run.


Unfortunately I've noticed many audiophiles seem to look down on Tripath amplifiers, scoffing when they are mentioned as if any circuit with a Tripath chip is automatically second rate and unworthy of comparison with any tubed or other solid-state design.

There's no disputing the value Tripath amps offer but could their low price actually be a hindrance when it comes to recognition of the sound quality they offer?

[theAnonymous1]

I can think of two reasons.....

1) Die hard linear fans will dismiss anything class-d.

2) Class-d-O-philes will dismiss any design that isn't self-oscillating with post-filter feedback.

[wwenze]

Originally posted by Doglover
There's no disputing the value Tripath amps offer but could their low price actually be a hindrance when it comes to recognition of the sound quality they offer?

Transistors and LMs are not exactly expensive either. But you're right on that statement.

To some audiophiles as long as it is expensive and looks good it will most certainly sound good.

Tripath amps, due to the performance of the chip, only requires a small power supply and a few small components to operate. This doesn't reflect good on those who have good money to spend on bigger equipment.

Then there are those who firmly believe that the performance of their chip product (chip-amp/DAC) is solely centered around a chip that costs less than $20.

[ttan98]

Tripath and it's efficiency, 85% is good for the environment when we are now experiencing, global warming.