Best TA2020 Amp On Ebay

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I think it comes down to just how many parts do you want to replace? It's just not my thing. :) The build quality of the one I bought a while back was not worth any of my time or effort to mod. I was disappointed. I would rather spend more money and get something I can use out of the box, or more easily meets my needs with a minimum of mods. I bought a 50wpc Dayton Audio class T amp a couple of years ago when I got back into this hobby, and it easily matches or bests some of the other class T amps I've sinced DIY'ed. It's a great sounding little amp and I use it in my home-away-from-from apt in Danbury, CT during the week.
 
I think it comes down to just how many parts do you want to replace? It's just not my thing. :) The build quality of the one I bought a while back was not worth any of my time or effort to mod. I was disappointed. I would rather spend more money and get something I can use out of the box, or more easily meets my needs with a minimum of mods. I bought a 50wpc Dayton Audio class T amp a couple of years ago when I got back into this hobby, and it easily matches or bests some of the other class T amps I've sinced DIY'ed. It's a great sounding little amp and I use it in my home-away-from-from apt in Danbury, CT during the week.
I have a couple of Lepai 2020A and a couple of SMSL SA-S1 and I did not notice anything sonically different.
The Lepai amps were purchased last year, perhaps they are better than the 2006 version, when the thread started.
I'm using a really inexpensive TDA7297, which, to me, sounds much better, plus an FM tuner is not drowned out with noise.
 
500K have viewed the Lepai 2020A thread, there must be some interest there?

There is a tremendous interest and following on making the most of the Lepai 2020A T-amp. I considered one of those too, but I figured it was low risk to try something that looks good and sounds good right out of the box, and the SMSL SA-S1 hasn't disappointed me aside from the faulty volume pot. Like the Sonic Impact 5066 T-amp, the Lepai is inexpensive, but its potential lies in the numerous mods and upgrades that can be made to it.

If I went the Lepai route, I would have ditched the original Lepai case and recased the amp. All said, and as someone else mentioned earlier, my expenses to upgrade the case and the amp would have been more than what I spent on the SMSL amp and power supply. I like the SMSL amp, because all the components are thru-hole, so if I ever get ambitious and want to replace components, I can do so easily. In replacing the original faulty volume pot on the SMSL, I was impressed with the quality of the PCB. It appears to be better constructed than the Lepai PCB. The Arjen Helder TA2020 MkIII and Sonic Impact boards were more difficult to work with as some of the thru-hole eyelets and traces came off when I removed some caps to replace them.
 
NO!! Their NOT good, mine dident even get 5 minutes worth of use until it found itself in my trash bin, thats how bad it sounded.

If a TA2020 based imp is what you absolutely must have, then FORGET all about Lepai and look at 41Hz AMP6, SMSL, Topping, Indeed and Arjen helder, the worst of these are still lightyears better than any of the lepais i ever seen.

Well your just showing your ignorance then, because you had one bad experience means that they are bad. The simple facts are they arent too bad and once you mod them they can sound exceptional for both size and price, and several members on here will vouch for that!
 
I have a couple of Lepai 2020A and a couple of SMSL SA-S1 and I did not notice anything sonically different.
The Lepai amps were purchased last year, perhaps they are better than the 2006 version, when the thread started.
I'm using a really inexpensive TDA7297, which, to me, sounds much better, plus an FM tuner is not drowned out with noise.

+1

Lepai have recently changed over to Surface mount components for the op-amp, since this change I haven't had any problems with them at most on one unit I had to ground the pots as it caused buzzing when changing volume. Other than that I have had no issues with them, ofcourse its nothing compared to more expencive amps such as my Fiio E09K :)

its what $20 if you don't like it too much or break it while modding then so what its only $20. But im sure you will like it :)
 
Got an answer from Peter of indeed-hi-fi-lab to my question if SMSL and Indeed are made by the same manufacturer:

Beste a3aan92,

Hello,
Yes, there are produce by same designer and manufacturer but different batch for components quality select and QC.
Regards
Peter



- indeed-hi-fi-lab



 
Well, if you want to learn and have the satisfaction you could build it yourself. If you just want to listen to something good get it ready made. I find myself in the same category of people that don't want to fuss with metal so I like my enclosures included in the kit. I droped many projects because of this. China enclosures look real good vs other offerings, plus they are WAY cheaper. If you look on some us/eu diy vendor sites you'd see that you'd have to pay more for and empty aluminium case than the whole ta2020 amp from ebay :) 41hz amp6 would be a sure shot for almost the best that the ta2020 can give but you'd need a case for it. Just look around, maybe there's something out there. If not then head for the complete amps from ebay as some other members recommend :)

True, the price of an aluminum case if outrageous... You can't find it <40$ and for that money you already got an average eBay T-amp... The 41hz DIY can be fun to made though and I'm kinda interested in electronics, although I never learned a single thing about it in my education. (I'm still a student though. :p) If I buy a solder iron and practice a little I guess I definitely can make it work, I'm not a retard... :D What about a wooden case, if I connect 8 ohm speakers do I also need an aluminium case which can function as a heatshrink? The offer of the T-amps is so wide, it's very hard to make a choice if you only want to buy one!
 
Since we are talking about a relatively low-cost, small amp module, here's a similar class and cost of amp (TK2050), that is well-made and sounds great for such a small amp. Uses a single-side PSU, and is small enough to just about fit anywhere!

Why would you actually need the extra power if you got efficient speakers... It's not a tripath chip so I guess it will sound different but I'm sure it will be good too. On the other side, there is a little less attention to these amps, so maybe less research, less competition and less improvement to make it better? :)
 
Why would you actually need the extra power if you got efficient speakers... It's not a tripath chip so I guess it will sound different but I'm sure it will be good too. On the other side, there is a little less attention to these amps, so maybe less research, less competition and less improvement to make it better? :)
The TK2050 is a Tripath chip! This little guy provides the extra power if you need it. I much prefer an amp with more power for the extra headroom when your music demands it. Here's a related thread if interested.
 
The TK2050 is a Tripath chip! This little guy provides the extra power if you need it. I much prefer an amp with more power for the extra headroom when your music demands it. Here's a related thread if interested.

Oh yes lol of course it is Tripath too, I was wrong. Never heard one actually, so I can't judge it... ^^

+1 I can vouch for the TK2050, listening to it now they have a very nice sound for their price.
 
Hello. This is my very first post.
I got here through google research.

I hope someone here can help me figure out how to properly use this amplifier I purchased.

This is what I bought

Hi-Fi DC 12V TA2021B 25W + 25W Stereo Class-T Amp Computer Sound Card Amplifier

As you can see the amp is made for a computer.

There are pins on the board that come with 2 jumpers.
The jumpers are not installed.

I asked the seller what the jumpers are used for. The language barrier is strong. I cant tell what he is trying to say.

This is his instructions
the L input and R input are also the audio input, you can use them or the 3.5 input.
J8---------------------------if you connect the amplifier to the Linear power supply all alone, please plug the Jumper cap on J8, if you don't use a Linear power supply, please don't do that.


Included is a picture

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Im trying to figure out when to use the 2 jumpers that are placed over the pins.
I dont want to use this amp till I know how to use the jumpers.

Any ideas?
Looks like a well built little amp.

One last question.
Any improvements in heat if I use computer cpu paste under the heat sink?
Thanks
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
Just another Moderator
Joined 2003
Paid Member
J8 it seems is for when you have a separate Power supply (ie not using the standard computer PSU.

The L R ones I think are simply inputs so that you can connect your computers sound card output to them internally. Alternatively you can use the 3.5mm jack on the plate. That would be my interpretation of his message along with the picture.

Tony.
 
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