New TK2050 board

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I thought about trying a frameless power supply, but I was concerned about potential noise issues. Has anyone had a successful experience using an open frame power supply (Meanwell or otherwise) to power their amplifier, and if so what brand?

The noise, as I wrote above, comes from the SMPS itself. It seems to be generated by mechanical oscillations of one of its coils or transformers. Frame would not help here, I think.
Otherwise I haven't noticed any signs of EMI caused by the SMPS.
I have this SMPS feeding my AMT2050 V2.0 amp and it sounds excellent!
 
I thought about trying a frameless power supply, but I was concerned about potential noise issues. Has anyone had a successful experience using an open frame power supply (Meanwell or otherwise) to power their amplifier, and if so what brand?
I have used for some months a Connexelectronic smps250 with a classD amplifier, a TDA8920 that requires dual voltage. There was no noise at all with the two board next to each other in a box made of wood.

Lack of noise has more to do with the design of the smps (filtering) rather than open frame IMHO. I will try this smps with hifimediy V2 board one of these days.
 
I think I should have said "parallel," not "bridge." But if a single TP2050 chip can operate in either a two channel (6/8 ohm) or a paralleled one channel (4 ohm) configuration (datasheet: http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/Tripath/mXyzwqtx.pdf), it would be useful to have the ability to switch between the two modes (e.g., with a dip switch).

I don't know if this feature would be practical to implement. But it would make the board more versatile, and give more people a reason to buy it.

So can the 2x100watt really run 4 ohm?

Also, is there any sound quality difference between the ST505 and the ST508 as used in the 2x100w and 2x80watt respectively?

What voltage are the feedback resistors chosen for?

Do you have to drop voltage from 30v if you run 4ohm speakers?


Input appreciated, thank you :)
 
So can the 2x100watt really run 4 ohm?
Yes

Also, is there any sound quality difference between the ST505 and the ST508 as used in the 2x100w and 2x80watt respectively?
Steinar who has listened to all versions, once said they sound similar.

Do you have to drop voltage from 30v if you run 4ohm speakers?
no. You need a psu that can deliver the needed power. The meanwell smps on the website does the job very well.
 
Also, would you go for a TA3020 solution or a TK2050(TC2000)+STA517B solution if you wanted more power? :)
depends on how much more power you need. Existing boards based on TA3020 such as 41Hz truepath or Connexelectronic V3 or v4 deliver more power than hifimediy T3 (at reasonable THD!).
TA3020 has good feedback. I have not yet seen a direct comparison STA517B vs TA3020. Would be interesting.
 
I read on 41hz.com forums that the sta517b chip is a little quieter and thus better.
The truepath from connexelectronics has some questionable component quality.
The T3 seems better.

Also, one chip seems to have a little lower thd (or just better sound) than two, but, as you might notice, its only on 80w into 8 ohms, and, as board layout is a bit different, the little difference between the chips might be not noticed.
 
Thx for your replies :)

I am contemplating what to choose... T3 vs V2 amp vs all digital 5.1 (*hint* *hint* hifimediy ;) ).

Maybe I should check the data sheets for the ST chips. I think the T amps sound very harsh when driven above 50-60% of max power. THD and IMD rises rapidly and maybe that is what I dislike about the sound (don't know how to distinguish between the two).

It would be nice not to run out of power on a 8 ohm speaker system, moderate sensitivity, if watching blu-ray movies with HD sound format (they have less dynamic range compression).
 
Hi,

I hesitate between T3 vs. V2 amplifier for my 5 speakers.

For five T3 should I take 5 power supply meanwell smps ? What are the alternatives ?
Is there a single power supply for five T3?

My speakers Klispch is two RF-82, two RS-52 and one RC-62.

In your opinion what is the best solution for these speakers ? T3 or V2 ?

Specifications RF-82

FREQUENCY RESPONSE 33Hz-24KHz ± 3dB
POWER HANDLING 150W RMS / 600W Peak
SENSITIVITY 98dB @ 2.83V / 1m
NOMINAL IMPEDANCE 8 ohms compatible
HIGH FREQ CROSSOVER 1400Hz


thank you for your reply.
Please excuse me for my english ;)
 
@ divxfr
depends on your usage. They look fairly sensitive so you might be able to use the V2's with no problem.

If you look at the datasheet for the tripath TK2050 there is a steep increase in THD at around 60% power and having a bigger amp (T3) would allow you to watch movies with lots of volume without it getting as fatiguing (it remains in the very low THD area).


There have been some talk about crossinterference when you have more amps on same SMPS. I do not know if the same applies for a normal toroid with a large cap bank, maybe someone else can comment?
 
I have the TK2050 Mk2 from Nick. I use 2 SLA batteries and the quality of this amp is superb ! I use a valve preamp with a good quality stepped attenuator and I am wondering what is the optimum way to cable this up to the TK ? Should I bypass the TK pot completely, should I set the pot to maximum as I have seen suggested hear and just use the attenuator - combination of the two ?? When I set the pot to max, I get a slight but annoying hum through the speakers - any ideas on these questions welcome !
 
I have the TK2050 Mk2 from Nick. I use 2 SLA batteries and the quality of this amp is superb ! I use a valve preamp with a good quality stepped attenuator and I am wondering what is the optimum way to cable this up to the TK ? Should I bypass the TK pot completely, should I set the pot to maximum as I have seen suggested hear and just use the attenuator - combination of the two ?? When I set the pot to max, I get a slight but annoying hum through the speakers - any ideas on these questions welcome !
Try it without the valve pre, without the tk pot, but with the stepped pot from the valve preamp, as close to the TK board as possible.
Or try some lightspeed attenuator, might improve the sound some more :D
 
I have the v 1.2 amp. I would like to bypass the volume pot and use arjen's tube buffer. Would I be better off just removing the pot, strapping the buffer output to signal in on the amp and putting a 50K carbon film resistor between signal and ground? This would run the amp full open. The alternative would be using two resistors (1 pair per channel) and split the 50K between. That would approximate having the volume pot at say 40% rather than wide open.
 

I would choose hifimediys version of the TK2050 based on the component choice alone. I have the sure 2024 which is not that impressive and the TK2050 2x50watt which is much better, but still... component choice on the Sures a as close to the bottom as possible which I dont like.
Great for modding, but not great if you buy ready made for an amp you will use for a long time.
 
It seems there are many different ideas on connecting a preamp to the TK2050 ! I am a bit reluctant to start major surgery on the amp as I've had a few disasters on previous DIY attempts so I have spent loads of time making small adjustments to the preamp attenuator setting and the setting on the pot. This is not very scientific, but the best sound I have achieved is by opening up the attenuator to about 90% and varying the volume from about 20% up to 50%. I'm sure there are improvements that can be made on this - LDR, for instance ?? BTW - is there a reasonably priced LDR out there , either in kit form or ready-built ??
 
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