Newb in search of some T-Amp wisdom

[CarbonCrew]

First let me say that I am very new to this and have done a ton reading over the past few days. I have about a million thoughts running through my head thanks to this forum.

I am looking for a quality sound setup for my PC/XBox. I picked up a pair of Polk Monitor 30s and had my heart set on a Dayton DTA-1 that is, until I found this place. After countless hours of reading, it appears that the preferred chip is a TA2020 in a HLLY or Helder offering.

And so, I now have my eyes on the HLLY TAMP-20 and the Helder MKII TA2020 PCB. Neither suits my needs perfectly, as both have one input and the Helder is a DIY job. I am a mechanical engineer by profession and have no problems getting my hands dirty, but I am unsure if should jump feet first into a potentially slow, full custom (Helder) setup or take is slow with the HLLY and modify as I see fit.

I'm hoping someone has beaten down this path and could share some insight on the subject. If anyone has some advice for me I would love to hear your opinion.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the help.

[Nanook]

they are quite easy as long as you don't get a surface mount kit, do a through hole kit. Look here for lots of help. biggest hassle is getting an enclosure, but that can be sourced from Hammond, etc. If I can manage to get one working, I'm sure any can.

These amps are easily one of the best values out there.

As far a s a retail product, it depends. Nuforce Icon is very good. Also look into the Virtue Audio (tell Seth stew sent ya ). Both are well reviewed and well built based on my own experience (Icon) and virtually every review of both the Virtue products and the Nuforce ones.

[rhing]

Arjen offers a kit using the MkIII TA2020 amp module on eBay:

MKIII Tripath TA2020 PCB 25watt Class-T amplifier SET - eBay (item 250671560031 end time Aug-23-10 02:26:54 PDT)

It doesn't come with an enclosure, but you can probably find a nice extruded Aluminum enclosure like this one:

Modular Enclosures available from Context Engineering

They sell samples at reasonable prices.

[CarbonCrew]

Thanks for the fantastic information. A problem I am having is sourcing all of the components, like an enclosure. It seems a lot of the suppliers either cater only to large orders or their pages are buried very deep.

Thanks Nanook for the suggestions, the Nuforce and Virtue products look amazing.

I haven't made up my mind yet, but this does help a lot. Thanks again for the information.

[Davet]

I would concur on the 41Hz suggestion if you can solder.

If you want to plug and play consider Helder's Topping T20. You will also need to get a power supply in addition to the T-Amp. A number of the power bricks that come with laptops will fit the bill. Just observe the published power requirements.

I would also strongly suggest the Helder PCB offerings if you are more DIY inclined. If you are DIY inclined opt for the MKIII PCBs. You will need a power supply and a chassis. The Helder 2020 Boards are stereo, i.e. left and right channels. Some of the other boards he offers are mono. So if you opt for the TA2020 PCB you will only need one for stereo.

[Nanook]

CarbonCrew

the very cool thing about the Nuforce is that the standard Icon has a built in USB DAC that sounds very good. Considering the very reasonable price and the accessories available it can be a very complete solution that you may be looking for. Not a Tripath, but Nuforce's own amp and DAC chips. Built-in headphone amp, built-in DAC and three inputs. Also has a mini jack output on the back so can serve as a preamp in a pinch. So if your "big rig" preamp takes a dive, the Icon can replace it temporarily (you might be surprised at how good it sounds as a preamp ...). If 25watts/ch is enough for your main system, it could replace your main amp if it fails.

If you consider the value that the Nuforce offers and what it can do, I think you would be hard pressed to find anything as versatile. Am I enthusiastic about this? Yes. I informally reviewed it (Affordable$$Audio :: The E-zine For Frugal Audio Enthusiasts) and purchased this amp. Perhaps one of the best audio purchases I have ever made (the other was a QED PCC passive control centre , for CAD$10.70 tax in. the switches alone are worth $100 )

That might be a consideration as well. Buy a passive preamp and box a 41Hz amp in the housing. Just remember to make sure there is adequate heat sinking. Or even the very cute little mini-watt amplifier as pictured on the front of July's issue of Affordable$$Audio .

[Davet]

In which issue is your review?

Your comments have sparked my curiosity? I am in the process of completing a Helder T-Amp Tube Buffer and MKIII TA2020 PCB in the same box. This will make a make an integrated T-Amp. The buffer allows the T-Amp to play a little louder and smoother than just the T-Amp by itself.

The prospects for the DAC being included has really peaked my interest.

[Nanook]

here's everything that I wrote:

"The Nufore Icon and Icon Mobile, also need to be included in this list. They represent to headphone, portable and desktop listeners what I consider to be of similar value as compared to the Merrill drivers above. There has been plenty written about these two products from Nuforce over the last year or two. And I cannot stress enough how good NuForce's customer service seems to be (although I never needed any). The buy-in is cheap ($199 and $99 respectfully), while the performance is no-where near their price points. Both exceed expectations. The standard Icon is great for computer /desktop/ office environment listeners. Not powerful (the amp), but very good sounding at any real listening levels. And good enough to use as a main or backup amp in a pinch. The fact that a good sounding USB DAC is included is way beyond what most of its competitors provides at or near this price point, and pushes this little guy to the top. No false bass, no treble etchiness nothing. With the above mentioned DCA5.5 based loudspeakers, a great beginning to a great little system. The Mobile Icon has many of the same virtues, except that it's output has been voiced believing that it will be used with laptops and iPods and the such. Listened to in this context, the Mobile does its job well. But hook it up to a system with sufficient resolution and it begins to fall apart. You can easily hear that this piece was designed and intended to be used with portable setups---the sound is far from neutral, but still enjoyable and suited for use with appropriately priced headphones (perhaps Nuforce's own NE or UF series of headphones). And hey fer $99 what do you expect? Both pieces are well packaged with good instructions. Only an idiot could manage to get bad sound from either of these two within their respective user criterion. For as little as USD$300 you can have a great little headphone desktop system. Only thing that is missing is speakers and Nuforce can oblige there too. Taking a quick look at Nuforce's page indicates that these products have changed somewhat. They now have a stand-alone DAC/Headphone amp, and a new Icon with only one input and no DAC built in, but what appear to be respectable quality binding posts. This seems like a more common-sense approach to when compared to the earlier ethernet cable based outputs (for the loudspeaker connections). I am sure these changes are due to research that Nuforce has done. A new version of their loudspeaker has also been presented on their web-page ( http://www.nuforce.com/ ). Anyone interested in desktop or portable audio needs to go there and have a look, read, and buy. A no-brainer if there has ever been."

I see now that Jason Lim has changed the packaging, and price, but it has been a while...the Icon webpage

All possible outputs are quite good. The headphone amp, the DAC, line out and power out to speakers are more than fair. This piece can suffice as a complete audio package with some sort of source and some loudspeakers.

[CarbonCrew]

I feel like I am DIY inclined and feel very confident in my soldering skills. However, a character flaw of mine is patience and I don't know if I can handle delivery times from Hong Kong.

Nanook, it is funny that you mention the Nu Force Icon with the DAC. As I am trying to read as much as possible, I've stumbled across some very interesting components, the DAC has caught my eye. I thought it would be a fantastic idea to combine a GrubDAC and T-amp for an all-in-one solution. That would fit my bill nicely. The Nu Force does this at a very attractive price. As I look at the prices of each component, $50 MKIII + $50 DAC + $30-40 misc, the Icon makes perfect sense. Yet, I can't shake this desire to building something.

[Davet]

I live near Washington, D.C. and things I have ordered from Helder Electronics have taken as little as 6 days transport time and 8 days from the time I placed the order. I will caution you, that you must sign (Customs Form) for the package from the postman. So, depending on delivery time you may have to go to the Post Office for pickup.

The Helder products will, primarily, require you to connect wires and mount the unit in a chassis. You may have to purchase RCAs and speaker connectors, or some means of connecting external devices to the PCB.

The 41HZ products are self assembly products, thus true DIY kits. You will have to purchase a transformer, chassis, RCAS, speaker connectors, power switch, power cord and connection wire. You will need to do more planning on the front end. These kits are not complete in-the-box T-Amps. The 41HZ are primarily DIY PCBs. Each kit has unique power requirements and you will have to do the proper advance research and planning. Some kits have power regulation on board while others may not.

Delivery to the Eastern US from 41HZ took about 10 days from time of ordering. You still have to sign a Customs form.