Fairly new to Class D

[crazifunguy]

I am in the process of building a chip amp, so I figured while I am at it...lets learn about Class D too. I have done some searching and came across the Tripath amps. I however could not find a chip or design that matched up to my power supply. I have a few smps's with a 48V output. Can anyone recommend a Class D amp or IC that will run on a single rail DC supply around 48V? I would like to learn more about this and see what is available.

I have a few Klipsch SW-350 plate amps that are Class D but they are full digital and I have not had the time to reverse engineer the PCB and really figure out how it works. I would like to leave that as a future project while I work on my learning curve. The STA309 processing chip alone would involve a good time of research. I need to crawl before I can run.

[kristleifur]

The Tripath TK2050 chipset will do this.

Implementations including Hifimediy T4 will fit, and some other Hifimediy models, as will 41Hz Amp4 and Amp11 with minor modifications.

[crazifunguy]

The datasheet for the TK2050 states 40V Absolute Max VCC. The T4 looks interesting but uses that chip.

[kristleifur]

Originally Posted by crazifunguy

The datasheet for the TK2050 states 40V Absolute Max VCC. The T4 looks interesting!

Ah, yes, that's true for the first iteration of the chipset. The TK2050 is a TC2000 series controller, and initially a TP2050 output stage. The output stage determines the Max VCC. Since the TK2050 was released, there have been upgraded output stage chips, most notably the STA516B and STA517B, that can take upwards of 50V nominal (absolute max 60V I think). The T4 indeed uses the STA517B.

[crazifunguy]

What would be a good front end that is readily available for the STA series?

[kristleifur]

Originally Posted by crazifunguy

What would be a good front end that is readily available for the STA series?

Sorry, can you rephrase the question? I'm not that well versed in terminology, and not a native English speaker Maybe this answers the question: The TC2000/TC2001 controller (those two are equivalent) can control any of these: the Tripath TP2050, ST Microelectronics STA50x/STA51x series, and the Apogee DDX-20xx, DDX-21xx and DDX-22xx series. For instance, the 41Hz Amp4 is a "canonical" TK2050 implementation with a TC2000 and a TP2050. You can drop a STA517B chip in instead of the TP2050 and it just works. This is then essentially the same configuration as a Hifimediy T4. (And you could drop a TP2050 chip into a Hifimediy T4, which would reduce its capacity accordingly.)

Note that the TP2050 is exactly the same chip as ST Microelectronics' STA505.

[crazifunguy]

What is a different chip to use that is the same as the TC2000/1 that is still being manufactured? The STA308/309 chips can be used as the controller but are much more complicated than the TC2000 and not very easy to design.

[kristleifur]

Originally Posted by crazifunguy

What is a different chip to use that is the same as the TC2000/1 that is still being manufactured? The STA308/309 chips can be used as the controller but are much more complicated than the TC2000 and not very easy to design.

Ah, I see. Judging from the reasonably wide availability of different makes and models of amps that use the TC2000 chip, it seems to me like it's still being made ... I'm not sure though. But the chip seems to be available, at least.

[crazifunguy]

I searched a few suppliers and also did some google searching. I cannot seem to find a supply of these TC2000 in the US.

[baga]

tas5630 is perfect for that power supply