T-Amp - Metallic/tinny sound ?

[seawalker]

Hello, I am on my second Dta-100a Tk2050 amp and while I think it has a great mid range I notice that acoustic guitar and cymbals have a metallic-grainy-tinny sound... hard to describe. I dont notice it on vocals. It is somewhat subtle but enough to be annoying. Its not on all tracks, but many. I'm wondering if this is common with these amps? Isnit a matter of breaking in the amp? Ive tried different speakers, different sources, and exchanged my first dayton but they are both the same.

Could it be the fact that the dayton is a cheap amp? Lots of people still rave about these. I would be willing to try to build a better amp as I like the sound otherwise. Any ideas?

Thanks

[Katch]

Thought about trying a tube buffer to smooth out the sound stage and warm it up a bit?

Also what speakers are you driving and from what source - these both have a massive impact on the sound.

[Saturnus]

Usually a power supply problem.

[tamphist]

Originally Posted by seawalker

Hello, I am on my second Dta-100a Tk2050 amp and while I think it has a great mid range I notice that acoustic guitar and cymbals have a metallic-grainy-tinny sound... hard to describe. I dont notice it on vocals. It is somewhat subtle but enough to be annoying. Its not on all tracks, but many. I'm wondering if this is common with these amps?

Maybe you are now able to hear for the first time, how your source/dac sounds
on cymbals? Other amps have smoothed the sound. Try different sound sources.

[TheDealer]

Originally Posted by Saturnus

Usually a power supply problem.

I have to agree mainly but this is of course not the whole story ...

[MrKTrout]

Originally Posted by Saturnus

Usually a power supply problem.

I agree with Saturnus. In the past I always tossed the wall wart adapter and opted for a regulated dc switching power supply. Great improvement on sound quality, but what really blew me away was changing to SLA battery. Amazing difference altogether; I didn't expect such a drastic improvement.

[seawalker]

MrTrout, I have seen your set up on you tube and it sounds good from what I can tell.

Besides changing the power supply for a better one, Would it be possible to build some kind of rechargeable battery power supply? I notice Red Wine Audio does this, but I dont know what voltage/current would be best and safe.

Im hopping to get a good sound from a t amp to avoid having to buy a NAD for 400 bucks

Thanks

BTW- Source and speakers make some difference. I am using the amp with a pair of paradigm atoms and an audioengine D1 DAC. But no matter what the amp is attached to ( speakers/source) I experience unpleasant distortion mostly in the upper range.

[MrKTrout]

Seawalker, your problem with the high's is definitely not your Audioengine D1 DAC. I have some concerns about the the Dayton DTA-100a amp.
See this review: [Review] Dayton Audio DTA-100a - Class D integrated amplifier - [English]
The internal photos of the DTA-100a leave a lot to be desired in terms of workmanship.
I realize it is an $80 50wpc amp, but I prefer spending more money on a higher quality unit like the Topping TP60:
TOPPING TP60 TP-60 & TA2022 T-Amp & 2X80W & STEREO AMP | eBay
The internal photos show high quality components and assembly.

[TheDealer]

Originally Posted by MrKTrout

but I prefer spending more money on a higher quality unit like the Topping TP60

indeed a reasonable choice. I heard very good things about it.

[seawalker]

So I did a bit more experimenting with the Dta-100a.

For a power supply I hooked up 2 12v lead acid batteries in series. Both batteries were 12 amp hours each. I noticed a very slight improvement in sound quality, mostly better dynamics. Not as major as I thought.

I bought a NAD 316 Bee to compare. The NAD sounds surprising close to the Dayton! The NAD did smooth out the rough treble of tambourines cymbals and the like. But did not have the sweet mid range of the dayton.

I think the issue that im noticing is the real transparency of the T amp combined with some less than stellar recordings (some flamenco guitar artist I listen to don't always have good recordings), and my speakers titanium tweeters. I do not hear this distortion on a pair of M-Audio studio monitors that I had.

I did try a Topping TP20 which gave me even worse sound than the dayton but probably because its power is much lower.

Id like to maybe put together my own T amp like the Helder HiFi monoblocks or Sure tk2050 with a better power supply as long as I can add a remote control motorized pot and stay under 200 bucks.