$30 amp upgraded

[zobsky]

Originally posted by amt
Well I moved this from the Digital section since this one didnt exist then. I finally upgraded the Sonic Impact and I must say Im shocked at the quality of sound. I replaced the plastic chassis with Al, used Cardas RCAs, decent binding posts, and hooked it up to a 9.5AH 12V battery. The original input was a mini-jack that routed the signal around the board until it got to some cheesy wires that attach to the pot. I removed the jack and ran the inputs directly to an RS pot (100k alps). I also removed the entire wiring mess that ran between the board and the pot/switch. And while I was at it, I replaced all the original wiring, except for the light.

All in all I must say this is a great sounding amp. Ive listened to it on my Stax headphones for hours at a time and never got fatigue that is often the case with SS amps. The sound is somewhat dry BUT extremely articulate. Crisp with zero sizzle. Metallic sounds are superb. Cymbels, cow bells, and percussion in general are great.

Im going to hook up the high efficiency speakers next and see how it fairs on them.

amt

nice chassis notwithstanding , .. how(if) did your mods change the sound?

[matjans]

does anybosy know where to get these in europe? or better still, in the netherlands?

[amt]

I think that the sound was improved in that it was "cleaned" up . I have another SI on the way so I can do a side by side comparison but for now, memory has to suffice. I feel that the soundstage widened and that the bass response is deeper. These may be due solely to the big battery and "clean" 12v. The overall clarity was increased as well and that I attribute to being able to use good quality interconnects/jacks rather than a crappy mini plug to rca adapter cable and a slight pot upgrade. The mini plug ran the signal around the board, to the pot via micro wire and then back to the board, along side the power wires that also ran to the pot. And shielding by metal vs. plastic must have some effect. Once I listen to both together, I can give a more accurate and concise answer.

amt

[zobsky]

Originally posted by amt
I think that the sound was improved in that it was "cleaned" up . I have another SI on the way so I can do a side by side comparison but for now, memory has to suffice. I feel that the soundstage widened and that the bass response is deeper. These may be due solely to the big battery and "clean" 12v.
amt

thanks, ... my SI amp improved as you describe just by using a big battery power supply. let us know once you have a chance to compare the 2 units side by side.

[niknik]

Excellent, excellent, excellent!

This thread was just was I was looking for!

Very nice job amt!

I have not done much modding myself -but after I read the review on this little sucker on 6moons -and noticed that some modding and a new cabinet would do wonders -I'm now looking forward to recieve this little amp so I can get started....

Thanks for the inspiration!

[planet10]

Anyone know of a Canadian source for these?

I could always order from US but...

dave

[Bill F.]

Don't know about a Canadian source, but I just ordered a sixpack from AMR Mart. Cheapest price I've found, And each aditional amp is just another buck to ship. Shipping to Canada ain't much extra.

For some reason, they dropped an extra $1.60 from the price--something to do with "Group Purchase Discount" (??)

Total price /ea including shipping:$22.37

[Bill F.]

Since I've got a balanced source, I plan to put an XLR on each of my units and run them as bridged 30W monoblocks. No futher mods necessary to do this, right?

[planet10]

Yea...

Someone felt pity on me and is sending me up a unit

Now just need to figure a new box -- what are the board extents?

dave

[dwk123]

Originally posted by Bill F.
Since I've got a balanced source, I plan to put an XLR on each of my units and run them as bridged 30W monoblocks. No futher mods necessary to do this, right?

I doubt this will work. The Tripath works off a single-ended supply, and I'm pretty sure it probably already uses a full-H-bridge output topology. In other words, each channel is effectively already bridged. Check the data sheet to be sure, though.