Lepai T-Amp with TA2020

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Pretty simple - the 3.5mm jack and RCA's on the Lepai are the same input, so one becomes a line-out when the other has an input connected.

What a brilliant idea! I understand the setup but I do have a concern. Doesn't the input signal weaken and becomes distorted when daisy-chained two Lepais. :confused:

I am using a Freecom MusicPal, alternating with a Pioneer DVD player as my source now.

[ETA >> thanks to Sofaspud - he pointed out the Lepai's 'loop-through' input to me)

Thanks to Sofaspud as well. ;)

Sorry about that! I don't know - I'm guessing the 10.2 is bigger and more efficient, and probably has more bass - but I'm thoroughly enjoying the Indeed and 9.0's!

Yes, the 10.2 has more bass but a bit too much for me. On certain music, it sounds boomy. By the way besides the Lepai, I am using it with a 60W Exposure amp also.
 
Last edited:
What a brilliant idea! I understand the setup but I do have a concern. Doesn't the input signal weaken and becomes distorted when daisy-chained two Lepais. :confused:
The input impedances of the Lepais will be paralled, so 2 will half it, 3 will reduce to 1/3 etc' - it won't reduce the level (voltage), I think the only problem would be if the impedance drops low enough it will start to have an effect on dynamics, but I reckon 2 shouldn't be a problem.

As I'm using a headphone jack which is 'expeccting' to see a load of no more than few-hundred ohms (usually less) it isn't an issue (like I said, I'm genuinly surprised at how good this arrangement sounds - it's 'flat' , all user adjustments are disabled by connecting to it)

I am using a Freecom MusicPal, alternating with a Pioneer DVD player as my source now.



Thanks to Sofaspud as well. ;)



Yes, the 10.2 has more bass but a bit too much for me. On certain music, it sounds boomy. By the way besides the Lepai, I am using it with a 60W Exposure amp also.

Actually, even the 9.0's are a little bass-oriented (no real deep bass, of course), I think it's a family sound with the diamonds because their laid-back, over-sized fabric dome tweeters don't quite impose their presence enough.

Maybe try tuning the ports with rolled-up foam?
 
Maybe try tuning the ports with rolled-up foam?

Yes, this is exactly what I did. Still a bit bass-emphasis but not boomy like before.

The thing I love about the Diamonds is how good strings instruments sound. I used to own the Celestion 3, Tannoy 609 and AE100 (all using metal dome tweeters) but none of them make string instruments sound this good.
 
Last edited:
Yes, this is exactly what I did. Still a bit bass-emphasis but not boomy like before.

The thing I love about the Diamonds is how good strings instruments sound. I used to own the Celestion 3, Tannoy 609 and AE100 (all using metal dome tweeters) but none of them make string instruments sound this good.

I agree entirely - I'll always go with silk-dome tweeters. I had some Mordaunt-Shorts with titanium ones back in the 90's - they revealed (or is that 'emphasised'?) treble detail on recordings I know well which I haven't heard with any of the speakers or 'phones I've owned since (e.g. a triangle in the crescendo of "Everymans' an Island" - Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart), but I wasn't able to live with them.
 
I agree entirely - I'll always go with silk-dome tweeters. I had some Mordaunt-Shorts with titanium ones back in the 90's - they revealed (or is that 'emphasised'?) treble detail on recordings I know well which I haven't heard with any of the speakers or 'phones I've owned since (e.g. a triangle in the crescendo of "Everymans' an Island" - Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart), but I wasn't able to live with them.

I had a pair of Monitor Audio's about 27 years ago with metal domes, in the end I found them a bit too shrill. They were ok with a Naim Nait 2 as I think it rolled off in the treble.
 
I had some Mordaunt-Shorts with titanium ones back in the 90's - they revealed (or is that 'emphasised'?) treble detail on recordings I know well which I haven't heard with any of the speakers or 'phones...

I had a pair of Monitor Audio's about 27 years ago with metal domes, in the end I found them a bit too shrill.

I auditioned the new Monitor Audio BR2 and RX2 at the Singapore MA showroom about 2 months ago. I must say both speakers suffer for "over-emphasis" in treble, which made Mary Black's No Frontier sounded like a cat-cry album and Miles Davis' trumpet sounded like air horn.

By the way, the showroom was using a Copland amp and Spark CD player.
 
Last edited:
I auditioned the new Monitor Audio BR2 and RX2 at the Singapore MA showroom about 2 months ago. I must say both speakers suffer for "over-emphasis" in treble, which made Mary Black's No Frontier sounded like a cat-cry album and Miles Davis' trumpet sounded like air horn.

By the way, the showroom was using a Copland amp and Spark CD player.


Mary Black! She'd completely slipped my mind - I used to have an LP copy of No Frontiers (when I had the MS's in in the 90's) which I listened to a lot. Very soothing/haunting voice. Somehow there's no mistaking she's Irish - don't know what it about Irish singers that is so instantly recognisible.

As you say, it takes some doing to make her sound strident.

amazon.co.uk here I come .......
 
Mary Black! She'd completely slipped my mind - I used to have an LP copy of No Frontiers (when I had the MS's in in the 90's) which I listened to a lot. Very soothing/haunting voice. Somehow there's no mistaking she's Irish - don't know what it about Irish singers that is so instantly recognisible.

As you say, it takes some doing to make her sound strident.

amazon.co.uk here I come .......

I have that CD too :D
 
To get back on topic;

the attraction of these little switching amplifiers is that they produce a preasurable, believable 'soundscape' at low volumes/pressure-levels, IMO.

My hifi has been computer-based for the last 10 years or so (although including vinyl playback).

The last system I was using full-time was ;
M-audio Delta 410 soundcard's coax spdif out to an Audio Alchemy Dac-in-the-Box, on to a Rotel RA820BX4 integrated (30+30W) to JPW Gold mini-monitors (silk-dome tweeters) + the passive JPW sub I've already mentioned.

I bought this kit used after quite a bit of research - I wanted a system that would be realistic without having to be turned up 'til it antagonised my neighbours, hence the Rotel, which is in pretty-much class-A up to a few watts, but can still produce 'realistic' levels when called upon to do so.

It worked, very well.

(I was using a Cambridge 40+40 W amp with the Mordaunt-Shorts I mentioned earlier, but it had to be CRANKED UP to sound realistic, unlike the Rotel).

Now, some years later, I'm using Tripaths and Wharfedales, and they serve the same pupose - producing small-scale but still transparent, satisfying music.

I actually referred to the Indeed as a "bonsai" ampifier in my feedback to the seller.

I realise that others have a different goal; using Tripath 2020/2021/2024's with 90+ dB speakers to produce realistic (read; LOUD) pressure levels in-room.

We need to differentiate the goals of these two groups.
 
I think I had a "senior moment" yesterday, the amp I was using with the MS's was an Arcam Alpha (not the Cambridge Audio) - and like I said, it didn't really come to life until it was turned up.

I was at the Cambridge Audio showroom a few months ago, sourcing for a CD player for a friend. While auditioning and comparing varies CD players (CA, NAD, Denon, Marantz, etc), the salesperson hooked them up to a 75 watt Cambridge Audio Azur 651A amp driving a pair of Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary Edition speakers (86dB, 6Ω).

I remember we had to crank the volume knob to 11 o'clock at least. If not, Dire Straits' Money for Nothing sounded as if they were performing inside a shower cubicle.
 
Last edited:
I was at the Cambridge Audio showroom a few months ago, sourcing for a CD player for a friend. While auditioning and comparing varies CD players (CA, NAD, Denon, Marantz, etc), the salesperson hooked them up to a 75 watt Cambridge Audio Azur 651A amp driving a pair of Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary Edition speakers (86dB, 6Ω).

I remember we had to crank the volume knob to 11 o'clock at least. If not, Dire Straits' Money for Nothing sounded as if they were performing inside a shower cubicle.

This is the thing - power isn't everything!

Many, many people don't live in homes where they can indulge 90+ dB pressure-levels in-room, so their goal is a system that will still let them hear everything at much lower levels.

The Arcam Alpha (I think it was an '8' - whatever, I bought it new in 1993, after auditioning it with several others) was, I recall actually 50+50 into 8 ohms, nice, smooth sounding - but then I found out it wouldn't do small-scale.

The RA820BX4 was much better in that respect, and so far I'm finding the TA2020-based amps better still.

Obviously, if money is no object, SET's beckon, but again, money IS an issue for many.

Another bonus with switching amps, you can just leave them powered-up, 24/365 - solid-state reliability and less than 2W idling, at the wall.

[Edit again - finding my own prose unintelligable]
 
Last edited:
This is the thing - power isn't everything!

Totally agree! Many people still have this misconception that higher wattage means more music power.

...so far I'm finding the TA2020-based amps better still.

This was exactly how I felt when I experienced T-amp the first time.

There are high-definition TVs, cameras, printers, headphones, music players, etc, and Tripath amps are definitely the equivalent in audio amplification. Fortunately, T-amps are available to us at very affordable prices - but not for very long I think.

Another bonus with switching amps, you can just leave them powered-up, 24/365 - solid-state reliability and less than 2W idling, at the wall.

Yeah, the last thing we need is a "pancake griddle" amp that sucks power.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, the last thing we need is a "pancake griddle" amp that sucks power.

Funnily enough, I remember that I chose the Arcam over a Musical Fidelity A1 which doubled as a griddle-pan!

Well, I exaggerate - it actually stayed in class-A to not much more than the Rotel does (about 8+8W v 5+5W IIRC), but it had a solid, unvented case which it used as a heatsink, which hence got, shall we say, quite warm.

Having said that, had known then what I know I know now, I'd doubtlessy have found the Musical Fidelity far better than the Arcam at 'sensible' listening levels.
 
Only response possible: Cloth ears, Broken Components. or possibly even both.

Well, I haven't tried the Rotel since I moved 8 months ago (hence not with the Wharfedales). I might get round to it and will confirm whether I have cloth ears (certainly, there are no "broken components").

ETA >> I currently live in mid-Victorian conversion, but better done tham most - the owner put false ceilings in all the flats, drropping them from c. 10.5' to c 8.5', the void (over 2' of it) packed with rock-wool, so there is practically no transmission of 'ambient' noise between flats. However, if we all have our windows open then cranking up a hifi to 'realistic' levels is still a no-no.

Thus far, the 2020's have impressed me with the detail they reveal at (relatively) low-levels.
 
Last edited:
Having said that, had known then what I know I know now, I'd doubtlessy have found the Musical Fidelity far better than the Arcam at 'sensible' listening levels.

Also funnily enough, my audiophile khaki who owns a limited edition Musical Fidelity A1.2 amp (only 500 sets made) also complain about the same thing. Not enough dynamics and details he said. He is using a pair of KEF Q300 speakers, Cyrus 6 CD player and The Chord Company cables throughout.
 
Last edited:
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.