Is this a real TDA1541A?

[paul_peraic]

The guy trying to sell them to me sent them

[JonHarrison]

I hope he doesn't want much for them ! Where does he claim they come from ? I have some HSH98 Taiwan which are genuine and sound pretty good (not S1/S2).

[JonHarrison]

I could show you a photo of an HSH1003 S3 triple crown if you give me a few minutes with photoshop.

[paul_peraic]

Yeah I know where you are coming from but he came across a quite legit it was a while ago so I do not remember where I found them from memory it was a reasonably large parts stockist but as with most internet sales and transactions there is a large risk factor .

I do not understand why he would show me such a weird manufacturing date why not just go with the mainstream photos that is why I showed any interest as it could be some strange mythical chip as most TDA1541A's are

[JonHarrison]

HSH0612 is certainly a variation on the HSH0123 fakes.

Speculation on the HSH98 is that the wafers were made in a fab in Taiwan (using a more advanced process than the earlier european chips) and they were then packaged back in Holland. Philips had certainly ceased production in europe by that point.

I have personal experience of a mainstream and genuine parts stockist who I have dealt with before who had obtained a supply of S1s. They had been able to source a couple of hundred of them from another large supplier in europe. The photos I got them to send me all looked genuine and I got them to send me one as a sample on sale or return. It was a fake, although a very authentic looking one I have to say. It later transpired that the source in europe were already aware that the chips were fakes which originated in the far east and yet tried to pass them on regardless. Fortunately it didn't cost me anything (apart from a couple of resistors in the power supply of my CD player which I needed to replace afterwards).

There are legitimate companies out there who unwittingly sell fakes ICs and then there are the opposite.

A fake chip that smokes your powersupply is easy to spot, much more difficult to tell apart would be a genuine A that has been relabelled as S1 or S2. I've tried to authenticate an S1 in the past by measuring the THD but I failed to create a test setup that was good enough to reach the datasheet levels and ultimately couldn't say with confidence whether or not it was actually a genuine S1 or not. It sounded different to an HSH98 A but I wouldn't say it sounded better or worse.

My personal view is that by the time they moved manufacture to Taiwan the process variation and wafer yield had reached a point where there was no need to select on test any longer but then I've never had the chance to compare an 88AS2 with a 98A to verify that hypothesis. I certainly wouldn't pay £200 or even $200 for an S2 like some people seem to be prepared to do even if it proved to be genuine.

[paul_peraic]

I would love to have an S2 but I agree that the prices people sell them for is ridiculous .

The N2 TDA1514A's are as close as I will get .

[JonHarrison]

N2 ?

[paul_peraic]

I thought the HSH9804 2 (batch No 11266) were also known as N2 ?

[poynton]

Originally Posted by paul_peraic

So can no one tell me what these are ?

The seller said they were S2 ?

DEFINITELY FAKES

For the simple reason that the S2 is printed (probably at the same time as the rest of the label) rather than being stamped on at a later date.

The S1 or S2 were selected items. Every one I've seen (genuine that is) has been 'hand-stamped'



Andy


.

[Malefoda]

I never noticed any of these with the S1, S2 and crowns printed at once with the main printing for the QC is a later step in process.
Of course the "06" for 2006 is more than strange...

edit: Andy is faster