I ordered one of these for $22 US today: BAD ta2020 MKIII I read on a previous thread that it is a bad copy of the HELDER HIFI ta2020 MKIII . But, I cannot find any HELDER ta2020's for sale and he hasn't responded to my email. Is it really a piece of junk?
Hi John,
I also got myself one of these recently, just for the sake of experimentation. I’ve currently got it hooked up to my laptop (via Behringer UCA202 USB DAC) and it’s driving a pair of Infinity bookshelf speakers. Thanks to the speakers, there is plenty of bass. Regarding the TA2020 amp, I think it’s not too bad. The only real issue I have with it is the constant hum (actually, it’s more of a crackling sound since I added the DAC), but I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s currently sitting out in the open.
The only mod I have done is to replace input caps. The caps on this amp are supposed (!!!) to be “original” WIMA but others claim that it’s highly unlikely. In any case, I replaced them with a pair of large 2.2uF WIMA caps. I did that very early on, so I’m not able to really comment on what difference it made.
I’d really like to put together a case/chassis for this amp (maybe out of wood) and attach a volume pot, binding posts, etc. Hopefully I will be able to get rid of that hum somehow.
Sorry I’m not able to help too much here.
Anyone else have one these amps?
Cheers,
Pete
I also got myself one of these recently, just for the sake of experimentation. I’ve currently got it hooked up to my laptop (via Behringer UCA202 USB DAC) and it’s driving a pair of Infinity bookshelf speakers. Thanks to the speakers, there is plenty of bass. Regarding the TA2020 amp, I think it’s not too bad. The only real issue I have with it is the constant hum (actually, it’s more of a crackling sound since I added the DAC), but I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s currently sitting out in the open.
The only mod I have done is to replace input caps. The caps on this amp are supposed (!!!) to be “original” WIMA but others claim that it’s highly unlikely. In any case, I replaced them with a pair of large 2.2uF WIMA caps. I did that very early on, so I’m not able to really comment on what difference it made.
I’d really like to put together a case/chassis for this amp (maybe out of wood) and attach a volume pot, binding posts, etc. Hopefully I will be able to get rid of that hum somehow.
Sorry I’m not able to help too much here.
Anyone else have one these amps?
Cheers,
Pete
It's okay, really!!!
Hi John and Pete,
I've been running one of these for about 6 months now. Early on I replaced the input caps with Audiophilers and the chokes with some from Arjen. I'm using a Samsung 12v 4amp power supply with a 10,000 uF cap on the way into the amplifier.
It actually sounds great!
The description of it on Ebay is bogus, lifted from Arjen's site, but a lot of that goes on!
Out of the packing it sounds okay, but spend a few quid on it and it's a good'un......Enjoy.
All the best.
Barrie
Hi John and Pete,
I've been running one of these for about 6 months now. Early on I replaced the input caps with Audiophilers and the chokes with some from Arjen. I'm using a Samsung 12v 4amp power supply with a 10,000 uF cap on the way into the amplifier.
It actually sounds great!
The description of it on Ebay is bogus, lifted from Arjen's site, but a lot of that goes on!
Out of the packing it sounds okay, but spend a few quid on it and it's a good'un......Enjoy.
All the best.
Barrie
Helder's still there
Helder site is still up and running, so is the item you are looking for New MKIII Tripath TA2020 PCB 25watt Class-T amplifier | eBay
Helder site is still up and running, so is the item you are looking for New MKIII Tripath TA2020 PCB 25watt Class-T amplifier | eBay
I would stay with the musical TA 2020 chip amps. It's the most musical, and best sounding chip of all the low power chips. Try the TA2024 then since you couldn't find the TA2020, and have already ordered them, but then grab a couple of the TA2020 amps, and then (post your listening results. A long time ago (years), I sold all my TA2024 chip amps, and replaced them with TA 2020 amps.
That's just my opinion, but I love the 2020 amps.
That's just my opinion, but I love the 2020 amps.
Yeah. The only ta2020 readily available is that Lepai TA2020. I just don't like the guts. Looks really cheap. Maybe I'll try one out.
I heard on this forum that there were people trying to make love to a Sonic T-Amp. Isn't that based on the TA2024? Then I heard that the Dayton DTA-2 is a replica of the Sonic-T internals.
So the Helder TA2024 is a jacked up Sonic-T right?
JV
I heard on this forum that there were people trying to make love to a Sonic T-Amp. Isn't that based on the TA2024? Then I heard that the Dayton DTA-2 is a replica of the Sonic-T internals.
So the Helder TA2024 is a jacked up Sonic-T right?
JV
Hi Pano,
It was actually you who lead me to the TA2020 amps. You said on one of these threads probably around four years ago, that the TA2020 chip was the most musical chip and had more bass than the TA 2024 chip. So shortly after hearing that I bought an TA 2020 amp, and you were exactly right about it. I ended up really liking the sound so much more than the TA2024 chip, and the rest is history.
Btw, Thanks again! You have also helped me with a couple of other things over the years.
By any chance have you checked out the hifimediy TK2050 T2 4700uf amp yet? It's the most musical amp I've found that's not an TA2020 amp, of course it has it's own sound. This amp sounds sweet. I posted on it and a couple other versions of the hifimediy 2050 amps in a battle off post, on the New TK2050 board thread.
Great to hear from you!
It was actually you who lead me to the TA2020 amps. You said on one of these threads probably around four years ago, that the TA2020 chip was the most musical chip and had more bass than the TA 2024 chip. So shortly after hearing that I bought an TA 2020 amp, and you were exactly right about it. I ended up really liking the sound so much more than the TA2024 chip, and the rest is history.
Btw, Thanks again! You have also helped me with a couple of other things over the years.
By any chance have you checked out the hifimediy TK2050 T2 4700uf amp yet? It's the most musical amp I've found that's not an TA2020 amp, of course it has it's own sound. This amp sounds sweet. I posted on it and a couple other versions of the hifimediy 2050 amps in a battle off post, on the New TK2050 board thread.
Great to hear from you!
My opinion is the other way, I think 2024 is more natural and musical than 2020. Advantage of 2020 is the bass, it is fast and slamming but all other department it loss out to 2024, the vocal is very artificial unreal. Maybe I would say 2024 is more suitable for jazz and vocal, 2024 is more suitable for rock.
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