One place to start is Connexelectronic. Cristi has some very good open frame SMPS. You won't find better quality or craftsmanship in his products. I've been using a variety of his SMPSs for years and they operate as expected. Haven't had one failure in 5 yrs. They come in all flavors, and most with custom voltages for a few bucks more.
No, they're not cheap compared to a $10 laptop brick, but then I'm not all about how cheaply I can build an amp. I'm rather more concerned about the quality of the sound, and a good SMPS, or old school, over-spec'd linear supply, with big-a$$ iron will reward your ears. 🙂 No, I don't work for Cristi, but in our 'throw-away', disposable world, it's still nice to know there are people who care about the products and/or services they provide. Some of us appreciate that they still do!
I didn't get into this hobby to build audio products cheaper, but better. 😀
I bought this same amp. It arrived last week, but I haven't had a chance to hook it up yet. My most recent amp was a Pavel Dudek implementation of the LM4780 (essentially dual LM3886), and so far, it the most glorious sounding amp I've ever built. It is definitely becoming a reference. Acoustic instruments sound stunning! BTW, I'm using a linear PSU with it. Very happy indeed. 🙂
Just look at the data sheet. It details the rail voltages you should be targeting depending on the impedance of the loudspeakers you intend to drive.
Good question, and a range of very subjective answers will generally be put forward.
It's 3 am, so forgive the brief, and not in-depth answer. I have, somewhere in notes, calculations which I will dig out and try and explain.
If willing to do the math it basically boils down to knowing your signal input voltage, the gain setting and plimit voltages of the amp, and your DC input voltage.
From vague, very tired memory, something like 330uf resulted from 1.4v signal input with 23V DC power input. But its been a long day!!
You could always rely on a Ti applications sheet which says capacitance= peak current x (rise time ÷ maximum ripple voltage).
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I claim Nonsense! There are * many* postings re 'Cristis' Products I won't touch them with Your Stick... let alone Mine.
Again Buy Hypex OR Meanwell IF that configuration applies . Beyond that a Linear suppliy is a Proven answer
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To fully utilize the LM3886's capability you'd also need to optimize your load impedance. I have looked at this in some detail, I seem to recall a load around 6ohms was best and you then can go up to +/-40V at least. The LM3886 DS has some useful curves showing how output power varies with supply voltage and load impedance. The thermal limitations are the ones that bite the hardest I think, so very good heatsinking can't be overlooked.
Awww C'mon.. I have this: GT-101 Stereo Power Amplifier
Bought on a Lark it proved an Epiphany.
It IS Very Good ! Driving MY alnico Tannoy Gold GRF's it is simply breathtaking..
Replacing several thousand $$ of Briitish Audio's claimed best.. easily.
PS is very well regulated 72v 😉
The Modulus 86 Futher improves on LM3886 design.
If that Impresses your World View ?
No Chi - Fi there 😉
So Much missinfo.. Why?
Bought on a Lark it proved an Epiphany.
It IS Very Good ! Driving MY alnico Tannoy Gold GRF's it is simply breathtaking..
Replacing several thousand $$ of Briitish Audio's claimed best.. easily.
PS is very well regulated 72v 😉
The Modulus 86 Futher improves on LM3886 design.
If that Impresses your World View ?
No Chi - Fi there 😉
So Much missinfo.. Why?
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Without listening I would agree, just from looking at the design schematics. The designer's done a very good job, but I've not seen anything similar here on DIYA. Perhaps I should get out more 🙂
One point of note is that its using a single ended, discrete regulated supply - hence needs an output blocking cap. Here on DIYA, caps tend to be frowned upon in series with speakers.
kids. kah kah kah.
do you really think the people in here is college kids that can't afford the expensive real amp and must sort to DIY fake stuffs from ebay and ali china?
chi fi in your language.
We aren't all poor college kids, but the allure of a real bargain (or buried treasure) is always there. There is a lot of enjoyment for the $10 to $40 that I spend on Aliexpress amps. For the most part, they sound quite nice. The TPA3116D2 is of course, one of the best for the money. Spending more doesn't always mean better. My recent $40 LM3886 with BB OPA2604 sounds excellent. I may just bite the bullet and get a mod86 (I mean build a mod86 as they are not available pre-built).
i've built a lot of amps. been meddling with DIY amps for more than 10 years.
from this
to this
to this
to this
some projects that i can't even find pictures.
8 channel, 16 channel active, 32 channel active.
amps that output 1200w watt to power my subs.
i've built tube amps, tube preamps, class a, class ab, mosfet amp, class h, single ended solid states, and the chip amps.
if you really think building a chipamp from bought pcb and assembling it and calling impressive and great, well i find it hard for respect.
chipamps is great. lm3886 is not in any way bad. lm4780 is also good as it is. but one design won't suit everybody. it might suit you, might not suit others.
i've built the non-inverting lm3886, inverting lm3886, multiloop lm3886, bridged lm3886, paralleled lm3886, and i have a lot of the chips. some bought locally, some confirm original from rs component, farnell, element14, etc and some cheaps from ebay and aliexpress.
not the pcb mind you. i build my own pcb. so yes i could do side by side comparison between chips from different sources.
the tpa3116 is good for what it is. the best and easiest class d that i've tried.
so much so that i'm contemplating on replacing my entire lm3886 amp powering my home theather to tpa3116.
from this
to this
to this
to this
some projects that i can't even find pictures.
8 channel, 16 channel active, 32 channel active.
amps that output 1200w watt to power my subs.
i've built tube amps, tube preamps, class a, class ab, mosfet amp, class h, single ended solid states, and the chip amps.
if you really think building a chipamp from bought pcb and assembling it and calling impressive and great, well i find it hard for respect.
chipamps is great. lm3886 is not in any way bad. lm4780 is also good as it is. but one design won't suit everybody. it might suit you, might not suit others.
i've built the non-inverting lm3886, inverting lm3886, multiloop lm3886, bridged lm3886, paralleled lm3886, and i have a lot of the chips. some bought locally, some confirm original from rs component, farnell, element14, etc and some cheaps from ebay and aliexpress.
not the pcb mind you. i build my own pcb. so yes i could do side by side comparison between chips from different sources.
the tpa3116 is good for what it is. the best and easiest class d that i've tried.
so much so that i'm contemplating on replacing my entire lm3886 amp powering my home theather to tpa3116.
The GT-101 does indeed look very good. Nice to have a kit that has everything you need.
But then, I wonder what $300 can get you on Aliexpress? A clone of a Burmester 933 shipping included for $271. 120 watts class AB with what looks like, a nicer case and some glitzy discrete Sanken transistors. This is fully built no elbow grease or soldering iron required.
Just the machined aluminum case, toroid trafo, power rail caps, switch, IEC receptacle, and banana jacks will set you back at least $250 if bought separately!
Audio Amplifiers Counterfeit Berlin 933 amp amplifier circuit made into the original machine voice loud and delicate power 500w-in Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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I hope you open a new thread to discuss mods to it once you have one to play with.
<edit>Those Taobao/Aliexpress cases are indeed lovely to behold. I just need to have some amp designs that fit into them. The cases are available separately. Be wary of the Sanken transistors as the temptation to fit lower grade fakes must be fairly high, not that I have direct experience of fakes myself.
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There is already a mod86 mod thread 🙂
We have been going OT for some time now onto class AB chip amps, hope no one minds but we need a little diversion after a bizzillion posts on class D TPA3116 😀
@paskal9:
I have a lot of respect for what you do - that is a lot of amps. Certainly, there are all levels of diy. One can go so far as trying to make one's own transistor from scratch, or in the speaker forum, some folks make their own custom drivers from scratch. That is not to say that what one person finds as diy, as little as assembling a pre-soldered PCB onto a box (or in my case, no box, just sitting on a piece of foam core), is not as good as someone who build their own custom pcb, it is still diy.
In my case, my most ambitious amp was to make my own deadbug amp when cheap Chinese boards were not yet available:
All I did was follow the TI schematic and used off the shelf TPA3118. This for me, was very diy...
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no matter what configuration the chip is in, it's still an lm3886.
stereo pcb would cost you $130 for 2 boards. which is ridiculous. other nested config like myref, miniref are free and you could build the pcb yourself.
i'd say the sound signature would be 98% similar to other good nested lm3886 design. and 90% similar to an lm3886 in simpler config.
if you wanna explore other sound signature, try other chip or other class. save the $130 for parts.
the discussion is all good and fun until someone shows up and decides to call the people in here as 'kids'.
people should have more respect for the guys in diyaudio.
some are indeed clueless, but the old timers are really knowledgeable and i have great respect for their contribution.
calling cheap china modules as knockoff, fake and chi fi set me off.
if you don't wanna buy it, then don't buy it. let others that want to buy and try and mod it discus about it.
if you (i don't mean you xrk) don't have anything good to say, then don't say it. simple, no? 😡
Totally agree. If it weren't for the economically priced Chinese pcb's, literally thousands of us on this forum would not have known what a TPA3116D2 would be capable of.
Exactly. 2yrs ago I was lucky enough to visit, business trip. Out of curiosity a fellow delegate bought a "fake" iPhone, stripped it out and what do you know......all parts were exactly same as apples extortion. Just lacking a piece of fruit!