Hey all,
I'm looking for a simple amp to run a pair of bookshelf speakers (Jeff Bagby's Continuum II) for TV use.
Criteria:
Currently, I am running these speakers in my office with a Fosi TB20A which is based on the TPA3116. This amp meets most of my needs except that when we lose and regain mains power, it makes a terrible looping, thumping sound until I power the amp off and back on again. My wife will murder me if I try to use this amp in the living room.
I've used the Dayton (Sure?) KAB/KABD amp boards in a couple of bluetooth projects and they're pretty neat, especially the DSP ones. However, they tend to be somewhat noisy and as I mentioned, the standby delay is pretty extreme - my wife will start a show and think the amp is powered off.
Any advice or thoughts are appreciated, thanks!
I'm looking for a simple amp to run a pair of bookshelf speakers (Jeff Bagby's Continuum II) for TV use.
Criteria:
- We don't crank the volume very loud so it doesn't need to be high wattage, 30w will likely be more than enough
- Only need a single input, input is coming from the TV via RCA, so either RCA or 3.5mm would be fine
- Do not need or want Bluetooth or a remote
- Do not need tone controls
- Must be relatively compact
- Prefer an amp with low noise - can swap out the power supply if needed
- Must not make terrible noises when losing and regaining mains power (see below), or when plugging in
- Will be left on most of the time, so some sort of standby mode would be good
- Prefer a short wait time for waking up from standby, some amps I've been playing with have a 5-10 second lag (Dayton KAB/KABD amp boards)
- Subwoofer out (powered or not) is not required but might be nice to have
- Would consider an amp board and building my own enclosure
- Don't have a strong preference for amp style, ie: AB vs D, I imagine in my price range D will be my only option?
- Budget $250 or so
Currently, I am running these speakers in my office with a Fosi TB20A which is based on the TPA3116. This amp meets most of my needs except that when we lose and regain mains power, it makes a terrible looping, thumping sound until I power the amp off and back on again. My wife will murder me if I try to use this amp in the living room.
I've used the Dayton (Sure?) KAB/KABD amp boards in a couple of bluetooth projects and they're pretty neat, especially the DSP ones. However, they tend to be somewhat noisy and as I mentioned, the standby delay is pretty extreme - my wife will start a show and think the amp is powered off.
Any advice or thoughts are appreciated, thanks!
Peavey M-2600. 70 w/ch 8 ohm , 130 max both channels. No fan. Big heat sink on the back. I paid $130 for mine working +$45 freight, then replaced the rail & input electrolytic caps for about $30. Very polite. Small thump at turn on , no delay. I listen at 1/8 to 30 w on 98 db 1w1m speakers. No DC on speaker protection.
Peavey PV-4c. 120 w ch 8 ohms. Light fan noise, back of the couch or bookshelf masks it. I paid $20 +$25 freight, put $60 in capacitors & output transistors in it, cleaned the dirt off the heat sink. Was very happy, so was the burglar that stole it. Well behaved. No delay at turn on. I used on 13 w 6.5" coax drivers from a Mutsu. projection TV on the curb, installed in a 14" cardboard box for bass reflex boost. Crowbar speaker protection.
QSC CX300 sounds good but the fan is really loud. $130 + $75 freight working. No upgrades yet. Shorts input on DC detection of output. ???
Crown Macrotech 600 specs look good but don't know how loud fan it. helped some people fix them on here. Unavailable parts in the front end, which is not usually where amps blow up things.
Super cheap, two Peavey MMA-875t or MMA-8150 or crown MA180. Mono PA amps. Good distortion, no fan. 75 w. I've been paying $20 to $50 + freight for them, working. No thump, 10 second delay at turn on. The Peavey's have a silence input from a switch at end of wires to kill commercials with one snap, which doesn't yet work. Did work a little while. May revise that circuit a little. 8 ohm output doesn't go below 50 hz due to the transformer, but the 4 ohm output does. Inherent speaker protection using the transformer. May salvage the transformer from a couple to protect the output against DC of the M-2600. Can't be stacked, require natural ventilation from bottom to top. I added a 120 vac 80 mm fan to one MMA-875t outside the box blowing through holes, to install on its side inside an organ, but the burglar stole that one. The best ones have a dual RCA jack card in the back to mix stereo from toslink-RCA converter down to mono. That way I can kill commercials with the power switch. Mono sound is not as annoying on TV as the **** commercials. The screw terminal input cards are for telephones I think, they don't have enough gain for line level inputs. There is a mono line level RCA input that doesn't require an input card. Don't buy a MMA-800t, it is a mono mixer with no power amp section.
Peavey PV-4c. 120 w ch 8 ohms. Light fan noise, back of the couch or bookshelf masks it. I paid $20 +$25 freight, put $60 in capacitors & output transistors in it, cleaned the dirt off the heat sink. Was very happy, so was the burglar that stole it. Well behaved. No delay at turn on. I used on 13 w 6.5" coax drivers from a Mutsu. projection TV on the curb, installed in a 14" cardboard box for bass reflex boost. Crowbar speaker protection.
QSC CX300 sounds good but the fan is really loud. $130 + $75 freight working. No upgrades yet. Shorts input on DC detection of output. ???
Crown Macrotech 600 specs look good but don't know how loud fan it. helped some people fix them on here. Unavailable parts in the front end, which is not usually where amps blow up things.
Super cheap, two Peavey MMA-875t or MMA-8150 or crown MA180. Mono PA amps. Good distortion, no fan. 75 w. I've been paying $20 to $50 + freight for them, working. No thump, 10 second delay at turn on. The Peavey's have a silence input from a switch at end of wires to kill commercials with one snap, which doesn't yet work. Did work a little while. May revise that circuit a little. 8 ohm output doesn't go below 50 hz due to the transformer, but the 4 ohm output does. Inherent speaker protection using the transformer. May salvage the transformer from a couple to protect the output against DC of the M-2600. Can't be stacked, require natural ventilation from bottom to top. I added a 120 vac 80 mm fan to one MMA-875t outside the box blowing through holes, to install on its side inside an organ, but the burglar stole that one. The best ones have a dual RCA jack card in the back to mix stereo from toslink-RCA converter down to mono. That way I can kill commercials with the power switch. Mono sound is not as annoying on TV as the **** commercials. The screw terminal input cards are for telephones I think, they don't have enough gain for line level inputs. There is a mono line level RCA input that doesn't require an input card. Don't buy a MMA-800t, it is a mono mixer with no power amp section.
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