With so many fake TPA3118 boards (eBay etc), is it still possible to even buy a working 60w board in 2024?

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777funk

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Joined 2007
#1
In 2020 it was no problem to buy these TPA3118 boards for like $4 each. They sounded decent and put out about 50w mono at 24VDC / 3A supply.

Now, every one I order has 28 pins instead of 32 and is a fake. The power is less, and half the time the fake (faulty) board will put out DC on the speaker output (fried one 6x9 in this way).

Before these counterfeits hit the market, this was a nice little amp board for almost no money. Are they still available anywhere or are those days gone?

Is there a better option at 12 or 24 volts supply?
 
#3
777funk said:
In 2020 it was no problem to buy these TPA3118 boards for like $4 each. They sounded decent and put out about 50w mono at 24VDC / 3A supply.

Now, every one I order has 28 pins instead of 32 and is a fake. The power is less, and half the time the fake (faulty) board will put out DC on the speaker output (fried one 6x9 in this way).

Before these counterfeits hit the market, this was a nice little amp board for almost no money. Are they still available anywhere or are those days gone?

Is there a better option at 12 or 24 volts supply?
Click to expand...
FWIW most of those "work"

I don't use them because I prefer Class AB for my guitar amps, but tons of colleagues, friends and customers around me buy and use them every day with no complaints, meaning they are at least "usable".

I do not hear complaints about them being DOA, exploding, burning speakers, etc.

Are those chipamps original or clones?
Dunno. If they work ...

Do they put out abysmally low power? (say clipping at 5 or 10 W RMS)
Do they explode if pushed to clipping? (Which happens all the time in guitar amps)

Nobody I know complains, they just put them in a not too well ventilated small pedal size box, connect a surplus notebook supply or a new 24V one and chug along.

Do they put out 50W instead of rated 60?
Not sure, never measured one, and that difference isn't easily perceived by ear.

In a nutshell, I suggest you buy a couple and try them.
 
#4
The best sounding chip once converted into ABD mode is the modest $1 costing TPA3110 in mono 25W 8ohms.
Second is tda7498e converted into ABD mode.
Without any conversion, TDA8932 in mono is the best sounding.
 
#9
The problem with the fakes on ebay is a counterfeit chip (less pins and different physical outline measurements).

These fakes at times will put full DC power supply voltage on the speaker output (burns up the voice coil).

It used to be that all the boards had correct size chip and sounded good. Not so anymore. The new ebay boards look correct but when they arrive there are slight differences in component layout and the fake TPA3118 chip. Not all put DC on the speaker output but I'm always afraid now and measure for DC before powering up. My last batch ALL had DC at the output (10 boards).

Sound wise, I am ok with the sound of the true TPA3118 chips. They do not sound as good as it gets good, but to my ears 95% there and are inexpensive enough to make a nice general purpose amp. Especially good for small subs.
 
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#10
Out of curiosity just checked in Mercado Libre, our Argentine equivalent to EBay/Amazon.
Cheapest populated TPA3118 board is $4.50; average around $6
In principle, all work. ML has strict protection policies, buyer has full 30 days to send his product back, no questions asked, and get a full refund; so it is suicidal to deliver non working stuff.
Matching my friends and customers experience that they do "work".
ML does not check or care about "specs", those might very well put out 40W instead of 60W, drop 3dB at 20kHz, dunno, but they definitely push a speaker when fed signal and +24V and that's all that counts.
 
#11
Yatsushiro said:
If you can tolerate a nominally lower output, then the TDA8932 boards are a decent alternative; for me the sound has more body than the TPA3118 boards you referenced.

TDA8TDA8932932 Mono
Click to expand...
Based off your recommendation I ordered and they arrived promptly.
Like most I wasn't expecting anything great and upon seeing the size of the boards even less.

However, I am delighted at their performance and adaptability !!
If, 30 years ago, when I was working in audio retail had we had these they would have flown out the door by the bucket-full.
Thanks !!
 
#17
Thanks Sonce, that's good to know.

I just had a look at the supplier's eBay listing and the photo shows the exact board with a 32 pin IC. I wonder if they don't even realise (as I believe they're usually honest and reliable). I've informed them anyway and we'll see what happens. Hopefully they'll just refund me. I did pay a premium to a local supplier to get what I thought was the 'proper' IC.
 
#18
So, the supplier gave me a refund with no real argument. They suggested the Chinese supplier may have 'revised the IC' but when I stated that it is a TI part and should match the datasheet, a refund was given without further question. Unfortunately, I have the feeling they knew. This is the second 'reliable' supplier in Australia that has done this - I think they've given up and are just supplying whatever they can get, sadly. The other one supplied NE5532's that weren't kosher, and essentially admitted it.
 
#19
I've just noticed local supplier Altronics have a 'new' addition to their stock; a TPA3118 module which according to the pics on their website has a 28 pin IC. So even the normally reliable sellers appear to be giving up on filtering out products with relabelled IC's. With their profile in the industry, they must know about the problem.
 
#20
I didn’t know that TPA3118 chips were suffering the cloned/counterfeit issue. If they were going to make clones or fakes why didn’t they bother making the full 32 pins to at least pass the “looks real” test? Or are these simply a low power genuine variant? The cost of a fab line to fake a chip is enormous - would that even be cost effective as a business?
 
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