$30 tpa3116; bluetooth; speaker protection; eq Any good?

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They are nominal 8ohm GRS Research XL-S. Small 2 way with 6.5in woofer and 1in soft dome. Let me compare with another speaker - a full range in a Karlsonator that I know has decent bass when used with a Sanwu 3118 PBTL.

Hollow sounding could mean lack of mid bass - not sure why a TPA3116 would lack mid bass.

Have you double checked your speaker polarity? It may be that the board speaker outs are improperly labeled polarity. This has happened more than once on Chinese amp boards. Switched polarity on one speaker will give very thin hollow bass.
 
That's what I thought I did at first. The board has the same labels as yours though. I'll try a different set of speakers too.

They are nominal 8ohm GRS Research XL-S. Small 2 way with 6.5in woofer and 1in soft dome. Let me compare with another speaker - a full range in a Karlsonator that I know has decent bass when used with a Sanwu 3118 PBTL.

Hollow sounding could mean lack of mid bass - not sure why a TPA3116 would lack mid bass.

Have you double checked your speaker polarity? It may be that the board speaker outs are improperly labeled polarity. This has happened more than once on Chinese amp boards. Switched polarity on one speaker will give very thin hollow bass.
 
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Test Sanwu 3116 BT with TL speakers

I just switched to a set of TL speakers (a FF105Wk in a labyrinth TL on left and a CHN-70 in a Karlsonator ML-TQWT TL on right) capable of nice full bass. I listened to some tracks with some good bass lines that I am very familiar with (Norah Jones - You've Ruined Me; Bob Marley - Waiting in Vain; Natalie Merchant - Carnival; Buddy Guy - Ain't No Sunshine). I listened to both the Sanwu 3118 PBTL (Xmas amp in red box above the Karlsonator) and the new Sanwu 3116 BT. I can't really detect a difference - both have great sound quality and full, rich, bass. I am surprised at the clarity and sound quality of the wireless BT. It is very nice not to be tied down with wires and still have great SQ. Based on the Sanwu boards that I have tested so far, I have to say that I am rather impressed with how good they sound, and the quality of construction/craftsmanship. Sanwu is the one to beat for SQ and overall value. Nothing else in the market currently can touch the 3116 BT for value and good sound at this point. I am going to buy several more to have on hand as these make great gifts when combined with a DIY speaker. Everyone likes a BT speaker, and they will like it even more when it's a custom designed speaker that sounds better than something available for $500 from a store.

533331d1456285382-30-tpa3116-bluetooth-speaker-protection-eq-any-good-sanwu-3116-bt-test-tl-speakers.png
 

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You mean the FW on the BT is re-programmable? Like the beeping sounds it makes vs some that talk to tell you you are connected? I have non idea how to do that. Is it hard to do?

The FW on this unit seems to work well enough - connects easily and all buttons work as they should. Truly a marvel of low cost but high quality engineering.
 
Yes it is, if its a CSR (8630/35/45), there even is a DSP core included to have some limited EQ and compressor/limiter.

You need to find the SPI pins and the PCM/SPI GPIO to switch to SPI mode. Programming can be done with a chinese CSR USB-SPI and the software from CSR.

Im really interested in high quality pictures of the AFE stage between the BT module and the amp-ic.
 
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Yes it is, if its a CSR (8630/35/45), there even is a DSP core included to have some limited EQ and compressor/limiter.

You need to find the SPI pins and the PCM/SPI GPIO to switch to SPI mode. Programming can be done with a chinese CSR USB-SPI and the software from CSR.

Im really interested in high quality pictures of the AFE stage between the BT module and the amp-ic.

Here you go...

(backside has nothing so low res) the 8 pin IC without designation is an NE5552 (some sort of smudge on the chip had to be wiped off to read).

533424d1456333619-30-tpa3116-bluetooth-speaker-protection-eq-any-good-sanwu-3116-bt-high-res.jpg


For CSR SPI programming, I guess you are talking about one of these units?

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/csr-blue...luetooth-module-chip-programmer-debugger.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Blue...I-programmer-burner-emulator/32224766827.html

HTB10Z6VGFXXXXaiXpXXq6xXFXXXv.jpg
 

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Nothing else in the market currently can touch the 3116 BT for value and good sound at this point.
I have the same board since december and it is a disappointment in several aspects:
1) poor connectivity
2) hiss
3) unresponsive buttons
4) loud beeps when pairing and pushing buttons
5) no sound until a button is pressed

maybe you were lucky to receive a "first run" board
 
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Also, the toroidal inductors should be RTV/glued down to stabilize them - otherwise can break off in transport. The output blocks don't bother me - as stringed together may be confusing to the user unless labeled very clearly. I wish it had wired inputs as an option. Most BT speakers have an Aux input option.

But for $12 I cannot complain given the value and noise free operation.
 
Like so:

attachment.php


This is how it works on the CSR8645, but the CSR8635 is similar in this point. To make this work, some configuration keys must be changed.

(Gain Setting, Line-In-Mode & Routing priority)

Fixing the hiss when not streaming audio can be fixed with disabling the low-power-mode for the audio stage.

So to make this finally work you'll need one of those CSR programmers.

Regards.
 

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