I cannot tell a lie.
Since connecting Charlize I have not put the SE OTL back. I did put the RH 807 back in but only for about 10 minutes and Charlize was back.
I am afraid to put the SE OTL back
, I might prefer Charlize!
I will try to conduct a fair test this weekend but time is a bit short for me currently as I am working on a number of projects around the house and wiring my shed for electricity finally.
The fact that I am still using Charlize does tell me something though and in all fairness it will be ~1.5W versus ~15W (I cannot believe I typed that as if 15W is powerful) into the Visaton B200 which IIRC is a nominal 5R load so its all in the Charlize corner.
Andrew
Since connecting Charlize I have not put the SE OTL back. I did put the RH 807 back in but only for about 10 minutes and Charlize was back.
I am afraid to put the SE OTL back
, I might prefer Charlize!I will try to conduct a fair test this weekend but time is a bit short for me currently as I am working on a number of projects around the house and wiring my shed for electricity finally.
The fact that I am still using Charlize does tell me something though and in all fairness it will be ~1.5W versus ~15W (I cannot believe I typed that as if 15W is powerful) into the Visaton B200 which IIRC is a nominal 5R load so its all in the Charlize corner.
Andrew
Charlize sound
Hi all,
I am new to this forum. But have been reading many interesting posts here for weeks.
I have been a die-hard triode tube amp user pairing with high sensitivity fullrange speakers like Coral Beta series and Diatone 6 inches. I have got my hands on the first t-amp 2 months ago and was quite amazed by the sound (and the price) of that little toy. What it did was making me curious about how much better the pricier and allegedly better tripath amp will sound, so i quickly grabbed a Charlize from DIYparadize.
I put them in a nice wooden box and made a nice looking acrylic box to put everything in, and now singing.
Everything is stock, always looking into the possibility to upgrade something here and there though.
I must say I like the sound, especially this cheap little board allow me to turn up the volume to rock sometimes, as my reference tube amp is a direct coupled 71a putting out 0.7w only but it does go loud on speaker with 97db sensitivity. On comparison, I still like the tube amp's sound. It has more details, better texture everywhere, more realistic harmonics. The Charlize on comparison, while keeping pace with a lot of details, does give me some listening fatique over long hours of listening. Things don't sound as relaxing as they come through from my tube amp.
I have been reading good thigns about this Charlize and I must still say they are a good amp, but I would like to know from those who did it, whether upgrading the input caps to something like Auricap will make things better? I would like it to sound more extended on the top and with better texture in the mid. Things sound a bit flat and compressed as it is now.
Also, there is a serious issue of that Switch on pop, very very scary, and I don't understand why this happens when the Tripath spec sheet says the chip has "turn on pop suppression" built in....??
Good day from Hong Kong.
Hi all,
I am new to this forum. But have been reading many interesting posts here for weeks.
I have been a die-hard triode tube amp user pairing with high sensitivity fullrange speakers like Coral Beta series and Diatone 6 inches. I have got my hands on the first t-amp 2 months ago and was quite amazed by the sound (and the price) of that little toy. What it did was making me curious about how much better the pricier and allegedly better tripath amp will sound, so i quickly grabbed a Charlize from DIYparadize.
I put them in a nice wooden box and made a nice looking acrylic box to put everything in, and now singing.
Everything is stock, always looking into the possibility to upgrade something here and there though.
I must say I like the sound, especially this cheap little board allow me to turn up the volume to rock sometimes, as my reference tube amp is a direct coupled 71a putting out 0.7w only but it does go loud on speaker with 97db sensitivity. On comparison, I still like the tube amp's sound. It has more details, better texture everywhere, more realistic harmonics. The Charlize on comparison, while keeping pace with a lot of details, does give me some listening fatique over long hours of listening. Things don't sound as relaxing as they come through from my tube amp.
I have been reading good thigns about this Charlize and I must still say they are a good amp, but I would like to know from those who did it, whether upgrading the input caps to something like Auricap will make things better? I would like it to sound more extended on the top and with better texture in the mid. Things sound a bit flat and compressed as it is now.
Also, there is a serious issue of that Switch on pop, very very scary, and I don't understand why this happens when the Tripath spec sheet says the chip has "turn on pop suppression" built in....??
Good day from Hong Kong.
Hi KT,
I would like to experiment with different caps as you have recommended. Since you favoured the Mundorf cap i was thinking of giving them a try. Is this the cap that you were referring too:
http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?cart_id=5149049.26669&pid=1743
You talked about watching the polarity of the caps. Do the Mundorfs have a polarity.. and if so how can i tell. If so i will locate the negative leg towards the input signal as you instructed.
Again thanks for all the great info.
Neil
I would like to experiment with different caps as you have recommended. Since you favoured the Mundorf cap i was thinking of giving them a try. Is this the cap that you were referring too:
http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?cart_id=5149049.26669&pid=1743
You talked about watching the polarity of the caps. Do the Mundorfs have a polarity.. and if so how can i tell. If so i will locate the negative leg towards the input signal as you instructed.
Again thanks for all the great info.
Neil
Hi Neil,
Looks like you're seriously considering improving the Charlize. Great!
I was specifically describing replacing the Cerefine with Blackgate N in my prior post. I actually don't have any experience using the Mundorf caps so I can't give you a recommendation based on my own experience. I've read many glowing reviews of these caps, however, so if you're inclined to try them out you should go ahead and do it.
There are a number of other caps you could try, too. I like the Audio Note copper-cased oil caps, Dynamicaps, and VTV Ultratones a lot. I've also tried the Russian teflons, Auricaps, Jensen copper and aluminum oilers, Westcaps, Vitamin Q's, Multicap RTX, and Jupiter beeswax caps. All have their virtues, but all are different. I haven't tried any of these in the Charlize, though.
These film caps are generally non-polar, but they do have a outer and inner foil end. Some manufacturers have clear recommendations as to which orientation sound better with their caps and some don't. I'm not sure what Mundorf says about this, but you might be able to find information on Mundorf's site or on the forums.
One caution about removing the Cerefines: be very efficient when you're removing them (don't apply heat to the solder pads for too long, in otherwords) or the pads will lift off the board. This may cause problems.
OK, let us know how it goes.
Best,
KT
Looks like you're seriously considering improving the Charlize. Great!
I was specifically describing replacing the Cerefine with Blackgate N in my prior post. I actually don't have any experience using the Mundorf caps so I can't give you a recommendation based on my own experience. I've read many glowing reviews of these caps, however, so if you're inclined to try them out you should go ahead and do it.
There are a number of other caps you could try, too. I like the Audio Note copper-cased oil caps, Dynamicaps, and VTV Ultratones a lot. I've also tried the Russian teflons, Auricaps, Jensen copper and aluminum oilers, Westcaps, Vitamin Q's, Multicap RTX, and Jupiter beeswax caps. All have their virtues, but all are different. I haven't tried any of these in the Charlize, though.
These film caps are generally non-polar, but they do have a outer and inner foil end. Some manufacturers have clear recommendations as to which orientation sound better with their caps and some don't. I'm not sure what Mundorf says about this, but you might be able to find information on Mundorf's site or on the forums.
One caution about removing the Cerefines: be very efficient when you're removing them (don't apply heat to the solder pads for too long, in otherwords) or the pads will lift off the board. This may cause problems.
OK, let us know how it goes.
Best,
KT
Finally finished my proto-wiring with alligator clips for the charlize to let it burn in. I hooked them up to my parents 2-way HT JBL bookshelf speakers (not sure of the specs but they are model TLX105). I'm using the bg micro smps http://www.bgmicro.com/search.asp?textsearch=PWR1206 (not exactly that one, but the one that used to be there).
The Problem is when at High Volume sourced from an mp3 player for example, (tried different ones) the sound goes mute for a second or moment, and than comes back on. Seems to do this in loud passages. I tried checking the voltage on the smps and it stays stable at 12.13 Volts at all volume levels.
Searching gave me a result about a guy who swapped speakers and now it works for him because of inductance problems. The speakers I'm using now is just for testing but I don't have any other speakers to swap them with at the moment.
What would cause this problem?
The Problem is when at High Volume sourced from an mp3 player for example, (tried different ones) the sound goes mute for a second or moment, and than comes back on. Seems to do this in loud passages. I tried checking the voltage on the smps and it stays stable at 12.13 Volts at all volume levels.
Searching gave me a result about a guy who swapped speakers and now it works for him because of inductance problems. The speakers I'm using now is just for testing but I don't have any other speakers to swap them with at the moment.
What would cause this problem?
Shut down problems
This could be caused by several things but 2 seem most likely, the power supply cuts off from over current or the chip itself is shutting down due to a clipped signal being input to it. This is due to the fact that music is nonsymmetrical about the zero voltage point. This means when you clip it you are adding a DC offset to it that it didn’t have before. This DC is detected by the chip and if it is enough it will cut off till you remove the source.
Roger
This could be caused by several things but 2 seem most likely, the power supply cuts off from over current or the chip itself is shutting down due to a clipped signal being input to it. This is due to the fact that music is nonsymmetrical about the zero voltage point. This means when you clip it you are adding a DC offset to it that it didn’t have before. This DC is detected by the chip and if it is enough it will cut off till you remove the source.
Roger
Because voltage is stable from my multimeter on the smps lines even during the sound dropping, I wouldn't think the power supply would be at fault. Especially when it is the same psu that powers my sister's SI t-amp without any fuss.
Two different (mp3 players) sources achieved the same problem. Normally these are powering headphones which from my understanding would easily provide signal without clipping to the charlize and thus I would conclude that the error must be elsewhere.
Is this correct?
Regarding D0Hbert's post, does anyone using fullrange drivers experience these problems at higher volume? I would think clipping at high volume would not create gaps of sound, but just distorted sound.
Two different (mp3 players) sources achieved the same problem. Normally these are powering headphones which from my understanding would easily provide signal without clipping to the charlize and thus I would conclude that the error must be elsewhere.
Is this correct?
Regarding D0Hbert's post, does anyone using fullrange drivers experience these problems at higher volume? I would think clipping at high volume would not create gaps of sound, but just distorted sound.
I don't experience the cutting off (split second) with my fostex full range. I experienced it with my DIYed 3-way speaker system. The x-over, on my end, is causing a difficult load to the amp that causes temporary split second muting which immediately returns after the complex passage in the music. When I changed speakers, to a commercial 2 way or the fullrange, I don't experience it anymore, regardless of volume used.
Charlize and fullrange
I use Charlize with Diatone and Coral Beta fullrange without problem. But I do feel the 24w into 8ohm is much overrated. I don't think the Charlize can sing as loud as my 0.7w 71a before clipping or going into distorion.
I don't know why this is the case...even in Tripath's website the TA2020 chip can put out around 24w (or 20w? I forgot) in 8ohm. I only find the Charlize a tad more powerful than my ST t-amp.
I use a Alps 50K ohm pot in my Charlize.
I use Charlize with Diatone and Coral Beta fullrange without problem. But I do feel the 24w into 8ohm is much overrated. I don't think the Charlize can sing as loud as my 0.7w 71a before clipping or going into distorion.
I don't know why this is the case...even in Tripath's website the TA2020 chip can put out around 24w (or 20w? I forgot) in 8ohm. I only find the Charlize a tad more powerful than my ST t-amp.
I use a Alps 50K ohm pot in my Charlize.
Hara, it's not crossovers in general, but a difficult load caused maybe by a poorly designed x-over. The way I see it, let's say the midrange in a 3-way design, is producing certain frequencies which causes a 4 or 3 ohm load on the t-amp, and the x-over wasn't designed to somehow alleviate or compensate this dangerously low figure, then the t-amp will go into self-protect mode and go to mute, until the difficult load isn't there anymore. That's my experience. I suspect its the x-over in the midrange that's causing this anomaly in my poorly DIYed 3-way speaker.
what is wrong with TA2020?
check this out, TA2020 is not recommended by Tripath and should be replaced by TA2024 (the same chip used in SI T-amp)
http://www.tripath.com/image/EB-TAA...mages?q=tripath+eb&svnum=10&hl=zh-TW&lr=&sa=N
why is that the case? something wrong with the TA2020 chip which is used in Charlize? what about TA2021b? why is it replaceable by TA2024? they have different power output...
Can anyone throw some light here?
check this out, TA2020 is not recommended by Tripath and should be replaced by TA2024 (the same chip used in SI T-amp)
http://www.tripath.com/image/EB-TAA...mages?q=tripath+eb&svnum=10&hl=zh-TW&lr=&sa=N
why is that the case? something wrong with the TA2020 chip which is used in Charlize? what about TA2021b? why is it replaceable by TA2024? they have different power output...
Can anyone throw some light here?