Hi folks, I've been using a Connex Electronics TA3020 v3c amp with the Connex a350w smps for some time now (this SMPS is more than sufficient for driving my 15" jbl 2225's to their limits and keeping an incredible grip on them the entire time regardless of the material).
I am extremely happy and in fact frightened by the quality of this amplifier now that it is broken in, however I have one question. I was re-reading the PDF, and it says this under the EMI reduction section:
"In [the] case of using an external power supply, either linear or smps, bypassing the rectifier bridge is strongly recommended to eliminate the voltage drop and [to add] more capacitance to the voltage rails."
Here's a link to the pdf for the connex TA3020:
http://www.connexelectronic.com/documents/TA3020_Audio_Amplifier_Module_v3c.pdf
I don't get it... I thought one HAD to use an "external" power supply, such as the one I got, or the a500 or a1000w connex versions, or if you preferred, a linear power supply. But how could someone NOT be using one of those? Can you hook the A/C current up directly to the TA3020 board? I think that's probably a stupid question but it's the only reason I could see the inclusion of this sentence. It appears that everyone should be bypassing the rectifier bridge who has any kind of PSU for this board... and I never did anything to bypass it. More capacitance would be nice although I don't feel like I suffer from a lack of it in any way.... but I'm more interested in the increase in voltage stability (increased efficiency/output capability?).
When I originally purchased and set up the amp no one brought this to my attention, is this something I should have done? I don't fully understand the concepts behind it, or whether it is even an issue. I want to make sure I'm getting the best performance out of my amp though, so I'd appreciate any input on the matter, and if I need to make a change I'd also appreciate any help or instructions on how to do it also. I'm confident enough with a soldering iron.... but not if it involves small SMD components.
One other question... for anyone else using this board or a similar setup. Has anyone started with a particular power supply and then upgraded the power supply (power output wise) and noticed a difference in sound? Assuming that the maximum power of even the 350w psu I'm using is not needed, am I still missing out on something the 500 or 1000w would offer?
In my experience this amplifier started out good but a tad strident, but over time this has disappeared completely. Its still got that crisper-than-reality class-T sound, but it's 100% more natural than when I first played it. Personally I like the class T sound (which to me sounds flat, in the literal sense of the amplification being frequency-independent, and thus extremely low in linear distortion) , and broken in it is VERY natural sounding (with the "thick" midrange everyone describes... each instrument range however small seems vast within itself... so much precision, definition, and character in every range simultaneously). It's hardly shrill or aliased sounding, or like artificial sharpening... nothing like that. It sounds like nothing but pure distortionless signal amplification... which of course it's not but it comes damn close to my ears. I have not found the limits of this amplifier I have only discovered the limits of my source equipment and musical source. The input is from my computer, using a Gadget Labs Wave 8/24 24-bit recording interface and sound card. All inputs and outputs are disabled except for 2 outputs, and it can run native in any sampling rate up to 96khz, which is nice since I don't have to re-sample in foobar with SSRC even though that was better quality re-sampling than the hardware re-sampler on my chaintech (VIA) AV-710, which I thought sounded great (with upgraded output capacitors) until I heard something through the gadget labs, which in comparison sounds perfect. The absolute worst part of my system is my EQ.... it's a decent EQ it's just old and has a high noise floor that I can tell wasn't there when it was new... not to that extent anyways. Phase smear doesn't seem to be an issue with or without the EQ, even with 3-way speakers with 15" woofers, rectangular midrange horns, and vintage JVC ribbon tweeters, and a mix of 1st and 2nd (or is it 2nd and 3rd?) order speaker x-overs, the phase should be all over the place, but it sure doesn't sound like it. Perhaps EQ correction is helping to properly re-align the phase. But overall it sounds better if I use a VST dsp-type EQ in foobar and bypass the physical EQ... I don't know what type of EQ the "karma-fx" 31 band vst eq is (what I use)... FFT, FIR, IIR, and what effect on the phase it may be having, but the noise floor virtually disappears without the outbound EQ... unfortunately my desktop is a loud noise-floor in itself. I prefer the outbound EQ when listening at volumes loud enough to not hear the noise floor, because the bass boosting capabilities of the graphic seem much better than the software EQ... more punch. The same "12db" boost applied at 31hz (just as an example, the same is true for the entire low bass range) is much louder with the graphic EQ than my software EQ. Phase related?
Anyways I'm rambling, I'm mostly just curious about bypassing the rectifier bridge and whether I can or should do this and why. Thanks!!!!!
-Lee
I am extremely happy and in fact frightened by the quality of this amplifier now that it is broken in, however I have one question. I was re-reading the PDF, and it says this under the EMI reduction section:
"In [the] case of using an external power supply, either linear or smps, bypassing the rectifier bridge is strongly recommended to eliminate the voltage drop and [to add] more capacitance to the voltage rails."
Here's a link to the pdf for the connex TA3020:
http://www.connexelectronic.com/documents/TA3020_Audio_Amplifier_Module_v3c.pdf
I don't get it... I thought one HAD to use an "external" power supply, such as the one I got, or the a500 or a1000w connex versions, or if you preferred, a linear power supply. But how could someone NOT be using one of those? Can you hook the A/C current up directly to the TA3020 board? I think that's probably a stupid question but it's the only reason I could see the inclusion of this sentence. It appears that everyone should be bypassing the rectifier bridge who has any kind of PSU for this board... and I never did anything to bypass it. More capacitance would be nice although I don't feel like I suffer from a lack of it in any way.... but I'm more interested in the increase in voltage stability (increased efficiency/output capability?).
When I originally purchased and set up the amp no one brought this to my attention, is this something I should have done? I don't fully understand the concepts behind it, or whether it is even an issue. I want to make sure I'm getting the best performance out of my amp though, so I'd appreciate any input on the matter, and if I need to make a change I'd also appreciate any help or instructions on how to do it also. I'm confident enough with a soldering iron.... but not if it involves small SMD components.
One other question... for anyone else using this board or a similar setup. Has anyone started with a particular power supply and then upgraded the power supply (power output wise) and noticed a difference in sound? Assuming that the maximum power of even the 350w psu I'm using is not needed, am I still missing out on something the 500 or 1000w would offer?
In my experience this amplifier started out good but a tad strident, but over time this has disappeared completely. Its still got that crisper-than-reality class-T sound, but it's 100% more natural than when I first played it. Personally I like the class T sound (which to me sounds flat, in the literal sense of the amplification being frequency-independent, and thus extremely low in linear distortion) , and broken in it is VERY natural sounding (with the "thick" midrange everyone describes... each instrument range however small seems vast within itself... so much precision, definition, and character in every range simultaneously). It's hardly shrill or aliased sounding, or like artificial sharpening... nothing like that. It sounds like nothing but pure distortionless signal amplification... which of course it's not but it comes damn close to my ears. I have not found the limits of this amplifier I have only discovered the limits of my source equipment and musical source. The input is from my computer, using a Gadget Labs Wave 8/24 24-bit recording interface and sound card. All inputs and outputs are disabled except for 2 outputs, and it can run native in any sampling rate up to 96khz, which is nice since I don't have to re-sample in foobar with SSRC even though that was better quality re-sampling than the hardware re-sampler on my chaintech (VIA) AV-710, which I thought sounded great (with upgraded output capacitors) until I heard something through the gadget labs, which in comparison sounds perfect. The absolute worst part of my system is my EQ.... it's a decent EQ it's just old and has a high noise floor that I can tell wasn't there when it was new... not to that extent anyways. Phase smear doesn't seem to be an issue with or without the EQ, even with 3-way speakers with 15" woofers, rectangular midrange horns, and vintage JVC ribbon tweeters, and a mix of 1st and 2nd (or is it 2nd and 3rd?) order speaker x-overs, the phase should be all over the place, but it sure doesn't sound like it. Perhaps EQ correction is helping to properly re-align the phase. But overall it sounds better if I use a VST dsp-type EQ in foobar and bypass the physical EQ... I don't know what type of EQ the "karma-fx" 31 band vst eq is (what I use)... FFT, FIR, IIR, and what effect on the phase it may be having, but the noise floor virtually disappears without the outbound EQ... unfortunately my desktop is a loud noise-floor in itself. I prefer the outbound EQ when listening at volumes loud enough to not hear the noise floor, because the bass boosting capabilities of the graphic seem much better than the software EQ... more punch. The same "12db" boost applied at 31hz (just as an example, the same is true for the entire low bass range) is much louder with the graphic EQ than my software EQ. Phase related?
Anyways I'm rambling, I'm mostly just curious about bypassing the rectifier bridge and whether I can or should do this and why. Thanks!!!!!
-Lee