I'm looking at the Sonos Play 1, a 6.4'' x 4.7'' x 4.7'' speaker, and it has a TPA3116 amp inside. I have a TPA3116 based amp from SMSL and numerous other little amps, and they all come with these PSU's almost as big as the amp itself. The PSU + amp is pretty much as big as the entire Sonos speaker.
I don't have a background in amplifier design, so is there a simplistic explanation of how is Sonos fitting the power supply directly in the amp board like it is nothing? It would be great if we had little amps without those huge power supply bricks.
I don't have a background in amplifier design, so is there a simplistic explanation of how is Sonos fitting the power supply directly in the amp board like it is nothing? It would be great if we had little amps without those huge power supply bricks.
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That angle makes it look smaller than it is. It's pretty normal size nowadays.
Another PSU. 2200uF capacitors for comparison.
Another PSU. 2200uF capacitors for comparison.
The SMSL amps (and most like them) ship with switch-mode PSUs.
What are the actual power specs on the Sonos anyway? Is it really 100W peak?
One way or another, it probably has the benefit of using a purpose built PSU, tailored to the specific needs of the application, vs the more general purpose bricks that come with most inexpensive Class D amps.
Rated 100~240V 1A input
And before anybody tries to calculate it as 80W, the Acer power supply above is rated 1.5A input and 30W output
I would imagine the power supply has been designed to drive that amp in that particular application whereas SMSL and the like all use general purpose psus designed for laptops and various other products.
Thanks.
I was thinking of the audio power output. I couldn't find any specs -- an interesting product positioning choice.
Sonos always seemed to be focused on convenience and user experience, rather than competing directly with traditional home A/V specsmanship. The fact that even at this relatively late date they aren't highlighting, or even publishing, power output shows their commitment to that approach.
I disagree. For a product aimed directly at the average Joe, publishing a meaningless spec like power output only serves to confuse the consumer of Sonos's product quality in comparison to other products. By no means is Sonos shy about its specs. The Play 1 shown here has a real anechoic bass extension to 40Hz, and I've personally verified it with an outdoor ground plane measurement. That's unbelievable and class leading performance for a speaker so small, but do you see Sonos bragging about that? No, because a frequency response spec is meaningless to the average Joe (and is generally a useless spec anyways)
How are you disagreeing with me?
I noted how not even publishing power output, even now that they've been in the market for a decade, shows commitment to their product positioning.
I noted how not even publishing power output, even now that they've been in the market for a decade, shows commitment to their product positioning.
It's a TPA3116, so 25W of useful output per channel with 24Vcc about there. A 2A or even 1A PSU can be sufficient if you're confident it won't get that loud.
There are different types of consumers. One group believes good spec numbers solve everything. Another group believes paying lots of money solves everything.
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