Improving bass in the Tripath TA2020

[whaleman]

Probably a common complaint with this chip and some speakers is the lack of bass with its low power output (13 watts/8 ohms).

I am going back into an amp we built and doubling the capacitance on the filtering caps (we installed 6,000 uf, I am going for 48,000 uF since I have the space). Just built one with about that much and it works great, no problems with bass but I have good speakers.

I am using a linear power supply. Since I will be in it, let me know what you've tried that works.

This is the Helder TA2020 MKIII, I am also thinking of replacing the red input caps with Daytons.

If I replace the input caps from 2.2 uF to 5.6 uF, will I notice a bit more bass emphasis?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Saturnus]

If you do then please tell us. I have never experienced anything (positive) happening by doing that, and I really don't get why people would think they are "thin" in the bass, the right noun would be "precise" because they're not as "flobby" as most run-of-the-mill amps.

 

[carlsbad64]

add the tube preamp. The Sylvania Jan 5963 adds a perfect amount of bass. I no longer have the desire to use any EQing with my current setup.

 

[whaleman]

add the tube preamp. The Sylvania Jan 5963 adds a perfect amount of bass. I no longer have the desire to use any EQing with my current setup.

I tried this setup with the TK2050 and got a few tubes to roll in, including two NOS JAN 6189, the TA2020 MKIII has more bass by itself. The tube does add some nice magic, but not in the lowest frequencies, at least to my ears.

 

[Kaizen22]

I'm not sure if this is strictly true, but if you were to measure the voltage across the capacitors while the amp was being run hard (with some bass heavy program material), if the lack of perceived bass was being caused by PSU deficiencies (inc. a lack of capacitance to ensure sufficient current delivery for the transients), would you notice a voltage drop?

If so, that might be a way of telling whether adding more caps would make a difference?