Hello everyone.
I recently decided to build some high end 3 way floor standers using the SB Acoustics Santori Textream series drivers (tweeter/midrange) and SB Acoustics 8" SB23MFCL45-4 (woofer x2). I will post that build in the multi way speaker part of the forum in the coming days. I have always designed my own passive X-overs for the speakers I have built in the past but this time I decided to go active after purchasing the Dayton Audio DSP-408 and giving it a listen and liking it. So this meant I would be needing separate amplifiers of course and rather then hobble together something from the hodgepodge of different amps I currently own, some good some not so good, I decided I would try my hand at building a class D amp using amp modules. Simple right?
So after doing a ton of research on what's available and what I could afford I decided I would go with IcePower. They have a good reputation for quality products and they aren't exorbitantly expensive like the Purify offerings. After going through their catalog I decided on the 1500S PSU and the 300A amp modules. After ordering them I was informed that the 47 volt version of the PSU needed to power the 300A modules was out of stock and It might be a while before they got any more and they suggested I use the 69 volt version and the 400A modules all of which they had in stock and could sell me for the same price. I went with their suggestion and that is what I now have 1- 69 volt1500S PSU and 4- 400A amp modules. (I will attach the data sheets below) So I have a lot more power then I will ever use when driving these speakers but the extra head room is welcome.
So now on to the build. I picked up a new case from the DIY store here. It's a pretty nice case made in Italy and should suit my needs just fine. I also ordered all of the necessary wiring from IcePower when I ordered the other stuff so I have that. I ordered a power switch for the front of the case along with some LED's. I ordered some RCA's for the inputs, (I'm going single ended for inputs because that is what my source and DSP unit have.) The rest of the things I already have.
After thinking about it for a while I decided on the layout of the components. I plan on putting the DSP unit inside the case to cut down on the amount of interconnects that otherwise make for an unsightly mess outside. So far, as of the writing of this post I have the PSU and all four of the modules mounted in the case along with the DSP and some shielding to separate the back side of the PSU from the wiring coming from the DSP as it is mounted above the PSU. I also have all of the wiring going to the 69 volt +/- rails hooked up. I have drilled out the back plate of case for most of the connections I will be using and have installed the speaker binding posts, in this case they are sockets for banana plugs. It is here that I find my self needing some answers to some questions that I have.
1- So first question relates to Vdrive. The PSU shows it as an out put and the modules show it as an input so I assume these two connect together correct?
2- Next has to do with DVDD/DVSS and VDD/VSS. The data sheet says to only hook one or the other up but not both. I believe that VDD/VSS are +/- 5V supplies and DVDD/DVSS are +/- 12V supplies. I have no idea which one of these supplies I should hook up. Is there anything needed in between? (resisters, capacitors, ect for current limiting and ripple)
3- Then there is some confusion with how the PSU starts up. The data sheet says:
ICEpower 1500S will start operating in disabled mode when mains power is applied to the module with only DVDD,
AVDD, AVSS and Vdrive running. Thus, to enable the main converter an external enable signal is required, or a pull-up
from DVDD to PSU_Enable. For more advanced applications, a wide set of control, status and monitoring inputs and
outputs are available.
My assumption is that you need the signal from DVDD out to jumper to the PSU_Enable input to start the unit? This also brings up how to incorporate the DSP power up function into the amp. It has 4 pins. 12 volt power, ground, 12volt trigger in and 12volt trigger out. I want to use the 12 volt trigger to enable the DSP as opposed to RCA sense as it is to flaky. So do I use the DVDD or VDrive to power the unit. I assume that I hook the 12 volt power and the 12volt trigger in to the same source or is there a better way of hooking this up?
4- This has to do with bridging one of the amp modules (BTL). The data sheet says:
12.4.2 BTLselect input
The BTL mode synchronizes the two SE channels to avoid idle tones and to improve the performance when driving the
two channels in BTL. To enable the BTL mode the BTLselect, pin 8 on connector P7, needs to be pulled high.
In BTL mode invert the polarity of channel 2 relative to channel 1, as illustrated in Figure 28.
There is a PullUpTo5V pin on the P7 connector. Do I just connect that to the BTLselect pin on the same P7 connector to enable BTL operation along with the audio input connections which I understand?
I have a couple of other questions but I will inquire about those a little bit later as I'm already asking for a lot of information here and I don't want to overwhelm anyone including myself. So yea I would appreciate any help I can get here and hope not to be a pain in anyone's back side but like I said at the beginning this is my first attempt at assembling one of these and the data sheets are geared toward someone who already knows the terminology and speaks engineering speak. I'm a carpenter by trade so hopefully one can excuse my under qualifications in this arena.
I will include some photos here shortly.
I recently decided to build some high end 3 way floor standers using the SB Acoustics Santori Textream series drivers (tweeter/midrange) and SB Acoustics 8" SB23MFCL45-4 (woofer x2). I will post that build in the multi way speaker part of the forum in the coming days. I have always designed my own passive X-overs for the speakers I have built in the past but this time I decided to go active after purchasing the Dayton Audio DSP-408 and giving it a listen and liking it. So this meant I would be needing separate amplifiers of course and rather then hobble together something from the hodgepodge of different amps I currently own, some good some not so good, I decided I would try my hand at building a class D amp using amp modules. Simple right?
So after doing a ton of research on what's available and what I could afford I decided I would go with IcePower. They have a good reputation for quality products and they aren't exorbitantly expensive like the Purify offerings. After going through their catalog I decided on the 1500S PSU and the 300A amp modules. After ordering them I was informed that the 47 volt version of the PSU needed to power the 300A modules was out of stock and It might be a while before they got any more and they suggested I use the 69 volt version and the 400A modules all of which they had in stock and could sell me for the same price. I went with their suggestion and that is what I now have 1- 69 volt1500S PSU and 4- 400A amp modules. (I will attach the data sheets below) So I have a lot more power then I will ever use when driving these speakers but the extra head room is welcome.
So now on to the build. I picked up a new case from the DIY store here. It's a pretty nice case made in Italy and should suit my needs just fine. I also ordered all of the necessary wiring from IcePower when I ordered the other stuff so I have that. I ordered a power switch for the front of the case along with some LED's. I ordered some RCA's for the inputs, (I'm going single ended for inputs because that is what my source and DSP unit have.) The rest of the things I already have.
After thinking about it for a while I decided on the layout of the components. I plan on putting the DSP unit inside the case to cut down on the amount of interconnects that otherwise make for an unsightly mess outside. So far, as of the writing of this post I have the PSU and all four of the modules mounted in the case along with the DSP and some shielding to separate the back side of the PSU from the wiring coming from the DSP as it is mounted above the PSU. I also have all of the wiring going to the 69 volt +/- rails hooked up. I have drilled out the back plate of case for most of the connections I will be using and have installed the speaker binding posts, in this case they are sockets for banana plugs. It is here that I find my self needing some answers to some questions that I have.
1- So first question relates to Vdrive. The PSU shows it as an out put and the modules show it as an input so I assume these two connect together correct?
2- Next has to do with DVDD/DVSS and VDD/VSS. The data sheet says to only hook one or the other up but not both. I believe that VDD/VSS are +/- 5V supplies and DVDD/DVSS are +/- 12V supplies. I have no idea which one of these supplies I should hook up. Is there anything needed in between? (resisters, capacitors, ect for current limiting and ripple)
3- Then there is some confusion with how the PSU starts up. The data sheet says:
ICEpower 1500S will start operating in disabled mode when mains power is applied to the module with only DVDD,
AVDD, AVSS and Vdrive running. Thus, to enable the main converter an external enable signal is required, or a pull-up
from DVDD to PSU_Enable. For more advanced applications, a wide set of control, status and monitoring inputs and
outputs are available.
My assumption is that you need the signal from DVDD out to jumper to the PSU_Enable input to start the unit? This also brings up how to incorporate the DSP power up function into the amp. It has 4 pins. 12 volt power, ground, 12volt trigger in and 12volt trigger out. I want to use the 12 volt trigger to enable the DSP as opposed to RCA sense as it is to flaky. So do I use the DVDD or VDrive to power the unit. I assume that I hook the 12 volt power and the 12volt trigger in to the same source or is there a better way of hooking this up?
4- This has to do with bridging one of the amp modules (BTL). The data sheet says:
12.4.2 BTLselect input
The BTL mode synchronizes the two SE channels to avoid idle tones and to improve the performance when driving the
two channels in BTL. To enable the BTL mode the BTLselect, pin 8 on connector P7, needs to be pulled high.
In BTL mode invert the polarity of channel 2 relative to channel 1, as illustrated in Figure 28.
There is a PullUpTo5V pin on the P7 connector. Do I just connect that to the BTLselect pin on the same P7 connector to enable BTL operation along with the audio input connections which I understand?
I have a couple of other questions but I will inquire about those a little bit later as I'm already asking for a lot of information here and I don't want to overwhelm anyone including myself. So yea I would appreciate any help I can get here and hope not to be a pain in anyone's back side but like I said at the beginning this is my first attempt at assembling one of these and the data sheets are geared toward someone who already knows the terminology and speaks engineering speak. I'm a carpenter by trade so hopefully one can excuse my under qualifications in this arena.
I will include some photos here shortly.
Anyone want to help me on this or am I on my own? I think I'm figuring out most of this stuff on my own but I really don't want to find out I was mistaken when I fire this thing up and let the magic smoke out. So a bit of input from someone more knowledgeable then myself on these matters would be very welcome and much apricated. Thanks.
I've managed to get this thing up and running. It is pretty clear to me that my current sound card in my PC is not going to be able to drive this amp to full volume as it isn't even putting out 1 volt with a 1000hz sine wave at full volume so I will have to do something about that. No big deal. Another thing that has become clear is I will be needing active cooling in the case. These things get hot. It looks like probably 2 fans will be needed and possibly additional heat sinks. There is a bit of noise coming through right now but hopefully I can tame that once I clean up the wiring and put some additional shielding between the amp modules. I might make a PCB for power distribution to eliminate a bunch of the wires. At least I know how it works now. No rush I haven't even finished the speakers yet.
Hi,
I am new to the forum, and stumbled upon your post. Seems like you have figured out this yourself. I have same 4 x 400 A2 modules with 1500S PS and the cabling, I am not doing DSP, trying to figure out the wiring between the modules and Power Supply.
Your assumptions and findings on your first post is 100% correct? or you have to made some changes?
Thanks,
Mo
I am new to the forum, and stumbled upon your post. Seems like you have figured out this yourself. I have same 4 x 400 A2 modules with 1500S PS and the cabling, I am not doing DSP, trying to figure out the wiring between the modules and Power Supply.
Your assumptions and findings on your first post is 100% correct? or you have to made some changes?
Thanks,
Mo
Yea it all came together. It turned out really nice. Now if only I can finish the speakers that I built the amp for.
There is another thread that has more of my amp build then this one. It's at https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/why-do-i-have-56v-on-my-vdrive.383620/
There is a lot more info there that you might find helpful.
So what would you like to know? Maybe I can help you. I put DSP in mine but of course it's not totally necessary. How do you plan on running it? Will you be bridging any of the modules BTL or leaving them single ended in stereo?
Thanks for getting back to me. I will take a look at the other link.
I am planning to use it as multi channel amp for home theater.
I will be using it as a 6 channel amp with XLR inputs.
2 Modules will be in BTL for front L and R
2 modules will will be in stereo mode.
My first set of questions or
VDrive from PS
BTL enable
PS enable
Auxiliary power wiring between the modules and the power supply.
Auto sense on, so the amp will go to sleep when idle.
Thanks,
Mo
I am planning to use it as multi channel amp for home theater.
I will be using it as a 6 channel amp with XLR inputs.
2 Modules will be in BTL for front L and R
2 modules will will be in stereo mode.
My first set of questions or
VDrive from PS
BTL enable
PS enable
Auxiliary power wiring between the modules and the power supply.
Auto sense on, so the amp will go to sleep when idle.
Thanks,
Mo
I'm also a fan of multi-channel class d amps...
the big problem is how to decode...
I have had conclusive tests with a usb sounblaster x3 sound card .. Dac AKM inside ... and remotely controllable via smartphone.
A pre-amp hc ... it costs an arm .... And not necessarily musical ..
If you have an idea I'll take it! Thanks !
the big problem is how to decode...
I have had conclusive tests with a usb sounblaster x3 sound card .. Dac AKM inside ... and remotely controllable via smartphone.
A pre-amp hc ... it costs an arm .... And not necessarily musical ..
If you have an idea I'll take it! Thanks !
Did you read through the other thread? You should find answers to some of your questions there. If not let me know. Ill be back on here later tonight and can possibly answer any specific questions you may have. It's really not very complicated but there are some things in the data sheet that can cause some confusion. I'm actually still confused by some of it but I did manage to get mine up and running none the same so I can at least tell you what wires go where.
I went through the other thread, and it is really helpful. Thank you again.
This is what I have figured out so far.
1500S ----> 400A2
------------------
VD --> VD
VS. --> VS
GNDA --> GND
AVDD --> VDD
AVSS --> VSS
Vdrive --> Vdrive
I am still looking for the wiring instructions for..
PSU_Enable & BTL Mode
Other desired functions that I would like to enable
1) Auto on/off based on the input signal
2) Status LED when amp is on.
This is what I have figured out so far.
1500S ----> 400A2
------------------
VD --> VD
VS. --> VS
GNDA --> GND
AVDD --> VDD
AVSS --> VSS
Vdrive --> Vdrive
I am still looking for the wiring instructions for..
PSU_Enable & BTL Mode
Other desired functions that I would like to enable
1) Auto on/off based on the input signal
2) Status LED when amp is on.
yes you are correct.
PS_OK_OUTPUT can be used for an LED to GRND for operational indicator light.
Put a latching push button between PSU_ENABLE and DVDD for a power switch. If you get a power button that has separate LED prongs on the back you can hook up both of these functions together.
The amp is in stand by once it is plugged into mains power.
Leaving the amp powered up with no signal will heat the amp up quite a bit so remember to shut it off once the music is done playing or your electric bill might go up.
PS_OK_OUTPUT can be used for an LED to GRND for operational indicator light.
Put a latching push button between PSU_ENABLE and DVDD for a power switch. If you get a power button that has separate LED prongs on the back you can hook up both of these functions together.
The amp is in stand by once it is plugged into mains power.
Leaving the amp powered up with no signal will heat the amp up quite a bit so remember to shut it off once the music is done playing or your electric bill might go up.
I suppose something like that could be done using an external voltage in place of the DVDD. You would need to make sure that the PSU_ENABLE can handle the 12v input. You would need to refer to the data sheet to see what the max tolerance is. It might require a lower voltage though. That would be the simplest way I can think of without building a complete front end board that judging by your questions is beyond your current capability as well as mine.
One other thing that might need to be considered if you are employing both a power button for full time on/off capability and 12v trigger is a way to keep any extra current/voltage off the circuit if the switch and trigger where engaged at the same time that could over load the circuit. Maybe a set of relays that cancel one another when one is in use. Shouldn't be to hard to design.
Yea no problem. I'm just glad that I was able to help with my meager knowledge on the subject. I know what it's like stumbling around in the dark trying to put it together and not wanting to blow up your investment. So I'm glad I could help you not do that.
Cheers
@iamjackalope I'm currently building an 8 channel 300a2 amp in a very similar case. I want to thank you for the very detailed walkthrough here. Even if you did not get much help, your willingness to help @mmr1780 and the fact that you still posted your findings is great.
I was wondering how your layout ended up with regards to the noise problem you spoke of. Really one of the largest of the last pieces to the puzzle for me is making sure I ground everything properly and lay it out so there isn't interference and therefore noise. Is there a chance you have a picture of the final layout? Also I wanted to ask about the 'terminals' you have between the PSU and the modules--what made you decide to go with that? Any particular use case or just for easier to work with?
You see, I am Polish and therefore do everything twice. It's very time consuming, so I'd like to cut down on the amount of things I do twice...
TIA
I was wondering how your layout ended up with regards to the noise problem you spoke of. Really one of the largest of the last pieces to the puzzle for me is making sure I ground everything properly and lay it out so there isn't interference and therefore noise. Is there a chance you have a picture of the final layout? Also I wanted to ask about the 'terminals' you have between the PSU and the modules--what made you decide to go with that? Any particular use case or just for easier to work with?
You see, I am Polish and therefore do everything twice. It's very time consuming, so I'd like to cut down on the amount of things I do twice...
TIA
Sorry for the delay in response I've been caught up in other stuff.
Actually it is really quite. The noise I was getting was when I tried using a voltage booster to boost the 7v that the 1500 supplied for AUX to 12v to 14v needed for the DSP unit and it was rather noisy. I'm sure I could have used filtering to fix the problem but I don't know enough about how the properly implement that so I opted to just use a separate power supply and it worked out fine. As you noticed I wasn't getting much help. I think there is some snobory going on where some people think we shouldn't be getting these modules if we don't know everything there is to know about how to hook them up. That was my impression anyways. The terminals I used where just a convenient way of making the connections using parts I had on hand. I think if I ever revamp the amp I would try and make a PCB that could eliminate the wires by suppling the needed power to each module. Now that I know how to hook everything up properly I think it could easily be done. As for pics of the final layout I believe there are some on the other thread that I mentioned to mmr1780 but they aren't much different then the ones I posted at the beginning of this thread except for some cable management. Good luck on your build and have fun with it. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask. I will answer what I can.
And by the way my mothers side of the family are Polish, Russian, Jewish and fathers side is mainly Scottish.
Actually it is really quite. The noise I was getting was when I tried using a voltage booster to boost the 7v that the 1500 supplied for AUX to 12v to 14v needed for the DSP unit and it was rather noisy. I'm sure I could have used filtering to fix the problem but I don't know enough about how the properly implement that so I opted to just use a separate power supply and it worked out fine. As you noticed I wasn't getting much help. I think there is some snobory going on where some people think we shouldn't be getting these modules if we don't know everything there is to know about how to hook them up. That was my impression anyways. The terminals I used where just a convenient way of making the connections using parts I had on hand. I think if I ever revamp the amp I would try and make a PCB that could eliminate the wires by suppling the needed power to each module. Now that I know how to hook everything up properly I think it could easily be done. As for pics of the final layout I believe there are some on the other thread that I mentioned to mmr1780 but they aren't much different then the ones I posted at the beginning of this thread except for some cable management. Good luck on your build and have fun with it. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask. I will answer what I can.
And by the way my mothers side of the family are Polish, Russian, Jewish and fathers side is mainly Scottish.