NOOB ALERT! Ok, now you're warned.
Anybody with an opinion about this little guy?
It seems pretty clean and equipped with half decent components to me but then so did Amy Winehouse when she was alive. 😱
Knowing you guys have a reputation for promiscuous women, pink elephants and polka I figured this might be the right place for some amplified input on the above.
Anybody with an opinion about this little guy?
It seems pretty clean and equipped with half decent components to me but then so did Amy Winehouse when she was alive. 😱
Knowing you guys have a reputation for promiscuous women, pink elephants and polka I figured this might be the right place for some amplified input on the above.
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Looks nice, all through-hole, but at that price and without a power supply or case, etc, it's not a great deal.
Thanks. 🙂
Any suggestions to where I can buy better quality for around 24 bucks with shipping which doesn't need (or requires very little) DIY in order to sound good?
Paying slightly more is ok too especially if it's available from a European seller since I have to pay VAT + import fee when buying from outside EU.
A case and perhaps some RCA inputs are on the nice to have list but I don't need a power supply since I plan to use 3 of these (or similar) in my car and run them off the battery. The lack of pots is also sort of a plus i my book.
I see electrolytic capacitors on that small board... In the signal-input path.... Not a good choice for audio quality, but then again, for that price I'd put some nice caps there to start with.
Also, smaller boards mean less space for mods.
Also, smaller boards mean less space for mods.
The two electrolytics appear to be the tank capacitors on the power supply to the chip. Electrolytics in this application are normal. The input capacitors appear to be film caps and there appears to be space for mods in these locations.
Appearance wise, the inductors appear to be a possible weak link. Listening to the unmodified vs a board with other inductors will tell whether the supplied inductors are adequate.
The volume control and RCAs could be upgraded, but whether or not the expense for such mods yield sonic results, IMHO, is questionable.
There are 2 qty 2.2uf electrolytics coming off the 3.5mm jack on the left side of the pcb. These are the ones he's referring to.
I went ahead and bought a few of the small boards before the YJ was recommended to me. I like small packages so I hope it won't disappoint when I receive it just in time for Christmas. 😉
I might change the 2.2uF electrolytics to e.g. Mundorf MCap MKP if you think it will make a noticeable difference. I also took notes about the inductors.
Anything else worth considering?
I might change the 2.2uF electrolytics to e.g. Mundorf MCap MKP if you think it will make a noticeable difference. I also took notes about the inductors.
Anything else worth considering?
IMO there's No need to go to overpriced input caps, as I discovered
(tripped over 😱 That the silly 1$ each yellow film caps sound better than Mundorfs in one of my ta 2020's.
Dunno why actually, maybe the higher esr of the cheapies?
Ain't that counterintuitive and contrary to Internet Folklore 🙂
Regardless, they definitely sound better.
Experiment (widely) for best result.
(tripped over 😱 That the silly 1$ each yellow film caps sound better than Mundorfs in one of my ta 2020's.
Dunno why actually, maybe the higher esr of the cheapies?
Ain't that counterintuitive and contrary to Internet Folklore 🙂
Regardless, they definitely sound better.
Experiment (widely) for best result.
I did a little searching and it seems the stock 2.2uF electrolytic caps are "audio grade" Nichicons (from Japan). Perhaps these are not horribly bad after all? Any experiences?
Maybe I'll just wait and see how it sounds with these before I start tweaking.
Maybe I'll just wait and see how it sounds with these before I start tweaking.
It's my opinion that most of the 'brand name' parts fitted to a ~$20 amp are Fakes.
Sometimes passable fakes often not.
Chinese makers are becoming quite adept at making their stuff 'look' as of quality.
Sometimes passable fakes often not.
Chinese makers are becoming quite adept at making their stuff 'look' as of quality.
Cap Correction
After reading Bare's latest post, I re-read this thread. In my earlier post regarding tank caps was based on the photo of the YJ amp not that of the electrolytic input caps of the small board.
Bare's comments regarding input caps should be heeded. Film caps in the DC Blocking application (input caps), generally, yield better sonic results over that of electrolytics. There are a number threads regarding modifying T-Amps and all sorts of input caps have been tried. The consensus seems to be the extra expense of the boutique caps just doesn't seem to measure up. YMMV.
Only your ears in your system will tell you which cap works best for you.
Please, let us know how you fair in swapping out these electrolytics.
After reading Bare's latest post, I re-read this thread. In my earlier post regarding tank caps was based on the photo of the YJ amp not that of the electrolytic input caps of the small board.
Bare's comments regarding input caps should be heeded. Film caps in the DC Blocking application (input caps), generally, yield better sonic results over that of electrolytics. There are a number threads regarding modifying T-Amps and all sorts of input caps have been tried. The consensus seems to be the extra expense of the boutique caps just doesn't seem to measure up. YMMV.
Only your ears in your system will tell you which cap works best for you.
Please, let us know how you fair in swapping out these electrolytics.
Agreed. Electrolytics being the obvious candidate, but also output filters on a lot of these cheap amps have caps that look like film, but are likely ceramic, and ceramic caps in filters are not a good idea (their value changes with the voltage applied across them, and in filters that voltage is always changing).
It's a nice looking package with lots of room for upgrading with thru hole components and not having to deal with the manual dexterity required to mod surface mounts. Where is a good source for upgrading the input caps to $1 film caps?
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