Tremendous! I've been looking forward to this article.
(reading)
Hey that's a great little shoot-out. Only thing I wanted to see more of was concrete comparison to other amps he has built/worked with (GainClone etc.). A good clear read though that has definitely made me wonder if the Charlize should be the amp for my new office system.
(reading)
Hey that's a great little shoot-out. Only thing I wanted to see more of was concrete comparison to other amps he has built/worked with (GainClone etc.). A good clear read though that has definitely made me wonder if the Charlize should be the amp for my new office system.
I did intend to do more of a comparison with the GC but I was just too knackered! I almost got to the stage where I never wanted to plug and unplug leads into amps ever again! 
Apart from housing all the amps, I did quite a lot of work restructuring my hi-fi to make it more amenable to reviewing other equipment. It's been a couple of months of near full-time tinkering. I'm trying to take a break from it at present and will then concentrate more on a class-T/GC comparsion! 😉
Apart from housing all the amps, I did quite a lot of work restructuring my hi-fi to make it more amenable to reviewing other equipment. It's been a couple of months of near full-time tinkering. I'm trying to take a break from it at present and will then concentrate more on a class-T/GC comparsion! 😉
Nuuk said:I did intend to do more of a comparison with the GC but I was just too knackered! I almost got to the stage where I never wanted to plug and unplug leads into amps ever again!
Now that's something I can certainly understand... I'm always amazed that people can find the time to do these kinds of large scale reviews. But I really appreciate it when they do! Thanks!
Awesome! I look forward to seeing it.
Awesome!
I was right about the Charlize... I had a feeling it was the one Nick was liking.
But the Autoconstruire is comparable and one of the top choices, too, which is great because it's great to have choices. 🙂 Plus I imagine the Autoconstruire is easier to mod and upgrade since it uses some thru hole parts.
I purchased the Charlize a few months ago, btw, but haven't gotten around to boxing it up. After hearing what Nick has to say (and Tiangus in conversation), I'm looking forward to that day when it's up and running.
Call me nostalgic or whatever, but somehow I feel good that the Gainclones still have an edge over all these great affordable little T-amps. How will the GC do against some of the higher up UCD and Icepower amps, though? Maybe that's Nick's next project? If the UCDs surpass the GCs in overall enjoyment, I'm definitely getting on that train.
Again, I found the Gaincard to sound much more musical with a good tube pre and I suspect it will kick the performance of the T-amps up a notch, too. If anyone tries it out, we'd all love to hear your impressions.
Thanks for doing the shootout, Nick.
Best,
KT
I was right about the Charlize... I had a feeling it was the one Nick was liking.
But the Autoconstruire is comparable and one of the top choices, too, which is great because it's great to have choices. 🙂 Plus I imagine the Autoconstruire is easier to mod and upgrade since it uses some thru hole parts.
I purchased the Charlize a few months ago, btw, but haven't gotten around to boxing it up. After hearing what Nick has to say (and Tiangus in conversation), I'm looking forward to that day when it's up and running.
Call me nostalgic or whatever, but somehow I feel good that the Gainclones still have an edge over all these great affordable little T-amps. How will the GC do against some of the higher up UCD and Icepower amps, though? Maybe that's Nick's next project? If the UCDs surpass the GCs in overall enjoyment, I'm definitely getting on that train.
Again, I found the Gaincard to sound much more musical with a good tube pre and I suspect it will kick the performance of the T-amps up a notch, too. If anyone tries it out, we'd all love to hear your impressions.
Thanks for doing the shootout, Nick.
Best,
KT
KT said:
I absolutely don't understand you guys to test such a tiny amp. against the gainclones? What's the use of this????????????????Use an AMP1B or an AMP2!!! These can handle the GC's.
KT - happy to help! You may be interested to know that DiyParadise are working on a valve pre-amp to go with the Monica2 DAC and Charlize! 
Bgt - I know where you are coming from but look at it this way. The class-T amps and GC's are options at the (very) affordable end of the market. Therefore, it is understandable that people want to know which sounds better. I do agree that a GC with a beefy PSU is more compatable to the UCD modules etc but I have run a GC at 12 volts too and may be that is the right way to comapre them both! 😉
Bgt - I know where you are coming from but look at it this way. The class-T amps and GC's are options at the (very) affordable end of the market. Therefore, it is understandable that people want to know which sounds better. I do agree that a GC with a beefy PSU is more compatable to the UCD modules etc but I have run a GC at 12 volts too and may be that is the right way to comapre them both! 😉
Nick,
I notice that the Charlize pictured in the review has the standard coils. Is this the one you tested?
Yeo now offers them with aircore coils (but you can still buy the amp with standard coils if you prefer).
KT
I notice that the Charlize pictured in the review has the standard coils. Is this the one you tested?
Yeo now offers them with aircore coils (but you can still buy the amp with standard coils if you prefer).
KT
Nuuk said:
Please...........a power amp. at 12 Volts....what do you expect from this??????????? Its like a toy, carradio.
Good work Nukk,
I am now awaiting the review with active pre's🙂
On the subject of the smps, is the one that you use from a PC?
If not, have you ever tried one from a PC. and what would the difference be between them?
With the T-amps since its a single rail PS then is should be easy enough to do, just put a load on it on the 5V side of things, just like what you presently do.
Also, how far from the T-amps do you have the smps? Any noise issues if they get very close like e.g. side by side?
I have also understood smps to be noisy.
I would never had considered them before reading about your experiences with them so thanks very much for that.
I just cannibalized a UPS for the SLA's for my Charlize and should be able to find some suitable caps I hope so may do a comparison myself.
Andrew
I am now awaiting the review with active pre's🙂
On the subject of the smps, is the one that you use from a PC?
If not, have you ever tried one from a PC. and what would the difference be between them?
With the T-amps since its a single rail PS then is should be easy enough to do, just put a load on it on the 5V side of things, just like what you presently do.
Also, how far from the T-amps do you have the smps? Any noise issues if they get very close like e.g. side by side?
I have also understood smps to be noisy.
I would never had considered them before reading about your experiences with them so thanks very much for that.
I just cannibalized a UPS for the SLA's for my Charlize and should be able to find some suitable caps I hope so may do a comparison myself.
Andrew
Bgt, you risk either offending some people or having them laugh at your ignorance. At least one member of these forums has heard my GC's run on 12 volts and they were as impressed as I was. Some of the best sounding systems are those run with a tiny amount of power.
I'm not suggesting running dipole subs with that sort of power supply, but with the right speaker, it will produce good results and is certainly not a 'toy'! 😉
Not a PC but some sort of computer equipment - some sort of server I think.
I haven't tried any other SMPS as I don't have any, and haven't had time.I know that others on these forums have tried PC power supplies for Gainclones.
I have the class-T amps right next to the SMPS with no ill effects. And with the GC's, the SMPS were in close proximity to the chips.
As regards noise on the output of the SMPS, there is some according to a friend who has measured them but this does not seem to be audible. He is currently working on modifying the Skynet modules to improve their performance.
I would not have thought of using SMPS with audio but I had the chance to try these modules without cost and am glad that I didn't let prejudice get in the way! 😉
Good work Nuuk!
Reviewing is a dirty work but someone has to do it.
I agree with you that stock T-amp can be tiring and have always attributed this to the input caps that I never changed.
Now that you mention that even when you changed the caps, listening fatigue is still on the menu, the 5066 is going to sit in the drawer for a little more.
If anyone has a cure for the 5066 ...
I am also looking forward for the diyparadize preamp to go with Monica2 DAC.
Talking about PC power supply with the tripath amps, I am using a 4Amp 12v laptop PS, always SMPS, with good effect.
No 5v to load, just plain 12v with even the right plug.
It looks like any laptop power supply and I haven't openned it yet but I can say that there is a fair amount of capacitance in there.
If I unplug it from the mains while connected to and playing music on amp3 it keeps giving juice for at least 6 seconds.
I have 12000uf capacitor in amp3 and if I use another PS and unplug it while playing I get sound for barely 1 second.
I don't understand. There is no space for 72000uf of cap in that box. Can someone explain? I'm not saying that more cap is better just that I am puzzled.
Mind you not all laptop PS are the same, I tried many before I found this one. Some will give 18v, just what you need to kill your T-amp.
But of all the 12v I tried, this one is best, SMPS or not.
Reviewing is a dirty work but someone has to do it.
I agree with you that stock T-amp can be tiring and have always attributed this to the input caps that I never changed.
Now that you mention that even when you changed the caps, listening fatigue is still on the menu, the 5066 is going to sit in the drawer for a little more.
If anyone has a cure for the 5066 ...
I am also looking forward for the diyparadize preamp to go with Monica2 DAC.
Talking about PC power supply with the tripath amps, I am using a 4Amp 12v laptop PS, always SMPS, with good effect.
No 5v to load, just plain 12v with even the right plug.
It looks like any laptop power supply and I haven't openned it yet but I can say that there is a fair amount of capacitance in there.
If I unplug it from the mains while connected to and playing music on amp3 it keeps giving juice for at least 6 seconds.
I have 12000uf capacitor in amp3 and if I use another PS and unplug it while playing I get sound for barely 1 second.
I don't understand. There is no space for 72000uf of cap in that box. Can someone explain? I'm not saying that more cap is better just that I am puzzled.
Mind you not all laptop PS are the same, I tried many before I found this one. Some will give 18v, just what you need to kill your T-amp.
But of all the 12v I tried, this one is best, SMPS or not.
I can see the headlines now. A spate of laptop computer thefts across the world! DiyAudio closed down and police looking for a mysterious Mr Dodo! 😀
Hey very nice article Nuuk!
IN you website you also mentioned that you "tried the SMPS with an unnamed DAC", could that be the Monica 2?😉
IN you website you also mentioned that you "tried the SMPS with an unnamed DAC", could that be the Monica 2?😉
Nuuk said:
True, sorry about this. But a bit higher volume level or difficult speakers(+ inefficient) and you've had it.
Fascinating review, Nuuk! Two questions: 1. When can I borrow one of the review models? 😀 and 2. Have you recovered?!
Seriously, it's great to read a review where the reviewer is using quality 'real-world' sources and speakers, and not kit from the far flung and incredibly expensive corners of hi-fi esoterica. A real breath of fresh air.
I have to admit I was surprised at your conclusion but I am just going to have to try one of these class t-amps for myself.
And, yes, it's not how many volts you have, it's what you do with them 😉
Seriously, it's great to read a review where the reviewer is using quality 'real-world' sources and speakers, and not kit from the far flung and incredibly expensive corners of hi-fi esoterica. A real breath of fresh air.
I have to admit I was surprised at your conclusion but I am just going to have to try one of these class t-amps for myself.
And, yes, it's not how many volts you have, it's what you do with them 😉
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