It's hard to tell from the photo, but the rear ports of the speakers are over a foot from the wall. I get room reinforcement with this position that I find pleasing to my tastes. I'm trying out blankets and other cloth to cover my Samsung LCD TV to absorb sound and reduce reflections.
I auditioned the KEF LS50 Wireless powered speakers, and they sounded life-less compared to what I have. I am not a huge fan of DSP, which is what the LS50 Wireless speakers have. With the ARC LS7/Wiener PBTL amp combo, I find myself tapping my toes and really engaged with the music much like I had with my larger Klipsch Forte II speakers. After trying gmarsh's Wiener Class D amps, I stopped playing around with the Chinese-built TPA amps--I felt like I was wasting time and money and not getting the sound quality I was after. gmarsh's amps give me the ability to change switching frequencies, modes and gain, and this can have a huge impact on sound quality. Moreover, his circuit eliminates the power-on and power-off pops I've experienced with some lesser amps.
I auditioned the KEF LS50 Wireless powered speakers, and they sounded life-less compared to what I have. I am not a huge fan of DSP, which is what the LS50 Wireless speakers have. With the ARC LS7/Wiener PBTL amp combo, I find myself tapping my toes and really engaged with the music much like I had with my larger Klipsch Forte II speakers. After trying gmarsh's Wiener Class D amps, I stopped playing around with the Chinese-built TPA amps--I felt like I was wasting time and money and not getting the sound quality I was after. gmarsh's amps give me the ability to change switching frequencies, modes and gain, and this can have a huge impact on sound quality. Moreover, his circuit eliminates the power-on and power-off pops I've experienced with some lesser amps.
Gmarsh, for the Wiener Pro I found the bootstrap capacitor C23-26 is 330nF (I pull one out and measure it). Is there a downside to using a much larger value instead of the recommended 33nF?
Hi, I found a post in Ti forum saying too large bootstrap cap is not recommended and may affect performance and reliability.
Larger bootstrap capacitor for TPA3122D2 - Audio Amplifiers Forum - Audio Amplifiers - TI E2E Community
Larger bootstrap capacitor for TPA3122D2 - Audio Amplifiers Forum - Audio Amplifiers - TI E2E Community
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After I got stuck in making a DIY volume control... the 3251-project has been in hibernation for almost a year. But 2 days ago i just took it back to basic, i.e built a straight forward power amp out of it.
The on/off-switch didn´t fit in to the box. a 1/10 of an inch is missing.. and pressing it in shorts the circuits. So my colleagues call it "the hemoroid" since
things like the LEDs are hanging on the outside.
But they are impressed by the sound. It is absolutely crisp. Even with Troels Gravesen designed fullrange speakers with ScanSpeak's tiny 2" elements in a mere 40 cubic inch closed box and less than 80 dB/W, the set plays accoustic music pretty loud and deep.
Kind regards from Malmö, Sweden.
After I got stuck in making a DIY volume control... the 3251-project has been in hibernation for almost a year. But 2 days ago i just took it back to basic, i.e built a straight forward power amp out of it.
The on/off-switch didn´t fit in to the box. a 1/10 of an inch is missing.. and pressing it in shorts the circuits. So my colleagues call it "the hemoroid" since
things like the LEDs are hanging on the outside.
But they are impressed by the sound. It is absolutely crisp. Even with Troels Gravesen designed fullrange speakers with ScanSpeak's tiny 2" elements in a mere 40 cubic inch closed box and less than 80 dB/W, the set plays accoustic music pretty loud and deep.
Kind regards from Malmö, Sweden.
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great
Been enjoying my Stereo Wiener for a couple of years now, here is my current config: 1.2Mhz switching freq, 1SPW mode, +20 gain. Powered at 18V@~5A (benchtop variable supply). I'm feeding it with an OL DAC, do you think input transformers would improve the sound or be worthwhile?
Any chance of a GB batch this winter? I'd certainly be interested in a Stereo Wiener Pro, maybe even 2.
My suggestion is retire the original wiener and do only wiener pros if that simplifies things, from what I understand the pro does not really benefit from input transformers anyway?
Has anyone tried any of the available 3251 amps, like 3e audio? how do they compare to a weiner?
Been enjoying my Stereo Wiener for a couple of years now, here is my current config: 1.2Mhz switching freq, 1SPW mode, +20 gain. Powered at 18V@~5A (benchtop variable supply). I'm feeding it with an OL DAC, do you think input transformers would improve the sound or be worthwhile?
Any chance of a GB batch this winter? I'd certainly be interested in a Stereo Wiener Pro, maybe even 2.
My suggestion is retire the original wiener and do only wiener pros if that simplifies things, from what I understand the pro does not really benefit from input transformers anyway?
Has anyone tried any of the available 3251 amps, like 3e audio? how do they compare to a weiner?
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Gtose and I finally (mostly gtose) got around to building a couple of the Wiener Pros! A very nice little sounding amp. We are using a 24V Vicor PSU picked up cheap(ish) on eBay and it works perfectly. It's just enough to get the volume up to uncomfortable levels before it runs out of juice on a pair of Zaph ZRT 2 ways. Now begins the case work and maybe a couple more for additional channels!
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Good catch ChuckT, I just checked the evaluation module and looks like 33nF is used there as well. The schematic is on page 19 of http://www.ti.com/lit/ug/slvuam9/slvuam9.pdf.
The Weiner Pro BOM and schematic both show 330nF for the bootstraps, so I’m not sure if this was intended or an oversight. I just ordered parts for 2 more Pros and would be interested if this value needs to be updated to avoid future rework.
GMarsh, any thoughts on the bootstrap value?
looks nice, great job on the build. Those coilcraft inductors look great. How does Wiener Pro compare to Stereo Wiener? Aside from being able to go louder, is there a significant sound quality improvement? Wieners are some pretty good looking boards, I'd like to put mine in some kind of glass or plexiglas enclosure
We never did the stereo wiener to compare it against, but the pro is a very nice little amp. It really does look great too!
First, I recall seeing a post somewhere where Gmarsh remarked the 330nF value was a mistake, I think he forgot to correct it in the schematic and continue on with the parts ordering.
I have replace the 330nF to 33nF but also the 8 x 220uF power supply caps with higher value of Panasonic FM caps at the same time. The result for the combo mod was an improvement in the bass, not sure about the improvement in the rest of the audio spectrum. But I would certainly recommend this mod (replacing both PS caps and 33nF)
To connect the differential output of my Pono player to my TI TPA3255EVM, two jumpers need to be relocated from SE to DIF. Are there counterparts on the Wiener?
Thanks to rhing, Rich, for promptly and expertly answering my question. I now have the “Wiener” TPA3118 playing in differential/balanced mode. Norah Jones never sounded better. I’m auditioning a pair of Klipsch KP-201 IIs I scored so my sister-in-law can surprise my brother at Christmas.
Gary, aka gmarsh, provided me a handrawn schematic of how to connect the differential output of the Pono player to the Wiener and asked me to document the process. The schematic pdf is too large to be attached. I’ll try to work around that and post it later.
A photo is attached showing the initial balanced tests. With ~18v of battery power, the Wiener/Pono combo in balanced mode sounds spectacular with the Klipsch KP-201 IIs I just bought for my sister-in-law to surprise my brother on Christmas. He also has a Pono.
When we get together around Christmas, we can do a blind test of SE vs. DIFF, with the better hearing of younger test subjects. Balanced sounds better to me and Baranek.
A photo is attached showing the initial balanced tests. With ~18v of battery power, the Wiener/Pono combo in balanced mode sounds spectacular with the Klipsch KP-201 IIs I just bought for my sister-in-law to surprise my brother on Christmas. He also has a Pono.
When we get together around Christmas, we can do a blind test of SE vs. DIFF, with the better hearing of younger test subjects. Balanced sounds better to me and Baranek.
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Differential/Balanced
Gary, gmarsh, was kind enough to personally respond to my questions regarding the utilization of the balanced/differential outputs of my Pono player.
Following the advice in his emails and using the schematic he drew (see above), I was able to successfully experience his excellent "Wiener" board in balanced mode.
At the time, he asked me to document my progress. I am just now getting around to putting it into a case. The attached photos show the almost completed results. I still need to get shorter screws to attach the Speakon terminals.
Gary mentioned that shorting plugs need to be inserted in the L- and R- RCA jacks when using the Wiener, as now configured, in SE mode. Intuitively this makes sense and , I think, explains why switching from SE to DIFF on the TI TPA3255EVM requires the relocation of jumpers, but the Wiener does not.
Can someone remind me how many watts the Wiener puts out into a nominal 8 ohm load? Is that number altered by SE or DIFF mode?
Gary, gmarsh, was kind enough to personally respond to my questions regarding the utilization of the balanced/differential outputs of my Pono player.
Following the advice in his emails and using the schematic he drew (see above), I was able to successfully experience his excellent "Wiener" board in balanced mode.
At the time, he asked me to document my progress. I am just now getting around to putting it into a case. The attached photos show the almost completed results. I still need to get shorter screws to attach the Speakon terminals.
Gary mentioned that shorting plugs need to be inserted in the L- and R- RCA jacks when using the Wiener, as now configured, in SE mode. Intuitively this makes sense and , I think, explains why switching from SE to DIFF on the TI TPA3255EVM requires the relocation of jumpers, but the Wiener does not.
Can someone remind me how many watts the Wiener puts out into a nominal 8 ohm load? Is that number altered by SE or DIFF mode?
Differential/Balanced
Gary, gmarsh, was kind enough to personally respond to my questions regarding the utilization of the balanced/differential outputs of my Pono player.
Following the advice in his emails and using the schematic he drew (see above), I was able to successfully experience his excellent "Wiener" board in balanced mode.
At the time, he asked me to document my progress. I am just now getting around to putting it into a case. The attached photos show the almost completed results. I still need to get shorter screws to attach the Speakon terminals.
Gary mentioned that shorting plugs need to be inserted in the L- and R- RCA jacks when using the Wiener, as now configured, in SE mode. Intuitively this makes sense and, I think, explains why switching from SE to DIFF on the TI TPA3255EVM requires the relocation of jumpers, but the Wiener does not.
Can someone remind me how many watts the Wiener puts out into a nominal 8 ohm load? Is that number altered by SE or DIFF mode?
Gary, gmarsh, was kind enough to personally respond to my questions regarding the utilization of the balanced/differential outputs of my Pono player.
Following the advice in his emails and using the schematic he drew (see above), I was able to successfully experience his excellent "Wiener" board in balanced mode.
At the time, he asked me to document my progress. I am just now getting around to putting it into a case. The attached photos show the almost completed results. I still need to get shorter screws to attach the Speakon terminals.
Gary mentioned that shorting plugs need to be inserted in the L- and R- RCA jacks when using the Wiener, as now configured, in SE mode. Intuitively this makes sense and, I think, explains why switching from SE to DIFF on the TI TPA3255EVM requires the relocation of jumpers, but the Wiener does not.
Can someone remind me how many watts the Wiener puts out into a nominal 8 ohm load? Is that number altered by SE or DIFF mode?
Attachments
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