alright, add me to the 6n3 6z4 pre-amp/TPA 3116d2 amp combo fanboy club.
Finally hooked up my version of that pre from YJ along with a standard un-modified YJ Blue/black danzz 2.0 board.
Absolutely sounds noticeably better than the straight YJ blue board alone--no matter the mods applied.
same set up, nexus 7 tablet with power amp running nothing but FLAC files and Dayton B652 speakers with Dennis Murphy designed xover, bracing, and polyfill added.
Immediately noticed a much better sound stage. stuff floating out in the air. Especially on female vocals. Electric instruments--guitars, organs, and pianos-also improved.
No question, no burn in, just turned it on and was like "WOW."
So far, the only thing I do NOT like about this pre is the purple LEDs they put under the two 6n3 tubes. I don't understand why they do this. I get the eye candy aspect but it looks dumb--even worse when the 6z4 tube does not have an LED.
Also, with the stock YJ board gain of 26db you cannot really turn the pre volume up more than half way. So, I guess with this combo the first thing to do would be to adjust the amp gain down to 20db by installing the correct resistors.
what a great integrated amp you can have for less than $100.
Again, I appreciate all the info available here and the people who share their knowledge.
Finally hooked up my version of that pre from YJ along with a standard un-modified YJ Blue/black danzz 2.0 board.
Absolutely sounds noticeably better than the straight YJ blue board alone--no matter the mods applied.
same set up, nexus 7 tablet with power amp running nothing but FLAC files and Dayton B652 speakers with Dennis Murphy designed xover, bracing, and polyfill added.
Immediately noticed a much better sound stage. stuff floating out in the air. Especially on female vocals. Electric instruments--guitars, organs, and pianos-also improved.
No question, no burn in, just turned it on and was like "WOW."
So far, the only thing I do NOT like about this pre is the purple LEDs they put under the two 6n3 tubes. I don't understand why they do this. I get the eye candy aspect but it looks dumb--even worse when the 6z4 tube does not have an LED.
Also, with the stock YJ board gain of 26db you cannot really turn the pre volume up more than half way. So, I guess with this combo the first thing to do would be to adjust the amp gain down to 20db by installing the correct resistors.
what a great integrated amp you can have for less than $100.
Again, I appreciate all the info available here and the people who share their knowledge.
steveeboy - do the tubes on that pre-amp take some time to warm up and sound their best, or do they sound good immediately after power up?
Are you using a dedicated DAC, or just the one built into your tablet?
Are you using a dedicated DAC, or just the one built into your tablet?
matt, I am not sure.
I literally just hooked it up, fired it up, and was pretty blown away.
I took the pre, threw it in front of the YJ board I have been listening to for a week or so, and was immediately impressed.
If it's gonna get even better, that will be great.
I have no DAC. Just FLACs off the nexus 7.
So, while this may not be the best set up, it is consistent, I haven't changed any source, same files, and I have done a variety of mods to the YJ blue boards using the same source all along.
So, it becomes apparent if something makes a big difference.
TONS of gain with the pre. I just tweaked the gain of the amp down to 20db by changing the resistors and it is still hard to turn the pre up past the half way point.
Is there an adjustment/mod that can be done to make the volume pot on the pre have more range?
In other words, it is currently a 50k pot, would a 100k pot allow me to turn it further or would you have to go down to a 25k?
Right now it goes from not too loud to VERY loud in like 1/4 turn of the pot.
Would like to make it so you have a finer adjustment ability...
--although I guess you can just use the tablet volume for this as well.
I literally just hooked it up, fired it up, and was pretty blown away.
I took the pre, threw it in front of the YJ board I have been listening to for a week or so, and was immediately impressed.
If it's gonna get even better, that will be great.
I have no DAC. Just FLACs off the nexus 7.
So, while this may not be the best set up, it is consistent, I haven't changed any source, same files, and I have done a variety of mods to the YJ blue boards using the same source all along.
So, it becomes apparent if something makes a big difference.
TONS of gain with the pre. I just tweaked the gain of the amp down to 20db by changing the resistors and it is still hard to turn the pre up past the half way point.
Is there an adjustment/mod that can be done to make the volume pot on the pre have more range?
In other words, it is currently a 50k pot, would a 100k pot allow me to turn it further or would you have to go down to a 25k?
Right now it goes from not too loud to VERY loud in like 1/4 turn of the pot.
Would like to make it so you have a finer adjustment ability...
--although I guess you can just use the tablet volume for this as well.
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Changing pots will make no difference. You really want to get the gain on the pre and 3116 matched so you are listening closer to 3 o'clock at highish levels. To my mind that pre has far too much gain.
Steveeboy.
I agree the stock blue/black board with the 6N3 tube preamp is a great sounding combo. I found the sound quality is even better with the inclusion of the Panasonic EVJ 50kohm volume pot that Rhing suggested for these class D amps. I am using the one I mounted in an Altoids box with the pot on the pre maxed. It sounds a LOT better.
I am considering the 20db gain resistors as well. Is there a downside to lowering the gain on the Blue board when used with the 3 tube preamp?
ah, well, was gonna remote the thing anyway, so I can just use one of my spare log tapers when I do...
thanks for the advice
thanks for the advice
To tell if the existing pot is linear or log simply set the control at approx 1/2 way point and measure resistance between the center pin of the pot and each external pin on one channel. Linear will give approx same reading, log will be way different.
thanks Chris.
still blown away here.
sounds so good.
listening to joy division "unknown pleasures" 24/96 FLAC. Never heard all the weird detail in the vocal reverb on "she's lost control" before.
still blown away here.
sounds so good.
listening to joy division "unknown pleasures" 24/96 FLAC. Never heard all the weird detail in the vocal reverb on "she's lost control" before.
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Ah, a man of extreme good taste!
Love Will Tear Us Apart was voted song of the century by a local radio station - couldn't have agreed more!
Still have my original vinyl copies of Joy Division but nothing to play them on. Just couldn't part with them!
Where did you get the FLAC?
Love Will Tear Us Apart was voted song of the century by a local radio station - couldn't have agreed more!
Still have my original vinyl copies of Joy Division but nothing to play them on. Just couldn't part with them!
Where did you get the FLAC?
steveeboy- I am using the same combination with a Weilang dac and my MacBook. Sounds great to my old ears.
I already bought it on vinyl, cassette, and CD--probably bought it twice on CD.
So I downloaded a "backup" high quality 24/96 vinyl rip from teh internets.
So I downloaded a "backup" high quality 24/96 vinyl rip from teh internets.
What is better?
The red board of yuang or the blue board of hiamplifier?
I can use as amplifier Without a pre?
I need a potentiometer, a good 50k linear or logaritmic?
Thanks!
The red board of yuang or the blue board of hiamplifier?
I can use as amplifier Without a pre?
I need a potentiometer, a good 50k linear or logaritmic?
Thanks!
So still no observations regarding changing gain? No one's compared 36 vs. the rest? I think folks are missing out on improved presentation by not trying 36db although yes you may need to increase input capacitance a little to compensate (I use 2.2uf).
Too bad those ebay tube preamps are such high gain or I'd try them. Will have to go with a unity gain buffer instead at some point.
26db sounds flat and bland on all the TPAs (3100, 3116, 3110) I've ever had compared to 32 and 36 gain setting.
Too bad those ebay tube preamps are such high gain or I'd try them. Will have to go with a unity gain buffer instead at some point.
26db sounds flat and bland on all the TPAs (3100, 3116, 3110) I've ever had compared to 32 and 36 gain setting.
With my Audio Research LS7 tube line stage preamp connected to my modified Yuan Jing 2.0 blue amp, I can only turn the volume to the 8 o'clock position before it gets too loud in my man cave. The starting position is only 7 o'clock, so I can't even imagine what turning the gain up from 26dB to 32dB or 36dB would do. It would be analogous to my mom's 1971 Chevelle with the Chevrolet 350 V8 that used to idle at 25mph--overkill in my mind.
On another note, I got another YJ 2.0 blue amp, and installed the following:
- 4x TDK X7R 220nF/250V ceramic caps in bootstrap positions
- 2x Panasonic OSCON SEPF 330uF/25V organic semiconductor caps in power decoupling positions
I moved the 0.68uF film caps on the output filter to the bottom-side of the amp board to make space for the bulky Coilcraft 10uH shielded inductors on top, which I will install at some later time. I'm trying to make a change at a time to gauge what modifications make a difference with this amp.
Thanks again to Danzz for his design to accommodate thru-hole components. This is a modder's delight.
So compared to my near stock amp (replaced stock Nichicon PW 1000uF/25V) with Panasonic FM 470uF/35V caps on power supply decoupling positions, this amp sounds cleaner and "more fluid." The bass is tighter and better defined, but not necessarily deeper or lighter. Percussion instruments have more clearly defined impact. Overall, the sound has more presence and air. I really like the change for the better.
Hi,
What is better for the power decoupling cap? Lower then the original 1000uF or higher say 3300uf ? I have 2 Pana FK 4700uf 25V and 2 dubilier 2200uf 35V ?
What is better for the power decoupling cap? Lower then the original 1000uF or higher say 3300uf ? I have 2 Pana FK 4700uf 25V and 2 dubilier 2200uf 35V ?
While waiting for my new inductors and Jupiter input caps to arrive, I set up my TPA3116 for switchable gain (20dB, 26dB & 32db) and for testing different values of input coupling caps (from .5uF to 10uF).
My first impression is that I prefer the lowest gain setting (20dB) with somewhere between 1.5uF - 3uF input coupling caps, but will spend some more time listening this weekend and revisit it all after the inductors arrive.
It just goes to show you how system dependent different speakers, equipment and component parts can be.
I’m sharing Rhing’s preference for smaller decoupling caps close to the chip and am now experimenting with some arrays of multiple caps off the power supply like abraxalito suggests. I’m still using the second adjustable linear regulated supply that I built last month (set at 23V) and enjoying how it's all sounding.
.
