It is actually a case of 20, I am definitely a bit of a hoarder 
. My plan was always to use 5 modules (3 stereo modules for woofer, mid, tweeter and 2 BTL modules for subwoofers) and wanted a few as spares in case failure and maybe for other projects. The price difference between single modules ($171/ea) and a 20 modules ($81/ea) was so large that the breakeven point for the bulk order was about 12 modules. My current plan is to keep 12 modules and try and sell the remaining 8 for what I paid for them to recoup some of the extra cost.
As it stands I am leaning heavily towards using several Micro Audio SMPS630-Gs as suggested by @andrewjohn007 with 2 modules per PS in multiple smaller chassis. Haven't worked out the layout completely but I think 3 Modushop Mini Dissipante 2U 250s could work well.
Your build is looking good. Did you ever solve the issue of DC getting to the speaker terminals?
Michael
. My plan was always to use 5 modules (3 stereo modules for woofer, mid, tweeter and 2 BTL modules for subwoofers) and wanted a few as spares in case failure and maybe for other projects. The price difference between single modules ($171/ea) and a 20 modules ($81/ea) was so large that the breakeven point for the bulk order was about 12 modules. My current plan is to keep 12 modules and try and sell the remaining 8 for what I paid for them to recoup some of the extra cost.As it stands I am leaning heavily towards using several Micro Audio SMPS630-Gs as suggested by @andrewjohn007 with 2 modules per PS in multiple smaller chassis. Haven't worked out the layout completely but I think 3 Modushop Mini Dissipante 2U 250s could work well.
Your build is looking good. Did you ever solve the issue of DC getting to the speaker terminals?
Michael
That would be awesome if you could get the amps going without having to wait for god knows how long till Icepower gets things caught up on their end. You can always get the power supply when it comes in and use the Micro Audio's until then or just build another amp altogether seeing how you will have the extra amp mods to do it. I considered buying a case of mods when I bought mine too but didn't. I probably should have. I could have assembled half a dozen amps and sold them and turned a profit.
😐So Micro Audio has a power supply that will power the 300a2's? I did not know that. Will their PSU drive the amps to full output? It would kind of suck if not.
As it turns out the "DC at the speakers" was the DSP unit fluctuating on and off. The input signal couldn't keep the DSP on unless there was something loud and the volume was turned up. Every time there was no signal or I would be watching a youtube video at night with the volume turned down the DSP unit would cycle on and off and every time it turned back on the speaker cones would bump out. It's still doing it but ever since I did the cable management it seems a lot better but don't know why. Once I get the power supply for the DSP worked out I will run a 12v trigger to it and that should keep it powered up and should put an end to that. Right now I have the wall wart power supply that came with it running it and it works but that means I have two power cords running to the amp and I don't want that. I have a couple different solutions to deal with it but haven't implemented any of them yet to see if any of them will work or not. I'll get around to dealing with it before to much longer. Right now I'm putting all of my spare time into building the speakers. I'm really liking the way they are turning out.
Here is the build thread if you are interested.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...r-standing-goodness-come-check-it-out.384012/
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They have a few supplies that will work, SMPS630-G (600 W), SMPS700-PFC (700 W) and SMPS1K-PFCR2 (1000 W). I don't really need all the amps to operate at full power since the mid and tweeter amps will never need that much power. That being said it seems like you can only power two modules from a power supply because of current limits on VAux. Although it's overkill now I thinking going with the SMPS1K-PFR2 for three amps, each with two modules so they would be completely interchangeable.
I keep going back and forth on the power supplies. I like that I could heatsink the Micro Audio power supplies if I built three amps but the cost is quite a bit more than a single amplifier chassis with the 1500S. I am also a bit weary about bus pumping and would probably want to add extra capacitance with the Micro Audio power supplies which of course adds to the cost.
I do have a question in to IcePower about 1500S availability but they have not been very responsive to me.
Michael
I keep going back and forth on the power supplies. I like that I could heatsink the Micro Audio power supplies if I built three amps but the cost is quite a bit more than a single amplifier chassis with the 1500S. I am also a bit weary about bus pumping and would probably want to add extra capacitance with the Micro Audio power supplies which of course adds to the cost.
I do have a question in to IcePower about 1500S availability but they have not been very responsive to me.
Michael
Congratulations on getting a response from IcePower! They have blown off no less than 3 of my inquiries, all of which were requests for technical/product support. I would recommend hitting up ProFusion with questions as they are on the stick when it comes to speed and thoroughness in response.
Please let me know how the SMPS1K-PFCR2 works out! The only thing keeping me from buying two Micro-Audio 630-Gs is the 30-40 day wait time as well as being pretty satisfied with my current set up. Eventually I will use the two 300A2s to replace the TI EVM3255 that is powering two JBL Studio 530s.
Please let me know how the SMPS1K-PFCR2 works out! The only thing keeping me from buying two Micro-Audio 630-Gs is the 30-40 day wait time as well as being pretty satisfied with my current set up. Eventually I will use the two 300A2s to replace the TI EVM3255 that is powering two JBL Studio 530s.
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I'll let you know how it goes.
In building this amplifier(s) my goal was to have something that approached the performance of a Hypex NC252MP at lower cost and with much more substantial heatsinking than the standard module in box builds. Even with the increased cost of multiple SMSP1K compared to a single 1500S it will still be cheaper than multiple Audiophonics NC252MP (which I run in my main system currently) so if the SMPS1K performs well I will be happy. The other nice thing about the SMPS1K is that it should allow for roughly full power output from a pair of modules, a 1500S with 5 modules would always have been a bit of a compromise in that regard.
And finally Sami at Micro Audio has been great to detail with and I actually feel better about troubleshooting any issues that may arise with him. Maybe IcePower is more responsive to larger customers but to a small DIYer like myself they have not been exceptionally helpful. Although I must say I appreciate that you can buy all of their stuff directly from their web store, with free shipping and a nice discount for bulk orders. Much more DIYer friendly than the limited DIY offerings from Hypex.
Michael
Have you possibly considered using a linier power supply for powering those 300A2's? You might find a PSU that you can build in the power supply forum from somebody who may even have PCB's you can get. Of course then you have a large transformer in the case along with some large capacitors and it won't be nearly as efficient which equates to more heat in the case but at least you won't have to worry about noise from a switching PSU.
Plus there is always a certain kind of cool factor with having a huge toroidal transformer that weighs around 20 pounds lurking right there just under the vented cover so you can see it sitting there looking like a serious piece of kit, that way now body doubts the wattage claims silk screened across the front face plate, 10,000 giga watts RMS.
The other day I decided that I was going to get rid of my 96 Ford Exploder. I have my work truck that I drive all the time and as of about a year ago I have a 2016 Mustang GT convertible to drive around in when I'm not working and want to have some fun. So over the last year my Exploder has just been sitting there basically rotting. A check engine light is keeping me from being able to complete the registration due to no smog certification. It's nothing I can't fix and if it where my only vehicle as it was for a number of years I would have fixed it already but as it is now I can't find time nor energy to fix it so it's off to the junk yard.
It was a very good truck and I got my money out of it a thousand times over but it's time to get rid of it, but not before I pull my sound system out of it.
The one thing I do miss is driving around listening to music.
Over the years she has gotten a little bit tired and was due for some new speakers but it still rocked. Pulling everything out of there was difficult considering how much time was spent installing it all, but I did. Once I had it all out the vehicle I was looking every thing over really good deciding what to do with it all and I decided to open up the back of my big mono block amp I was using to drive my sub woofers with. It's a really nice "old school" ORION XTR PRO 2400 WATT class D thumper. It's actually a pretty rare amp because it was only in production for one year and they didn't make all that many of them but it has been my primary center piece that has been the beating heart of the system since I acquired it back around 2004 or 2005 and she has always delivered. Of course you have to feed her because she is a current hungry beast but when properly fed she doesn't disappoint.
Long story short🙄 I'm sitting here staring at the amp guts, I haven't seen the inside of this amp since I put it in my Exploder back when I got it, and I'm thinking to my self, class D sure has evolved. Here is a class D mono block sub woofer amp that at the time it was made was up there with the best of the big watt, big power, big boy amps and it is substantial. It is a large amp. Today I can get a 5000 watt amp from the same company, (at least in name) that produces twice the power out put while not putting any more demand on the charging system then my old one. It will be 1/3 of the size and weight, will run cold to the touch at around 95% efficiency and boast better specs. To top it all off it will cost 1/3 of what my old one did.
Back then class D was for sub woofer amps only and primarily for car audio. The general consensus was that class D was to noisy to use in serious hi fi home systems, so you really got to give credit to these guys designing class D car audio amplifiers because they are the ones that really pushed class D design forward. It was in their interests to develop good class D designs that could out put big power on the limited 12 volt power supply. I think a lot of those engineers designing class D car audio migrated to the larger and more profitable home and pro audio markets and maybe that's why we have such great sounding class D technology today.
Maybe, but when I was sitting here looking at my new and old class D amps together it was really hard for me to make out any similarity between the two amps. The ORION amp has this rather hefty power supply side with all of these caps and chokes and large multi strand wires and large copper traces on the PCB to move the massive amounts of current around inside the amp. Like that beefy transformer in the class A amplifiers that Nelson Pass designs that lurks just under the vented top and lets you know even before hearing it that, "I'm here to do some heavy lifting."🏋️♀️ "Hold my beer". Being fed a DC current it lacks the massive transformer but the ORION still has that same swagger and that's what is so hard to except when looking at the Icepower PSU and even the amps themselves that these components really do what they say they do and don't need that big transformer to get it done. I admit it has taken a little getting used to.
Plus there is always a certain kind of cool factor with having a huge toroidal transformer that weighs around 20 pounds lurking right there just under the vented cover so you can see it sitting there looking like a serious piece of kit, that way now body doubts the wattage claims silk screened across the front face plate, 10,000 giga watts RMS.
The other day I decided that I was going to get rid of my 96 Ford Exploder. I have my work truck that I drive all the time and as of about a year ago I have a 2016 Mustang GT convertible to drive around in when I'm not working and want to have some fun. So over the last year my Exploder has just been sitting there basically rotting. A check engine light is keeping me from being able to complete the registration due to no smog certification. It's nothing I can't fix and if it where my only vehicle as it was for a number of years I would have fixed it already but as it is now I can't find time nor energy to fix it so it's off to the junk yard.
It was a very good truck and I got my money out of it a thousand times over but it's time to get rid of it, but not before I pull my sound system out of it.
The one thing I do miss is driving around listening to music. Over the years she has gotten a little bit tired and was due for some new speakers but it still rocked. Pulling everything out of there was difficult considering how much time was spent installing it all, but I did. Once I had it all out the vehicle I was looking every thing over really good deciding what to do with it all and I decided to open up the back of my big mono block amp I was using to drive my sub woofers with. It's a really nice "old school" ORION XTR PRO 2400 WATT class D thumper. It's actually a pretty rare amp because it was only in production for one year and they didn't make all that many of them but it has been my primary center piece that has been the beating heart of the system since I acquired it back around 2004 or 2005 and she has always delivered. Of course you have to feed her because she is a current hungry beast but when properly fed she doesn't disappoint.Long story short🙄 I'm sitting here staring at the amp guts, I haven't seen the inside of this amp since I put it in my Exploder back when I got it, and I'm thinking to my self, class D sure has evolved. Here is a class D mono block sub woofer amp that at the time it was made was up there with the best of the big watt, big power, big boy amps and it is substantial. It is a large amp. Today I can get a 5000 watt amp from the same company, (at least in name) that produces twice the power out put while not putting any more demand on the charging system then my old one. It will be 1/3 of the size and weight, will run cold to the touch at around 95% efficiency and boast better specs. To top it all off it will cost 1/3 of what my old one did.
Back then class D was for sub woofer amps only and primarily for car audio. The general consensus was that class D was to noisy to use in serious hi fi home systems, so you really got to give credit to these guys designing class D car audio amplifiers because they are the ones that really pushed class D design forward. It was in their interests to develop good class D designs that could out put big power on the limited 12 volt power supply. I think a lot of those engineers designing class D car audio migrated to the larger and more profitable home and pro audio markets and maybe that's why we have such great sounding class D technology today.
Maybe, but when I was sitting here looking at my new and old class D amps together it was really hard for me to make out any similarity between the two amps. The ORION amp has this rather hefty power supply side with all of these caps and chokes and large multi strand wires and large copper traces on the PCB to move the massive amounts of current around inside the amp. Like that beefy transformer in the class A amplifiers that Nelson Pass designs that lurks just under the vented top and lets you know even before hearing it that, "I'm here to do some heavy lifting."🏋️♀️ "Hold my beer". Being fed a DC current it lacks the massive transformer but the ORION still has that same swagger and that's what is so hard to except when looking at the Icepower PSU and even the amps themselves that these components really do what they say they do and don't need that big transformer to get it done. I admit it has taken a little getting used to.
Have you possibly considered using a linier power supply for powering those 300A2's? You might find a PSU that you can build in the power supply forum from somebody who may even have PCB's you can get. Of course then you have a large transformer in the case along with some large capacitors and it won't be nearly as efficient which equates to more heat in the case but at least you won't have to worry about noise from a switching PSU.
Plus there is always a certain kind of cool factor with having a huge toroidal transformer that weighs around 20 pounds lurking right there just under the vented cover so you can see it sitting there looking like a serious piece of kit, that way now body doubts the wattage claims silk screened across the front face plate, 10,000 giga watts RMS.
The other day I decided that I was going to get rid of my 96 Ford Exploder. I have my work truck that I drive all the time and as of about a year ago I have a 2016 Mustang GT convertible to drive around in when I'm not working and want to have some fun. So over the last year my Exploder has just been sitting there basically rotting. A check engine light is keeping me from being able to complete the registration due to no smog certification. It's nothing I can't fix and if it where my only vehicle as it was for a number of years I would have fixed it already but as it is now I can't find time nor energy to fix it so it's off to the junk yard.
It was a very good truck and I got my money out of it a thousand times over but it's time to get rid of it, but not before I pull my sound system out of it.
Long story short🙄 I'm sitting here staring at the amp guts, I haven't seen the inside of this amp since I put it in my Exploder back when I got it, and I'm thinking to my self, class D sure has evolved. Here is a class D mono block sub woofer amp that at the time it was made was up there with the best of the big watt, big power, big boy amps and it is substantial. It is a large amp. Today I can get a 5000 watt amp from the same company, (at least in name) that produces twice the power out put while not putting any more demand on the charging system then my old one. It will be 1/3 of the size and weight, will run cold to the touch at around 95% efficiency and boast better specs. To top it all off it will cost 1/3 of what my old one did.
Back then class D was for sub woofer amps only and primarily for car audio. The general consensus was that class D was to noisy to use in serious hi fi home systems, so you really got to give credit to these guys designing class D car audio amplifiers because they are the ones that really pushed class D design forward. It was in their interests to develop good class D designs that could out put big power on the limited 12 volt power supply. I think a lot of those engineers designing class D car audio migrated to the larger and more profitable home and pro audio markets and maybe that's why we have such great sounding class D technology today.
Maybe, but when I was sitting here looking at my new and old class D amps together it was really hard for me to make out any similarity between the two amps. The ORION amp has this rather hefty power supply side with all of these caps and chokes and large multi strand wires and large copper traces on the PCB to move the massive amounts of current around inside the amp. Like that beefy transformer in the class A amplifiers that Nelson Pass designs that lurks just under the vented top and lets you know even before hearing it that, "I'm here to do some heavy lifting."🏋️♀️ "Hold my beer". Being fed a DC current it lacks the massive transformer but the ORION still has that same swagger and that's what is so hard to except when looking at the Icepower PSU and even the amps themselves that these components really do what they say they do and don't need that big transformer to get it done. I admit it has taken a little getting used to.
I haven't really thought about a linear power supply as I wanted something smaller. I've used Hypex NC252MP with integrated SMPS in the past and have been very impressed with the performance (easily meet rated power on the bench) although I admit it was somewhat hard to accept something so small and light could put out so much power.
Man the car audio talk brings back memories, I was big in to car audio in the 2004-2006 timeframe. That was where I first learned about DSP based active systems and that has been my approach to speaker building pretty much ever since.
Michael
I am somewhat up and running with a Micro Audio SMPS1K and a single 300A2 module. Had a bit of an issue tracking down appropriate housing / contacts for the 300A2 as the ICEpower cable kits are out of stock and the raw JST components are also very difficult to find. In the end I was able to get there by finding substitutes from TE and now have all the appropriate connectors.
Haven't done tons of listening as I wanted to tease out issues on the bench first. I ordered an extra capacitor PCB as I knew bus pumping was a concern. Here is a frequency response comparison of a single channel driven at ~15 W in to 8 ohm. As you can see things get ugly below 80 Hz but the extra capacitors take care of that.
Also ran a power vs level sweep at 1 kHz for one channel driven in to 8 ohm. This measurement is done with a MOTU M4 as an input / output device which adds it's own noise / distortion in to the mix so do not take these numbers as absolute. Also these measurements were done with the amp / power supply not in any sort of enclosure and it is very sensitive to wiring orientation currently so I am sure there is more to optimize there. Short story is just below 150 W in to 8 ohm at onset of clipping and 160 W in to 8 ohm at 1% THD+N which is in line with the datasheet.
Turn on / off is silent, FFT shows 2 mV integrated noise worst case on turn-on. Overall very happy with the 300A2 and the Micro Audio power supply. Next step is to add more modules / channels and make sure everything is still well behaved. Current plan is to have two 2 300A2s for one power supply in a single chassis.
Michael
Haven't done tons of listening as I wanted to tease out issues on the bench first. I ordered an extra capacitor PCB as I knew bus pumping was a concern. Here is a frequency response comparison of a single channel driven at ~15 W in to 8 ohm. As you can see things get ugly below 80 Hz but the extra capacitors take care of that.
Also ran a power vs level sweep at 1 kHz for one channel driven in to 8 ohm. This measurement is done with a MOTU M4 as an input / output device which adds it's own noise / distortion in to the mix so do not take these numbers as absolute. Also these measurements were done with the amp / power supply not in any sort of enclosure and it is very sensitive to wiring orientation currently so I am sure there is more to optimize there. Short story is just below 150 W in to 8 ohm at onset of clipping and 160 W in to 8 ohm at 1% THD+N which is in line with the datasheet.
Turn on / off is silent, FFT shows 2 mV integrated noise worst case on turn-on. Overall very happy with the 300A2 and the Micro Audio power supply. Next step is to add more modules / channels and make sure everything is still well behaved. Current plan is to have two 2 300A2s for one power supply in a single chassis.
Michael
You only need two out of the three listed above. Either the +/- 4.5 to 5.5 OR the +/- 7 to 17 VDC, but not both.
Good to see your up and running. So how many of the 300A mods can you run on one of these power supplies? Does the PSU have the proper voltage for the V-drive? It must because you are running it.
Mine is dead silent on turn without the DSP needing to come on at the same time. If it is started first then once it is up then the amps are switched it is silent but if the amps come on before the DSP is done then I get noise. Since both are in the box with the one power button I'm trying to figure out how to use the timing to my advantage. Otherwise I will have to wire it to leave the DSP on in standby.
It's kind on hold till I get my speakers done though. They are taking up all of my time at this moment.
I ordered a SMPS1K-PFCR2 with the following voltages:
+/- 55 VDC (main output rails)
+/- 12 VDC (auxiliary voltage)
+ 15 VDC (driver voltage)
I've successfully run two modules on the SMPS1K-PFCR2. I don't think it will handle any more due to current limitations on the auxiliary voltage output and I wouldn't get full power out of the modules if I ran more than two per power supply. I have three of these supplies on hand with a plan to build (3) four channel amps.
I also just received a 630-G with the same auxiliary and driver voltages but with +/- 61 VDC rails, have yet to try it out though as I was waiting for parts for my extra capacitors PCB which just arrived. I only plan on using one module with this supply.
Michael
+/- 55 VDC (main output rails)
+/- 12 VDC (auxiliary voltage)
+ 15 VDC (driver voltage)
I've successfully run two modules on the SMPS1K-PFCR2. I don't think it will handle any more due to current limitations on the auxiliary voltage output and I wouldn't get full power out of the modules if I ran more than two per power supply. I have three of these supplies on hand with a plan to build (3) four channel amps.
I also just received a 630-G with the same auxiliary and driver voltages but with +/- 61 VDC rails, have yet to try it out though as I was waiting for parts for my extra capacitors PCB which just arrived. I only plan on using one module with this supply.
Michael
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Nice! May I ask how long it took for the 630-G to arrive after you placed the order? Also, does it come with any wiring harnesses?