Most cheap D-amp modules have a diode in the + supply line, this should help against most SMPS problems and make it possible to use multiple modules with one power supply. I have not seen the master/ slave configuration as an option at any cheap board. Even some TI engineers advice to ignore it.
Active speaker usually use 70% power for bass and the remaining 30% for mid/high.
Also the low amp may disturb the higher frequency. So giving them two power supplies, if you have three of them, seems the best idea.
These "click´s" may have their cause in some part of your chain. The usual way is to take components away and look what happens.
Most of the D-amps safety devices switch on and off until the fault is removed. This may be short cut, low voltage or DC somewhere. You got to search for it.
Active speaker usually use 70% power for bass and the remaining 30% for mid/high.
Also the low amp may disturb the higher frequency. So giving them two power supplies, if you have three of them, seems the best idea.
These "click´s" may have their cause in some part of your chain. The usual way is to take components away and look what happens.
Most of the D-amps safety devices switch on and off until the fault is removed. This may be short cut, low voltage or DC somewhere. You got to search for it.
Thank you Turbowatch and XRK! I found the cause of the clicking sound, it was the 12V wallwart I had for testing, the laptop bricks were all okay, even when the music is not playing there's no hum/click at all. I connected the midrange pair and the tweeter pair to 1 brick and 1 brick for each of the woofer boards. Finally was able to test paxor with this setup, it was really awesome. The boards were able to drive the 10inch woofers without any problems, although the brick for the midrange and tweeter is warmer than the 2 for the woofers. Is that okay, in the long run? I mean I thought it would be the bricks for the woofer that would be pushing out more. I switched the bricks and it's the same. It's not really hot though, just warm to the touch. I had them run the whole afternoon and then the evening yesterday and played around with the crossover. I didn't do any mods to the boards yet, as of now I really like the way they sound. This weekend I'll mod a spare pair of boards just to compare.
Thanks again!
Thanks again!Might be related, maybe not. When powered on without signal, the ampboards run warmer than when playing music. In a three way tri-amp (3 times 3118) speaker the tweeter amplifier here gets warmer than both mid and bass amps, playing music. Crossed-over, filtered before signal goes to 3118 amps.
The tweeter/ mid amp running hotter than one would expect, to me seems quite normal. Any amp has a basic consumption, and very low power signals are generated much less efficient than high moves of the bass cone. Look at the datasheet of your amp-IC.
In general, if something gets so hot you do not like to touch it, increase the heat sink or air flow. Warm is quite OK.
Personally I prefer active loudspeakers over passive ones, first because of quality, second about lower costs if you go high end, compared to passive x-overs.
On the other side, the concept of cramping electronics in the loudspeaker cabinet is not a very smart idea.
Marketing mostly failed to sell such construction for HIFI.
In my set up the speaker is build to perform acoustically, while the amp has it´s own, purpose build housing.
The active sub woofer, while accepted with HIFI and HT users, is not the best technical solution, as electronics strongly dislike vibrations. Maybe the WAF play´s an important role in this case, as the "he" may only be allowed to carry one part into the house at a time?
In general, if something gets so hot you do not like to touch it, increase the heat sink or air flow. Warm is quite OK.
Personally I prefer active loudspeakers over passive ones, first because of quality, second about lower costs if you go high end, compared to passive x-overs.
On the other side, the concept of cramping electronics in the loudspeaker cabinet is not a very smart idea.
Marketing mostly failed to sell such construction for HIFI.
In my set up the speaker is build to perform acoustically, while the amp has it´s own, purpose build housing.
The active sub woofer, while accepted with HIFI and HT users, is not the best technical solution, as electronics strongly dislike vibrations. Maybe the WAF play´s an important role in this case, as the "he" may only be allowed to carry one part into the house at a time?
Sanwu 3118 boards are, as far as I know, made in China. What is genuine and what is fake?
I have boards bought here:
DC8 24V TPA3118 PBTL 60W Mono amplificateur Audio numerique carte amplificateur Module puce 1X60W 4 8 Ohms remplacer TPA3110 pour Arduino on AliExpress
1 pieces TPA3118 PBTL mono carte d'amplificateur numerique 1X60W 12V 24V-in Circuits integres from Composants electroniques et fournitures on AliExpress
and they work.
I have boards bought here:
DC8 24V TPA3118 PBTL 60W Mono amplificateur Audio numerique carte amplificateur Module puce 1X60W 4 8 Ohms remplacer TPA3110 pour Arduino on AliExpress
1 pieces TPA3118 PBTL mono carte d'amplificateur numerique 1X60W 12V 24V-in Circuits integres from Composants electroniques et fournitures on AliExpress
and they work.
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thanks frenchfaux
sorry if i am mistaken ...
it was my belief sanwu are regarded highly for the quality of their boards out of the box and frequently recommended as a value proposition SPPV on here...
am i wrong are all pbtl boards created equal?
Indeed; my understanding is that Sanwu are an integrator/distributor, rather than a manufacturer, much in the same way as Nobsound, Drok, Aiyima etc. They all source product from different manufacturing houses, hence the variability of components used and perceived/real audio and manufacturing quality.
i see , so some sanwu boards may be great , others less so ? take a punt on a cheap 3118 pbtl mono board and hope for the best is the current advice? or are their recommendations i have missed?
apologies for noobyness.
I have had a number of these blue Sanwu boards and they all worked. "Regarded highly" is perhaps a bit exaggerated with a product that cheap but at least the boards tend to work. That board is from the very basic range but can still give you a lot of good sound.
At a much higher price you find brands like 3e-Audio and there the quality difference to the basic boards is remarkable. But, for a first project the Sanwu TPA3118 is ideal.
Good luck with it.
It depends largely on the amplifier.
For smaller TPA3116/18 amplifiers, a "brick" (laptop charger) is one of the most suited power supplies. With a good size decoupling capacitor at the output of the "brick" and before the amplifier, the amplifier performs well and the cost of amplifier/power supply is in balance. You do not put the best and most expensive Pirelli tires on and old VW Beetle simply because such high-tech tires will bring very little improvement to the Beetle.
With better amplifier chips (TPA3251 and TPA3255 as examples), a "brick" is no longer sufficient power-wise and you may buy for instance a MeanWell power supply. MeanWell power supplies have a good name for reliability but you would hardly hear a difference if you used the MeanWell power supply with a TPA3118 amplifier.
For even better and more powerful amplifiers, you may look for rather expensive power supplies particularly suited for the particular amplifiers. Perhaps Hypex makes power supplies as well, perhaps ICEPower or perhaps Connex? If made particularly for power amplifiers, the power supplies should have improved load response. Good, but "overkill" with a TPA3118 amplifier.
As far as I know for power supplies, it is not so that you have some brands that always guarantee the ultimate amplifier performance.
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I would argue the "good size decoupling capacitor" would do more good at the amplifier's power input, than right at the output of the "brick" (wire inductance and feedback loop stability being what they are)
I would argue the "good size decoupling capacitor" would do more good at the amplifier's power input, than right at the output of the "brick" (wire inductance and feedback loop stability being what they are)
Right you are once again.
There is less quality difference between 3118chip and 3255chip than between different 3118 ampboards. Some 3118 ampboards are/were sold for higher prices than some 3255 ampboards. I think 3118/3116 chips are out of production btw, 3128/3156 the new versions? You can hear a difference between powersupplies, more easy than between input coupling capacitors LOL
The TPA3116 series chips are often most happy on 24 volts.
They will give you 35w/ch on 8 ohms at 24 volts, but at 19 they're probably not getting past 15 and since the gain is the same, they're prone to premature clipping.
On thing I do when bringing in mini-amps for friends is to upgrade the internal bulk capacitors. A lot of these boards are using 25 volt caps which are danger-close to their limits with a 24 volt supply. So I generally up the value to 2200uf and 35 volts. Curiously, the provision for this is often right on the board, as you can see in the photos. Yes, you can hear the difference.
I send them out with 24 volt, 5 amp smps bricks.
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This one seems ideal and the price is fine:
24V 5A Power Supply Adapter 110V-220V Cable for YJ Amp TPA3116 Class D Amplifier | eBay
24V 5A Power Supply Adapter 110V-220V Cable for YJ Amp TPA3116 Class D Amplifier | eBay