Have you ever tried the light controlled variable resistor volume 'pot'? I hear that it is the best volume control as it is very linear, smooth, and no noise as there are no moving parts.
Yes I have, probably 5 or 6 years ago. It was built into a small preamp and it was a nice sounding unit, quite transparent.
change the input caps to something better. a 1uf polyester should be easy to source. that should be the easiest thing to mod.
I am a bit overwhelmed by all the volume pot choices. Do you have any recommendations for a few reasonably priced options that will show improvement?
I got my amp from one of the vendor at Aliexpress. The 17$ price included shipping - great deal. It was the same board (from Yuanjing) that everyone is selling. This is the first time that I bought something from Aliexpress and the sale went well.
Regards,
I have purchased over a dozen articles from the Aliexprss site over the last 12 months or so and have always been very satisfied.
The only fly in the ointment is that they spam a little, but it's acceptable, the prices are so good.
No specific recommendations. I tried a number of pots in the 10-50K range that I had on hand. The stock pot isn't terrible, but the tracking is pretty spotty and it wasn't hard to improve upon it. I'm sure even a 25K Alpha would be better and they are not too expensive. It's a real fun board to experiment with.
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That is a great deal if shipping is included. How can anyone not bother to try it out?
Finally it has arrived WITH casing:
Finished Class D Amp TPA3116 2 1 Amplifier 2 50W 100 w AQ | eBay
Finished Class D Amp TPA3116 2 1 Amplifier 2 50W 100 w AQ | eBay
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Never underestimate the value of decent trible and volvme.
DO TELL ME about your "tricked out" version. I am building one as well, and want to swap some ideas
Judging from the name - YJHIFI, looks like Yuanjing is getting into finished goods in addition to just making modules.
For whatever reason(s), the EBay link is broken. Would someone tell me what is the price for this nice-looking amp (except for the "trible and volvme blunder")?
Regards,
I love the misspelled Trible and Volvme - these will be rare collector's items after they fix it, if they ever do I would bet that with the case, the price will be circa $50. Very nice looking box (misspelled silkscreen notwhithstanding).
I have the TPA3116D2 (home-built version using PCB from @DUG) and compared this to a non-tricked out TA2020 (Lepai) and there is no comparison. The TPA3116D2 blows it away. This is with my DIY full range speakers (typically BLH or MLTL type speakers) - I hear better clarity, deeper bass, better imaging and spatial presentation. I have compared it to a derivative of the LM3886 chip amp (a smaller 25 w/ch car audio amp from Sony) and the TPA3116D2 is better in everyway. I have compared it to a nice Yamaha RX360 class AB with 45 watts/ch and the TPA3116D2 is still better (at a fraction of the cost and fraction of the volume). The Yamaha is quite nice - bass is comparable, but still loses out in clarity, micro-details, and imaging. If you have a chance do an A/B test with your favorite amp/speaker combo and you will be surprised how good this cheap little amp is.
I have certain tracks where I test for the phantom stereo representation of a live performer or band and the TPA3116D2 will give me the clarity and imaging to close my eyes and "see" the performer there in the room and I can pinpoint the instrument locations relative to each other. Not all the other amps I have can do this all the time.
I would bet that with the case, the price will be circa $50. Very nice looking box (misspelled silkscreen notwhithstanding).I have the TPA3116D2 (home-built version using PCB from @DUG) and compared this to a non-tricked out TA2020 (Lepai) and there is no comparison. The TPA3116D2 blows it away. This is with my DIY full range speakers (typically BLH or MLTL type speakers) - I hear better clarity, deeper bass, better imaging and spatial presentation. I have compared it to a derivative of the LM3886 chip amp (a smaller 25 w/ch car audio amp from Sony) and the TPA3116D2 is better in everyway. I have compared it to a nice Yamaha RX360 class AB with 45 watts/ch and the TPA3116D2 is still better (at a fraction of the cost and fraction of the volume). The Yamaha is quite nice - bass is comparable, but still loses out in clarity, micro-details, and imaging. If you have a chance do an A/B test with your favorite amp/speaker combo and you will be surprised how good this cheap little amp is.
I have certain tracks where I test for the phantom stereo representation of a live performer or band and the TPA3116D2 will give me the clarity and imaging to close my eyes and "see" the performer there in the room and I can pinpoint the instrument locations relative to each other. Not all the other amps I have can do this all the time.
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I guess they were withdrawn because of the translation, I bet the QC dept. got in big TRIBLE!, probably sentenced to hard manual farm labour
I would like to know if the lows are filtered in anyway from the left and right channels on the 2.1 amps?
I have the dirt cheap YJ 3116 stereo board and love it.
Of course not. You're comparing an optimally designed TPA3116 amp to the worst TA2020 amp on the market. There should be no comparison as the exact same things you note is better is the exact same thing a decent quality TA2020 amp also does better than the Lepai.
That being said. I do consider the TPA311x chip better than TA2020. Mind you though that the YangJing amps linked here are far from as well designed as the @BUG. It is for some reason designed for 8-16 ohm, not 4-8 ohm. And will on a normal 4 ohm load perform considerably worse than a (decent) TA2020 amp.