good afternoon,
after endless time spent doing research, and changing my mind countless times, i'm really needing to just make a decision and buy my equipment.
i'm sure no matter which i choose, it will be a substantial improvement over my current Sony receiver
i'll be driving a modest pair of Fluance AVFR speakers, that are happy between 100-125 watts RMS.
my first choice is Class D Audio's CDA-254. it's the most expensive option, but still under $150 so i'm not going to cry about the cost. it certainly has good specifications and many good reviews here on DIYaudio. the compact foot-print is perfect for my application. my only (small) complaint is that it doesn't have built-in speaker protection circuits, so i'll need to buy that as additional modules.
the only hesitation i've got from immediately buying the CDA-254 is two offerings from HifiMeDIY :
their stereo T4 MCAP, which (other than being nearly twice the size of the CDA-254) seems to be very similar animal for just a little more than half the price! and it includes speaker protect relays. HifiMeDIY is a less generous with any specifics about the performance of their amplifiers, so i can't directly compare the S:N or THD, but i imagine at my lower listening level they will both be very fine. again, DIYaudio is full of satisfied reviews for this amplifer as well.
the last option is getting a pair of HifiMeDIY's T3 mono TK2050 amps. a pair of these is just over half the cost of the CDA-254... and i've seen high praise for these little amps as well. my only extra hesitation for the T3 is if it is the consensus that i would need two SMPS PSU's, instead of powering them both from one PSU. unless the cautions of ground-loop distortions from sharing a PSU are a myth?
i don't suppose anyone here has direct experience to be able to compare these three, or the CDA-254 against either of the offerings from HifiMeDIY.
it seems like so much of decisions boils down to personal choice and preference that you can only know after you listen to the amplifiers in question
i'm leaning heavily towards the CDA-254, if anything because of its compact size and maybe hoping that in a world of frequently "getting what you pay for", that the extra $60 is worth it in the end.
thanks for any suggestions!
after endless time spent doing research, and changing my mind countless times, i'm really needing to just make a decision and buy my equipment.
i'm sure no matter which i choose, it will be a substantial improvement over my current Sony receiver
i'll be driving a modest pair of Fluance AVFR speakers, that are happy between 100-125 watts RMS.my first choice is Class D Audio's CDA-254. it's the most expensive option, but still under $150 so i'm not going to cry about the cost. it certainly has good specifications and many good reviews here on DIYaudio. the compact foot-print is perfect for my application. my only (small) complaint is that it doesn't have built-in speaker protection circuits, so i'll need to buy that as additional modules.
the only hesitation i've got from immediately buying the CDA-254 is two offerings from HifiMeDIY :
their stereo T4 MCAP, which (other than being nearly twice the size of the CDA-254) seems to be very similar animal for just a little more than half the price! and it includes speaker protect relays. HifiMeDIY is a less generous with any specifics about the performance of their amplifiers, so i can't directly compare the S:N or THD, but i imagine at my lower listening level they will both be very fine. again, DIYaudio is full of satisfied reviews for this amplifer as well.
the last option is getting a pair of HifiMeDIY's T3 mono TK2050 amps. a pair of these is just over half the cost of the CDA-254... and i've seen high praise for these little amps as well. my only extra hesitation for the T3 is if it is the consensus that i would need two SMPS PSU's, instead of powering them both from one PSU. unless the cautions of ground-loop distortions from sharing a PSU are a myth?
i don't suppose anyone here has direct experience to be able to compare these three, or the CDA-254 against either of the offerings from HifiMeDIY.
it seems like so much of decisions boils down to personal choice and preference that you can only know after you listen to the amplifiers in question
i'm leaning heavily towards the CDA-254, if anything because of its compact size and maybe hoping that in a world of frequently "getting what you pay for", that the extra $60 is worth it in the end.
thanks for any suggestions!
hi, im running a T4 mcap, a T3mono MCAP and a T1m here.
all 3 sound totally awesome, as far as you can say an amplifier "sounds".
in other word, there is absolutly nothing except the music, no white noise, no sounding, nothing.
the SNR is good, from 90db/1W speakers, i cant hear any noise above 50cm distance.
my vote goes for the hifimediy-solution
all 3 sound totally awesome, as far as you can say an amplifier "sounds".
in other word, there is absolutly nothing except the music, no white noise, no sounding, nothing.
the SNR is good, from 90db/1W speakers, i cant hear any noise above 50cm distance.
my vote goes for the hifimediy-solution
I used to have a couple Class D Audio SDS-470 amps... Same amp IC (irs2092), though mine was rated for much higher power and was the fancier sds series.
I also have a hifimediy tk2090 amp... The T1 I believe.
I sold the class d audio amps because I found I could get what I needed with tpa3116 based amps, and have a smaller footprint, lower power consumption/heat, and less money invested. My speakers are slightly less efficient than yours, and I have more then enough power with tpa3116, even for my whole living room (though our listening levels are quite modest).
What set me off on the tpa311x path was trying the $10 Sure tpa3110 board (the 3110 is very similar to the 3116). This thing, to me, sounded noticeably better than the tk2050 based amp.
If you need more power than the tpa3116 can provide, then the irs2092 is a good solution. But unless you generally like ear splitting volume, I'd be surprised if the tpa3116 couldn't provide enough volume for you.
There's an enormous thread here in the class d forum about these amps. Skim it over for some ideas... there are super cheap boards that can sound pretty good with some mods, decent fully-built amps, and everything in between.
Food for thought, if nothing else.
I also have a hifimediy tk2090 amp... The T1 I believe.
I sold the class d audio amps because I found I could get what I needed with tpa3116 based amps, and have a smaller footprint, lower power consumption/heat, and less money invested. My speakers are slightly less efficient than yours, and I have more then enough power with tpa3116, even for my whole living room (though our listening levels are quite modest).
What set me off on the tpa311x path was trying the $10 Sure tpa3110 board (the 3110 is very similar to the 3116). This thing, to me, sounded noticeably better than the tk2050 based amp.
If you need more power than the tpa3116 can provide, then the irs2092 is a good solution. But unless you generally like ear splitting volume, I'd be surprised if the tpa3116 couldn't provide enough volume for you.
There's an enormous thread here in the class d forum about these amps. Skim it over for some ideas... there are super cheap boards that can sound pretty good with some mods, decent fully-built amps, and everything in between.
Food for thought, if nothing else.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.