I turned off the computer. The computer served as the ground. The channel imbalance was apparent in white noise.
As I listened to music, I noticed that the right side was 1dBv louder than the left.
So, I compensated by decreasing the right volume of my onboard soundcard by 1dBv.
However, the channel imbalance may not be consistent across all frequencies.
Is it common for a cheap generic class-d amp to have 1dBv of channel imbalance?
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Sorry for chiming in a bit late here, but I use a TI TPA3255EVM amp in PBTL mode powered by the Mean Well LRS-350-48 with a pair of KEF LS50’s, and this makes an incredible combination. Your KEF’s will really sing with this amount of drive. When I powered my KEF LS50’s with the TI amp, I was taken back by the level of control I heard. Bass notes were complete and went deeper than I ever thought a small monitor could produce. The treble sweetened up as the amp burned in. If you want, you can have a pair running in BTL mode as mono blocks which will allow the TI amp modules to drive down to 2-4 ohms easily. You’ll need proper speaker cables for this combination, and I highly recommend using a loosely twisted pair of Duelund DCA16GA or DCA12GA Tinned Copper wire with bare wire ends.
With the TI amps connected in differential (balanced) mode with a source with volume control and balanced outputs, you will really be blown away with how transparent these amps can be. I connected a Pono Player with the ESS DACs and Ayre-designed analog output section to the TI amp, and it was shockingly awesome. For other sources, I suggest a very good preamp. The Pass DIY B1 with Korg NuTube Triode preamp offers additional gain along with that holographic triode sound signature. Paired with the TI TPA3255EVM amp, it makes a ridiculously budget-friendly high end amplification system that will compete with many high end audio systems.
I wouldn't worry about 1dBv gain difference. If you look at the TPA3116 datasheet (section 6.5), the gain accuracy is stated to be within 1dB from "typical", thus within a 2dB margin. So, 1dB is well within.
I have a generic TPA3255 amp and a generic TPA3251 amp. Both amps have ~1dB of channel imbalance in input gain. It's not TPA3116.
Is it common for TPA3251 and TPA3255 to have 1~2dB of channel imbalance in input gain?
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Thanks for your detailed impressions of this amp. I agree that it is an excellent amp - able to hold its own against many of the top Clads AB amps in this power range. What I have noticed is this amp surprisingly quiet. Shockingly so.
LS50 sound like a great combo. Have you tried it in SE output mode (cap coupled)?
The channel imbalance was actually caused by water trapped in my left ear. Water makes higher frequencies quieter. My left ear tends to trap water after a shower. After removing water from my left ear, I confirmed that there is no apparent channel imbalance in my generic TPA3255 amplifier.
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Thank you for your reply, this is really useful information and very encouraging! I think based on yours and Turbowatch2’s reply I’m going to go dual mono. Do you or anyone else have any ideas what would sound better, either use the dedicated mono boards from 3eaudio or run two TI TPA3255’s in PBTL mode? Forums tend to suggest the latter sounds better but I haven’t seen this exact question asked.
Thanks
