Do you recommend chinese TPA3255 amps?

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Also, the volume knob problem means a product misdesign which could have leaked into other aspects. For example, amirm had to turn FX502S Pro on and off several times before the amp stopped producing extreme distortions which he could hear. I don't know whether it was a defective unit or a product misdesign. Extreme distortion is what I was worried about.
Amir had to move volume knob many times (I don't know for what reason) and yes it can trigger protection when crossing 2 o'clock, but it is not happening every time as Amir say. Distortions never happened to me, but one channel was silenced. It doesn't mean the amp is not usable beyond 2 o'clock, simply leave the knob alone when you play loud music, will be fine. I normally fix a volume between 9 and 11 o'clock, as it sounds the best. With this settings my speakers will complain when I set a maximum volume in Foobar.

The amp sounds good (for this price very good) and it is the most important.
 
CowCat,
Numerous people have made suggestions and you seem to have an issue with each and everyone of them. Tell us what are your must have requirements?
What power, what impedance, etc. from reading your replies you seem to want performance of a custom TPA3255 in a case with PSU for the price of a TPA3255 amp board ($80). That’s not going to happen.

However, if you want more headroom than a TPA3116, I can highly recommend this amp. I have two of them and love the sound - quality is excellent, massive external brick SMPS. No hiss or hum. Has BT, but you don’t have to use it. Plenty of power at 60w.

It’s the Dayton DTA-120BTV2. I have V1 so V2 is even better. The case is superbly made and looks very nice. The older version can sometimes be found for under $80.

Dayton Audio DTA-120BT2 Class D Mini Amplifier 60 WPC with Bluetooth

Review here:
YouTube

60w is probably all you need, and really, a good 15w is all you need for most music. The TPA3255 is a 120w Class A with much more expensive psu requirements. My TPA3255’s CoilCraft SER inductors are $24 alone. BOM is about $140 total. PSU is another $45. No case or connectors etc yet. You can’t expect premium parts from eBay/Aliexpress budget amps.

That seems like a good little amp with bluetooth connectivity.

I decided to order a chinese TPA3251 amp with a 32V 5A adapter because I don't use bluetooth and the built-in headphone amp of DTA-120BT2 and it costs about half as much as DTA-120BT2 along with the shipping fee.

It also has a bit more headroom than DTA-120BT2.

One downside is that it doesn't have manufacturer warranty. Its warranty is aliexpress.com's 60-day money back guarantee. That's why it's cheap.

Considering Dayton Audio may not pay for round trip shipping fees, it is not such a big downside. A round trip could cost more than a chinese TPA3251 amp.
 
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That TPA3251 board uses the same Elna 35V RJD 3000uF power caps I bought at Ebay last year (~€5 for 6) to replace some 35V fake 'Nichicon' caps on TPA3116 boards which didn't seem to like 24V after a half year of use. I could not find this model in the ELNA spec sheet but they look real.




 
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Hi all, this is Kelmund, may I ask which ready made amplifier from China will be suitable to drive my audio setup nicely? I will be using it to drive my pair of KEF coda 7 rated 6 ohms from my phone's bluetooth.

Currently, i have Aiyima tpa3116d2 which doesn't drive the pair of speakers well. Below is the link for those who are keen:
AIYIMA Mini Amplificador Bluetooth 5.0 Power Subwoofer Amplifier 2.1 TPA3116 Class D Digital Hifi Fever Audio Home Amplifiers-in Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on AliExpress - 11.11_Double 11_Singles' Day

Youtube link for the test with my house's Shinco speaker 2.1 works ok.
YouTube

Below are some potential made amplifier i sourced:

ABGN Hot Tpa3255 Bluetooth 5.0 Digital Audio Amplifier 325Wx2 High Power Class D 2.0 Channel Amp Dac Pcm5102 Decoding For Phon-in Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on AliExpress - 11.11_Double 11_Singles' Day

AIYIMA TDA7498E Digital Amplifier 160W*2 Stereo High Power Audio Amplifier 2.0 Amplificador Low Distortion Home Theater-in Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on AliExpress - 11.11_Double 11_Singles' Day

2019 I.AM.D V200BT Bluetooth@5.0 CSR8675 Support APTX HD Full Digital Audio Power Amplifier 150W*2 USB XMOS U208 24Bit/192KHz-in Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on AliExpress - 11.11_Double 11_Singles' Day

Same with power supply included? Don't know if its a linear psu?
2019 New I.AM.D V200/V200BT Full Digital Audio Amplifier Bluetooth 5.0 CSR8765 APTX +LPS210 Linear Power Supply AC110V Optional-in Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on AliExpress - 11.11_Double 11_Singles' Day

Anyone with a different recommendation or any views about the above amps?
Thanks for your help.

Hi CowCat, how is the Tilear system you had bought? Is it any good?
 
Hi CowCat, how is the Tilear system you had bought? Is it any good?

The tilear TPA3251 amp I have sounds fine, but it has two issues.

1. Channel imbalance at very low levels of the volume pot
2. High input gain makes it sound loud at low volume.

Thus, I often find myself tweaking the volume pot so that it is not too loud but is still above the point where channel imbalance becomes perceptible. The useable range of volume is narrow without RCA attenuators which I don't plan to buy anytime soon.

Recently, I received ABGN Hot Tpa3255 Bluetooth 5.0 Digital Audio Amplifier and AIYIMA 32V 5A power adapter(3205000). I use the chinese TPA3255 amplifier with the chinese 32V 5A power adapter. The TPA3255 amplifier sounds fine. This one also has channel imbalance at very low levels of the volume pot, but it has much lower input gain. Thus, I can comfortably adjust the volume knob far above the point where channel imbalance becomes perceptible.

I haven't tested 2.1 channel TPA3255 amplifiers. It seems the crossover implementations of 2.1 channel TPA3255 amplifiers are not good. I recommend crossover implementations outside amplifier. Also, I haven't proven to myself that 2.1 channel TPA3255 amplifiers don't have high input gain.
 
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The tilear TPA3251 amp I have sounds fine, but it has two issues.

1. Channel imbalance at very low levels of the volume pot
2. High input gain makes it sound loud at low volume.

Thus, I often find myself tweaking the volume pot so that it is not too loud but is still above the point where channel imbalance becomes perceptible. The useable range of volume is narrow without RCA attenuators which I don't plan to buy anytime soon.

Recently, I received ABGN Hot Tpa3255 Bluetooth 5.0 Digital Audio Amplifier and AIYIMA 32V 5A power adapter(3205000). I use the chinese TPA3255 amplifier with the chinese 32V 5A power adapter. The TPA3255 amplifier sounds fine. This one also has channel imbalance at very low levels of the volume pot, but it has much lower input gain. Thus, I can comfortably adjust the volume knob far above the point where channel imbalance becomes perceptible.

I haven't tested 2.1 channel TPA3255 amplifiers. It seems the crossover implementations of 2.1 channel TPA3255 amplifiers are not good. I recommend crossover implementations outside amplifier. Also, I haven't proven to myself that 2.1 channel TPA3255 amplifiers don't have high input gain.

Thanks you all for the valued inputs. No wonder my coda 7 sounded extremely unbalanced and loud with tpa3166d. That explains the reason. Extreme gratitude from me and god blessed.
Cheers
 
Thanks you all for the valued inputs. No wonder my coda 7 sounded extremely unbalanced and loud with tpa3166d. That explains the reason. Extreme gratitude from me and god blessed.
Cheers

I don't really recommend buying chinese no-name amplifiers at this point although I'm using a chinese TPA3255 amplifier. Buy a brand product outside aliexpress.com.

Aliexpress.com almost never sells brand products. If they do, it's probably counterfeit.
 
I have a branded TPA3251 from aliexpress, but it have whining coile noise from smps psu. I recommend cheap t.amp from Thomann or used gear instead. I also have a bunch og 8950th amps from aliexpress, they all have same audible noise artifacts. I have a really old tripath 2020 which still performs well every day, but my experience in general is very bad.

Most branded products on aliexpress.com are counterfeit or factory rejects.
Which branded TPA3251 amplifier did you buy?
My chinese no-name TPA3251 amplifier doesn't have whining coil noise from a chinese SMPS from aliexpress.com.
Perhaps, your SMPS is another factory reject.
 
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