New T amp....

[KenH]

I did a little research last night, and this is what I came up with in the $50 and lower range at eBay:
If you recommend the Muse, I'll probably get that one.
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Tripath TA2024 Mini Class T Amp Amplifier Ipod Black X
TA 2024 chipset, 15w 4 ohms, 10w 8 ohms, Black
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tripath-TA2024-Mini-Class-T-Amp-Amplifier-Ipod-Black-X-/290510113632?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a3c08b60#ht_6583wt_1243

$17.99 amp, no power supply
$14.00 shipping
$31.99 Total

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The one above has lousy speaker connects - screw-in.  I like the standard ones that you can use with bare wire, or better, banana jacks, and lock in.

I am very happy with the MUSE TA2024.  Also very happy with the Topping, but I was mistaken, it's not a TA2020, I have a TA2021 rated a bit higher than both at  (2 x 25W @4ohm, 2 X 14W @ 8ohm), just like this one (around $80 shipped):

http://cgi.ebay.com/Topping-TP21-Class-T-Digital-Amplifier-Headphones-Amp-/280558964476?pt=AU_Electronics_Audio_Amplifiers&hash=item41529e0efc

Topping models have some with USB for a few $ more.

[Chuck]

I never should have looked into the DIY for these, lol 

I can get a stuffed TA2020 HLLY circuit board for $18 shipped!

http://www.hllyaudio.com/diy-parts/completed-ta2020-amplifier-pcb-for-diy-20w-free-air-mail.html

I already have a  nice, heavy aluminum box and some left over panel mount connectors from my last pre-amp project.

[Todd R]

Topping models have some with USB for a few $ more.

I have one of the topping amps with USB in my computer playback system.  USB DAC, Headphone amp, and Class T speaker amp all in one.  I love it -- sounds great, very flexible.  It has RCA inputs, but I usually use the USB DAC input, and then I use it both as a headphone amp with my Grado SR225's or my A-T ATH-M50 cans (really getting used to those for post-production work!), and also use it for speaker playback with my Soliloquy's.

More expensive than what Chuck is looking for, but a great box!

[fmaderjr]

Topping models have some with USB for a few $ more.

I have one of the topping amps with USB in my computer playback system.  USB DAC, Headphone amp, and Class T speaker amp all in one.  I love it -- sounds great, very flexible.  It has RCA inputs, but I usually use the USB DAC input, and then I use it both as a headphone amp with my Grado SR225's or my A-T ATH-M50 cans (really getting used to those for post-production work!), and also use it for speaker playback with my Soliloquy's.

More expensive than what Chuck is looking for, but a great box!

I just got one a couple of weeks ago (Topping TP-30) for computer playback & I concur. It sounds great as a headphone amp powering my Sennheiser HD 650's and does a great job powering my Polk bookshelf speakers. I use the USB input for computer playback (although I had to do some research to find out how to get Adobe Audition to use it as an external DAC) and have a radio plugged into the RCA jacks for when I want to listed to the radio when working at the computer (the quality of internet radio is a disappointment to me in most cases).

At around $100, this was one of the best purchases I've ever made. It took about a month to arrive from China, but well worth the wait.

Now I see you can get one for $90 shipped here:
http://www.hifidiyshop.com/topping-tp30-class-t-digital-amplifier-usb-dac-ta2024_p221.html

[raymonda]

I thought I would pipe in on one of these units I received as a bundle with the Matrix mini i. I set up a system to our large screen using a pair of Infinity Primus 162's with the Hlly TP20. The infinity's are 8 ohm and the sensitivity is 90db's, which made me believe they had a good chance of responding (+) to this small amp. Well, so far I am impressed. I played some CD's, watched a couple of Dead DVD's and watched some TV and it filled the room nicely. It is not reference quality but very listenable. Considering I got the amp for free and paid $160 for the speakers this is a screaming deal. For less than $200.00 I have something that gives me and my family nice sounding music and improved TV sound.

I did notice that out of the box I was not too impressed with the sound as a whole. It took only 30 minutes or so for the sound to improve, as it continues to do so. This is not surprising since both the amp and speaker are new. I am also underpowering the amp with a PS that that puts out only 1 amp. I have a 4 amp PS on the way. But, hey, it works much better than I expected with this PS.

Looks like dorms and bedrooms have an answer to "affordable" improved sound. And, in my case, our TV room, too!

[fmaderjr]

I thought I would pipe in on one of these units I received as a bundle with the Matrix mini i. I sent up a system to our large screen using a pair of Infinity Primus 162's with the Hlly TP20.

I did notice that out of the box I was not too impressed with the sound as a whole. It took only 30 minutes or so for the sound to improve, as it continues to do so. This is not surprising since both the amp and speaker are new. I am also underpowering the amp with a PS that that puts out only 1 amp. I have a 4 amp PS on the way. But, hey, it works much better than I expected with this PS.

Looks like dorms and bedrooms have an answer to "affordable" improved sound. And, in my case, our TV room, too!

The power supply that comes with the HLLY is 12 volts (and the input says 9-13 volts), so even 4 volts won't be optimum.

I think the Topping T-Amps are worth the extra money over the HLLY. The speaker connections on the HLLY look really cheap compared to the Topping's and the input on the HLLY is 1/8 instead of 2 RCA. Makes me wonder about the quality of the other parts they use in the Hlly....

The Hlly is supposed to sound good though.

[Todd R]

Ray's talking amps, not volts.  12v @ 1A = 12 watts, pretty low power supply as ray notes.  At 4A, it'll provide 48 watts so the HLLY amp won't be choked.

[raymonda]

Yepper, I said amps of course!

[raymonda]

I thought I would pipe in on one of these units I received as a bundle with the Matrix mini i. I sent up a system to our large screen using a pair of Infinity Primus 162's with the Hlly TP20.

I did notice that out of the box I was not too impressed with the sound as a whole. It took only 30 minutes or so for the sound to improve, as it continues to do so. This is not surprising since both the amp and speaker are new. I am also underpowering the amp with a PS that that puts out only 1 amp. I have a 4 amp PS on the way. But, hey, it works much better than I expected with this PS.

Looks like dorms and bedrooms have an answer to "affordable" improved sound. And, in my case, our TV room, too!

The power supply that comes with the HLLY is 12 volts (and the input says 9-13 volts), so even 4 volts won't be optimum.

I think the Topping T-Amps are worth the extra money over the HLLY. The speaker connections on the HLLY look really cheap compared to the Topping's and the input on the HLLY is 1/8 instead of 2 RCA. Makes me wonder about the quality of the other parts they use in the Hlly....

The Hlly is supposed to sound good though.

I'm not sure what unit you are referring to but I think the Topping and the Hilly are esentially the same. Here's pics of the hlly.

[rastasean]

How is everybody liking their DTA-100a?

In this post, illconditioned mentions that his has some small sound issue: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=145890.0
That happen to anybody recently?

What speakers is everybody using with the 100a amp?

[fmaderjr]

I have one of the topping amps with USB in my computer playback system.  USB DAC, Headphone amp, and Class T speaker amp all in one.  I love it -- sounds great, very flexible.  It has RCA inputs, but I usually use the USB DAC input, and then I use it both as a headphone amp with my Grado SR225's or my A-T ATH-M50 cans (really getting used to those for post-production work!), and also use it for speaker playback with my Soliloquy's.

I have a Topping with all the above features and love it as well. It's only 30 watts, but pumps out plenty of volume through my small Polk speakers and is also a great sounding headphone amp for My Sennheiser HD650's.

[illconditioned]

How is everybody liking their DTA-100a?

In this post, illconditioned mentions that his has some small sound issue: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=145890.0
That happen to anybody recently?

What speakers is everybody using with the 100a amp?

Update: the channel I was having trouble with died.  I cannot find any (obvious) problems on the board (cold solder, etc), but I might search harder.  I really liked the sound ... when it worked.  I'm in Canada, so I won't be able to (easily) return this.  Shipping is something like $35 for a $100 amp!

By the way, when shopping for these amps, be careful.  It looks like there are both Tripath and TI chips out there, and conflicting information on what amps use what.  (Muse reports Tripath in some Ebay postings, and TI in others).  The TI seems to have much more distortion than the Tripath version.  The intended use of all the TI chips is things like TVs, flat panels, etc, not HIFI.

It looks like we want the Tripath TK2050 chip, which is 50Wx2, but practical up to about 30Wx2.  This is what is in the Dayton box.  From what I can tell, this is a higer power version of the TA series in most of the older Tripath models.

I really like the idea of a low power and clean amp, but I'll have to dig more.  The other option is to buy a TK2050 kit and put it into a box myself.

  Richard

[illconditioned]

How is everybody liking their DTA-100a?

In this post, illconditioned mentions that his has some small sound issue: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=145890.0
That happen to anybody recently?

What speakers is everybody using with the 100a amp?

Update: the channel I was having trouble with died.  I cannot find any (obvious) problems on the board (cold solder, etc), but I might search harder.  I really liked the sound ... when it worked.  I'm in Canada, so I won't be able to (easily) return this.  Shipping is something like $35 for a $100 amp!

By the way, when shopping for these amps, be careful.  It looks like there are both Tripath and TI chips out there, and conflicting information on what amps use what.  (Muse reports Tripath in some Ebay postings, and TI in others).  The TI seems to have much more distortion than the Tripath version.  The intended use of all the TI chips is things like TVs, flat panels, etc, not HIFI.

It looks like we want the Tripath TK2050 chip, which is 50Wx2, but practical up to about 30Wx2.  This is what is in the Dayton box.  From what I can tell, this is a higer power version of the TA series in most of the older Tripath models.

I really like the idea of a low power and clean amp, but I'll have to dig more.  The other option is to buy a TK2050 kit and put it into a box myself.

  Richard

Update: I fixed the amp.  It was a bad/loose solder connection on one of the inductors.  I discovered it by moving components and seeing channel cut in/out.

This amp sounds really good to my ears.  Be aware that the headphone output is nothing special, just a regular opamp.  I expected it to be an (attenuated) version of the speaker output, but no such luck.

  Richard

[rastasean]

Nice going on figuring it out and fixing it! Are you using the amp with speakers or strictly headphones? Do you have any speakers to recommend?

You said that the max power is more around 30 watts so why do they advertise at 50watts? Would this be the same equivalent of a band new formatted hard drive where a 50gig is not 50 but close to mid 40s?

Thanks!

[illconditioned]

Nice going on figuring it out and fixing it! Are you using the amp with speakers or strictly headphones? Do you have any speakers to recommend?

You said that the max power is more around 30 watts so why do they advertise at 50watts? Would this be the same equivalent of a band new formatted hard drive where a 50gig is not 50 but close to mid 40s?

Thanks!

I use with speakers only.
These amps all distort when turned up.  The interesting thing is, unlike some other amps, at low power they have *very* low distortion.  Other (non digital) amps are often the opposite - high distortion at lower levels.

Anyway, between 0 and 30W the Dayton amp sounds great!

  Richard