TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

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Here is my BT/SD/USB board in its little Mixed Soy Bean Paste (Sesame & Garlic) box that was made mostly to protect it during transit and allow easy hook up once arrived at destination. Listening to Otis Taylor's Hey Joe Opus on it right now off a USB through some first gen Paradigm Titans. Ridiculous how good it sounds.
 
at 24v the 3250 is only just waking up; with 32v I think you'll find the warmth that you're lacking...

This turns out to be very good advice.
Imo, using a 32V ps with the TPA 3250 EV module improves over-all tonal balance.
Bass is fuller. The occasional touch of harshness has seemingly disappeared. No hint of being overly bright.
As Yatsushiro suggested, it's mellowed-out in the way I'd hoped it eventually would.
 
I have a linear PS in that range that weighs at least as much as my Eagle 2 amp. I might as well just use it as that option sort of defeats the advantages of the matchbox amps on matchbox power supplies.
 
I have a linear PS in that range that weighs at least as much as my Eagle 2 amp. I might as well just use it as that option sort of defeats the advantages of the matchbox amps on matchbox power supplies.

While I understand the size thing, I can't say it's of major concern to me.
I just like the sound of these amps and, for the first time in a long while, I'm actually having great fun screwing around with equipment.
To me, that's worth quite a lot.

Currently, I'm thinking of dropping some combination of chip amps, tube phono pre/line stage, and power supplies into 3 matching 8"x16"x4" wooden boxes.
Not exactly a space saving idea, but I've got two integrated amps that are at least that size in terms of volume, and neither are nearly as flexible as what I'm contemplating.

Pressing question is whether I should return the 36V Mean Well unit and just spring for the correct transformer/regulator instead.
It's not all that much more money. I think the answer is probably yes.
 
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Mind U these are quiet as a graveyard. The 600w power supply fan is loud but I have a quiet replacement on the way.
 
Help a wayward stranger..
My desktop system consists of 6 ohm Mission 8VET somethings (British build of Mission MS-50), Dragonfly Black and a LP-2020A+.

I bought a Topping VX1 from Parts Express, it died. Now I have a PE credit to upgrade the 2020A+.
What's the best option? Looking at the choices makes my head spin.

Simple and solid, no bells and whistles needed.

Listening to the 2020 as I type, for what it is it makes pretty good music.
 

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Help a wayward stranger..
My desktop system consists of 6 ohm Mission 8VET somethings (British build of Mission MS-50), Dragonfly Black and a LP-2020A+.

I bought a Topping VX1 from Parts Express, it died. Now I have a PE credit to upgrade the 2020A+.
What's the best option? Looking at the choices makes my head spin.

Simple and solid, no bells and whistles needed.

Listening to the 2020 as I type, for what it is it makes pretty good music.
I found the Tripath chip amps to sound a little thin to me. Certainly clear, but maybe a tad brittle.

The TPA3116 (and several of the other Texas Instruments TPA series) chip based amps have a wonderful musical quality to their sound - similar to some tube amps.

Plus, I think you would benefit a great deal from a little more available power for those Mission bookshelf speakers.

I use a separate USB DAC (NuPrime uDSD) along with a Breeze Audio TPA3116 amp and it sounds great.

The FX Audio FX502SPRO (based on the TPA3250 chip amp) is apparently a very nice sounding amp, according to the reviews here in this thread. Plenty of power for those Missions, too.
 
Agreed with Poultrygeist and GSS61, my TPA3116 amps are significantly better than my experience with 2020 amps.

Are you only looking at parts express? If so, they have some TPA3116-based Dayton Audio amps and a Lepai that now uses the TPA3118. Those would be good choices.

If you are considering other places and want a pre-built unit, the Breeze or Nobsound single or dual TPA3116 are good, particularly if you are willing to do a little modification on the gain by removing/adding surface mount resistors.

My current fave is the FXAUDIO FX502SPRO, which is based on the TPA3250. It is available via eBay and I find it to be better than the Breeze/Nobsound TPA3116 units.
 
I have a linear PS in that range that weighs at least as much as my Eagle 2 amp. I might as well just use it as that option sort of defeats the advantages of the matchbox amps on matchbox power supplies.

I agree Pio. However, these boards are so light you have to add weight or it's a "tail wagging the dog" when adding interconnects.
I've generally done as @mkane and screwed them down to a hunk of wood.

Roger
 
This off topic - but just in case anyone wants to check out the new Topping D10 DAC, Massdrop has it for only $75 (expected to ship in early March).

This little USB DAC looks pretty good on paper... up to 32bit/384kHz for PCM and handles raw DSD up to DSD256. I went ahead and joined the drop!

It even has an OP amp socket so you can adjust the sound signature by trying different OP amps.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/topping-d10

http://www.tpdz.net/en/products/d10/index.htm

Topping D10 front.jpg Topping D10 back.jpg

Specs
  • Topping
  • Color: Black
  • Power input: DC 5V/0.5A (USB powered)
  • Input: USB
  • Digital output: Optical/coax
  • Analog output: Line out
  • Dimensions: 4.1 x 5.7 x 1.5 in (10.3 x 14.6 x 3.7 cm)
  • Weight: 11.1 oz (314 g)

Line Out
  • THD+N, A-weighted: < 0.0008% at 1 kHz
  • SNR, A-weighted: 115 dB at 1 kHz
  • Frequency response: 20 Hz–20 kHz (+/- 0.1 dB)
  • Output level: 2 Vrms at 0 dBFS
  • Noise, A-weighted: < 4 uVrms
  • Crosstalk: -115 dB at 1 kHz
  • Balance: 0.1 dB
  • Output impedance: 100 ohms

USB In

  • 44.1–384 kHz / 16–32 bit
  • DSD64–DSD256 (DoP, native)

Optical/Coax Out

  • 44.1–192 kHz / 16–24 bit

Included

  • USB cable
  • User manual
 
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I have immensely enjoyed this thread as an opening to another interesting path in this passtime activity. The plug and play packages are particularly enticing, I still have three of the amps I have yet to fool with, to include suprizingly a 2020+ I first acquired a few years ago for a project that went another direction. I was surprised to see onesuch being used as a background music system in a restaurant last year.
 
My $90 credit is with Parts Express so I'm limited to their catalog.

https://www.parts-express.com/smsl-sa-36a-pro-tpa3118d2dap-stereo-amplifier-2-x-20w--230-212

SMSL SA-36A Pro? TPA3118D2 chip and would leave me some headroom for a new can of Deoxit and some resistor/capacitor money.
Have a look at this one, too... https://www.parts-express.com/dayto...mplifier-with-headphone-amp-2-x-15w--300-3810

Use a 19V 5A laptop power supply brick with it and it should sound pretty good.
 
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