TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

I received the TPA 3255 amp (five days from South China), so I'll have a take on how the Allo Volt+D compares in a week or so. I hooked up the TPA 3255 for a bit with a 24 volt linear regulated supply (the manufacturer specs 30-50, but TI's specs suggest that 24's okay). It sounds pretty darn good.

I'll give you the same good advice I got when I bought my first TPA 325x EV module.
At 24V, the unit is only just waking up.
At higher voltages it will sound much more balanced because the bass fills in.....and yeah, what truly amazing bass it is.
In my system, dynamic range increased as well.

I run my 3255 at 48V and absolutely suggest you do the same, but seriously, do yourself a favor and run it at at least 36V.
It may very well sound thin and overly bright otherwise.
 
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Allo understands the importance of a quiet PS with their amps. Through use of the capacitance multipliers they obviously want the cheap power bricks to sound their best and this can be an advantage given the price of power supplies for the TPA325x amps.

I was close to buying one of those higher powered TPA325x amps but not now as the Volt+D has more power than I could possibly use. Given it's high build quality and the parts used I'm thinking the +D would hold a sizable advantage in SQ.

I have one of those heavy Toshiba 19v power bricks ( much larger and heavier than the stock Volt+D power brick ) which I haven't tried yet. So many things to switch around and experiment with but hopefully a long weekend will help.

I tried the beefier Toshiba 19v which is grounded but the smaller non grounded 19v from allo sounds cleaner.
 
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I'll give you the same good advice I got when I bought my first TPA 325x EV module.
At 24V, the unit is only just waking up.
At higher voltages it will sound much more balanced because the bass fills in.....and yeah, what truly amazing bass it is.
In my system, dynamic range increased as well.

I run my 3255 at 48V and absolutely suggest you do the same, but seriously, do yourself a favor and run it at at least 36V.
It may very well sound thin and overly bright otherwise.

That may be true for the Ti EV board, but if it is a FX502SPRO, I don't think those are built to take that high of voltage. Which do you have, airbus?
 
I'll give you the same good advice I got when I bought my first TPA 325x EV module.
At 24V, the unit is only just waking up.
At higher voltages it will sound much more balanced because the bass fills in.....and yeah, what truly amazing bass it is.
In my system, dynamic range increased as well.

I run my 3255 at 48V and absolutely suggest you do the same, but seriously, do yourself a favor and run it at at least 36V.
It may very well sound thin and overly bright otherwise.


The only reason I'm using the 24 volt power supply is that it's the highest voltage supply I had on hand. I have one that's 32, but I need to do some surgery on it, before I try it. I'll probably try 48 eventually. I know this sounds a bit weird, since I just bought 2 of new amps (3 actually) at the same time, but all the 48 volt power supplies I saw were 80 bucks and up. It's not that I won't spend that; I just wanted to be a bit careful about it.


So far, it doesn't sound thin at all with 24 volts, but that may be because I'm listening through 6.5" 2 way speakers.
 
I power 2 of mine on one Meanwell SE-600-36. It can be found for $80 online. Turned up all the way over 43v. The fan is noisy and always runs. It's in a closet so I can't hear it.
 
That may be true for the Ti EV board, but if it is a FX502SPRO, I don't think those are built to take that high of voltage. Which do you have, airbus?

I have this one, https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC30-48V-T...798167?hash=item3b08bee317:g:iTEAAOSwJN9ayusO

I also have the FX pro coming (offered 42 no shipping on E-bay and the seller took it). As you can tell, I can be a little OCD about this stuff, but it's the fun of Class D: I can mess around like this without spending huge amounts of money.
The FXpro has filter caps in it that are rated at 35 volts, so staying under 30 volts makes sense, though not because of the TPA 3255.
I don't expect the other TPA 3255 to be built or designed any better than the FX pro. I have, however, spoken to some pretty well regarded amp designers who candidly told me that amplification device and power supply primarily determine the basic character of an amplifier's sound. Obviously other aspects matter, but 2 300B amps will sound more like each other than they'll sound like a transistor amp.

Right now, my guess is that a really well implemented tpa 325x will sound better than any tpa 311x.
 
Well done, airbus! Indeed, it is fun that we can try and compare all these amps with relatively low expense. I'm half thinking about getting the Volt+D because the only way to tell if it better or worse is to actually try. I agree with your hypothesis, that all other things held constant a TPA325x would sound better than a TPA311x. TI had years to develop and they released this new line after learning from the last. But all other things are never held constant. I was blown away by how much better the FX502SPRO sounds than the Breeze/Nobsound single/dual amps. In some ways I am holding things similar (but not constant), both are pre-made inexpensive amps. Do we know what the next chip from TI is? :)

I kind of wish I could do this much experimentation with speakers and tube amps and class AB amps. But I don't have enough money or space to do so. Too bad. ;) .
 
Real world power with the Volt+D driving these Zeniths ( plus the two tweeters per side ) is quite surprising. I wish I knew the exact rating for the Zeniths but I'm thinking they're not that far behind the 98 db Lowthers. A comfortable listening level is achieved with the tube preamp at 8 o'clock and 12 o'clock is a bit too loud for my tastes. That's with the +D's volume maxed and it's gain at the lowest setting. This is by far the most headroom I've enjoyed with any of my amps driving HE speakers. It will be interesting to see how it fairs when I replace the 19v power brick with a 12v Astron.

I'm wondering if I should use the external CM with the Astron?

One added note: The Volt+D with a 19v is a good bit more powerful than the Volt+ with the 12v Astron.

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That may be true for the Ti EV board, but if it is a FX502SPRO, I don't think those are built to take that high of voltage. Which do you have, airbus?

The FXpro has filter caps in it that are rated at 35 volts, so staying under 30 volts makes sense

We were discussing this not too long ago.
The FX502SPRO has 24V circuit breakers on the board.....and also some 25V caps.
You really shouldn't try feeding it more.

And yeah, I have the bad habit of referring to TI EV module specs which don't necessarily apply universally.
I will keep it in mind.
 
I'm wondering if I should use the external CM with the Astron?

Can't hurt to try.
Allo's "CM" circuit is, as Engineer Nat suggested previously, a DC voltage regulator.
Main purpose is to compensate for current drop by drawing on the capacitors during transient spikes and hopefully avoid voltage drop.
As far as I know, this is much more of a problem with switching supplies than linear supplies.
 
The Volt+D with a 19v is a good bit more powerful than the Volt+ with the 12v Astron.

Does the Astron have an internal adjustment for the output voltage ?
I wound mine out to about 14.5v.
The CM could "soak up" abit of voltage for operation.

[Edit]...
Man... look at all the peer pressure on this thread to get a new amp.
One must stay strong to read this stuff on audiokarma. :D
 
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Real world power with the Volt+D driving these Zeniths ( plus the two tweeters per side ) is quite surprising. I wish I knew the exact rating for the Zeniths but I'm thinking they're not that far behind the 98 db Lowthers. A comfortable listening level is achieved with the tube preamp at 8 o'clock and 12 o'clock is a bit too loud for my tastes. That's with the +D's volume maxed and it's gain at the lowest setting. This is by far the most headroom I've enjoyed with any of my amps driving HE speakers. It will be interesting to see how it fairs when I replace the 19v power brick with a 12v Astron.

I'm wondering if I should use the external CM with the Astron?

One added note: The Volt+D with a 19v is a good bit more powerful than the Volt+ with the 12v Astron.

View attachment 1195764

What about the Volt+ with the Allo 19v power supply? How does it compare with the Volt+D with the same 19v power supply? As you know, I have the Volt+ with the Allo 19volt power supply and am going off of your experience with the new Volt+D, to decide if its worth the upgrade over my current Volt+.
From what I have read so far, it looks like it is in just sound quality alone.
 
What about the Volt+ with the Allo 19v power supply? How does it compare with the Volt+D with the same 19v power supply? As you know, I have the Volt+ with the Allo 19volt power supply and am going off of your experience with the new Volt+D, to decide if its worth the upgrade over my current Volt+.
From what I have read so far, it looks like it is in just sound quality alone.

If I remember correctly you have experience with a Fleawatt as well as the Volt+. Which one do you like better? I was saving up to get a Fleawatt before Derek closed things down. So Plan B is a Volt+, which is on it's way.
 
I prefer the Volt+d to the volt+, though my volt+ is the board only version, not the one wiith the case and stepped attenuator.
It seems to be every bit if as good at the things the volt+ does, if not better and the extra headroom from the second tpa3118 does help.
The tougher question might be whether it makes sense to stay with the the tpa311x family or go to the Tpa325x amps.
My initial impression is that the fx3250 sounds better than the Breeze. The fx3255 seems to sound even better. I'm sure the tp325x have more bass
and the treble sounds a bit smoother (partly because there's more bass). It's also more dynamic.
There are a lot of people who would say that's reason enough to go to the tp325x family. It's definitely the case for lower efficiency speakers that have bigger woofers.

The tougher question seems to be "first watt" sorts of things, clarity, harmonics, phase, micro-dynamics. The tpa311x is in the tradition of the ta2020. The tpa325x seems to have a different presentation, a sort of creaminess that makes everything coherent but maybe not quite as airy as the volt+d. Obviously, I'm comparing a fairly serious attempt to get the most out of the TPA3118 vs. some company that copied the TI sample board, stuck it in a box, etc. I'd be curious to see what a serious attempt to get the most out of the 325x chip might sound like.

If one likes amplified music with drum solos and lots of dynamics, the TPA 325X series is already probably better for a dance party. If it's more about small scale acoustic music at low volume and making it sound rich and complex, it's a tougher call. It could be that the 325x series wins there too, but the Volt+d is really quite good at the "refined" stuff.
I'm still trying to get a sense of how the two compare in that realm.
 
Some impressions of the Volt+D

Having had a great experience with the original Volt+ I was excited to hear of the new and improved Volt+D. My Volt+ in it's homespun plastic case and with the strange side mounted volume control wouldn't win any beauty contests but it's sonic virtues were astonishing. Paired with a linear regulated power supply which cost twice as much, the Volt+ replaced a SET amp that won 6moons Realization Award just a few years ago.

As good as the Volt+ is the +D is better. It's upgraded components ( all film caps ) and quality of construction is as good as you'll find in those coveted boutique amps. Any company that serves up it's amp in a see through case is obviously proud of what's inside. This transparent beauty screams, "check me out as I've got nothing to hide". If Wonder Woman owned an amp it would have to be a Volt+D.

Those of you who prefer some coloration the +D is not for you. It's brutally honest and as neutral as they come. The resolution of detail at low levels is not a strong suit but at normal listening levels it becomes a detail freak. On the first cut of "Jazz at The Pawnshop" you can hear conversations and the tinkling of cocktail glasses in the audience. In "Kind of Blue" the build up of spit in Miles' horn is almost distracting. His trumpet stings through the +D but that's what you would expect to hear in a live venue. Reminds me of high school band where the trumpet section often gave me a headache.

I appreciate the dynamics of the +D. The speed in which it goes from soft to loud and then back again is impressive. The rests in music often overlooked in reviews are delivered without smear.

Another enjoyable +D trait is it's extension of notes - the decay factor or how long some overtones are audible. Any fan of open baffles can appreciate ambient notes which seem to hang in mid air for prolonged periods and the +D excels in this area. Love the shimmer from the high hat cymbals.

Midrange performance is SET like and what better compliment could you give to the +D?

Since my main systems use separate amps for the LF I listened to the +D powering back loaded horns. Granted 4.5 inch single drivers are not known for their LF but the +D's bass was far superior to any of my tube amp which normally power these horns.

With the addition of the capacitance multipliers allo has succeeded in producing an amp than can perform at a high level even when powered by a cheap laptop power supply. In my tests with the +D an expensive linear power supply only sounded marginally better than the stock 19V power brick.

There's a popular thread on AK entitled "Awesome small-form factor amps". Most of those amps are far more expensive than the Volt+D but I suspect few sound any better.
 
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One reason Wonder Woman would like the Volt+D :biggrin:

wonder-woman-invisible-jet-186127.jpg
 
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