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TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

Poultrygeist said:
Someone save me from this TPA addiction. :tears:

With the firing up of the green board this morning I think I've tried all the colors. And guess what, they're all winners.

Can't say how the green board compares to the others yet but I do like the fact that there's no on/off pop sound. Lovely combination as expected with the 3 tube preamp but less than spectacular with the solid state TC.

Here she is without the top cover and although I'm using the hefty 19v PS I can't tell any difference in output from the 12v that I use in the other TPA's.

picture.php
Click to expand...
Difficult to cure this kind of addiction now :D

I must admit you have a great passion and skills to build all those 'toys'!
Since you're so into it, could you please share some of your experience and knowledge regarding those different versions for me. I'm about to order one of those (already have that tube buffer/preamp) but not sure which one and definitely confused about these two particular configurations; one on the blue/black and other on green PCB.
The first one, so called - official version, is somehow overcrowded with all those caps - has 23 in total!?, but the green one is the only one with two relays for speaker protection, and has only 2 caps!? I mean, the chips are same on both but what does the black one need all those capacitors, and no relays. More I think about it more I'm confused :headscrat
 

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The green board actually has a little more parts then the blue board, but all but the 2 elco's are surface mount devices. The 2 double inductors are the other parts that stand out. Blue/black board uses almost exclusively through hole parts.

Protection for speakers some would call muting circuit to avoid pop, but pop isn't there with all boards without the added muting circuit. The TPA chip has some protectioncircuitry, see TI datasheet.
 
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6N3 vs. 6N3

Poultrygeist said:
For some who may not have thought of this, you might consider one case, housing both the 3 tube preamp and TPA 3161. You'd have one serious amp for under $75 that would run with the big boys. For fear of offending owners I won't mention any of the thousand dollar amps it would humble. And even though I'm a southerner I'm not whistling Dixie. :thmbsp:

Pre-amp-font-b-Tube-b-font-font-b-Amplifier-b-font-Headphone-Kit-6N3-with.jpg
Click to expand...

I am looking at this model to use as a pre-amp for my TPA3116D2 instead of the YuanJing
http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Ass..._2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401298373&sr=8-2&keywords=6n3

Has anyone used this particular setup?
 
natger said:
The green board actually has a little more parts then the blue board, but all but the 2 elco's are surface mount devices. The 2 double inductors are the other parts that stand out. Blue/black board uses almost exclusively through hole parts.

Protection for speakers some would call muting circuit to avoid pop, but pop isn't there with all boards without the added muting circuit. The TPA chip has some protectioncircuitry, see TI datasheet.
Click to expand...
OK great, Thanks for that! I couldn't find any other image of the green board, and from all sides.

But confusion doesn't stop here :D
I think somewhere or on this thread also was said that 'pops' are present without the specific 'spk. protection relays' and Poultrygeist claims on the post above - 'Can't say how the green board compares to the others yet but I do like the fact that there's no on/off pop sound'
?
 
Jadran,

I've been very busy at work this week which has kept me from doing much in the way of comparisons between the two boards.

While the pop is almost irritating with the blue/black board, all I hear with the green board is a faint click. My speakers are 93+ dbs which makes the pop much more noticeable.
 
tim0 said:
I am looking at this model to use as a pre-amp for my TPA3116D2 instead of the YuanJing
http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Ass..._2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401298373&sr=8-2&keywords=6n3

Has anyone used this particular setup?
Click to expand...

That's the original Guanzo preamp. I believe there's a long thread here at AK on that two tube model. The title reads something like "Here's my little friend" or "Meet my little friend".

It has fewer connections than the three tube model and I don't have a connection chart to post.
 
Poultrygeist said:
Jadran,

I've been very busy at work this week which has kept me from doing much in the way of comparisons between the two boards.

While the pop is almost irritating with the blue/black board, all I hear with the green board is a faint click. My speakers are 93+ dbs which makes the pop much more noticeable.
Click to expand...

red board doesn't have pop like the blue/black I thought, no muting circuitry added there. how much pop does sure3110 have on your speakers? is the pop less if you switch on preamp or source first and later the blue/black? I remember reading that in poweramp manuals.

If I switch on AC strip which leads power to both cd (source) and my 2 hiamplifier green PBTL boards, there is no pop I hear. Same with Sure3110.
 
With any of the boards I believe the pop can be avoided if this on/off sequence is followed:

Turning on ( with volume on preamp all the way down ) source, preamp, TPA
Turning off ( with volume on preamp all the way down ) TPA, preamp, source

My problem is always remembering to turn the volume off on the preamp.
 
Poultrygeist said:
That's the original Guanzo preamp. I believe there's a long thread here at AK on that two tube model. The title reads something like "Here's my little friend" or "Meet my little friend".

It has fewer connections than the three tube model and I don't have a connection chart to post.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I found it. It looks like the newer board (3 tubes) is the way to go.
 
Poultrygeist said:
With any of the boards I believe the pop can be avoided if this on/off sequence is followed:

Turning on ( with volume on preamp all the way down ) source, preamp, TPA
Turning off ( with volume on preamp all the way down ) TPA, preamp, source

My problem is always remembering to turn the volume off on the preamp.
Click to expand...

In a setup like yours, once you follow the Turning On sequence, do you then crank the TPA all the way up and fine tune the volume with the preamp?
BTW I have HE speakers like yourself (The Horn from the horn shoppe).

Cheers
 
Poultrygeist said:
Jadran,

I've been very busy at work this week which has kept me from doing much in the way of comparisons between the two boards.

While the pop is almost irritating with the blue/black board, all I hear with the green board is a faint click. My speakers are 93+ dbs which makes the pop much more noticeable.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing more of your experiences with these little devices.

I'm considering this option now, since all of the sudden the green one disappeared (sold out) off of eBay lists (?!)
TPA3116 Amplifier Assembled Board 50W+50W Official Version + Stereo Speaker Protection Board G105, and Dual Output 12V 5A 60W Switching Power Supply to feed both of them in one box.
 
Jadran said:
Thank you for sharing more of your experiences with these little devices.

I'm considering this option now, since all of the sudden the green one disappeared (sold out) off of eBay lists (?!)
TPA3116 Amplifier Assembled Board 50W+50W Official Version + Stereo Speaker Protection Board G105, and Dual Output 12V 5A 60W Switching Power Supply to feed both of them in one box.
Click to expand...

green will be back
speakerprotection more expensive then amplifier, just for delay, because DCprotection is in chip already. Hope you get it functioning as intended, PSU might be little weak.
 
natger said:
green will be back
speakerprotection more expensive then amplifier, just for delay, because DCprotection is in chip already. Hope you get it functioning as intended, PSU might be little weak.
Click to expand...

The green one is (was) $28,99USD, Protection board I'm considering is $9,99, and the amp. board outside eBay is $17,90, all with shipp. including. So in fact this combo is the bargain!
I understand that DC protection is implemented in the chip, but here we're talking about 'pops' in speakers, right?

What do you mean by 'weak'. 12V should be more than enough, but of course there are always 24V options out there :scratch2:
 
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Jadran said:
The green one is (was) $28,99USD, Protection board I'm considering is $9,99, and the amp. board outside eBay is $17,90, all with shipp. including. So in fact this combo is the bargain!
I understand that DC protection is implemented in the chip, but here we're talking about 'pops' in speakers, right?

What do you mean by 'weak'. 12V should be more than enough, but of course there are always 24V options out there :scratch2:
Click to expand...

You'll need 2 protection pcb's I think, the ad says so??? 12V is OK just don't know if you have double supply what is left single supply after protectionboards, and the ad says you'll need a separate PSU.

Blueboard is $17 too on ebay I believe
 
natger said:
You'll need 2 protection pcb's I think, the ad says so??? 12V is OK just don't know if you have double supply what is left single supply after protection boards, and the ad says you'll need a separate PSU.

Blueboard is $17 too on ebay I believe
Click to expand...

The one I posted above is Assembled 2*15A Amp Stereo Speaker Protection Board, so the one is enough.
Yes, there is the - Note: If you need the BTL circuit buy two sets

Image shows just one side, but there are IN/OUT for 2 speakers on both sides of the board.

I could be wrong here, but if Dual Output 12V 5A 60W Switching Power Supply is used, with 2x12V one is for the amp.board and one for the spk.board. The same approach as in computers - you need one PSU for MBO, DVD drive, graphic card, etc. or not :scratch2:
If this is wrong in this case, perhaps someone knows better way?

(there's no $17,90 price on eBay for the bue/black amp., perhaps as the starting bid price, but on thanksbuyer.com there is!)
 

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tim0 said:
In a setup like yours, once you follow the Turning On sequence, do you then crank the TPA all the way up and fine tune the volume with the preamp?
BTW I have HE speakers like yourself (The Horn from the horn shoppe).

Cheers
Click to expand...

Except for the red board they're all power amps and require a preamp. So you can't crank them up as they're either on or off.

The HS Horns are a great match for any of these boards and will play very loud even the less powerful Sure TPA3110 ( $9 at Parts Express ).

With temperatures in the upper 90's this week I'm not missing the big tube amps heating up my room. The 6n3 preamp tubes are barely warm to the touch.
 
Jadran said:
The one I posted above is Assembled 2*15A Amp Stereo Speaker Protection Board, so the one is enough.
Yes, there is the - Note: If you need the BTL circuit buy two sets

Image shows just one side, but there are IN/OUT for 2 speakers on both sides of the board.

I could be wrong here, but if Dual Output 12V 5A 60W Switching Power Supply is used, with 2x12V one is for the amp.board and one for the spk.board. The same approach as in computers - you need one PSU for MBO, DVD drive, graphic card, etc. or not :scratch2:
If this is wrong in this case, perhaps someone knows better way?

(there's no $17,90 price on eBay for the bue/black amp., perhaps as the starting bid price, but on thanksbuyer.com there is!)
Click to expand...

There is a double one for BTL for double the price. has to do with 2 hot speakerwires and not tying hot black to ground. and it needs AC I believe, or other versions dual DC maybe?



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