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Lepy LP-A1 Class-D amplifier

I've owned a couple of these t-amps. One was a Lepai, and I can't recall the other brand, but it had a few features the Lepai did not have. Like blutooth connection, a USB port for a thumb drive, and a very bad FM tuner. I was very surprised the first time I connected that Lepai up to a pair of Yamaha NS-6490 3 way monitors. A pretty decent speaker once I stuffed a pillow's worth of stuffings in each one. They were empty. Bass tightened up considerably once I did that.

I was honestly not expecting to hear much volume from the Lepai, boy was I wrong! The audio quality was very good at normal listening levels but soon got nasty with higher volume, but more than I would listen at for much time. It started crapping out at about '2' on the dial. I was using an 18v 65w power cube from a laptop. The Lepai was listed as using 9-24vdc power supplies. I heard no difference between that little Lepai and the receiver I compared it to, a Harman Kardon 3390 stereo receiver, with 80wpc on tap.

I used it for several years to drive a pair of zone 2 speakers. It never got hot and it refused to die, so I gave it to my brother. If I ever get off my butt and install some zone 3 speakers I may have to get another one of these little t-amps. Or how about getting a tube preamp and setting them up in a small space. Tube pres are very 'tune able'. And unlike power tube amps the preamp tubes are often very reasonable, and last much longer.
 
ejman said:
My understanding is that these chips generate so little heat due to very high efficiency that most of the energy goes to output with the small percentage that goes to heat actually being dissipated through the circuit board traces which act as a heat sink. On older chips, such as the one on my Lepai 2020A+ a small heat sink was used but the case never gets even warm to the touch.
Click to expand...

Thank you for clarifying. it's good to know about these new chips.
 
Knucklehead said:
I've owned a couple of these t-amps. One was a Lepai, and I can't recall the other brand, but it had a few features the Lepai did not have. Like blutooth connection, a USB port for a thumb drive, and a very bad FM tuner. I was very surprised the first time I connected that Lepai up to a pair of Yamaha NS-6490 3 way monitors. A pretty decent speaker once I stuffed a pillow's worth of stuffings in each one. They were empty. Bass tightened up considerably once I did that.

I was honestly not expecting to hear much volume from the Lepai, boy was I wrong! The audio quality was very good at normal listening levels but soon got nasty with higher volume, but more than I would listen at for much time. It started crapping out at about '2' on the dial. I was using an 18v 65w power cube from a laptop. The Lepai was listed as using 9-24vdc power supplies. I heard no difference between that little Lepai and the receiver I compared it to, a Harman Kardon 3390 stereo receiver, with 80wpc on tap.

I used it for several years to drive a pair of zone 2 speakers. It never got hot and it refused to die, so I gave it to my brother. If I ever get off my butt and install some zone 3 speakers I may have to get another one of these little t-amps. Or how about getting a tube preamp and setting them up in a small space. Tube pres are very 'tune able'. And unlike power tube amps the preamp tubes are often very reasonable, and last much longer.
Click to expand...

I have tube pre 6N3 paired with the Lepy and sounds awesome for what i spent on it.
 
has anyone tried these amps with Magnepans???
EDIT: Just read the post on the first page about the MMG';s. I gotta grab one of these to play with!
 
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I bought a Lepai about 2 years ago. It had preamplike controls for treble and bass. It also was a 2020 with no heat sink. It impressed me quite a lot. I used my Thinkpad headphone out to feed it, which takes care of needing a preamp. This was my first class D amp and it cost me $8.15 w/free shipping. I haven't come up with a real place to use this; so I consider it a backup. I have 3 others that are tpa 3116 amps. One of these feeds my bathroom system. I use it with an Mp3 player. It has bluetooth, but it is too far away for my bedroom laptop to reach.
 
The Fuxtor said:
has anyone tried these amps with Magnepans???
EDIT: Just read the post on the first page about the MMG';s. I gotta grab one of these to play with!
Click to expand...
Just remember that with one of these tiny chip amps you are looking at a maximum of about 10 real watts per channel at 4 ohms regardless of the "lyrical" power claims they are prone to quote. Within that power level they'll sound great, but they really crap out quickly if you try to play them even a smidgen louder than they are capable of. They do not clip gracefully at all. A typical magneplanar has an 86 db rating at 2 watts 1 meter. 83 db at 2 meters. 86 db at 4 watts, 89 db's at 8 watts and you are out of the power range of these tiny amps. so 89 dbs ( which is actually loud but not drive you out of the room loud) is the practical limit.
 
ejman said:
Just remember that with one of these tiny chip amps you are looking at a maximum of about 10 real watts per channel at 4 ohms regardless of the "lyrical" power claims they are prone to quote. Within that power level they'll sound great, but they really crap out quickly if you try to play them even a smidgen louder than they are capable of. They do not clip gracefully at all. A typical magneplanar has an 86 db rating at 2 watts 1 meter. 83 db at 2 meters. 86 db at 4 watts, 89 db's at 8 watts and you are out of the power range of these tiny amps. so 89 dbs ( which is actually loud but not drive you out of the room loud) is the practical limit.
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All things considered, that's still quite remarkable...
 
If i connect a 24 volts 6a power supply, will it kill this amplifier? Im asking because it says it is 12v on the box.
 
Not all of the Lepai/Lepy branded amps use the same chip.
Some use the older [actually 20 years old] Tripath 2020.
Others use Texas Instruments TPA 3116/8 chips...which can indeed handle up to 24VDC.

Find out what you're dealing with before pumping-up the voltage.
 
Higher supply voltage gives more output headroom if current is adequate for load, up to the permissible voltage limit. Then, the magic smoke escapes.
 
Its 2022 and LEPY is still working like the first day. Currently driving a pair of Braun L550 vintage speakers hooked to my computer. Pretty neat with a 12V 6A power supply.
 
It is 2025 October and Lepy is still working perfectly. This time powering a pair of JVC woodcone speakers hooked up to my android box to watch movies and TV. Currently being powered by a 2A power supply, the 6A got busted, yep it outlived the power supply. I don't know whether higher amperes provide better louder sound.
 
Out of curiosity I have powered the amplifier with a car battery charger ( I don't have a higher amp power supply at the moment ) just to see if there is a difference. I was damn right, It sounded so much better. Now it's time for me to by a 10A power supply for this one.
 
bikingbuddha said:
Out of curiosity I have powered the amplifier with a car battery charger ( I don't have a higher amp power supply at the moment ) just to see if there is a difference. I was damn right, It sounded so much better. Now it's time for me to by a 10A power supply for this one.
Click to expand...
You might just have a power tool battery that's within spec for the little amp at home already?
It's what I power my small class D amps with.

P.s. Got an additional adapter plate to connect it properly, the amps in question already came with a wire-to-power barrel connector as standard.
Power Tool Battery adapter.jpg
 
bikingbuddha said:
Out of curiosity I have powered the amplifier with a car battery charger ( I don't have a higher amp power supply at the moment ) just to see if there is a difference. I was damn right, It sounded so much better. Now it's time for me to by a 10A power supply for this one.
Click to expand...

You often see class-D amps with specs that vary depending on the power supply used so no real surprise there. My Fosi V3 stereo is offered with either a 32VDC or a 48VDC power supply.

Got any old laptop power supplies laying around? You may be able to repurpose one of those.
 
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