TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

[Jadran]

Not sure what makes it magical but you asked so here you are....

Yes, thanks lacro! I've googled also other models in the meantime, and all of them have such huge transformers. Think that could be the key element :scratch2:
Looking forward if there are similar stuff for European voltage, some look promissing like Voltcraft FSP series. Anyway, I got enough of different p. supplies at the moment, so first have to test them all, before spending more money

 

[Poultrygeist]

At 13 lbs the Astron RS -12A is no featherweight. Nice big tranny in this puppy. I drilled mounting holes in it's cover and wired it internally to the TPA3116.

Zero heat from the Astron as the 3116 only pulls the current it needs.

New ones go for $89. Wonder how much it might fetch if it had a boutique label?

 

[Jadran]

SURE 3110 - ups and downs

Since this is initially 3116 thread, somehow somewhere TPA3110 came into the picture to stir the waters just kidding
It's definitely interesting board - that SURE's one but not that good that can beat good board with 3116 chip, that's for sure, not in my yard.
I have asked SURE twice about annoying pops on power ON, and they obviously have no answer to that, or are not willing to provide more details how to get rid of it?! They don't even have User's guide - manual for 2 X 15Watt @ 8ohm board but for smaller one 2x8W alone.
They say only that - We have SD (shut down) function on the board. You can get rid of pops and clicks by using this function. Then I found the same 'function' on smaller board

and tried with the switch I had at hand, it actually does put the board on stand by mode but DOES NOT prevent pops/thumps! :nono:

If someone has a better solution or know how-to I will appreciate some enlightenment here. Also, one more thing noticed while playing via tube pre. - it actually does not 'like' being pushed. That is something I just realized while reading that Manual of 2x8W version board! Lacro in fact also mentioned the same few month ago on audiocircle!

All in all TPA3116 is way ahead of all these troubles!

 

[natger]

Indeed Hifi Lab 12V5A Powersupply

I know some like me bought this powersupply to use with the TPA amps. I did 5 months ago and recently noticed one was getting warmer then the other. I opened them, easy, and found fake Nichicon 68uF 450V, one of which had started leaking from 1 lead-entry and sleeve retreated. Nichicon doesn't produce HE in 450V, some other interesting non Nichicon specifics for those who care in pictures attached. Replaced for Panasonic EEUEE2W680

 

[J English]

Cool!

Look what answer I just got from Sure, regarding pops;

Thanks for your purchase.
We have SD (shut down) function on the board. You can get rid of pops and clicks by using this fuction.
But you should do a electric circuit by yourself to realize it.

Best regards,
Joey Zhang
Sales

So piece of cake, just need to use this fuction and voilà
I asked for more details and instructions, but seems that need to figure out on my own how to solder toggle switch on those pins?! Shame I was not born with all the knowledge on this world

Anyway, I'm listening to some records today and must admit that 3110 is impressive little beast! I bought two 'naked' PSU on ALIexp. lately (18V 4A 72W Switching Power Supply Module) and will try with this as 12V brick seems like the weakest link here.

Thanks! Hmmm, starting to think this may be a lost cause. Are they implying you should wire those together permanently or use a switch? Very confusing. Having a good full attenuation ALPS pot got rid of the pop-on I was getting on the blue/black board...I guess it's worth a shot to try and tweak, as otherwise, I would only use the 3110 amp with my cheap KLH speakers...

 

[J English]

I know some like me bought this powersupply to use with the TPA amps. I did 5 months ago and recently noticed one was getting warmer then the other. I opened them, easy, and found fake Nichicon 68uF 450V, one of which had started leaking from 1 lead-entry and sleeve retreated. Nichicon doesn't produce HE in 450V, some other interesting non Nichicon specifics for those who care in pictures attached. Replaced for Panasonic EEUEE2W680

Good to know, thanks, I have one of these on order. Fake caps, sheesh. Glad they saved a few pennies here and there. I'll watch my unit when it comes to make sure not overheating.

 

[Jadran]

Thanks! Hmmm, starting to think this may be a lost cause. Are they implying you should wire those together permanently or use a switch? Very confusing. Having a good full attenuation ALPS pot got rid of the pop-on I was getting on the blue/black board...I guess it's worth a shot to try and tweak, as otherwise, I would only use the 3110 amp with my cheap KLH speakers...

Yes, I was expecting a little more from a reputable seller/producer, but what they are implying is that must be some kind of rocket science there. Here's their second email (before I found User Manual of the 2x8 board, as explained in the post earlier);
"People who use the SD function need basic circuit knowledge.
We do not suggest you own changing circuit if you are not equipped the basic knowledge.
Otherwise, the board may be damaged.
If you need us to change it, we also provide you with customization service."
JEEEZ and I just asked what do they mean by 'using that function' and how!
Since they haven't provided user manual for 2x15W board here is in pdf of the smaller one
But, as I say - that's all for fun and learning, and I'm glad I jumped into these waters.
I wonder though that your YJ black/blue is free of pops just after fixing Alps pot.? Something new, good to know :thmbsp: Mine is working perfectly after replacing inductors and DC power caps, no pops and no heat any more.

 

[natger]

Good to know, thanks, I have one of these on order. Fake caps, sheesh. Glad they saved a few pennies here and there. I'll watch my unit when it comes to make sure not overheating.

The one getting warmer was actually not the most troublesome, the other one with leaking capacitor, was cooler, and capacitor nowhere near value. But both are fake, physical size, height, is different too, top vent has different shape and like I tried to point out, 100V for Nichicon HE is max, they do not produce 450V. Text orientation on caps seems wrong too btw A hificlub turned ebayseller should be more carefull...

 

[prighello]

Yes, I was expecting a little more from a reputable seller/producer, but what they are implying is that must be some kind of rocket science there. Here's their second email (before I found User Manual of the 2x8 board, as explained in the post earlier);
"People who use the SD function need basic circuit knowledge.
We do not suggest you own changing circuit if you are not equipped the basic knowledge.
Otherwise, the board may be damaged.
If you need us to change it, we also provide you with customization service."
JEEEZ and I just asked what do they mean by 'using that function' and how!
Since they haven't provided user manual for 2x15W board here is in pdf of the smaller one
But, as I say - that's all for fun and learning, and I'm glad I jumped into these waters.
I wonder though that your YJ black/blue is free of pops just after fixing Alps pot.? Something new, good to know :thmbsp: Mine is working perfectly after replacing inductors and DC power caps, no pops and no heat any more.

Thanks for the info. I bought this board a month or so ago but haven't done anything with. I was always wondering what SD and the other connections were on the board. Would have been nice if they have actually included some information with this board!:sigh:

 

[Poultrygeist]

I've bought lots of Chinese gear and don't ever remember receiving instructions or a manual. English challenged for sure.

 

[lacro]

If someone has a better solution or know how-to I will appreciate some enlightenment here. Also, one more thing noticed while playing via tube pre. - it actually does not 'like' being pushed. That is something I just realized while reading that Manual of 2x8W version board! Lacro in fact also mentioned the same few month ago on audiocircle!

All in all TPA3116 is way ahead of all these troubles!

Not sure what you mean by: "it actually does not 'like' being pushed" I have 3 of the 2x8W Sure boards with various mods, 3 of the TPA3116 blue boards from different sources, and now the 2x15w Sure. I can put my YJ 3 tube preamp in front of any of them and crank to ear splitting levels with no issues?

If you read what I posted on Audio Circle it was actually a question about a statement in the Sure manual for the 2X8w. If you follow the the rest of the thread responses, it turns out the Sure info (warning) was bogus! Those responses pushed me to buy a preamp, and I am glad I did.

The concern is the gain of the preamp may be too high with the gain of the amp, but in my case, and others it hasn't been a problem. I can't say for your set-up as you seem to be having issues I haven't experienced.

I have found using a volume pot turned down at turn on/off completely eliminates pops on my 3116 YJ blue boards. However, I haven't experienced the pops with new 3110 2x15 Sure, so I leave the pot or software volume at listening levels during on/off cycle.

I wonder if you just have a defective board? I hope you can solve the issues you are having. Your correct this thread is actually about the TPA3116 boards. I should have started another thread for the new Sure 2x15 TPA 3110.

 

[natger]

Strange, pops when tpachip is off?? At least it is not amplified

This Sure pcb is used with single ended chips too, and you used the open connections for binding posts, maybe those negatives are still ground?? Maybe you can measure resistance between powersupply gnd and the negative speaker posts, or to the intended negative speaker posts Sure placed on pcb to see if they are equal?

 

[micho]

Strange, pops when tpachip is off?? At least it is not amplified



This Sure pcb is used with single ended chips too, and you used the open connections for binding posts, maybe those negatives are still ground?? Maybe you can measure resistance between powersupply gnd and the negative speaker posts, or to the intended negative speaker posts Sure placed on pcb to see if they are equal?

Where did you get the speaker binding posts and was it hard to convert it from the standard?

 

[lacro]

Strange, pops when tpachip is off?? At least it is not amplified

This Sure pcb is used with single ended chips too, and you used the open connections for binding posts, maybe those negatives are still ground?? Maybe you can measure resistance between powersupply gnd and the negative speaker posts, or to the intended negative speaker posts Sure placed on pcb to see if they are equal?

If I read your instructions correctly, I tried it on my board. There is no resistance between power supply grd. and speaker posts negative, either the screw downs or the post mounting holes.

 

[J English]

I wrote Sure to see what they say. If no workaround, and it's defective, I may try a return for credit and move on to the "pop free" 3116 board to try out. Or, a new pot to fully attenuate. Shoot!

 

[jdubs]

Guys, which Astron PSs can fit an amp board, connectors, and wiring? I love the idea of a one box solution.

-Jim

 

[prighello]

Where did you get the speaker binding posts and was it hard to convert it from the standard?

Those appear to be just regular binding posts that he screwed into the hole connections. I've got one like those of the bay.

 

[lico]

Yes, I was expecting a little more from a reputable seller/producer, but what they are implying is that must be some kind of rocket science there. Here's their second email (before I found User Manual of the 2x8 board, as explained in the post earlier);
"People who use the SD function need basic circuit knowledge.
We do not suggest you own changing circuit if you are not equipped the basic knowledge.
Otherwise, the board may be damaged.
If you need us to change it, we also provide you with customization service."
JEEEZ and I just asked what do they mean by 'using that function' and how!
Since they haven't provided user manual for 2x15W board here is in pdf of the smaller one
But, as I say - that's all for fun and learning, and I'm glad I jumped into these waters.
I wonder though that your YJ black/blue is free of pops just after fixing Alps pot.? Something new, good to know :thmbsp: Mine is working perfectly after replacing inductors and DC power caps, no pops and no heat any more.

The SD input signal to the TPA disables the speaker outputs when held low and enables the outputs when high.

So I think something like a Maxim power on reset chip that monitors the supply voltage (using a voltage divider to get it down to 5V) would do the trick. The Maxim reset output would drive the TPA SD input signal, and provide a pulsed reset signal when power is turned on or off to inhibit the speaker outputs.

Should be possible to dead bug something like that on of these cards, sounds like fun. I'd do it but the power on pop isn't that big of a deal to me using red boards with volume controls. I kind of think my power on "pop" originates via the coupling caps off the tube pre-amp, but have never looked into it much.

 

[natger]

If I read your instructions correctly, I tried it on my board. There is no resistance between power supply grd. and speaker posts negative, either the screw downs or the post mounting holes.

Yes I now meassured little Sure3110 outputs too, negatives also connected together. And TPA3110 is a BTL amp like TPA3116, so should not be ground. (TPA3110 on "audiobah" producers board doesn't have negatives connected together I meassured, but obviously they could not be, it is PBTL and both negatives are used to connect single speaker).

Does Sure produce single ended amplifiers with BTL chips ?? Or does Texas Instruments produce/produced a single ended version of their BTL chip ....

BTL chip output connected to ground should burn/trip protection

 

[Jadran]

Strange, pops when tpachip is off?? At least it is not amplified

This Sure pcb is used with single ended chips too, and you used the open connections for binding posts, maybe those negatives are still ground?? Maybe you can measure resistance between powersupply gnd and the negative speaker posts, or to the intended negative speaker posts Sure placed on pcb to see if they are equal?]

No, no more pops when power off, just while power on, as I pointed earlier.
Thanks for advices!