TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

Me either. I have a miniwatt/tubecube and a aiqin/oldchen single ended tube amps and my TPA amps sound better, particularly in the bass.
 
PG, if you get bored, I would be interested in your thoughts on this amp when used with less efficient speakers. (You have Overnight Sensations, right?)
 
I've had a 300B amp (western Electric tubes) and liked it very much, but there are certain things single ended tubes do really well and certain things they just don't do well. If one is about overtones, harmonic purity, micro dynamics, etc. and listens for involvement, they're great. If you love music for the "energy", you notice some issues.
I find the volt+ family to appeal to the sort of listener who's into music reproduction at the "refinement" end. I thought Poultrygeist's very good review of the Volt+D to be very much a description of the same amp I've been listening to. I agree about the strengths. There are serious listeners who don't like the highs in class D and the TI data sheet for the TPA 3116 does show a jump in the distortion levels at 6-7 K. My upper range hearing's probably deteriorated a lot, so I'm a bad judge of upper level overtones and the like.

I do think there will be a lot of listeners who find that going over to the tpa325x is a no brainer. Like the 300B, the things the Volt+D is good at, it's really good at. fwiw, I think most any solid state amp will have more bass than a single ended 300B. I think the extra power, lower measured distortion, of the tpa325x results in a more relaxed presentation , particularly with conventional speakers like mine. I still can't compare how the 325X does with the stuff the Volt+ family does so well. To my ear, they're quite different. One is "listen to" and the other is a bit more "listen into".

Over the years, I have found one thing that's very telling. At some point, you stop playing audiophile and just listen. I notice with certain components, I'll start listening to particular kinds of music a lot more and avoiding certain other types. There are components that sound quite good to me when I'm playing audiophile, but I'll notice that I stop listening to music much at all over time (happened with one of the hifimeidy tp2050 amps). If I find myself listening to a broad range of music and listening a lot, it's the most telling sign about how well it's aiding in the reproduction of music. With this sort of stuff, my best judgments happen when I turn off my attempts to consciously critique, judge, analyze and just see if I can love the music.
 
Over the years, I have found one thing that's very telling. At some point, you stop playing audiophile and just listen.

With this sort of stuff, my best judgments happen when I turn off my attempts to consciously critique, judge, analyze and just see if I can love the music.

You nailed it Airbus. That's exactly where I am now after a lifetime of analyzing my systems rather than just enjoying the music !
 
PG, if you get bored, I would be interested in your thoughts on this amp when used with less efficient speakers. (You have Overnight Sensations, right?)

It's raining so I can't cut the grass. I'll hook up the Overnights to the Volt+D and give it a listen.
 
Chris,

I just finished listening to the OS speakers powered by the +D and while the sound was very nice a normal listening level ( dbs in the upper 70's ) wasn't reached until 3 o'clock so I used 3/4 of the volume dial before getting there. Not much headroom left as the low efficiency OS speakers drink the power. If you want to rock out with the Overnights in an average room more power would be needed but in near field or desk top the +D should be fine.

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I wish the Volt amps came with an on/off switch. I know you're supposed to be able to leave them on 24-7 but I don't.

Just finished zip tying a power strip to my rack leg so I can turn it on and off.
 
I wish the Volt amps came with an on/off switch. I know you're supposed to be able to leave them on 24-7 but I don't.

Just finished zip tying a power strip to my rack leg so I can turn it on and off.

Agreed, plus with the vampire power use of power bricks, plus the number of them I've seen fail on laptops, I wouldn't want to have it on 24/7.

I have my TPA amps on a strip with a smart outlet to easily turn it on/off. However some of those have a pop if you don't turn the amp off first. Do you get a pop with the Volt amps?
 
Agreed, plus with the vampire power use of power bricks, plus the number of them I've seen fail on laptops, I wouldn't want to have it on 24/7.

I have my TPA amps on a strip with a smart outlet to easily turn it on/off. However some of those have a pop if you don't turn the amp off first. Do you get a pop with the Volt amps?

The +D has a mute switch on the front and if you use it there's no pop.
 
Ah, so that is a mute switch. Yes, that should be a power switch, I agree.

Have you tried turning it off without muting? I guess that would have to be via the power supply or the power strip.
 
Chris,

I just finished listening to the OS speakers powered by the +D and while the sound was very nice a normal listening level ( dbs in the upper 70's ) wasn't reached until 3 o'clock so I used 3/4 of the volume dial before getting there. Not much headroom left as the low efficiency OS speakers drink the power. If you want to rock out with the Overnights in an average room more power would be needed but in near field or desk top the +D should be fine.

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Thanks for the update. You confirmed my suspicions that the amp would not make lower efficiency speakers happy. I am now curious about how it would deal with speakers around 90db. (I felt my 3116 amp was underpowered for 90 dB speakers.)
 
Thanks for the update. You confirmed my suspicions that the amp would not make lower efficiency speakers happy. I am now curious about how it would deal with speakers around 90db. (I felt my 3116 amp was underpowered for 90 dB speakers.)

I don't have any 90db speakers to test but the +D makes a great combination with my 93db Frugals.
 
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