TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

den_HR: For the Anti-Pop mod, on your blue Sanwu boards, what type of cap is the 10uF? Also, do you have a part number for the diode?

Just an FYI for anyone doing the 20db gain mod on the Sanwu boards, it may depend on what you will be driving the amps with whether you want to reduce the stock 36db gain. If you use a phone or tablet as music source, it's probably best to leave it alone. If using a CD player, the 20db gain is better. I did the mod, but lost a lot of volume from my tablet. It still is loud enough, but the 26db gain would probably be better, but that requires changing 2 smd resistors instead of just removing one for the 20db mod.

I have a Sain Smart two tube preamp that will provide volume control to my setup. I will be using a DVD player, iPhone, and a tablet as sources. I have heard hiss with the DVD player and tablet, but not the iPhone. This is why I asked about lowering the gain on my green board. Do you think it's advisable in my case?
 
den_HR: For the Anti-Pop mod, on your blue Sanwu boards, what type of cap is the 10uF? Also, do you have a part number for the diode?

The 10uF cap is a simple electrolytic (ESR is not critical here), and the diode is a schottky BAT46.... as long as it's a schottky, it should be fine.
There's another way to use the anti-pop, as drmord on DIY forum explained - but I haven't tried it yet - the way I do it is OK for me, but I might try his solution, just to see how it works...

Marantz, as for your requirements about gain, like Lacro said, you will lose a lot of loudness... I know that I tried gain reduction on my sanwu boards, but in the end got everything back it was - the amp was simply not loud enough after the mod :)
So, if the hiss is not that horrible, I'd recommend to leave it alone: reducing the gain for more than 12dB will significantly reduce the amp loudness....

Attached drmord's antipop solution, which I have yet to try :)
TPA3132_simple_antipop_drmord.png
 

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The 10uF cap is a simple electrolytic (ESR is not critical here), and the diode is a schottky BAT46.... as long as it's a schottky, it should be fine.
There's another way to use the anti-pop, as drmord on DIY forum explained - but I haven't tried it yet - the way I do it is OK for me, but I might try his solution, just to see how it works...

Marantz, as for your requirements about gain, like Lacro said, you will lose a lot of loudness... I know that I tried gain reduction on my sanwu boards, but in the end got everything back it was - the amp was simply not loud enough after the mod :)
So, if the hiss is not that horrible, I'd recommend to leave it alone: reducing the gain for more than 12dB will significantly reduce the amp loudness....

Attached drmord's antipop solution, which I have yet to try :)
View attachment 748440

Do you have a photo of drmord's schemetic drawn on the Sanwu board like you show in your version?
 
I have a Sain Smart two tube preamp that will provide volume control to my setup. I will be using a DVD player, iPhone, and a tablet as sources. I have heard hiss with the DVD player and tablet, but not the iPhone. This is why I asked about lowering the gain on my green board. Do you think it's advisable in my case?

I don't know how much gain the Sain Smart preamp produces, but I have the YJ 3 tube preamp, and it has a lot of gain, so reducing the gain on my Sanwu TPA3118 boards to 20db was a good thing when used with the YJ preamp. With the stock 36db gain, and the tube preamp, the gain was just too much. If I use a passive preamp with no gain, a lot of loudness is lost with the 20db gain. So in your case, using the Sain Smart may actually be worth reducing the gain on your amp board. How much rotation of the volume pot on the Sain Smart are able to use?
 
I don't know how much gain the Sain Smart preamp produces, but I have the YJ 3 tube preamp, and it has a lot of gain, so reducing the gain on my Sanwu TPA3118 boards to 20db was a good thing when used with the YJ preamp. With the stock 36db gain, and the tube preamp, the gain was just too much. If I use a passive preamp with no gain, a lot of loudness is lost with the 20db gain. So in your case, using the Sain Smart may actually be worth reducing the gain on your amp board. How much rotation of the volume pot on the Sain Smart are able to use?

Since I listen at mostly background volume, very little. Rarely do I go past 100db. Guessing maybe 1/4 volume. My Marantz and HK, never exceed 1/3 volume on similarly rated speakers (88db).
 
Finally got everything put together and hooked up (had to put together the speakers that were to go with the Sain Smart two tube preamp and the Audiobah clone, also had some things to clean up) and well, it sounds really nice. Could use a little more bass, but for piano and strings, fantastic. Vocals are amazing as well. I'm truly shocked how open sounding it is and how much more I can hear in old recordings. Hell, in some respects, sounds better than my Sennheisers! Glad I found your thread Poultry, and followed your rabbit trail. Been a fun and rewarding project. Thank you for your support and contributions to the thread and forums. Now, to reduce the gain on the amp... I would like normal listening volume to be about 1/3~1/2 volume, not at under 1/4 on the dial (and this is using an iPhone at full volume, computer at 67%, tablet at 55%...a DVD player is too loud almost immediately).
 
Finally got everything put together and hooked up (had to put together the speakers that were to go with the Sain Smart two tube preamp and the Audiobah clone, also had some things to clean up) and well, it sounds really nice. Could use a little more bass, but for piano and strings, fantastic. Vocals are amazing as well. I'm truly shocked how open sounding it is and how much more I can hear in old recordings. Hell, in some respects, sounds better than my Sennheisers! Glad I found your thread Poultry, and followed your rabbit trail. Been a fun and rewarding project. Thank you for your support and contributions to the thread and forums. Now, to reduce the gain on the amp... I would like normal listening volume to be about 1/3~1/2 volume, not at under 1/4 on the dial (and this is using an iPhone at full volume, computer at 67%, tablet at 55%...a DVD player is too loud almost immediately).

:thumbsup:
 
trickster,

If you plan to use the Sain Smart to control the sub's volume you may want to wait before changing the gain. You can see how the subs fits with the over all volume of the system and then change the gain if it doesn't suit.
 
I sound like a broken record but these easy to build bucket subs are just the ticket for adding highly detailed bass to the TPA3116/Sain Smart or any system for that matter. Their inventor, Ed Shilling is someone I've known for years. I've listened and marveled over his $3000 Great Horned Heils which were made even greater with the addition of two bucket subs. If you have the skills to wire up a tpa3116 in a case the bucket subs are a walk in the park. I can't say enough about good they sound. The use of several inches of concrete in the bottom makes for an incredible rigid structure and that is probably one of the keys to why they work so well. All the materials to build a pair plus their 300 watt plate amp would be less than $300. They absolutely smoke my mega buck Bob Carver Sunfire.

P9250036.jpg
 
Finally got everything put together and hooked up (had to put together the speakers that were to go with the Sain Smart two tube preamp and the Audiobah clone, also had some things to clean up) and well, it sounds really nice. Could use a little more bass, but for piano and strings, fantastic. Vocals are amazing as well. I'm truly shocked how open sounding it is and how much more I can hear in old recordings. Hell, in some respects, sounds better than my Sennheisers! Glad I found your thread Poultry, and followed your rabbit trail. Been a fun and rewarding project. Thank you for your support and contributions to the thread and forums. Now, to reduce the gain on the amp... I would like normal listening volume to be about 1/3~1/2 volume, not at under 1/4 on the dial (and this is using an iPhone at full volume, computer at 67%, tablet at 55%...a DVD player is too loud almost immediately).

Does your green board look like this one?


Can't tell for sure with the heatsink in the way, but these are probably the gain resistors. If they are, this board is set at 26db gain.
 
I took a few pics when I fixed a bad solder joint, I will post those soon. The board is one of the Audiobah clones...
 
A question, if I may:

Over on eBay, "hiamplifier" sells some very expensive TPA3116 boards--up to $65. Now in their defense, they appear to be tricked out with very high quality components. My question is basically, is it worth it? I am considering a 4-channel build: 2 mono amps and 1 stereo amp. I am willing to spend real (to me) money on this, as I want it to be an "end-game" amp for me, in my system. I currently have a couple Sure boards, and am quite sold on their sound quality. I know that they can be competitive with amps that cost far more.

The cheapest "reasonable" path for me would be to buy a pair of Sure mono boards, at $25 each. Of course, I will want to source a suitable power supply and chassis. But if I step up to the $40-65 range apiece, I could get the tricked out boards. I just wonder if it would be worth it. Also, another consideration is hiss through the speakers. The Sure boards that I have now are good, but not great in that regard. My speakers are fairly inefficient (Vandersteen 2ce), but I would want dead quiet.

Anyone have insight on these "boutique" TPA boards?

Thanks!
 
A question, if I may:

Over on eBay, "hiamplifier" sells some very expensive TPA3116 boards--up to $65. Now in their defense, they appear to be tricked out with very high quality components. My question is basically, is it worth it? I am considering a 4-channel build: 2 mono amps and 1 stereo amp. I am willing to spend real (to me) money on this, as I want it to be an "end-game" amp for me, in my system. I currently have a couple Sure boards, and am quite sold on their sound quality. I know that they can be competitive with amps that cost far more.

The cheapest "reasonable" path for me would be to buy a pair of Sure mono boards, at $25 each. Of course, I will want to source a suitable power supply and chassis. But if I step up to the $40-65 range apiece, I could get the tricked out boards. I just wonder if it would be worth it. Also, another consideration is hiss through the speakers. The Sure boards that I have now are good, but not great in that regard. My speakers are fairly inefficient (Vandersteen 2ce), but I would want dead quiet.

Anyone have insight on these "boutique" TPA boards?

Thanks!
This could be your answer:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...udio+Power+Amplifier+Board+Amp+Module&_sop=15
or similar on aliexpress

but maybe TPA3116/3118 is history and you can try this:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/TPS3...73.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.274.iBMbgD
The vendor claims that it is really dead quiet.
The Sure board has the worst pop-on/pop-off from all the 3116/3118 boards that I've tried.
The best boards but more expensive are the DUG and gmarsh boards from diyaudio forum - Group Buy section.

The TPA3118 boards from ebay are the best for me in stock form. You can mod them a little too :)
 
TPA3251? Hmm, I need to look into this. It could be a big "problem" solver for me, especially with the integrated power supply! Thanks for the heads-up.
 
If youre comfortable with soldering / desoldering, you could save some coin and jazz up the boards yourself. Its all fairly straight forward until you get to the inductors.
Might be worth while to get a board that doesnt make "pop" noises on turn on / off without messing around.
 
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I have three 3116 boards. This one is yj. Left and right speakers are reversed, but otherwise it is sensibly designed.

The differential Bluetooth input is 1uf and 5k which is too high-pass. Also the TPA input cap is 1uf which is too small for the gain setting.

I replaced the Bluetooth input caps from 1uf and 10uf to 22uf and 220uf. Also the input caps to 22uf. This has brought the deep bass back.

 
Having had only bad experiences with the 3116, I am interested in the next generation. Is the TPA3251 their next big chip? That board with the built in PS seems interesting. Any other options? Reviews?
 
I have three 3116 boards. This one is yj. Left and right speakers are reversed, but otherwise it is sensibly designed.

The differential Bluetooth input is 1uf and 5k which is too high-pass. Also the TPA input cap is 1uf which is too small for the gain setting.

I replaced the Bluetooth input caps from 1uf and 10uf to 22uf and 220uf. Also the input caps to 22uf. This has brought the deep bass back.


What was the gain setting? My only gripe with my green board clone is the lack of bass. The tube preamp helps a bit, but still lacking.
 
What was the gain setting? My only gripe with my green board clone is the lack of bass. The tube preamp helps a bit, but still lacking.

The output from the Bluetooth module on this one is fed to an op amp. Input impedance is 5k and with a 1uf coupling capacitor that's -3db at 32hz.

The 1uf input cap to the as-datasheet 3116 configuration was even higher frequency. I didn't bother to work it out as it was obviously wrong. I'll check later.

P.s no lack of low bass now. I had to turn the bass knob down after altering the caps.

Sub is a 12" jbl sealed box, 4R. Satellites are sealed morel 8R with similar sensitivity. I have volume and "treble" at 100% and bass at 25% to be in balance. Master volume via bluetooth at about 50% which is moderately loud.

100% bass and 50% master starts to make things fall off the bench.
 
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Having had only bad experiences with the 3116, I am interested in the next generation. Is the TPA3251 their next big chip? That board with the built in PS seems interesting. Any other options? Reviews?
I've been looking into it myself; it appears to be a pretty new product, so there aren't many that have made it into the wild yet, let alone have been reviewed. I'm following a big thread on DIYAudio, it looks like the board is still being revised. I plan on purchasing one as soon as I can, because it promises to be an incredible value. I just hope it lives up to its promise!
 
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