Lepei Lp 2020a+ :why they sound so good ?

bob412 · Apr 20, 2015

My neighbor recently invited me over to hear his new stereo amp or what little there is of it . When I saw it I kind of chuckled . He's into high efficiency listening . Anyway his system consisted of this tiny amp called the Lepei connected to a very old pair of full alnico Klipsch Heresy loudspeakers and a NAD cd player . He's clearly into minimalist audio . His room is dedicated to nothing but this meager system . The speakers are nicely spaced about 8 feet apart on oak stands . I expected to hear nothing but crapola but boy was I in for a surprise . This little amp sounds almost tube like . The sound is wall to wall and with a nice spaciousness . Extreme treble is a little rolled off but this thing does midrange really well , the bass has nice weight to it for such a tiny amp . The speakers are so efficient that the volume was set at the 9:00 position renders about 75 decibels in this room , that's a nice level for listening to music . I couldn't stop listening to the CD titled "All Blues " by Miles Davis . Readers will think I'm exaggerating but this little amp is something special , especially when used with very high efficiency loudspeakers . Sorry to get off point . I've tried to figure out how such a cheap amp can sound so natural . My neighbor said it sounds good because it has a short signal path , much shorter than full sized amps . I believe that if this amp had high quality internal parts it would put a lot of expensive amps to shame , especially if used with high efficiency speakers . Anyone care to speculate on why these dirt cheap amps sound so good , please post . Could my neighbor be correct ?

camshaft · Apr 20, 2015

You're not crazy. The small class T amps have a bang for your buck previously unheard of in audio. I have a $40 Shure T-amp that I was using to power my Zaph SR-71's while working on a more permanent amp solution. They're very capable little amps, even though they drive purists mad at the notion of something so small and cheap being able to perform so well. I'm sure if they were sold in a chassis 5 times as big with a 40lb lead brick inside, at 10x the cost, many more people would rave about the sound.

shelly_d · Apr 20, 2015

If you look at their specs it will point you in the right direction.

Distortion is way down at 0.05% while still putting out it's full output. By contrast I'm in the process of selling a vintage Sansui 8 receiver that boasts of 50 watts/channel but at 0.6% (IIRC) distortion, more then 10 times as high. And for all that extra power, it is only 4 dB more power.

My son's T amp, and mine for that matter (I got it after hearing his) sound great as well.

Shelly_D

for_p1 · Apr 20, 2015

Class D amps do sound acceptable with many speakers. But they do not work well with some speakers and some music sources. Modern technology progress greately from these Lepai. Look for amps which use Hypex nCore modules - they are best of modern class D. Some amps with them cost as high as $10K. But one can buy these modules for DIY project for only few hundreds.

FastG · Apr 20, 2015

I run a Lepei Lp 2020a+ driving a pair of Alison 6's in my workshop. I drive them we a PC running Tidal. Sometime I just stop working on the project of the day to listen to them and marvel at the sound. it's an old PC and the Alison's were $50.00.

Graham

59volvo · Apr 20, 2015

Here is a long thread about a better and cheaper one - the TPA3116 based chip:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=574806

motorstereo · Apr 21, 2015

Funny how we all hear differently. During a power outage I was forced to use a 2020 on some very efficient speakers (100db emi-529's). It made noise but I wasn't thrilled with the harsh sound. I swapped the 2020 out for an old all original sansui au101 and all was well with no harshness. I have another 2020 that I use on my boat because it's small, light and 12 volts. It works great in that capacity and where sound quality isn't that important. I just don't get the comparison to tube amps though as that's not what I'm hearing through either of mine.

bowtie427ss · Apr 21, 2015

I just don't get the comparison to tube amps though as that's not what I'm hearing through either of mine.

I agree completely.

I find 95% of tube amps boring to the point of dis-engaging.

I find 95% of the cheap class D amps i've heard to be quite listenable, flat, and un-coloroed by sharp rolloff at the frequency extremes. However, most class D amps i have heard do really bad things when driven to clipping.

bermnerfs · Apr 21, 2015

Yeah, you only heard it at the 9 o'clock position. Turn it up just a tad more and all sound quality falls apart. I have several of the Lepai's for projects and testing. They are good for some things, and at low volume they sound pretty good. Once you start to push it just a little bit it sounds awful. THD numbers are pretty terrible once you start reaching peak output.

Also a power supply upgrade is mandatory if you plan to buy one. The power supply it comes with is pretty much useless.

For $20 its a neat little toy, but I'd never use one for anything more than background music.

Northwinds · Apr 21, 2015

My buddy brought his 2020a over to show me that his friend gave him to try out, he left with it blown up. He tried to drive my E-712's w/ an efficiency rating of 98dBs and it kept shutting off when he cranked it up. It sounded ok at very low level but bass seriously sucked, no damping factor at all. It started to get real gnarly before it shutdown. We went through a few more trip cycles and eventually it stopped working. Lesson learned, you get what you pay for and these amps are not in the league of Class A, A/B or even tube amps (which I left by the wayside long ago)

For low level background music, they are cheap and acceptable sounding, for serious listening at not so much. I bet they would be paired good with Realistic Minimus 7's though and would last a lot longer

KeninDC · Apr 21, 2015

Fun little amps that sound surprisingly good when you consider their cost and size. Perfect for office and low level listening, but not, IMO, a legitimate replacement for any modern tube or Class A amplification. I run ModWright>Krell, BTW. Still - these little wonders do have a "wow" factor and do what they do quite well, which is cheap, efficient, and uncolored amplification.

If your grainy old Pioneer SX-750 has bitten the dust, I'd highly recommend looking at a T-amp.

I have an SMSL SA-36A 2*20W TA2020 Tripath Class T Amp Stereo Amplifier that uses a Texas Instruments chip that I really enjoy for office listening. Great little amp. Nice build, too. Good for traveling. That's a business card next to it, so you can get some idea how compact it is.

Innards:

bare · Apr 21, 2015

Sadly Lepais' are Junk.. No news there or there shouldn't be.
These are made of FAKE parts including the Ta chip.
Which when OEM ~10 years ago.. did sound far above it's weight class...
well worth owning even if best as a secondary setup.

Even other Chinese/Ebay makers of Ta chip based amps do a far better job of it than Lepai.
Is this Never gonna die ?

Hermit418 · Apr 21, 2015

bob412 said:
My neighbor recently invited me over to hear his new stereo amp or what little there is of it . When I saw it I kind of chuckled . He's into high efficiency listening . Anyway his system consisted of this tiny amp called the Lepei connected to a very old pair of full alnico Klipsch Heresy loudspeakers and a NAD cd player . He's clearly into minimalist audio . His room is dedicated to nothing but this meager system . The speakers are nicely spaced about 8 feet apart on oak stands . I expected to hear nothing but crapola but boy was I in for a surprise . This little amp sounds almost tube like . The sound is wall to wall and with a nice spaciousness . Extreme treble is a little rolled off but this thing does midrange really well , the bass has nice weight to it for such a tiny amp . The speakers are so efficient that the volume was set at the 9:00 position renders about 75 decibels in this room , that's a nice level for listening to music . I couldn't stop listening to the CD titled "All Blues " by Miles Davis . Readers will think I'm exaggerating but this little amp is something special , especially when used with very high efficiency loudspeakers . Sorry to get off point . I've tried to figure out how such a cheap amp can sound so natural . My neighbor said it sounds good because it has a short signal path , much shorter than full sized amps . I believe that if this amp had high quality internal parts it would put a lot of expensive amps to shame , especially if used with high efficiency speakers . Anyone care to speculate on why these dirt cheap amps sound so good , please post . Could my neighbor be correct ?

I picked up a T-path 2050 amp from P-Express and slapped it into a box along with a computer grade 3 amp 24 volt supply. Connected a decent set of speakers it cranks. Sounds solid in bass department and open mids along with clean higher freqs. It is rated 50WPC with 30 WPC at very nice specs.
It is the one with the fan mounted to help keep it cool during those long headbanging sessions. Surprising for how small it is and been told the same amp is in their 50 box version and the 100WPC version is on sale for $99.00 right now. Volume control, and some other addons.

Check it out you might find your computer needs an outboard amp and you just know that old pair of Rat Shack Minimus 7s want to get the dust off the drivers so break out the plastic and indulge in a new little toy.

Hermit

hjames · Apr 21, 2015

Looks exactly like the one I've got. I won it from an AK auction a few years back.
Played around with efficient speakers and found out those Lepai amps are not bad.
I got a car adapter last month so I could test efficient speakers out in the field.

Couple years back I used one to drive a pair of Minumus 7s, then tried it with Ruark Talisman II speakers -
Surprisingly, they played pretty well, as long as I didn't crank them hard or expect deep deep bass.

robgmn · Apr 21, 2015

bare said:
Sadly Lepais' are Junk.. No news there or there shouldn't be.
These are made of FAKE parts including the Ta chip.
Which when OEM ~10 years ago.. did sound far above it's weight class...
well worth owning even if best as a secondary setup.

Even other Chinese/Ebay makers of Ta chip based amps do a far better job of it than Lepai.
Is this Never gonna die ?

It'll probably die when what you are saying becomes the truth.

There are literally TONS of these amps out there that work just fine, sound just fine, and cost little more than a few trips to Starbucks.

Your constant bashing makes me think of the polar opposite of a Boiler Room scam.
Maybe you think they will go away if you post the same threadcrap every time someone discusses one of these fun little amps?

Weird.

Junfan · Apr 21, 2015

I have enjoyed modding a couple of these. I put some big old 5600 output caps in them LOL.

I bought them figuring they would make for cheap desoldering and soldering practice. I have one in the garage on some Dayton 652 air and the other have some dynaco a25s in our master bedroom.

ejman · Apr 21, 2015

Well, here is the perfect system: Lepai 2020, phone source and Magneplanar 1.7's. What could be better?

gort69 · Apr 23, 2015

I read this thread and was intrigued, so I bought one from ebay. ~$22 shipped. Connected it the computer through Paradigm Titans (v3). Pretty good, and quite the space saver compared to the KA-3500 I was using. Gets plenty loud enough with the 2A power supply. We'll see how long it lasts.

PS - Apparently Lepei has changed to Lvpin - same unit though.

lojyo610 · May 11, 2015

Lepai 2020A+ Whudya Want for $28?

I recently bought one of these for computer sound in my home office. I have it hooked up to some inexpensive HK rear surrounds I bought on ebay for $35 the pair about 10 years ago. No DAC or anything, just straight out of the computer's 3.5 mm jack. My expectations were very low.

What I get is solid, listenable music out of some really cheap equipment and a notoriously poor source, a computer.

I have my less than reference level, but still pretty good 2 channel stereo in the same room. The Lepai based computer system offers nowhere near the depth, imaging, bass bump or soundstage of a $2500 system. For $2435 less, it acquits itself pretty well.

Lepei Lp 2020a+ :why they sound so good ?

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Huh? Turn what down?

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