TPA 3116 vs the tripaths
- Thread starter Poultrygeist
- Start date
I had the same issue until I cleaned the pot with Deoxit.
Hi All,
Mark, can I ask what you did with the grounding of the signal from 6N3 pre to 3116?
I am in the process of building the same. I tried the 3116 on its own, it was silent and very good sounding. When I added the 6N3 pre there is a lot of hum when no music is played.
Do I need to ground the pre pcb or the centre tap of the transformer?
Many Thanks
Ian
best place to see what is easily changed for quick sound upgrades is to search for user name: "Rhing" and check his 3116 posts here and at DIY Audio.
I just followed his posts, photos, and BOM.
figure you need a soldering iron and a sucker/remover.
I use a spring loaded desoldering tool along with the copper braid to remove the parts.
some flux gel helps too...
You usually have to apply some sort of leverage with a tiny flat head screwdriver or something to remove parts.
be careful that you don't start melting other parts as you try to get in there to remove the inductors.
So far, to my ear replacing the inductors with Rhing's suggested Bourns models and boosting the gain by removing/replacing the 20k ohm resistor with a 39k ohm resistor--near the chip, behind the RCA input block on the YJ blue board--has made the biggest difference in this amp.
Again, this is with nexus 7 tablet as source, mostly flac files. near field on my desk. modified Dayton b652 book shelf speakers.
changing the gain makes it too loud to crank all the way on my desk.
I just followed his posts, photos, and BOM.
figure you need a soldering iron and a sucker/remover.
I use a spring loaded desoldering tool along with the copper braid to remove the parts.
some flux gel helps too...
You usually have to apply some sort of leverage with a tiny flat head screwdriver or something to remove parts.
be careful that you don't start melting other parts as you try to get in there to remove the inductors.
So far, to my ear replacing the inductors with Rhing's suggested Bourns models and boosting the gain by removing/replacing the 20k ohm resistor with a 39k ohm resistor--near the chip, behind the RCA input block on the YJ blue board--has made the biggest difference in this amp.
Again, this is with nexus 7 tablet as source, mostly flac files. near field on my desk. modified Dayton b652 book shelf speakers.
changing the gain makes it too loud to crank all the way on my desk.
opa1
Tenacious
I have no special grounding. The 6N3 is connected 150-0-150/6.3/6.3. I'm also using two prong A/C to transformer. Is it humming with or without a source connected?
It hums with or without a source, If I take the pre out of the equation the 3116 is silent when a source is connected. I do get the hiss without a source connected.
Sounds very nice at 19VDC.
I have swapped the tube for the russian ev version just in case it was a dodgy tube.
The PCB was marked 160 GND 160 and 6.3 6.3 I connected the GND to the chassis earth, both direct and via X2 cap and 150R resistor, still hums.
Any Ideas?
thanks! i've been doing a bunch of research today--which deoxit should i get? d100? f100?
opa1
Tenacious
Do you have a pic of what you have done? All my transformer wires are on the board. Except for the A/C connections. I'm not getting any hum.
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Two kinda dumb questions:
1) I see that in many integrated amps builds (with power switches, volume control, etc.) often times the wires running around in the box are braided together. Can someone tell me which ones are done that way, and why?
2) With a passive volume control, can it be wired on either side of the amp, i.e. source>volume>amp>speakers, or source>amp>volume>speakers? Why, or why not?
Obviously, I'm a neophyte here. Appreciate the help in furthering my education.
1) I see that in many integrated amps builds (with power switches, volume control, etc.) often times the wires running around in the box are braided together. Can someone tell me which ones are done that way, and why?
2) With a passive volume control, can it be wired on either side of the amp, i.e. source>volume>amp>speakers, or source>amp>volume>speakers? Why, or why not?
Obviously, I'm a neophyte here. Appreciate the help in furthering my education.
I used the D5. And to clarify, mine was humming even with a source connected and the Deoxit cleared it up. But the amp still hums when no source is connected. YMMV, but in my experience it's always good to keep some Deoxit handy. Hope this helps.
Edit: FWIW, for some reason I get a lot of interference with this amp when using my laptop as the source (it's a different sound than the hum), even when using an external USB DAC. But the amp is dead quiet when hooked up to iPad and iPod. I never noticed any interference problem with the PC when I was using a Lepai as the amp before. Oh, and the amp is at least several feet away from the laptop on my desk.
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Regarding hum... my 3116 is dead quiet like others say, and when running with a 6N3 pre no hum either. I'm not sure why Deoxit would be needed on a brand new pot, but whatever works works.
Using a laptop as source, you might get other noise depending what output is used. I have used my Teac integrated amp headphone out jack (since it has a very nice DAC and no other way to get at it) as a source with the 3116 and have noticed some higher frequency noise. It's not a 3116 issue, happens with other amps too. Some headphone outputs are not impedance matched correctly for driving a line level input. The 3116 input impedance also varies depending on gain, so hard to say.
Using a laptop as source, you might get other noise depending what output is used. I have used my Teac integrated amp headphone out jack (since it has a very nice DAC and no other way to get at it) as a source with the 3116 and have noticed some higher frequency noise. It's not a 3116 issue, happens with other amps too. Some headphone outputs are not impedance matched correctly for driving a line level input. The 3116 input impedance also varies depending on gain, so hard to say.
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Don't think I have enough tube listening experience yet to form a good opinion. What I have done is compare class D amps like the 3116 to solid state class A/B amps, like the well regarded Yammy AS-500 using same source. I like the 3116 better. Came to the same conclusion with my Teac class D amp with IRS2092 Abletecs in it (it's better than the Yammy). A lot of that of course has to do with the speakers in use, but that's where I am at.
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I finally have enclosure configured and a little free time coming soon . Should be able to get together this weekend. Maybe the 2 and 3 tube preamps too. Just got message from seller of Russian tubes I ordered. They're coming from Crimea so they may take a while (maybe forever).
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Twisting/braiding wires makes routing easier. 16 gauge stranded hook up wire works for me.
Hi All,
I have started a new thread over on DIYAUDIO to stop this thread going off topic with my troubleshooting.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/254819-tpa3116d2-6n3-pre-build.html#post3895488
Once done I will pop back show the results, and be happy to share my experiences fixing the hum.
Many Thanks
Ian
I agree that 16 ga should work just fine. And I usually prefer using solid wire because it keeps it's shape (not that this can't be managed with stranded wire).
