Considering a T-Amp based system. Help?

roadie

roadie

roadie

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Hey all,

So I need some speakers for the kitchen, as I am going mad singing at myself when in there preparing food as the only source of entertainment. I have been considering powered 2.0 speakers to plug my phone into or connect wirelessly like the Microlab H30BT, H50BT and the Edifier Spinnaker amongst others.

However, I remember reading years back about people getting great sound from systems based around T-Amps. That got me thinking - could I build a sweet sounding, small system on a tight budget (less than £100)?

From what I gather I would need a T-Amp and PSU, plus speakers and cable. After doing a bit of research the Lepai 2020A+ T-Amp seems like it might be worth a shout. It is also very inexpensive. Are there any others worth considering?

High sensitivity speakers seem to be recommended. However, this is where it all gets very confusing to me with the combinations of sensitivity and impedance! Might anyone be able to tell me whether I should be looking at 6 or 8 ohm speakers and what sensitivity ranges I should be looking at?

I was thinking the JBL Control One (8 ohm 89dB) might be worth a look?

Thanks in advance :)
 
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The T-Amps are very good for the money. THey can work on speakers as low as 4ohm, but most home audio stuff is 6-8ohm, so don't worry about that too much. The Lepai 2020 is only realistically around 10W per channel, but it can still make a respectable amount of noise! The Control ones aren't bad speakers, more targeted towards commercial installs than the home though. They tend to like a fair chunk or power, and 89dB isn't that sensitive.

Having said all that. Any half decent pair of bookshelfs will sound just find on the lepai.
 
THey will have a lower power output into the 8ohm speaker, but the 6ohm speakers are much less sensitive (6db will be roughly half as loud) So I'd say they will be fairly level pegging. Brain can't handle doing the maths alongside my exam revision I'm afraid!
 
I have an essay deadline tomorrow and a report due Thursday before an exam next week so I can empathise!

OK so lower impedance with the same sensitivity = louder?
 
For what it's worth, I used a Muse M50 TPA3123 T-Amp 2x50W with some PMC DB1i's for a little while (was moving house and used the pair i'd bought for surrounds on the PC until I had set up the system properly in the lounge), and it drove them perfectly fine.
 
Cool. That seems like quite a bit more power though. Would you recommend a Muse T-Amp over the aforementioned Lepai? There is a M20 EX2 model for under £30, which I think uses the same chip.

I do have my eye on some 90s speakers on Ebay from the likes of Mission and KEF that are relatively local and appear to be lower impedance and still relatively high sensitivity. I'm thinking they might offer better value for money than new.
 
Oh yea, the reported power output is nonsense but I'd guess that's already a given if he's looking into these. I've also used the Muse to run some old Mission M71's and some old big Epos floorstanders - all ran fine as long as you don't want them to go stupidly loud.
 
I have, but I'd have to buy one! I've swapped the bulk capacitor inside for a 4700uF I had kicking around, so that should help too.

My point was with a 12V 2A input, the 2*50W claimed is impossible, let alone the 250W! Even with a 5A supply it's not possible!

Realistically, the Tripath chip is good for 12W rms at low distortion into a 4ohm load.
 
I have just ordered a Lepai amp and look forward to playing around with it. Not sure I will be soldering any capacitors inside it in the near future though!

I may buy a 5A PSU. Will see how things are with the stock 2A one first.
 
Changing the bulk cap out is ludicrously easy if you have a soldering iron. When I've got some more time I'm tempted to really go to town on mine. It's one of the old versions so there are plenty of improvements that could be made.
 
Cant help on the amp side but ive got a pair of Control One Pro's ( bit more than the standard ones) but for the price you can get them these days they are good speakers.

Im sure I paid about £100 per speaker but I ran them in a commercial setting until the recession :( and ended up using 2 of them in my computer room running off a Yamaha AV amp with a BK sub (nice for a computer room set up).

You can pic up a pair of Tannoy M1's for a decent price on auction sites, they won plenty of awards many years ago and sound really nice for the price.
 
I do like the look of the older Tannoy speakers, although they may be slight overkill for the kitchen!

Saying that there are some Mission 780SE speakers near me that are more sensitive and have lower impedance (89dB 6 ohm) and may go cheap...

LOL I did envisage this being a compact system, as I already have a full sized one stored at my parent's house whilst I am at uni again! That took care of everything! Quad 12L2 speakers and a BK Gemini II sub fed by a Rotel RA-971 MkII amp.

Not sure I'll be investing in a soldering iron, but you never know...
 
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