Small cheap amps, are tripath based t-amps still the way to go?

Alexrose1uk

Alexrose1uk

Alexrose1uk

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I'm looking for a small, cheapish amp to power some old Mission 700s with a PC and take over from the PC speakers. As they're going into a small room, they don't have to be massively loud, and I remembered someone recommending the t-amp a year or so ago.

I looked into the t-amp, and it pretty much seemed to cover what I needed (and was meant to sound very good for the cash), however looking around it seems I've really missed, at least, the original t-amp, and cannot find any in stock in the UK, Gen 1 or 2.

Looking on ebay it seems there are a lot of asian sellers selling thier own version of the Tripath amps, built around the Tripath 2020 or 2024 chips.
I found a review on a trends audio version which looked very good [obviously within reason, these aren't high power amps], but I don't know what the current versions from various parties are like.

Has anyone got experience with these, or any other recommendations?

This is of course presuming I don't find something like a nice Marantz, Harmon Kardon, Cyrus, CA or the like going exceptionally cheaply on ebay! (Got a NAD amp on there a while back for £20)

Thanks all :)
 
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Go for a TA2020 based amp over a TA2024 amp, I find the TA2020 sounds much nicer especially with a 14v PSU.

How efficient are the Mission 700's? If they are less then 90db/w you may need something with a little more power, look into TK2050 based Tripath amps, I'm using these and they sounds lovely, amazing dynamics and detail. :)
 
I believe the Missions are 87dB/w, which admittedly is a bit borderline based on the reviews I've read (which recommended 87+ or higher), but the room is only 2.5m by about 1.8m, so thought it might be enough.

Will take a look into the TK2050, can you recommend any good places, preferably UK based, that sell these 'boxed-up'?

The versions on ebay right now are just boards, rather than boxed up, and my DIY/soldering is...not my strong suit.
If there's a good UK site that sells this sort of stuff, pre-boxed up then that'd be perfect (remembering this would be left with a family PC, whilst I'd be happy enough dealing with a bare amp board, I doubt the family would :D)
 
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Unfortunately I have not seen any UK sellers offering a TK2050 based amp.

I bought around 4 TK2050 based amp boards from the far east from a company called Sure Electronics, but I've found you need to replace some parts to get them to sound good.

I think Red Wine Audio also sell a boxed up TK2050 based amp, but they are based in the US, and the price is extortionate - $3000 I think! :eek: It runs on batteries also, which I consider more of a curse than a blessing for home use.

Perhaps a TA2020 is your best bet after all... They're inexpensive, far more popular so you should be able to find a UK seller selling a boxed up amp... The only way to know if it has enough power is to try one out.
 
Thats a bit of a shame. If I end up getting one, I'll feed back.
Aside from ebay are there any places you recommend selling these?
 
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If you want post what model you are planning to buy, there are some nice amps but also a few horrible ones to, all TA2020 based.

I find bargain amps come and go, I think my best bargain was a Phonic MAX 1500 for £5! :D
 
Unsure as yet really. Last time around I looked I must have been lucky, there were reasonable sub-£40 amps all over the place on clearance, ebay, classified. Right now that doesn't seem to be the case!

At the moment, the only UK-based one on the 'bay seems to be a MiniT (apparently pre-assembled by a company named amptastic), but at £65 inc del, it's a reasonable whack.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-T-T-Amp-..._HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item27b2432670

Only reason I haven't discounted it based on price, is the fact that its apparently been tweaked and some components replaced to give it a little more oomph so it'll drive slightly more demanding speakers (which might help with my speakers), that and it comes with a power supply unit, which a lot of the cheaper asian imports exclude, and would be an additional cost.
[But then the price leaves me wondering if I'd be better spending the cash on a second hand full size amp]

Obviously if you know anything about these though, and they're hideous let me know so I can drop it straight away!

Overseas, the best value ones seem to be sellers with the Lepai version, but it does look a bit...cheap and nasty, at least the MiniT looked relatively solid.
 
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The MiniT amp does look like it comes in a nice enough box, but it is let down a little by the PSU. It's only 1.5A meaning the PSU can only output a maximum of 18W.

This means the amp will not sound as good as if you used a 4 or 5 amp PSU, and I've found if you get a PSU with an adjustable voltage, then 14v gives slightly better performance.

Now the Lepai, it's very cheap and cheerful. I paid less than £25 to get one with a 4A PSU, so this probably outperforms the MiniT. I have around 3 or 4 Lepai's now, and if you are willing to solder them, then you can improve the sound quality by bypassing the bass and treble controls, but even in stock form they sound suprisingly nice, despite looking like a cheap horrible car amp!

The best sounding Ta2020 I've come across so far is this one:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-MKIII-Tripath-TA2020-PCB-25watt-Class-T-amplifier-/260610104955

Now I know it's notgot a box or PSU, but if you do manage to find an amp which uses this board and also order a nice PSU, you'll get something that easily outperforms the MiniT. The only problem is that you'd have to order from overseas. If you want a bargain then you have to go direct I've found! ;)
 
Heheh, will deffo keep that in mind, thanks a lot!

Found an Ariston AX-910 (basically a CA1 with some cheaper caps, virtually identical pcb it seems!) very cheap, so tempted to plumb for that for the sheer simplicity of knowing it'll definately push the speakers (remembering the speakers used and the fact the family are going to be using it...perhaps not so carefully) and not having to order from overseas :)

If the Lepai's aren't actually anywhere near as bad as they look though, I will definately keep that in mind though, from the way it looked, I figured it was probably a blinged up, fancy lights POS!
 
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Nice, I'd grab the Ariston, it will let you have some music without having to wait for overseas delivery.

You can alwats grab the Lepai with the 4A PSU later on, I know it looks horrible but it's a nice cheap way of experiencing the Tripath sound, and also seeing how loud it really goes. :)
 
I may just do that :) I do like my toys. Might leave it a while though or I'll end up collecting speakers and amps again and that's a dangerous way to spend...a lot...of cash.
 
Haha, I know what you mean... I've slowly amassed a collection of amps over the years, and I must warn you these T-amps can be rather addictive, I think I'm in double figures now! :D

That said, I've done a little clearing up this weekend, and found a few Lepai's that I've modded that I no longer need, so as soon as I find all the leads and box, I should be able stick one or two on the members market, which you may be interested in... I've found that few simple modifications (tone control bypass, power cap upgrade, power diode bypass) can make the Lepai sound as good as many more expensive TA2020 based amps, but even in stock form they sound good I think.
 
Both the 2020, and 2024, can only really push around 6watts RMS @0.1% distortion or better into an 8 ohm load. Both will struggle with a low efficiency speaker like the mission 700's.

The chips themselves dont have very nice clipping characteristics, so if you overdrive them you can easily be into harsh tweeter destroying distortion.

If your after moderate sound levels, and are very carefull not to overdrive the amps, then go ahead, but dont try and drive the Mission 700's to party levels.
 
Hi Corasik, it's never going to get 'party' level usage, because of the size of the room and the family preferences. I've opted for the Ariston though because of its flexibility in that regards, thanks for the headsup though.
 
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