Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

You guys have convinced me that DIY might be the way to go for amps. Can I compete with the five channel Emotiva price/performance? That was going to be my next amplifier purchase.

I do believe that a set of ClassDaudio amps will do what you want. Plenty of power and clean performance.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

It is looking more and more like DIY is the way to go.

Imagine! A wood cased five channel HT amp Make a silver bezel and just get all retro.

[critofur]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

....Otherwise, I would expect no difference in sound between the two, if they were both designed and built correctly.

Are the T-Amps significantly more efficient than the GCs? If so, that makes a compelling argument for them, unless you already have some nice big heatsinks?

I assume (and read) I'm not really going to get 100 wpc from my "4x100" Sure T-Amp, but, at $50 assembled for everything but the power supply / case, seems like a great way to get into a 2 channel 2-way active setup w/DSP (or PC) crossover. Even when powered by just a 12 VDC 1 Amp "wall wart" it seemed like I was getting decent clean output levels on a pair of sealed BAMTMs.

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

It is looking more and more like DIY is the way to go.

Imagine! A wood cased five channel HT amp Make a silver bezel and just get all retro.

Get out of my head!!!!! :eek: :D

[MrkCrwly]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

The concept of a DIY amp is very compelling until I think about a preamp and possible a tuner. How do you guys handle the front end?

[evilskillit]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

Thats the main reason I haven't done much DIY amp work yet. Good looking chassis are as much as the whole rest of the project put together, if not more. I thought about going wood but I wasn't sure if I could get it to not look stupid. Plus wood has no interference rejection, so what do you do, line the wood panels on the inside with sheet metal or what? I'll reconsider DIY amps if we can get some good chassis going that could be made out of wood, or at least wood working tools.

[fastbike1]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

http://sound.westhost.com/project88.htm Elliott Sound Products. Project 88, Project 05, Project 06.

We don't need no stinkin' FM.:p Sometimes we buy a vintage pre-amp.

For cabinet: http://www.par-metal.com/product-ttp-20series.php. Put it inside a wooden box. Best of both worlds.

The concept of a DIY amp is very compelling until I think about a preamp and possible a tuner. How do you guys handle the front end?

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

Get out of my head!!!!! :eek: :D

:D

[robertf]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

The concept of a DIY amp is very compelling until I think about a preamp and possible a tuner. How do you guys handle the front end?

My next big project will be a Dodd Audio tube buffer DIY
Buffer has no gain but my amp is set to 26db gain and is loud as I need it using my Arcam Alpha 9 as a preamp. Gain on Arcam is 12db and voulume knob at 10 o'clock position is LOUD so I should be good to go. Also Dodd buffer is 12 volt sealed lead battery powered. 28 amp hour battery is to last about 30 hours on a charge. Basic kit is $349 and finished unit with remote is $1595. I can save quite a bit,however, remote is optional for $199.

see here http://doddaudio.com/diy.aspx

Robert

[robertf]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

Thats the main reason I haven't done much DIY amp work yet. Good looking chassis are as much as the whole rest of the project put together, if not more. I thought about going wood but I wasn't sure if I could get it to not look stupid. Plus wood has no interference rejection, so what do you do, line the wood panels on the inside with sheet metal or what? I'll reconsider DIY amps if we can get some good chassis going that could be made out of wood, or at least wood working tools.

Line it with sheet metal like I did.

Robert

[robertf]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

It is looking more and more like DIY is the way to go.

Imagine! A wood cased five channel HT amp Make a silver bezel and just get all retro.

With classdaudio setup you would need three amp boards,two power supply boards and two transformers. You would end up with a 30 or so pounder amp.
Would be nice. I have been thinking about this myself. An emotiva 5 channel would be around the same price or perhaps a bit lower but the DIY adventure is what I like. I plan on having a total DIY two channel system. I can't DIY a CD player but the rest I can. I just made a set of DIY silver interconnects on Monday to go with my amp:D

Calculated cost of five channel amp and classdaudio parts would be $535 for the [email protected] boards with large power supply/transformers.

Robert

[AJ]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

Are the T-Amps significantly more efficient than the GCs? If so, that makes a compelling argument for them, unless you already have some nice big heatsinks?

I haven't read much about T-Amps really, but yes they are more efficient than the Class AB chipamps (LM series from National). And yes, heatsinks can be expensive. Surplus stores and ebay are good places for cheap heatsinks.

The concept of a DIY amp is very compelling until I think about a preamp and possible a tuner. How do you guys handle the front end?

A diy preamp is possible, and can even be simpler than power amps if you don't need a lot of features. I have a basic (in progress) preamp outlined in my blog. If you want more than a selector switch and volume knob, like remote control volume and source selection, pretty displays etc... look into the PGA2310 from Burr-Brown. That chip combined with a PIC microcontroller would make for a full featured preamp. Surround sound decoding would even be possible. This guy built something similar to what I plan on building someday:

http://www.mhennessy.f9.co.uk/preamp/index.htm

He made his design completely opensource, except for the source code for the PIC. If you know some programming(or know how to search the internet for similar projects by other people) you could build a nice, full featured preamp for a fraction (not including your time spent, of course) of what a comparable commercial preamp would cost.

Standalone stereo tuners are pretty cheap so I don't really think I would ever bother building one.

[captainobvious99]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

How friendly are they for a "newbie" to DIY amps?

Johnny-

If I can build one, you can too ;)

Mine sounds great.

[Taterworks]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

I agree - small class-D amps are awesome, and tons of fun. I'm already an owner of the NuForce Icon-1 and Sonic Impact T-Amp Gen2, and I'm waiting for a Silverstone Ensemble EB02 (TA2021B on reference Tripath circuit board) to arrive for hot-rodding. I have heard small class-D amps generate some incredibly emotional performances on my newly-retuned Whetstone speakers (still in-progress). I'm continuously surprised at what class-D and class-T amps can do, and for someone who might just be testing the waters of audiophile-world, there's no better component to anchor a starter system with speakers of 82dB or better sensitivity (though the fun-factor is higher with higher-efficiency speakers). Class-D amps have come of age, and a well-done class-D or class T amp can impart a lot of musical excellence to a system.

[djg]

Re: Fun with T-amps - I didn't know what I was missing.

I just ordered my second Class D Audio amp kit. Finished the first one a few days ago. They are extremely easy to assemble. The previously mentioned thread at audiocircle.com has all the info needed, including a link to a Par Metal enclosure on ebay that is the perfect size, 12 x 12 x 4. All additional items such as binding posts, rca jacks, and power cords are available at PE.