Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

[JimHRB]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Is either amp 4ohm capable?

Picture of the back panel of the Lepai says 2-8 ohms.

[bkeane1259]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Is either amp 4ohm capable?

BOTH are 4ohm capable and are rated as thus. I have run the LEPAI on a 4ohm load at relatively loud levels and it really doesn't even get hot.

[Thunderbisciut]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Good stuff, wish I knew about that little guy before. I would be tempted to get one if I didn't just get a pair of kits in from ChipAmp. Looking forward to more info...

[djkest]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

I should have some time tomorrow to do some preliminary listening tests. Stay tuned.

I am tuned, do you have anything to report? Not only is it smaller than the Lepai, but could potentially have better sound. With the power supply it's 2x as expensive though- which is still not much money.

[bkeane1259]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Gonna try to squeeze in some initial listening time tomorrow morning. I work on Sunday's and I totally got sidetracked on Saturday and ran out of time. :(

Plus our Chicago Bears totally fell apart today so I'm really bummed.

Hang in there.

[marvin]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Gonna try to squeeze in some initial listening time tomorrow morning. I work on Sunday's and I totally got sidetracked on Saturday and ran out of time. :(

Plus our Chicago Bears totally fell apart today so I'm really bummed.

Hang in there.

Your time would have been better spent on the amps, Bryan:D

[vlad335]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Gonna try to squeeze in some initial listening time tomorrow morning. I work on Sunday's and I totally got sidetracked on Saturday and ran out of time. :(

Did you get a chance to compare these amps yet? Very interested in what you find out.

Thanks

[bkeane1259]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Finally dedicated some time to listen to the Indeed and Lepai TA2020’s. I used a brand new Lepai and brand new Indeed – ZERO hours on both (for those of you who think amps need to break in…LOL). For the first round of listening, I used my Speedsters. I used my PC sound card output and a few different music tracks from my collection. I used a 3.5mm input cable on both amps (I didn’t use the RCA’s on the Lepai). I defeated the tone controls on the Lepai. The Indeed has no tone controls. I swapped the input, speaker, and PS cables to listen to each amp. There was no quick A/B switching. I used a 5A PS.

Here are my initial observations/thoughts.

Straight away, I noticed the Lepai was able to play louder than the Indeed, but not in a good way. There’s clearly clipping/distortion once you move towards the ¾ mark on the volume control. Conversely, I was able to pump the volume to MAX on the Indeed with the sound being very clean. It’s almost like there is a volume limiter/governor on the Indeed that does not allow it to venture into “clipping territory” – is this possible? Anyway, in terms of output, I think they are dead even. You can get the Lepai to “sound louder” but it sounds like crap at that point.

When powering on both units, I do not get a popping noise in the speakers. I tried switching the power on at zero volume, half way and all the way up and my speakers did not pop on either unit. I flipped the switch on/off quickly a couple times and could not get either amp to make a popping noise. <-- I know that's not a good habit.

I believe there is a difference, albeit small, in sound quality between these amps. This is my “subjective” opinion at this point. Don’t flame me on the following terminology, because I’m not good with flowery descriptions of sound. However, the Lepai seems just a tad shallow and lacks a bit of bass as compared to the Indeed at normal to slightly loud listening levels. The Indeed is nice and punchy, and remains so even when you pump the volume 100%. Because of this, it appears “fuller” to me. When you pass the half-way point on the Lepai, bass very blatantly starts to get muddy and just sounds bad in general. I liked that you could advance the volume on the Indeed without distortion and I found myself wanting more loudness. It’s hard to explain, but the fact that I was handling the controls and critically listening at the same time isn’t fair. I will address that later.

Stereo separation seems very equal to me, and similar to what I hear with my Marantz and Sonance amps. Both amps have a decent “full” sound, especially at lower volumes. Midrange and high end quality appears to be equal as well. I’m 44 years old, but I can hear up to 17kHz for sure. Both amps are reproducing the spectrum well. In terms of overall sound quality, they are fairly similar at low volume. The differences really only start to appear when you push the Lepai. This is the Lepai’s shortfall.

In the week between Christmas/New Years, I will figure out a way to do quick switching between the amps so I can have other listeners weigh in blindly. I also want to do some objective testing on these, but my resources are limited in this respect. I can measure some sweeps and see what the charts show. I have TruRTA and DMM’s, but that’s it. I’ve never measured amps before.

That’s about it for now. Any input would be appreciated.

[kmibb]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Your description of the Lepai sounds very similar to what XtremeRevolution said before he modded the caps. Sounds like this may be a better solution, though it doesn't have dual inputs or tone control.

[bkeane1259]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Your description of the Lepai sounds very similar to what XtremeRevolution said before he modded the caps.

Ahhh...so what we really need is somebody to measure a modded Lepai and the Indeed.

Sounds like this may be a better solution, though it doesn't have dual inputs or tone control.

True...true. Also remember, the Indeed does not come with a power supply, so taking that into consideration, it's a lot more expensive than the stock Lepai.


Now that you've mentioned it, I didn't think about the fact that I used a 5A PS on the Lepai which normally comes with a 2A PS.

I should redo this listening test with the supplied 2A PS for the Lepai. Perhaps that perceived extra power and muddy, crappy bass when the volume is cranked on the LEPAI is because of the bigger PS ??

[Thunderbisciut]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

No, I think it's just the Lepai. Mine is the same way with the Vonage, lol, PS that came with it. It sounds good, but it gets ugly real quick if you try to push it. I also think the tone controls are terrible, at least on mine. It's a great deal for what it is, and what it should be used for.

Thanks for the write up, good info.

[Whitneyville1]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

With the limited power of these amps, I'm not sure the tone controls on the Lepai are a benefit, especially with the remarks made about the tone controls on the Lepai. Do we have an MSRP with S&H of the Indeed as a comparision to the Lepai w/PS cap mods? I have an old ATX 'puter supply (like 9 amp @12 volts) to push either one that's collecting dust. A modest (+1.8 volt?) over the rated "12 volt" input would be helpful to those who might plan to use them in a car/truck/boat (nominal 13.8 volts of a charged lead-acid battery).

[bkeane1259]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Indeed TA2020 is $37 --

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290622735502

I used this 12v 5A PS - $9.69 --

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170503651705&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

So my all-in cost was: $46.69

------------------------------------------

From XR's mod thread -- For the Lepai TA 2020

$22.80 for the amp + ? Shipping
$9.13 for the capacitors + $6.95 shipping
$10.25 for the power supply

Total: $49.13.

Total for only mods: $26.33

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showpost.php?p=1756311&postcount=14

[vlad335]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

Now that you've mentioned it, I didn't think about the fact that I used a 5A PS on the Lepai which normally comes with a 2A PS.

I should redo this listening test with the supplied 2A PS for the Lepai. Perhaps that perceived extra power and muddy, crappy bass when the volume is cranked on the LEPAI is because of the bigger PS ??

No, IMO it's worse with the 2a.

I bought the Lepai last week and purchased the ebay PS and upgrade parts as well. The PS arrived on Monday after I had been listening to the amp for a couple days. The 5A is a significant upgrade.

[bkeane1259]

Re: Budget T-Amp Shootout - Lepai vs. Indeed TA2020

No, IMO it's worse with the 2a.

I bought the Lepai last week and purchased the ebay PS and upgrade parts as well. The PS arrived on Monday after I had been listening to the amp for a couple days. The 5A is a significant upgrade.

Good stuff. Thanks. You saved me some time.

Just for yucks I'm going to try to squeeze in some FR measurements with TrueRTA tomorrow, but no promises with Christmas right around the corner.

Not sure if this will even yield anything worthwhile, but I'll give it a go. I will set levels around 2v at the speaker terminals with pink noise, and then do a nearfield spectrum sweep measurement for each amp and see what the graphs say.