Kingpin built another Tripath amplifier for me and that one is even better than the first. It is detailed, extremely distortion free, able to play louder without harshness and seems to have even more bass than the Audiophonics Purifi amplifier.Compared a diy Tripath TA2022 to the Audiophonics HPA S400ET Purifi amplifier. They are simular in sound, very detailed, tight grip on the bass, no outright big differences. To me without level checking, I would not like to guess.
However, the Tripath seemed to be able to play louder without distorting and a slightly more realistic sound seemed to be produced. As it was no proper ABX, my mind could have played tricks with me.
It's actually completely reasonable not to trust your hearing too much. It is famously short-memoried and subject to a variety of effects, including in my opinion the weather. So if we're talking about "I like my high distortion tube amp" or whatever, hey, ENJOY, that's the point! If we're talking about judging products, nah, listening is not enough, it is in some ways INsensitive and fallible.yes...human hearing is far more complex and sensitive than all the tests you can possibly run...Sad that some people can't trust their own senses.
For the ones who want to build this ... look out how to connect the XLR wiring they displayed it wrong on their site !!!
I informed Audiophonics about this and they changed it only for the one with the included transformer.
The one without the included transformer the XLR connection is right.
Be aware if you want to use XLR ... they are out of phase (+ / -) on one XLR connector.
Unless you did ABX testing, your choice will be influenced by your preconcieved opinions.Test bench measurements are pretty numbers, but tell the human ear very little with respect to subjective experience. Any single-ended tube amp will show horrendous distortion numbers (1 - 5% THD) on a bench...yet can sound much cleaner and realistic than a "silver face" 1970's Japanese receiver that has 40 dB of negative feedback to obtain a 0.001% distortion rating.
Human hearing responds to amplifier characteristics in ways that are far more complex than neuroscience can even understand today. Measurements SOMETIMES correlate, but more often do not. Go back to that 2% THD of the tube amp...it should sound HORRIBLE from the measurements. But does it?
So far as getting used to a particular amplifier sound, and not recognizing an improvement - based upon what criteria? A measurement? Listening is a subjective experience - if something sounds more realistic to the listener...that is the final arbiter. After 50 years in the audiophile hobby, I can still distinctly hear differences in amplifiers when playing the same source material. I just compared three amplifiers this morning, one of them a Tripath 2020 based, home-built unit. Each amplifier did certain things well, and each did other things not so well. It depended a lot upon source material. The one that gets the overall best score is the one that is usually hooked up.
It's not the Tripath, BTW!
Very interesting thread for me as I always intended to try this technology and was on the point of ordering a 41hZ amp 3 but a health issue and bad reaction to meds. got in the way.
Has any chip maker yet perfectly cloned the TA2020 chip? If yes, has anyone yet built a high res great sounding power amp using it? I shouldn't need more than 10 watts wpc, if that much, to drive my 94 db speakers. Impedance between 7 and 8 ohms and the mains only play down to 70Hz, below which my power subs take over. Room is moderately dead, 20 ft x 14 (11 ft to 8 ft ceiling). And I doubt I'd be playing the mains above 75 to 80 db at ~ 11 ftMeasurable performance wise, the higher performance Tripath chips are still in first class, in comparison with those open-loop high-noise high-THD high-output-impedance peaky boom box chips such as the lower range from companies like TI, ST, etc. The failure of Tripath as a company wasn't due to the technology being overvalued with respect to other technologies (but maybe due to the inability of the company to size itself properly).
Thanks for this info. Are there any distortion and frequency response measurements on that 3118 board?IMO, the 3116/3118 chips (properly implemented) are very natural sounding, and I say this as a fan of tube amplification. I also use a Tripath 2020 (on a secondary system) and I agree with another member that the overall sound is very similar to the 3116/3118 chips. If any of these were "cold", "clinical", "sterile" they would be in my junk box.
Note: I tried a cheap Chinese implementation of the 3116 and hated it. Then I tried a locally designed 3118 board (The Wiener, by member GMarsh et. al.) and it blew me away. It is now my main amp for use when the weather is simply too hot for tubes - and truth be told I could easily live with it year round.
Not that I am aware of, which is too bad because I really like that chip. I wish that I had kept a few.Has any chip maker yet perfectly cloned the TA2020 chip?
Based on my listening experience, the latest and greatest certainly isn't the TPA3116, that's long past its prime unless you really can't afford more than single digit $$. TDA8932 has much better bass and if you modify the standard application with an extra cap on the analog signal rail it has better HF too. TPA325X is definitely worth a listen, as is TPA322X. I've not heard any of the Hypex modules so can't give comparisons with the chips I've mentioned.
Hoping members who posted # 9 #11 ,# 34, #47 and #50 can help me decide on the right chip for my speakers. They are 3-way, at least 93 db and 7 to 8 ohms. They only play down to 70Hz, below which my powered subs takeover. So, presumably, I don't need a chip that does low bass; better that it delivers exceptional midrange and HF clarity, soundstage size and imaging.IMO, the 3116/3118 chips (properly implemented) are very natural sounding, and I say this as a fan of tube amplification. I also use a Tripath 2020 (on a secondary system) and I agree with another member that the overall sound is very similar to the 3116/3118 chips. If any of these were "cold", "clinical", "sterile" they would be in my junk box.
Note: I tried a cheap Chinese implementation of the 3116 and hated it. Then I tried a locally designed 3118 board (The Wiener, by member GMarsh et. al.) and it blew me away. It is now my main amp for use when the weather is simply too hot for tubes - and truth be told I could easily live with it year round.