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I decided I liked the sound of one of my modded YJ Blue/Black boards enough to put it in a permanent housing. My decision was the smallest possible box I could stuff it into. The Sure Amp box from PE was the ticket! The fit is extremely tight, and required a little surgery to the box for the switch and power input jack. The footprint of this finished amp is smaller than a dollar bill!
Nice work lacro!I used the next-larger Sure case from Parts Express for my 3110 build (my first 311x build). Larger case and smaller PCB, so an easier fit overall. Those are pretty nice cases, especially for the price, but my main complaint is that the main body isn't split.How did you mount the PCB to the chassis? In my case, I fixed the standoffs to the PCB, and then line those up with the holes in the chassis. Works fine, just not as convenient as having a removable top. But on the other hand, it saves having to drill all the binding post and RCA holes.My other annoyance with those cases is the square cutout for the power receptacle. Mine just has wires hanging out the back. Not nearly as clean as your solution.
Rhing, another question if I may. Do you have any hum coming through the speakers if there is no component turned on connected to the transformer primaries. I found I got a hum if my dac was off but the amp turned on. I avoid that happening now by having the power transformers for both in the same box, fed by the same power inlet. But I am curious whether this happens for you too.
Fantastic Rhing. Very glad you like this, although Sharpi31 on Diyaudio deserves the credit as first here, not me.If I remember correctly from several years ago when I first installed transformers in my dac, they took quite a while to reach their best performance. So you may have further treats to look forward to (although different transformers so no guarantee).Your results mirror mine - the size of the soundstage was the thing that really hit me at first. Then the sense of intimacy with appropriate recordings.Are you still using your line stage as well or have you removed that from the equation now? I was a little unclear when you wrote about your intention here a few days ago.
Great stuff! It sounds like your blue/black board is finally ready to go into a cool enclosure. There cannot be much more improving to be done.... Oh wait, what was that about a snubber thingummy?
Update: I just received a parts order from Digi-Key, which included 2 Panny FM's to replace some caps in my Astron PS. I had no idea they would improve the SQ of this already great sounding PS. The best $2 spent on this hobby! Most of these Astron's we are finding used are somewhat 'vintage' and replacing a couple of caps with new/better ones is worth doing. Thanks - Rhing!
After that, using good wire for a DC power cable, good power connectors and a quality power switch are next. Of course, using good power supply DC decoupling caps on the amp board are critical. So far, many of us have found the Panasonic SEPF OSCONs to work very well. If you stopped there, you've achieved high end audio results.
That's great lacro. You're welcome. Maybe we'll have to revisit that larger blue tank cap in there too. Getting a good regulated linear power supply is probably the single most important mod for these TPA31xx Class D amps. They are 90% efficient, so the power supply path is just as important as the signal path. After that, using good wire for a DC power cable, good power connectors and a quality power switch are next. Of course, using good power supply DC decoupling caps on the amp board are critical. So far, many of us have found the Panasonic SEPF OSCONs to work very well. If you stopped there, you've achieved high end audio results.
Rhing:I am ready to revisit the big blue cap if you have a suggestion? I agree the Oscons are hot ticket so far for the DC decoupling caps. I have tried them on 3 different boards so far with positive results Just today I stripped everything I could from a 2x8 3110 board I had modded many times resulting in burning out some through holes. I want to mount this board in a tiny box. I installed the Oscon caps on the underside of the board, and ran the leads through the burned out through holes onto the pads on top. The power input through holes were also burned out so I had to find an alternative. The rats nest wiring shown in the photos is just me making sure it's worth proceeding with my mini box idea. Surprisingly it work fine. The Oscons take about an hour to burn in and start sounding GREAT.I am enjoying listening right now, driving my Danny Richie design DIY X-LS Encores.
