Fleawatt Audio TPA3116D2 "Road Trip" Amp

fleawattaudio · « **on:** 26 Nov 2015, 04:07 am »

I've been communicating with Canada Rob regarding the idea of sending a DIY TPA3116D2 amp out on a "Omega owner road trip". I thought we might all have some fun with this. Anyone who would like to demo the amplifier, would need to pay for the shipping to the next recipient. The amp I'm going to be using for this fits in the USPS Large size flat rate box. That box costs $18 to ship anywhere in the lower 48. The amp that is being used for the tour is typically between $150 and $160 in price, depending on the bling.

So far, here are those who have volunteered to host the flea:

1. Canada Rob
2. Ultralight
3. Tabrink
4. ZLS
5. ccklone
6. jbryngelson

Ground rules to keep this smooth might include? 1. Demo limited to one week after amp arrives 2. Amp needs to be insured if using shipping method other than USPS 3. Don't mod the amp or change parts 4. Keep me in the loop where the amp is at and I'll coordinate who should get the amp next based on geographic location. 5. Person has possession of the amp pays to ship it to the next person, so no funds have to be transferred from member to member 6. Only forum members & Omega speaker owners with 5 or more posts prior to the date of this post eligible. (I'll work on a demo amp for other high efficiency speaker owners) Please post a reply if want to participate or if you have suggestion on how to make this work smoothly. I'm hoping to have the amp on it's way to Canada Rob around the first week of December.

Fleawatt Audio is my hobby. I provide a service of assembling a DIY style chip amplifier for those that don't have the time, tools or desire to assemble one themselves. There are no proprietary parts and anyone here can assemble the exact same amplifier. Some really good sounding, completely populated circuit boards are being offered overseas for very little money. Some would like to hear these "chip amps" that are being mentioned in various forums, but don't want to mess with buying individual parts, drilling, soldering, painting, etc. That's where I come in. I have sifted through many of the circuit boards to find the ones I think sound the best, for the cost. I've also experimented with different hook up wire, volume pots, hardware and power supplies, which should save the end user some guesswork. I'm always willing to help those who want one built or want to build their own.

Ultralight · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 08:01 am »

It was great to chat with you a couple of weeks ago.

Count me in after Canada Rob. I'd love to hear what the hubbub is about. I'm in the USA if that's OK. I'll pay for shipping to the next guy here in the US. And obviously I do have more than 5 posts here. It was great to chat with you - still have not had time to email your buddy yet but will do so after Thanksgiving. Thanks!

UL

fleawattaudio · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 10:46 am »

Quote from: Ultralight on 26 Nov 2015, 08:01 am

It was great to chat with you a couple of weeks ago.

Count me in after Canada Rob. I'd love to hear what the hubbub is about. I'm in the USA if that's OK. I'll pay for shipping to the next guy here in the US. And obviously I do have more than 5 posts here. It was great to chat with you - still have not had time to email your buddy yet but will do so after Thanksgiving. Thanks!

UL

Thanks for replying! I tried to find your contact information in my inbox and was going to send you a message since we had previously discussed a demo tour. Glad we re-connected and you'll get a chance to hear a 3116 in the near future. Sending you a PM.

dburna · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 02:38 pm »

I'd like to get in on the tour if possible. I have high-efficiency speakers so it should be a good match for the Fleawatt.

Thanks, -dB

tabrink · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 03:09 pm »

Count me in as well! Super XRS here!

ZLS · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 04:42 pm »

I will give it a try, that's how we learn.

rajacat · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 04:50 pm »

Does the amp use a stock TPA 3116 board or has it been modded? If so, what changes were made?

fleawattaudio · « **Reply #7 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 05:38 pm »

Thanks for asking. I'm going to use a stock board. Before I ship it out, I'll photograph it and detail the parts used and why I used them.

Quote from: rajacat on 26 Nov 2015, 04:50 pm

Does the amp use a stock TPA 3116 board or has it been modded? If so, what changes were made?

Folsom · « **Reply #8 on:** 26 Nov 2015, 06:22 pm »

Really? It's much better with some changes...

I wouldn't be too impressed with the stock one. The modified versions really go deeper into detail, tone, and bass.

fleawattaudio · « **Reply #9 on:** 27 Nov 2015, 12:28 am »

Quote from: Folsom on 26 Nov 2015, 06:22 pm

Really? It's much better with some changes...

I wouldn't be too impressed with the stock one. The modified versions really go deeper into detail, tone, and bass.

I expected criticism, but I was hoping to get the amp shipped first.

md92468 · « **Reply #10 on:** 27 Nov 2015, 01:03 am »

Quote from: fleawattaudio on 27 Nov 2015, 12:28 am

I expected criticism, but I was hoping to get the amp shipped first.

Amazing, eh?

Ultralight · « **Reply #11 on:** 28 Nov 2015, 12:58 am »

Fleawatt asked me to post what I communicated via PM to him.

In short, it seems that the easiest way to pay for shipping is for each tester to simply ship to the next and pay for shipping. That way, there's no payment involved, no paypal fees, etc. Otherwise, if we had 20 testers, there will 20 paypals involved and if something goes wrong with one paypal, that could gunk things up as they try to clear things out with Paypal. And if everyone agrees to ship priority mail, then that's uniform method of shipping and should get to the next home in 2 days here in the US. I'm not sure about Canadian shipping.

just my take.

UL

Canada Rob · « **Reply #12 on:** 28 Nov 2015, 02:12 am »

Quote from: Ultralight on 28 Nov 2015, 12:58 am

Fleawatt asked me to post what I communicated via PM to him.

In short, it seems that the easiest way to pay for shipping is for each tester to simply ship to the next and pay for shipping. That way, there's no payment involved, no paypal fees, etc. Otherwise, if we had 20 testers, there will 20 paypals involved and if something goes wrong with one paypal, that could gunk things up as they try to clear things out with Paypal. And if everyone agrees to ship priority mail, then that's uniform method of shipping and should get to the next home in 2 days here in the US. I'm not sure about Canadian shipping.

just my take.

UL

I wouldn't have thought it would be done any other way. A no brainer IMO. Once it gets into Canada, it should stay here until all testers up here are done. BUT most testers will likely be in the U.S. Being I'm first up, I can send it back to Derek and the tour can run it's course through the U.S., then come to Canada. I'll let Derek make that call.

ccklone · « **Reply #13 on:** 28 Nov 2015, 07:04 pm »

Hey Now,

I'm game. I'll take a listen. I have Super 3Ss and 3Ts. I have been using Sure TPA3110 amps. Thanks.

--
Finest kind,
Chris

fleawattaudio · « **Reply #14 on:** 29 Nov 2015, 01:37 am »

Quote from: Canada Rob on 28 Nov 2015, 02:12 am

I wouldn't have thought it would be done any other way. A no brainer IMO. Once it gets into Canada, it should stay here until all testers up here are done. BUT most testers will likely be in the U.S. Being I'm first up, I can send it back to Derek and the tour can run it's course through the U.S., then come to Canada. I'll let Derek make that call.

No need to send it back to me before it goes to ultralight. You can ship it to him next.

fleawattaudio · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Dec 2015, 01:22 pm »

The nomadic flea has been born and is hitchhiking his way toward the Canadian border to spend a little time with Canada Rob.

Ultralight · « **Reply #16 on:** 4 Dec 2015, 04:28 am »

LOL - that is a smart sentence.

What is the physical dimension of the unit and weight?

Thanks,
UL

Quote from: fleawattaudio on 3 Dec 2015, 01:22 pm

The nomadic flea has been born and is hitchhiking his way toward the Canadian border to spend a little time with Canada Rob.

Canada Rob · « **Reply #17 on:** 4 Dec 2015, 06:34 am »

Quote from: fleawattaudio on 3 Dec 2015, 01:22 pm

The nomadic flea has been born and is hitchhiking his way toward the Canadian border to spend a little time with Canada Rob.

And it will have one of it's relatives waiting here for it, the original "red board" TPA3116 that I screwed to a piece of birch ply with a plastic angle bracket to hold all the inputs/outputs. She's really ugly, but she can sure sing. When I first put it together and fired it up I found the top end a little brash, but aside from that it sounded pretty good. I temporarily traded for my son's Big Joe and let him have the TPA for awhile (more like he let me have his Big Joe for awhile). Well, I got it back and it sure sounded better, not to mention the Super 3Us got a little time on them. Spooky imaging, lightning speed, tremendous detail, lightning speed (didn't I already say that?), breath, and great sense of space. I then put a sub into the picture and got it dialed in. I have the sub hooked up speaker level and rarely have I heard this sub that dialed in with a system. Everything in the sound is really tight and fast, and I think the speed of this amp is helping the speed of the sub. In some respects, aside from the speakers, this type of system (and it's sound) is relatively new to me and I'm rather liking it.

I don't write this to steal the Fleawatt thunder, but I write it as an appetizer. My TPA3116 is bottom of the barrel in the TPA3116 evolution and if mine sounds this good, what must Derek's sound like? I'm looking forward to getting it.

fleawattaudio · « **Reply #18 on:** 4 Dec 2015, 01:22 pm »

Quote from: Ultralight on 4 Dec 2015, 04:28 am

What is the physical dimension of the unit and weight?

Thanks,
UL

The enclosure is 7.5" x 7.5" x 2.65". 2.5 pounds. The shipping box, due to the two power supplies I included, will weigh more, but it is in a USPS flat rate shipping box. If Canada Rob needs to re-box it, another flat rate (size large) box can be obtained at any US Post Office at no charge.

fleawattaudio · « **Reply #19 on:** 4 Dec 2015, 02:12 pm »

Quote from: Canada Rob on 4 Dec 2015, 06:34 am

And it will have one of it's relatives waiting here for it, the original "red board" TPA3116 that I screwed to a piece of birch ply with a plastic angle bracket to hold all the inputs/outputs. She's really ugly, but she can sure sing. When I first put it together and fired it up I found the top end a little brash, but aside from that it sounded pretty good. I temporarily traded for my son's Big Joe and let him have the TPA for awhile (more like he let me have his Big Joe for awhile). Well, I got it back and it sure sounded better, not to mention the Super 3Us got a little time on them. Spooky imaging, lightning speed, tremendous detail, lightning speed (didn't I already say that?), breath, and great sense of space. I then put a sub into the picture and got it dialed in. I have the sub hooked up speaker level and rarely have I heard this sub that dialed in with a system. Everything in the sound is really tight and fast, and I think the speed of this amp is helping the speed of the sub. In some respects, aside from the speakers, this type of system (and it's sound) is relatively new to me and I'm rather liking it.

I don't write this to steal the Fleawatt thunder, but I write it as an appetizer. My TPA3116 is bottom of the barrel in the TPA3116 evolution and if mine sounds this good, what must Derek's sound like? I'm looking forward to getting it.

I would expect my amp to sound like a "variation of the same theme" in comparison to the red board. Not a completely different animal. I recognize the subjectivity of musical sound reproduction and perception. It's difficult to forecast how successful a component will be in another person's system when they have a different room, different speakers, different source, different recordings, different cables and their preferences in sound, due to the brain's interpretation are likely different.
I used a stock circuit board as I wanted those who have not heard a TPA3116D2 to have a benchmark reference of the house sound of a TPA3116D2. There are many parts substitutions and modifications to alter the sound from there. I've done mods to make the 3116 more transparent/detailed and had others feel it was too analytical sounding. The demo amp I would classify as being on the warm & voluptuous side of neutral. Closer to a 300B sound than EL84.