[lacro]

These are the Slim Classic Golden Ratio (CGR) dMar-Ken7.3 speakers.  A Planet10 design; they also cut the wood for me as a glue-together flat pack.  Drivers are Mark Audio Alpair 7.3eN ("eN" means the "enabled" treatment, aka fancy painted-on polka dots).

Finishing is DuraTex.  Very easy to apply, and I really like "industrial"-looking stuff.

Sweet set-up Matt! The Astron PS adds to the "industrial look" I bet it would look cool in Duratex!
One speaker for each ear, one monitor for each eye.... just need a second mouse - The ultimate "stereo"

[Poultrygeist]

The Frugal Horns get lots of playing time with the 3116.

[ClefChef]

I followed dboy's lead and installed a pair of CineMag CMLI-15/15B input transformers on my modified Yuan Jing blue amp. This has to be the ultimate mod for these amps. The soundstage is huge and the tonality is so natural. I wouldn't recommend this for a desktop computer system, but if you use these TI Class D amps in your main system, this should be a serious consideration.

The cost of modifications to the product should not exceed the cost of product itself. It's like putting $10,000 wheels on $2,000 car - it drives better, but how much better? 

[rhing]

There are rules?

[ClefChef]

No rules, $10,000 wheels look great on Honda 

[Markvdv]

$800 Japanese 3118 is above limit, $500 TBI Millenia might also be above C&C forum limit

[dboy]

The cost of modifications to the product should not exceed the cost of product itself. It's like putting $10,000 wheels on $2,000 car - it drives better, but how much better? 

Nonsense. The Astron power supplies cost more than the amp board but nobody raises an eyebrow. With input transformers and a good TPA3116 board you can have an amp equivalent to one you might never afford otherwise. What is wrong with that?

We are not all blessed with limitless wealth. Some people (I do not specifically mean Rhing here, but perhaps myself) might choose life paths that are less financially rewarding than others, but nonetheless valid. Should such people not enjoy the fantastic quality sound that is now available to them if they are prepared to take some chances and DIY?

Try input transformers yourself, then pronounce your judgement!

[OzarkTom]

Nonsense. The Astron power supplies cost more than the amp board but nobody raises an eyebrow. With input transformers and a good TPA3116 board you can have an amp equivalent to one you might never afford otherwise. What is wrong with that?

Rodge827 and I had a tough time convincing anyone here to try the Astron's, I have noticed that no one here is trying the Reality Cable power cord, that makes as big an improvement as the Astrons do.

[ClefChef]

$800 Japanese 3118 is above limit, $500 TBI Millenia might also be above C&C forum limit

Those are retail products carrying 60% mark-ups. The most expensive part in TBI Millenia is its chassis.
Again, improving a $20 product with $300 worth of parts seems excessive. With that much cash available I would invest in better modules in the fist place, otherwise it is just a very expensive experiment.

I must have gone through the same stages of "upgrading" everything and then trying to unload it when bored only to discover that all the upgrades have little or no add-on value in the secondary market.

[OzarkTom]

Those are retail products carrying 60% mark-ups. The most expensive part in TBI Millenia is its chassis.
Again, improving a $20 product with $300 worth of parts seems excessive. With that much cash available I would invest in better modules in the fist place, otherwise it is just a very expensive experiment.

I must have gone through the same stages of "upgrading" everything and then trying to unload it when bored only to discover that all the upgrades have little or no add-on value in the secondary market.

A used Astron is $50 or less and is very re-saleable, power cable is $65 and can be used on other equipment, cap mods are $20 or less. That is a far cry from $300.

[rhing]

Those are retail products carrying 60% mark-ups. The most expensive part in TBI Millenia is its chassis.
Again, improving a $20 product with $300 worth of parts seems excessive. With that much cash available I would invest in better modules in the fist place, otherwise it is just a very expensive experiment.

I must have gone through the same stages of "upgrading" everything and then trying to unload it when bored only to discover that all the upgrades have little or no add-on value in the secondary market.

ClefChef, I am not spending your money, I am spending my own hard earned income. If I want to use $120/pair input transformers, where is the harm? The fact is I've only spent a little over $200 TOTAL on this amp including my used Astron power supply, the budget speaker connectors from Lowes, Switchcraft DC power connector, etc. I am actually flattered that you think it's $300 and I'll take it as a compliment. I shared the results of using input transformers to demonstrate there is yet more potential to these amps. That "expensive" experiment was on my dime. In the DIY spirit, I like to share my experimental results, so that we can have fun building some remarkably high value audio electronics on our own. Perhaps, someone might be able to get a great deal on input transformers for less than what I paid for mine. Would that be breaking the rules too?

[dboy]

I must have gone through the same stages of "upgrading" everything and then trying to unload it when bored only to discover that all the upgrades have little or no add-on value in the secondary market.

Sounds like your DIY projects didn't end up sounding that great.

It isn't all about the cost. Some of us just love listening to beautiful music that is beautifully reproduced - and feeling part of that because we made the amp, the speakers, the whatever, that contributes to making it sound that way. It is about the journey and having a passion for it.

[ClefChef]

ClefChef, I am not spending your money, I am spending my own hard earned income. If I want to use $120/pair input transformers, where is the harm? The fact is I've only spent a little over $200 TOTAL on this amp including my used Astron power supply, the budget speaker connectors from Lowes, Switchcraft DC power connector, etc. I am actually flattered that you think it's $300 and I'll take it as a compliment. I shared the results of using input transformers to demonstrate there is yet more potential to these amps. That "expensive" experiment was on my dime. In the DIY spirit, I like to share my experimental results, so that we can have fun building some remarkably high value audio electronics on our own. Perhaps, someone might be able to get a great deal on input transformers for less than what I paid for mine. Would that be breaking the rules too?

No need to get upset, rhing - spend your money as you will. In the DIY spirit I like to share my observations that expensive "upgrades" is usually a waste of money, that's all. I don't mean to rant here  , but please, go on.

[rhing]

Not upset at all. I was enjoying the music, before I was blasted by a hyperbole grenade. 

[OzarkTom]

It sure is a lot cheaper than spending $8-10 grand on a SET amp and get almost the same sound. In fact, I have a $9 grand SET amp here that is not as good as the TBI-Astron.

[Markvdv]

Branded cables are off limit in this thread, amps above $350 too

[OzarkTom]

Branded cables are off limit in this thread, amps above $350 too

And what is wrong with a $65 branded cable that makes your amp sound better? This is not a DIY forum.

[wushuliu]

Lol yall - To quote one of my favorite lines from the movie kundun about the dalai lama: " do not be distracted."

[OzarkTom]

And if wushuliu had never bought a TBI for $500, I seriously doubt if this thread would have ever come to existence.

[matt_garman]

Again, improving a $20 product with $300 worth of parts seems excessive. With that much cash available I would invest in better modules in the fist place, otherwise it is just a very expensive experiment.

I believe the TPA311x-based amps are an anomaly in the price-vs-performance curve.  That is, with most things, "you get what you pay for": pay more, you get more.  But the tpa311x is an area where a lot of people feel you pay less and get more.  With the exception of the input transformers (or maybe exotic/botique input caps), all of the mods combined come in at less than $50 or so.  What does it matter that it costs more than the original board?  How would that be different than if some enterprising company offered a pre-made board with all the mods already in place?  The chips are relatively new; here, and to a greater extent on DIYAudio, we're basically seeing real-time R&D taking place on the best implementation of this chip.

As far as "investing in better modules in the first place": the module is only one small piece of the puzzle.  A lousy implementation around a stellar module is still a lousy system.  But a quality implementation around a half-way decent module could very well result in a great system.  The tpa311x chips seem to be at least "half-way decent", and they are bolstered by the fact that the surrounding implementation is fairly simple (therefore it's easy for the DIY crowd to hack on it and make incremental improvements).

Look at it this way: people pay $600 for a new smart phone, when the "core module" isn't substantially different than that of a $35 Raspberry Pi.

At the end of the day, class D amplification is transistor based, where Moore's Law applies: loosely stated, every 18 months, transistor count doubles and cost halves.  Intel has the best semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world: they are cramming over a billion transistors into something smaller than a postage stamp.  If class D audio technology progress has even a passing resemblance to microprocessor progress, then they will only get better and cheaper.

Just one more example: in the world of DACs, you have the highly-regarded ESS Sabre ES9018 chip... IIRC, the chip itself is only like $65.  But a half-way decent implementation for that DAC starts at around $300.  So here you have another case of a "cheap" module, but relatively much bigger money (and presumably R&D time) being spent on the surrounding implementation.