[dukecv]

Looking to get the Yuan-Jing tpa3116d2 "blue board" from Parts Express maybe and was wondering what little tube based pre you guys have had good experiences with. They have a YJ 6n3 based one for $29.
http://www.parts-express.com/yuan-jing-6n3-tube-pre-amplifier-board--320-6502

They also have a tpa3116 with "antipop" circuitry built in, which is apparently a Parts Express branded one. Does anyone have any experience with this board? Seems to be a different layout completely, even though they say in the description that it's a Yuan-Jing board. I'm confused. As usual.

Speakers that I will be driving will be either some Kef C30's or Omega Super 7 monitors.

Thanks

[Poultrygeist]

I'm crazy about the $37 Sain Smart 6n3 tube preamp from Amazon with my Astron powered dual chip TPA3116.

[Poultrygeist]

The Chinese tubes sounded better than expected but I went ahead and replaced them with 6n3p-ev Russians.

[Poultrygeist]

FWIW I get little to no on/off pop with the dual chip 3116. It's about the same as my Audiobah green board. My bookshelf system includes Tekton Fostex full range single driver speakers and plate amp driven bucket subs. The Sain Smart sounds better than my 3 tube 6n3 and is a better match for my current system.

[Poultrygeist]

I have the YJ blue/black board pictured here and compared to the others it's not one of favorites. The new dual chip is at the top of my list followed by the Audiobah green board and Sure TPA3110. The pop is bad on the YJ blue/black but horrible on the Sure TPA3116 which I don't think PE sells anymore.

I thought at first the volume control on the dual chip might be an issue as I knew I wanted to use a tube preamp but it's not at all. I just max it and control the volume with the preamp. I no longer use the lap top power bricks as the 12v regulated PSU's sound best to me.

I couldn't be happier and spend more time these days with the bookshelf system than with the SET/Lowther OB's.

[Markvdv]

The green one with antipop is indeed a copy of the green one sold by audiobah on ebay, PE would be the better source, KY Chemicon capacitors on PE pcb seem improvement too.

[dukecv]

Awesome casework PG. Love the top that opens. Your system looks great to me.
     So I've also been considering the ta2024 tripath board and the LM1875 from chipamp.com . I got to wonder how either of these boards would sound with only an alps 100k pot before them? It would avoid having more components in the signal path, but would also delete the tube sound. Really wondering if I really need a pre at all now, or just a volume control and that's it. $40 for the LM1875 kit from chipamp and $8 for the tripath board from PE. Granted I would have to buy a $13 pot, rca's, and maybe a couple other cheap upgrades. What's your thoughts on those two boards?

[Poultrygeist]

I have had my share of different flavored t-amps ( still have four ) and while they sounded good, sonically they lag behind the much cheaper TPA3116/3110.

[dukecv]

What's your thoughts on a lm1875 based amplifier? Any experiences?

[Poultrygeist]

Haven't seen much in the way of current excitement over the LM1875. Usually that speaks volumes.

[dukecv]

Fair enough. Makes sense. So where do you get this dual chip board? As far as I can see from the pictures, I can only see one chip mounted under the heat sink. The green 3116 with anti-pop built in looks like the heat sink is twice the size. Is this the dual chip one you are referring to?

Anit-pop: $18
http://www.parts-express.com/tpa3116d-class-d-amplifier-board-with-anti-pop-2-x-50w--320-610

Regular: $23
http://www.parts-express.com/yuan-jing-tpa3116-class-d-amplifier-board-50w-50w--320-6554

[Poultrygeist]

TPA3116 dual chip

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Xh-m190-2x100w-digital-amplifier-board-12v-24v-voltage-tpa3116d2-dual-encoding-a-/301632940233?hash=item463ab968c9:g:YicAAOSwv0tVVNpg