[rhing]

I asked wushuliu for his opinion, because I highly value his take on the many mods and tweaks he's tried with the various TPA31xx Class D amps. I am sure the TBI Millenia is a fine amp, and wushuliu acknowledged he hasn't listened to the Millenia with the latest improvements. I know from reading his posts on various forum threads that it was the Millenia that sparked his quest to search for a DIY route to capturing the magic he heard with the amp.

Experimenting with these inexpensive amps has really opened my eyes to the possibilities of achieving high end audio performance at a fraction of the cost of most high end gear, especially when these amps are paired with higher efficiency speakers.

[wushuliu]

Right. IIRC I tried to join tour of the new version of the Millenia to compare but Tom was (understandably) wanting his baby back after it being on the road for so long. Maybe down the road if time permits I'll do a second 'Decepticon' and he and/or other Millenia owners can compare.

My posts are my opinions only. Just a hobby. Havin' fun. No big deal.

 

[OzarkTom]

No hard feelings, this is fun not to spend an arm and a leg to get this kind of level of quality. wushuliu has been great to extend this ti the DIY crowd.

[MCM_Fan]

Since my first TPA3116 build has been up and running for about two and a half weeks, and I started my second one today, I thought it was about time to share a couple photos.

This one uses the blue/black board, with Bourns inductors, Panasonic power supply caps and Radio Shack input caps.  It has an on/off switch, but no volume pot/knob.  It will be a dedicated amp for streaming through an Airport Express.  The gain is set at the standard 26dB and volume control is through software. 

It is mounted in the Context Engineering 3008 enclosure from San Jose Scientific.  It's a bit of a tight fit, both getting all the connectors/jacks on the back panel and getting everything in the case.  But it fits and makes a very small, clean looking amp.

Guts shot:


The back panel:


I should have the second build done in a day or two.  The only difference will be the enclosure and a little green power indicator LED on the front panel.

[cody69]

Looks great, nice build. I am about to start one shortly, what size wire do you use for input signal and power/speaker out?

[rhing]

Since my first TPA3116 build has been up and running for about two and a half weeks, and I started my second one today, I thought it was about time to share a couple photos.

This one uses the blue/black board, with Bourns inductors, Panasonic power supply caps and Radio Shack input caps.  It has an on/off switch, but no volume pot/knob.  It will be a dedicated amp for streaming through an Airport Express.  The gain is set at the standard 26dB and volume control is through software. 

It is mounted in the Context Engineering 3008 enclosure from San Jose Scientific.  It's a bit of a tight fit, both getting all the connectors/jacks on the back panel and getting everything in the case.  But it fits and makes a very small, clean looking amp.

I should have the second build done in a day or two.  The only difference will be the enclosure and a little green power indicator LED on the front panel.

Very nice work with a really confining, compact space. I hope you have something electrically insulating under the rear portion of the board to keep the board from making contact with the Aluminum chassis. I noticed there is no mounting screw on the rear end of the board by the outputs. Shorting the outputs of these amps would not be good.

Looks great, nice build. I am about to start one shortly, what size wire do you use for input signal and power/speaker out?

Signal wiring.........................20-22AWG stranded Copper
DC power wiring....................16-19AWG stranded Copper
Speaker wiring......................14-20AWG stranded Copper

Keep in mind that the larger diameter wire needs to fit into the terminal blocks.

[MCM_Fan]

Very nice work with a really confining, compact space. I hope you have something electrically insulating under the rear portion of the board to keep the board from making contact with the Aluminum chassis. I noticed there is no mounting screw on the rear end of the board by the outputs. Shorting the outputs of these amps would not be good.

I used 3/8" nylon standoffs at all three mounting hole locations.  So, there is one under the rear mounting hole.  The mounting holes in the PCB are two different sizes and the only standoffs I had on hand take M4 screws, which are a little too big to fit through the rear mounting hole.  So, I just need to find a 3/8" standoff that takes a smaller mounting screw.  I'll dig around in the parts bins at work and see what I can find.  If not, I'll tack a couple onto my next Digikey order.  But yes, there is something there holding up that end of the board.

The build I'm working on now uses an plastic ABS enclosure.  So, no worries about shorting anything to the chassis on that one.

Signal wiring.........................20-22AWG stranded Copper
DC power wiring....................16-19AWG stranded Copper
Speaker wiring......................14-20AWG stranded Copper

Keep in mind that the larger diameter wire needs to fit into the terminal blocks.

I used 18AWG stranded for power and speaker outputs.  It's what I had on hand and I kept all these leads as short as possible.  For the signal wiring, I used the wires that came with the board.  I thought they were 22AWG, but I just checked and they are 24AWG.  I did shorten them a bit and twisted them all together.  I haven't noticed any problems, but this may be something I upgrade to heavier gauge, shielded wires.

[rhing]

You're fine with the 24AWG signal wires you have in there now.

[gregfisk]

Couple of post back some had mentioned smsl sa-36a pro which has tpa3118 chip.  iPrice is pretty good at 40 bucks shipped.

http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/smsl-sa-36a-pro-20wpc-tpa3118d2-digital-amplifier-power-adapter.html

I just ordered one of these for my Daughter who is moving out for the first time to do an internship in Winthrop WA. I'm planning on using it with a Pure i20 dock and a pair of Danny's LGK1s. Has anyone else heard one of these yet? And if so what did you compare it to?

Thanks

Greg

[shadowlight]

I just ordered one of these for my Daughter who is moving out for the first time to do an internship in Winthrop WA. I'm planning on using it with a Pure i20 dock and a pair of Danny's LGK1s. Has anyone else heard one of these yet? And if so what did you compare it to?

Thanks

Greg

There are 2 vendors on ebay selling the tpa3118 for ~$60 shipped.  I think I might order 1 to compare with tpa3116.

[gregfisk]

There are 2 vendors on ebay selling the tpa3118 for ~$60 shipped.  I think I might order 1 to compare with tpa3116.

The site above was $40.00 shipped, are you worried about the vendor?

[shadowlight]

The site above was $40.00 shipped, are you worried about the vendor?

Interesting.  When I had posted the link shipping was not free and it added another 40 or so dollars hence my ebay post.

[MCM_Fan]

The site above was $40.00 shipped, are you worried about the vendor?

Wow, at $40 shipped, including the power brick, it starts to take away the incentive to DIY.  I haven't totaled up all my BOM costs yet, but I know I have more than that in my first TPA3116 build.

[gregfisk]

Wow, at $40 shipped, including the power brick, it starts to take away the incentive to DIY.  I haven't totaled up all my BOM costs yet, but I know I have more than that in my first TPA3116 build.

That was my thought exactly, I already purchased the TPA3116 red board but haven't had time to start on it. If this sounds similar it's kind of a no brainer, I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Greg

[MCM_Fan]

I just ordered one of these for my Daughter who is moving out for the first time to do an internship in Winthrop WA.

I love the Winthrop area.  If you don't mind me asking, what kind of internship will your daughter be doing?  Something with the Forest Service or National Park Service?

[MCM_Fan]

That was my thought exactly, I already purchased the TPA3116 red board but haven't had time to start on it. If this sounds similar it's kind of a no brainer, I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Greg

Yes, but DIY is still fun, rewarding, lets you get creative with the enclosure and allows you to customize the amp to match your application.  It's nice to have a pre-assembled version for those who aren't inclined to DIY, but that won't stop me from building my own.

[gregfisk]

I love the Winthrop area.  If you don't mind me asking, what kind of internship will your daughter be doing?  Something with the Forest Service or National Park Service?

She's working for a company called Pacific Biodiversity, they're a non profit and funding comes from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. She'll be studying the endangered native NW Grey Squirrel and associated plant life.

I love the area as well and spent a lot of my younger days skate boarding down the East side of the North Cascades Highway at 3:00 in the morning, then climbing around and hanging out with friends from the Bothell area where I grew up.

Yes, but DIY is still fun, rewarding, lets you get creative with the enclosure and allows you to customize the amp to match your application.  It's nice to have a pre-assembled version for those who aren't inclined to DIY, but that won't stop me from building my own.

I agree it can be fun which is why I bought the board, I just never seem to find time to work on these projects. My daughter loves music, not that she had much choice with me as her Dad. My plan was to build it for her but she just found out she got this and is leaving on the 18th. I'll get to putting that board together along with a couple of other projects I haven't gotten to one of these days.

[rhing]

Wow, at $40 shipped, including the power brick, it starts to take away the incentive to DIY.  I haven't totaled up all my BOM costs yet, but I know I have more than that in my first TPA3116 build.

It was just a matter of time before a decent Chinese manufacturer like SMSL came out with a TPA31xx amp. I'm sure there are other Chinese manufacturers working on similar products.

I used to have an SMSL SA-S1 Tripath TA2020 that was one of the best-sounding TA2020 amps I had heard. It was very well constructed and well voiced using good components. That said, the TPA31xx amps sound better than the TA2020 amps including the SMSL SA-S1. I would guess that barring any quality issues, the SMSL SA-36 Pro is a good amp, maybe even a great amp, and you can't beat the economics. For someone who isn't into DIY, this is a great deal for getting into the TPA31xx amps.

[Markvdv]

For me ebay prices including shipping are double(or over) the prices from taobao-agent and shentzen link. shentzen link I didn't manage to open and get any info on "who we are" "shipping" etc, did not like that, did anybody order there and received the amp yet? It is through paypal, or at least logo is on mainpage, payment info I could not open either. Is it my browser?

[gregfisk]

For me ebay prices including shipping are double(or over) the prices from taobao-agent and shentzen link. shentzen link I didn't manage to open and get any info on "who we are" "shipping" etc, did not like that, did anybody order there and received the amp yet? It is through paypal, or at least logo is on mainpage, payment info I could not open either. Is it my browser?

I ordered the amp today using paypal and got a receipt emailed back to me shortly after. I'll let you know how it goes from here........

Greg