[BrassEar]

Vinnie:

Congrats on the sucess of your Signature 30, you deserve it.   

Wondering your opinion on a similar amp (Tripath ClassT, oil caps, SLA battery powered) but using other Tripath chips with more power.  There are a few that can be powered by a single source 12-27V supplies like the TAA4100A.  This appears to be a solid 50W at 4 ohm amp. Are there others?

But do all the Tripath chips/designs sound equally good?  Or at higher power apps do you go directly to the ICE designs?

Thanks!

[Vinnie R.]

Vinnie:

Congrats on the sucess of your Signature 30, you deserve it.   

Wondering your opinion on a similar amp (Tripath ClassT, oil caps, SLA battery powered) but using other Tripath chips with more power.  There are a few that can be powered by a single source 12-27V supplies like the TAA4100A.  This appears to be a solid 50W at 4 ohm amp. Are there others?

But do all the Tripath chips/designs sound equally good?  Or at higher power apps do you go directly to the ICE designs?

Thanks!

Hi BrassEar,

Thanks for your post.

I am working on a Signature 70 monoblock amp.  They will  be nearly indentical to the Signature 30, but the custom TK2051 board will be modified to set the chipset into bridged mode....giving a very clean 70 to 75 watts into 4-ohms.  I mentioned some details about it here:  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=30687.0
The goal is for them to have the Signature 30 sound, but with double the output current capability.  Monoblocks also give you isolation between the L and R channels and each channel also runs off of it own dedicated battery supply in each monoblock.  These are going to be something else... 

The TAA4100A is a 4-channel chip and less powerful into 4-ohms than the bridged 2051(using the same voltage rail).  I am not too interested in it.  The through-hole Tripath chips that I've played with don't sound as good to me as the surface mount chips.  IMHO, the very best sounding Tripath chips are the 2024 and the 2051.  The higher powered stuff doesn't do it for me.  As for even more powerful amps, they are going to require higher voltage rails, more complexity, etc. 

For high power, I've heard good things about ICE and others, but that's not my sweet spot 

Best regards,

Vinnie

[EProvenzano]

Hi Vinnie,

Would you mind confirming the power rating at 8ohms for the 30 and the estimated power rating of the monos at 8ohms?

Thanks.

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Vinnie,

Would you mind confirming the power rating at 8ohms for the 30 and the estimated power rating of the monos at 8ohms?

Thanks.

Hi EProvenzano,

The power output of the Signature Monoblocks (using the TK2051 in "paralleled output mode") will actually be the same as the Signature 30 into a pure 8-ohm load. 

The impedance rating for most speakers is a "nominal" rating... there are certainly peaks and dips in the impedance curve of most speakers.  It is not that uncommon for an 8-ohm rated speaker to dip down to 4-ohms (over even lower in some case) at cetain frequencies...usually in the bass.  This is where the speaker becomes hungry for current.  The Siganture Monoblocks will be able to provide twice the output current.  While the voltage rail is the same (two 12V SLA batteries in series), twice the output current means that into 4-ohms, the Signature Monoblocks will be able to output 75 watts of clean power (0.04% THD). 

The other benefits of going with Monblocks include isolation between the L and R channels.  Each channel will have its own dedicated power supply, dedicated board, volume control, enclosure, etc. 

Best regards,

Vinnie