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chip amps: Almost everything you ever wanted to know


DizRotus

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I've read good reviews about the SMSL SA S3 25w x 25w, small/affordable, Class T amp based on the TA 2021chipset. SMSL now has 50w x 50w model, the SMSL SA 50, that uses the TDA 4792 for it's main chips. Has anyone tried the SA 50? The SA S3 with the 2012 got some raves as a small chip T amp. I'ld like to double the watts and raise headroom for my KG4s, but I've heard nothing about the sound and specs of the 50 with the TDA 4792s.

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There are a ton of the TDA7297 chip amps on eBay right now for around $5.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC2.A0&_nkw=TDA7297&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Would this be a good chip for doing a 11 channel home theater with LA Scalas, KP 3002, and Heresy HIPs? What are the speaker cable limitations?

Edited by ellisr63
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There are a ton of the TDA7297 chip amps on eBay right now for around $5.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC2.A0&_nkw=TDA7297&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Would this be a good chip for doing a 11 channel home theater with LA Scalas, KP 3002, and Heresy HIPs? What are the speaker cable limitations?

Not sure you'll get much of a response on the 2-channel forum. I would think you'd want more power for home theater applications.

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There are a ton of the TDA7297 chip amps on eBay right now for around $5.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC2.A0&_nkw=TDA7297&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Would this be a good chip for doing a 11 channel home theater with LA Scalas, KP 3002, and Heresy HIPs? What are the speaker cable limitations?

Not sure you'll get much of a response on the 2-channel forum. I would think you'd want more power for home theater applications.

Why would I need more power... At reference level I am only using 1 or 2 watts on peaks for the La Scalas and maybe 8 watts on the KP3002s. Most of the time I watch my movies at -20db (from reference) which is way less than 1 watt continuous.

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I thought the capacitor did not have a polarity. Guess that is what I get for thinking by myself.

Are you referring to the C5 or C4 capacitor?

And if either one, Do you think the capacitor is ruined?

How do you tell from a picture? Just curious. Bill

PS How do I determine what to replace the diode with?

Edited by snailtrax
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What are the speaker cable limitations? Can I run 30' speaker wire length without a problem (I want to run my cables close to my preamp and go to all sides of the HT room for all channels)? A friend is going to make me up a 12 channel amp out of 2 channel chip amps... I am not sure which chip amp to get. I don't want more than 30wpc (I think even a 10wpc chip amp will be fine)

tia,

Ron

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The cap installed incorrectly is probably the root cause if the failure. What is your power supply? You want to make sure you connect that properly in terms of polarity too.

I have a 12 volt 5 amp power supply that I had used with this same amp before I changed all the caps. It worked fine before. I ordered a new cap and diode from Mouser on Tuesday. Hopefully It will be here for the weekend. Bill

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The cap installed incorrectly is probably the root cause if the failure. What is your power supply? You want to make sure you connect that properly in terms of polarity too.

I have a 12 volt 5 amp power supply that I had used with this same amp before I changed all the caps. It worked fine before. I ordered a new cap and diode from Mouser on Tuesday. Hopefully It will be here for the weekend. Bill

Don't feel bad. Once I installed some fancy hexfred diodes for a full wave bridge in a vintage receiver backwards, and destroyed all four of them.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Okay guys, I was able to sort out a solution to significantly reducing the noise. I wired 33kohm resistors between the signal input and signal ground on each channel. Now that I am able to listen to this amp, I have to say I am impressed with this amp driving my Forte II's. I will probably have to sell my TDA7297 and SMSL SA-S1 amplifiers. This little amp is the real deal. Before you think about buying the Sure TPA3110D2 amp, consider the Yuan Jing TPA3116D2 Class D amp. This amp is based on the newer, more powerful Texas Instruments TPA3116D2 amp and it has output filters to minimize RFI from the switching amp chip circuit.

In hindsight, I wish I bought the Yuan Jing board, but I'm happy with this little guy for now. One thing is certain, this amp clearly outperforms any Tripath amp I've owned. It is absolutely void of any glare and tilted treble synonymous with Class D amps, and it has a serious low end and large soundstage. If anything, it is smoother and more transparent than the TDA7297 chip amp and Tripath TA2020 or TA2024 amps I've owned. I'm listening to Patricia Barber's "Cafe Blue," and the kick drum is presented in full note-form and thumping the floor. The tonality and detail are something to behold. The real kicker is that I don't have to mod this amp other than add those resistors or a 50kohm volume pot at the inputs. This amp sounds great out of the box.

Rich,
Did you ever purchase a Yuan Jing TPA3116D2 Class D amp? If so, what are you using for a power supply?
Neil
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