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DIY T-Amp user/diyer come here :), TA2024 complete build board diy

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Vincent Pang
post Sep 8 2008, 03:52 PM

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QUOTE(Y.C. @ Sep 8 2008, 01:05 AM)
[attachmentid=584981]

Further update: My T-amp has clocked approximately 20 hours at 22.00 on Sunday, still a long way to go before it is fully run-in though. It now sings much better and sounds more beautiful than yesterday and by right I should let it alone to continue to sing. However, the curiosity to tweak got the better of me and armed with my soldering iron, I removed the 4 capacitors on board. I replaced the input caps with a pair of Vishay 2.2uF 63V polypropylene capacitors and as for PSU caps, with a pair of Panasonic FM series 1000uF 16V electrolytics.

How did the changes in caps affect the sound of my T-amp? I will come back to this shortly after describing the pair of bookshelf speakers I have paired with my T-amp. Q-Acoustics 1010, to me, have almost perfect highs and midrange which are seamlessly integrated and at its selling price, second to none. Their setback though, is they do not have ‘any’ bass to speak of and they do not throw a big soundstage like many other loudspeakers. Being a midrange guy, I could easily accept their shortcomings and live with them.

I had initially placed the pair of loudspeakers sitting directly on the wooden flooring in my bedroom. After a couple of hours of listening to music through them on Saturday afternoon, my ears could no longer tolerate the hardness and ‘overpowering’ bass I was getting from them. I had also mentioned with normal recordings, bass definition of T-amp is a little vague.

After the capacitors change, I only hear subtle differences and not those between day and night. First, the hardness and ‘overpowering’ bass I was hearing through the stocked caps are now gone. Bass is now softer with bass lines more well defined (less of the mini-compo effect in bass I thought I was hearing at times earlier). I thought this is how my Q-Acoustics 1010 should actually sound.

I also thought the highs now sounded more refined and slightly airier and midrange especially in vocals sounded slightly less forceful than before. Is it better? Hmmm, ……
Gabanyayaya, welcome to TAFC  thumbup.gif
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can't imagine this thread growing to page 53 !

damn i see a step attenuator there, someone is getting real serious smile.gif
Vincent Pang
post Oct 6 2008, 03:01 PM

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ya i saw TT when when, pls update me, i hardly come here

QUOTE(ongbs @ Oct 6 2008, 02:37 PM)
bro,

The JVC one look like DIY kits, how much does it cost? brows.gif


Added on October 6, 2008, 2:40 pm

wow...177 pound?  sweat.gif

http://stuff.tv/News/Gadget-of-the-Day-JVC...eaker-Kit/8900/
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ya man, i was surprise also by the price. I was looking for a cheap pair of speakers.


Vincent Pang
post Oct 8 2008, 03:10 PM

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QUOTE(jazzy939 @ Oct 8 2008, 07:29 AM)
Food for thoughts..

These are extracts from an interview with Hyodo San, the designer of Leben amplifiers.

Full article here.

"For example, when designing an amplifier, audiophile grade components don't always bring better sound. If I were to make an amplifier with nothing but premium audiophile components, there is no guarantee that the amp will sound good. It is more important to select components by listening so that as a whole, the amplifier plays music better. The most important thing is to achieve a total musical balance....."

Good thing is, this is what most of us is doing..  thumbup.gif tune by the ears.. wink.gif

Have a nice day folks...  tongue.gif
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it's all about likelihood here. Gear head won't always get the quality they wanted simply because they only 'whoreship' gear. But the chances are their system SHOULD be better smile.gif

Chances of you trying to beat that system by getting stuff from Jln Pasar is pretty hard. Althought I won't say it's impossible. The component cannot be crappy, it needs to be at least performing up to a certain level. Someone used to tell me this, double the price, half the difference.

RM 10k system vs RM 20k (double the price) quality wise 50% improvement.

RM 20k vs RM40k, quality wise 25% difference

RM 40k vs RM 80K, quality wise 12.5% difference

RM 80k vs RM160, quality wise ~6% difference

RM 160K vs RM320k, quality wise ~3% difference

I would conclude after Rm100K, u r hearing very very little difference althought u pay a premium for it.


Added on October 8, 2008, 3:19 pm
QUOTE(ekool @ Oct 8 2008, 01:51 AM)
hi guys,
sorry could not post earlier cos my line was so... so... slow. uploading took so long i decided to quit. that's streamyx for you. mad.gif

y.c.
i'm using 22.2uf for each channel and like metalmania said the sound may or may not sound good. at the moment i am very happy with it and no complains. rclxms.gif
later, yet to be seen. like our jazzy bro said - if you like it, keep it. it's all a matter of personal taste. right on bro!!! i'm with you. rclxm9.gif

yes! y.c. you're right! i'm tweaking the t-amp to suit my sonatas. the sonatas are very polite and even a bit shy if you do not know how to pair them. but once you get it right they can be killers yet small in size just like the t-amp.  thumbup.gif  say what you like i have always like the british sound compared to american. jap - last choice if possible.

sure i can bring my baby in but it has to be on  a friday. other days incl. weekends i'm not free. so where and when? karaoke joint? not a bad idea.abanyayaya.  so who's gonna put this tt session in session???? y.c.? jazzy? xtorm? ongbs? nod.gif

ongbs
three main  reasons why you get a distortion.
1. you input current is too high  if this is the case your caps could be faulty, leaking or shorted. wrong values used could also be the cause
2. you output current is also too high same reason as 1.
3. your speakers does not match the amp. in this case it is very unlikely cos the t-amp is very friendly and can handle most speakers available.
i have tried it with a few different speakers and have no problems from cheap jp speakers, mini compos, bookshelves to floor standers. please check and let us know.
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1 more reason u miss out, GROUND !!! i can't forget how properly grounded circuit save my day. 1 of the cap was not ground properly in my previous system, i check high and low for it.

This post has been edited by Vincent Pang: Oct 8 2008, 04:02 PM
Vincent Pang
post Oct 9 2008, 12:35 AM

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March05 : 10K is a normal setup

RM3K for a pair of speakers
RM1.5k for CD Player
RM3.5K for AMP
RM2K for cables and accessories, stand, racks

you can argue whole day why buy a 3k speaker, why 1.5k cd player, i'm not gonna continue on that smile.gif

a normal PC-> amp -> speaker will cost ~ RM4k
PC -> RM 3k
amp -> beloved t-amp
speaker -> RM 1k

1K system, all in one out of the box a nice Sony boom box smile.gif

the figure used is based on my personal experience and it is someone who told me about this which i found it true that i share with u guys. I won't even conclude that as a law as it might not apply to others if they hear no difference between a 10k setup and a 20k setup

many other factors will come into play, a 10k system in a sound proof room vs a 100k system on a school hall. I won't continue on that either.

However, i do agree with you that you should start as cheap as possible, when you realise the weakness in your system, fix that. If it's not broken, why fix it ?

Y.C: i think you hit the point right, you can't have too crappy setup/component, at the same time, there is no need for premium audiophile grade components also as it might not be matching to your system.

one point to note, the quality of a system is not only justify based on amount of money spend, but the amount of time and effort the owner put into it, that answer the DIY portion of a better sounding system


Added on October 9, 2008, 12:55 am
QUOTE(March05 @ Oct 8 2008, 09:59 PM)
The problem is, I have this uneasy observation that Audiophilia is getting impossible to rationalize. Everyone seems to have different points of entry; some people are easy to please, while others wouldn't touch a 5 figure sound system with a ten foot pole.

Most of us (actually, speaking of meself the most), just muddle along hoping we're heading the right way! I mean, how many ppl have the opportunity to properly audition every piece of audio equipment and combination at all price levels in the market before deciding what to buy?
I have gone through my days of DIY. I won't say i built cause most of those i get it from internet, so i would say i buy the parts and assemble it according to the circuit i got.

and i have assemble my own CD player (with remote) mod from a PC CD-ROM, assemble a NON OS TDA1541 DAC, T-amp (TA2022), valve pre-amp, all sorts of cables mod job. But the experienced learn on reading those circuit is worthwhile. The thing that's still buzzing in my mind is... GROUNDING is very very important ! It gave me sleepless nights !

Oh ya i missed out, i built my own speakers. Yeh this one i built cause i do the cross-over myself. i'm still in the mist of completing my pair of watt puppy clone. That stop after i saw the ProAC 2.5D clone project hahaha. Actually no, it's mainly due to now i'm spending less time 'improving', but more time listening smile.gif

there you go, so guys, don't give up on t-amp, i can tell u it's a great amp smile.gif

This post has been edited by Vincent Pang: Oct 9 2008, 12:55 AM
Vincent Pang
post Oct 9 2008, 02:01 AM

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QUOTE(Y.C. @ Oct 9 2008, 01:21 AM)
Vincent,
It is really nice having you around in this thread with a long comment like what you have just posted. You should come in more often.

Generally speaking, I share your view. However, I would think a 30%-30%-40% allocation to CD player – amplifier – loudspeakers is a better balanced system.

And I would not spend that much on cables and accessories, only approximately 10%  of total system costs.
Ongbs,
I spend 2K on a used Richard Gray's Power Conditioner... the power at home is really bad

i don't think i'll buy 'snake oil' cables smile.gif i think i spend less than RM500 on cables... i still have a bunch of silver cables i brought for my interconnector. Properly terminated, it just sound as good as a pair of fm Acoustics on my system and on my friend's 80K system (tested A-B by me and the owner of the fm acoustics, swap done by his wife)

QUOTE(Y.C. @ Oct 9 2008, 01:21 AM)
The question you posed to March – it is transformer in PSU to a Michell GyroDec turntable.
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Iso trans 180deg out of phase ? brows.gif great stuff smile.gif this is one step after the EMI filter on common equipment.


This post has been edited by Vincent Pang: Oct 9 2008, 02:08 AM
Vincent Pang
post Oct 9 2008, 10:02 AM

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QUOTE(March05 @ Oct 9 2008, 09:21 AM)
Yes Vincent, I just took another look at my current working setup.....extrapolated back to the prices when they were new, my CDP/Integrated Amp/Speaker Combo interestingly adds up to just slightly under RM10K. Coincidence?

We seem to have quite a number of things in common.

T-amp = TA2022!

I did a DIY speaker in my early days as a white collared newbie...built my boxes out of 18mm chipboard, Isophon KK10/8 tweeters, PSL265 10" woofers and Isophon crossover parts purchased from a DIY shop in Taman Melawati (Total cost = RM350; I still have the receipts!) and promptly sold it to a friend who loved the sound. The megre profit went into a pair of new Heybrooks which are still around, and the T-amp today drives them wonderfully too...hehe. If the TA2024 can drive them just as well.....hmmmm!

And, bsl also suggested putting a `power conditioner' in my system....guess what? His indicated figure to invest in was ~RM2K! That's smack-dab in line with your Richard Gray expenditure! Are you sure you guys are not in cahoots?

Hey, hey hey, next week TTrclxms.gif  rclxms.gif  rclxms.gif
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i'm referring to this, it's a basic card, i still need to build my power supply 30v-0-30v and dedicated 5v

user posted image

user posted image

i'll see if i can get an initial photo of that thing singing with cable all lying on the floor smile.gif

yes i do have the Sonic Impact T-amp, unmod. i don't want to do nasty thing and i love the small little casing. Althought my speaker terminals are broken

i'm sorry if i confuse you as i categories all those as T-Amp, just that we are working on different model smile.gif

This post has been edited by Vincent Pang: Oct 9 2008, 10:07 AM

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