Allo Volt+ Speaker Amplifier (tpa3118)

[Cho Worsh]

Allo Volt+ D is a speaker amp. It is not suitable as a headphone amp.

I understand Allo is coming out with a more powerful amp (maybe mono blocks) soon. Have you heard anything about that?

 

[Marshmellow]

I understand Allo is coming out with a more powerful amp (maybe mono blocks) soon. Have you heard anything about that?

The rumor is that allo will release a TPA3255 amplifier at the beginning of next year. Perhaps, I will buy allo's TPA3255 amplfier next year.

 

[Cho Worsh]

Wow, I don't know. I have no experience with TPA3255.

I purchased a chinese no-name TPA3255 amplifier and a chinese 32V 5A power adapter from aliexpress.com. They seem to sound fine. Although the potentiometer has channel imbalance at very low volume levels, since input gain is low, I can avoid channel imbalance with ease.
How would you compare my chinese no-name TPA3255 amplifier with Allo Volt+ D?

Would you give me the url link to the chinese TPA3255 amp and 32V 5A power adapter that you purchased from aliexpress.com? I may buy one to try. Thanks!

 

[Marshmellow]

Would you give me the url link to the chinese TPA3255 amp and 32V 5A power adapter that you purchased from aliexpress.com? I may buy one to try. Thanks!

• AIYIMA AC100V-240V 32V 5A adapter (Model 3205000)
• Chinese generic no-name TPA3255 Amplifier

This is exactly what I ordered.

 

[Cho Worsh]

• AIYIMA AC100V-240V 32V 5A adapter (Model 3205000)
• Chinese generic no-name TPA3255 Amplifier

This is exactly what I ordered.

Many thanks!

 

[Marshmellow]

Many thanks!

I discovered that the amp or the power supply has white noise. But, it is not perceptible beyond 1 feet.

 

[Cho Worsh]

I discovered that the amp or the power supply has white noise. But, it is not perceptible beyond 1 feet.

thanks for letting me know
i will wait until next year to see if Allo comes out with a TPA 3255 amp
apparently, Allo thinks they may be able to make a 3255 amp that sounds close to the same as a Hypex NC200 module amp

 

[Marshmellow]

apparently, Allo thinks they may be able to make a 3255 amp that sounds close to the same as a Hypex NC200 module amp

How do you know what they think? How good and expensive is Hypex NC200 module amp? How expensive are allo tpa3255 amp and its power supply going to be?

By the way, my chinese generic TPA3255 amp is ok for the price. White noise from a generic TPA3255 amp and a generic TPA3251 amp is imperceptible at 12cm away with ambient noise. Both amps work with a 32V 5A adapter.

 

[Cho Worsh]

How do you know what they think? How good and expensive is Hypex NC200 module amp? How expensive are allo tpa3255 amp and its power supply going to be?

By the way, my chinese generic TPA3255 amp is ok for the price. White noise from a generic TPA3255 amp and a generic TPA3251 amp is imperceptible at 10cm away with ambient noise. Both amps work with a 32V 5A adapter.

i saw a discussion online of tpa 3255 amps in general where someone said Allo thought they could make 3255 sound as good as NC400 amp (NC200 was a typo, sorry) but can't find it now and no price was mentioned.
audio science reviewed a DIY NC400 module based DIY amp https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...and-measurements-of-hypex-nc400-diy-amp.5907/
the review lists the cost of the parts
for now, I will stick with my volt + d

 

[Marshmellow]

for now, I will stick with my volt + d

A bigger problem with a generic chinese amp is channel imbalance in input gain.
My generic TPA3251 amp and my generic TPA3255 amp have ~1dB of channel imbalance in input gain. This small channel imbalance in input gain can be heard in music and is more apparent in white noise at idle state.
However, even SMSL AD18 has 1.1dB of channel imbalance according to audio science review.

 

[Cho Worsh]

A bigger problem with a generic chinese amp is channel imbalance in input gain.
My generic TPA3251 amp and my generic TPA3255 amp have ~1dB of channel imbalance in input gain. This small channel imbalance in input gain can be heard in music and is more apparent in white noise at idle state.
However, even SMSL AD18 has 1.1dB of channel imbalance according to audio science review.

I had a similar channel imbalance issue with the SMSL SA50 amp that I tried for a while.
Are you into head-fi amps at all or just speaker amps? I recently bought SMSL's new THX AAA 888 headphone amp and like it a lot.

 

[Marshmellow]

Are you into head-fi amps at all or just speaker amps?

I'm not looking into headphone amps, yet because my headphones display no apparent malfunction with an onboard soundcard.
First, I'd like to get rid of apparent malfunctions such as channel imbalance. White noise is not yet an audible concern.

Today, I discovered that there is channel imbalance in my ears. By swapping the left and right sides of my headphones, I discovered that higher frequencies are substantially quieter in my left ear. Massive channel imbalance in the past was caused by massive amounts of wet earwax in my left ear canal. But, I've cleaned both of my ear canals recently.

 

[Marshmellow]

@Cho Worsh It turns out that the channel imbalance was caused by residual water in my left ear. My left ear tends to trap water and earwax after a shower. I have earwax removed from my both ears once or twice each year.
After I took a shower, I took measures to remove water from my left ear. After removing water from my left ear, higher frequencies have the same volume in my both ears.
There is no apparent channel imbalance in my amp, my onboard soundcoard, and my ears.
Although my TPA3255 amplifier has channel imbalance in white noise, white noise is not really audible beyond 10~12cm away. My listening position is 60cm away.

Now, I can recommend the combination of a generic TPA3251/TPA3255 amplifier and an onboard soundcard for poor men who want reasonable sound quality at a reasonable price.
You can upgrade later.