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t-amp help

Jun 4, 2005 at 6:37 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 24
buffpandabear

buffpandabear

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hi, i'm trying to find the best deal on t-amp/power supply---do you guys know where i can get the cheapest t-amp and the cheapest decent powersupply/wallwart for it?
about the t-amp itself, i can find the t-amp on target and ecost.com, any other good places?
about power, well, i've looked at ratshack, and there's a few other places i've found, but i'm not sure if they're good or will even plug into the t-amp.
http://store.yahoo.com/pinecom/ac12vpoad1.html
http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/ca...it.A/id.193/.f
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...ct_id=273-1776
and si's own http://www.si-technologies.com/front...sp?productID=3
where i can i get a power supply NOW for the best price that will run my t-amp decently well?

oh yeah, and does the t-amp come with speaker cable? or do i have to buy that on my own?
thanks!
 
Jun 4, 2005 at 9:00 PM Post #2 of 24
I like the pyramid regulated power supplies from parts express. They are not too expensive and they get the job done very well. You will have to buy your own speaker cable and interconnects since the IC that comes with the amp is pretty bad. I think the cheapest place to get the amp right now is from ecost for about 25 shipped.
 
Jun 4, 2005 at 11:01 PM Post #3 of 24
Quote:

Originally Posted by ucbEE
I like the pyramid regulated power supplies from parts express. They are not too expensive and they get the job done very well.


There are a few Pyramid PSU's at parts express. What voltage and amperage are appropriate for the t-amp?
 
Jun 5, 2005 at 2:35 AM Post #4 of 24
I heard one out of a Radioshack 12V/1000mA wallwart like the one linked, and the sound was really good, using two Tannoy Reveal monitors the sound was far better than acceptable to my ears, but I'm not sure how much it will improve with a better PSU....Another detail, the tip is the positive...not written in any place in the amp nor manual....
 
Jun 5, 2005 at 4:26 AM Post #5 of 24
I use the 12V, 2 amp pyramid power supply. I have seen others use the 13.8V version, but I don't want to risk overloading my amp, so I chose to use a lower voltage.
 
Jun 5, 2005 at 1:08 PM Post #8 of 24
Quote:

Originally Posted by ucbEE
I use the 12V, 2 amp pyramid power supply. I have seen others use the 13.8V version, but I don't want to risk overloading my amp, so I chose to use a lower voltage.


The Tripath chip voltage limit is set by manufacturer at 16volts, so you are not overloading it at 13.8V, the rest of the circuit maybe was design with parts up to 16-25volts as well...
 
Jun 5, 2005 at 4:55 PM Post #9 of 24
Quote:

The Tripath chip voltage limit is set by manufacturer at 16volts, so you are not overloading it at 13.8V, the rest of the circuit maybe was design with parts up to 16-25volts as well...


Now I was under the impression that the T-amp uses the Tripath TA-2024B chip. If so, the spec on the website lists it as 12V-13.2V.

http://www.tripath.com/audio.htm
 
Jun 5, 2005 at 5:17 PM Post #10 of 24
Jun 5, 2005 at 6:02 PM Post #11 of 24
From what I've read, the use of a 13.8V regulated power supply, like the Pyramid 13.8VDC 3A power supply, gives the best results. 12V wasn't quite as good, something to do with the amp gain setting if I remember correctly. You could mod the amp to adjust the gain for 12V power supply use, but it'd probably be just as cheap and definitely easier to just use a 13.8VDC PS. Any regulated power supply should be a step up from a wallwart, though if you want to get fancy, Astron is the most commonly recommended brand. The Pyramid should be fine however.
 
Jun 5, 2005 at 7:27 PM Post #12 of 24
alright, so just to make things clear for a newbie like me.
get t-amp for ecost.com for $25 shipped
get pyramid 13.8v power supply from partsexpress for around $27 shipped.
Get a car DC cord from ratshack to connect them? how much does this cost, and can someone give me the actual link to the item on the radioshack website?
i'm guessing that this cord will be around $10.
so total is $62 for the amp.
and then i have to get some good speakers, maybe athena bs-1 from bestbuy@$150 or bs-2 if i can find them for $200.
this'll be a $212-$262 endeavour.
hmmmm.
 
Jun 6, 2005 at 6:23 AM Post #13 of 24
Quote:

Read under "absolute maximum rates", 16V it the max top votage they will accept, so 13.8V will not damage the chip at all....


good call.

Quote:

so total is $62 for the amp.
and then i have to get some good speakers, maybe athena bs-1 from bestbuy@$150 or bs-2 if i can find them for $200.
this'll be a $212-$262 endeavour.


Yup. Also, keep in mind that TEAC makes a tripath-based power amp that goes for 100 bucks, whose build quality is substantially superior and doesn't have quite the power limitations of the T-amp. The main reason I got the T-amp instead (and I'm sure this applies to more people than just myself) was because I knew I would eventually open it up and fiddle with it. If you are going to get th Athena AS-B1, you might want to wait for a while, as they routinely go for 100 dollars at Best Buy.
 
Jun 6, 2005 at 9:47 PM Post #14 of 24
I'd get the T-Amp and wire from Parts Express along with the power supply. You'll save on shipping even though the amp is a couple bucks more from PE. Good luck ever getting it from eCost if you go that route. It seemed like they were perpetually out of stock when I tried to order one from them. I cancelled it and went with Parts Express when I had to get some speaker parts.

I don't know much about the TEAC amp, but from what I've heard, it's more powerful, but build quality isn't hot and it suffers from the same bass roll off as the Sonic Impact T-Amp. A few extra watts isn't worth 3x the price in my book, considering the Athena's won't use more than 3-4W unless you've got them cranked well beyond safe listening levels.
 
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