Class D amplifier with TPA 3250 board


Hello,

I'm new to this forum. I recently purchased my endgame setup comprised of Closer Acoustics Ogy speakers (91 SPL), REL T5X subwoofer and a custom hand built tube amplifier with EL34 tubes. The tube amplifier is giving me trouble with hissing noises, so it's constantly at the artisan's workshop. Since my speakers are extremely efficient, I was wondering about smaller amplifiers as an escape route (if the artisan can't fix the amp, he surely can). The Octavio Amp looks nice on paper. So does the Atoll IN80. Is one obviously better than the other for my revealing speakers?

Folks on another forum I shall not name seem to heavily imply that all amplifiers should sound the same (or very similar). They rave about these cheap tiny Topping/Aiyima amplifiers with class D TPA 3250 amplifier boards. These same boards are used in Genelec active monitors, so they must be good? I'm flustered because there no direct comparisons between these TPA 32xx amplifiers and more conventional/expensive branded amplifiers. The same folks on the forum I shall not name imply that I'm a dunce for spending so much money on a tube amplifier (quote: it's a distortion factory and it can't play grindcore metal music so it sucks). If it weren't for the hiss I wouldn't post here. 

Can I cheap class D amp replace a custom hand-wired EL34 tube amplifier for extremely revealing Closer Acoustics Ogy speakers?

128x128kokakolia

Showing 4 responses by mlsstl

Do you hear hiss when the amp is hooked to the speakers, turned on, with NO source (including preamp) connected?

While sometimes hiss is connected to an amp that simply doesn't have a very good S/N ratio, it is just as often connected with a mismatch between input sensitivity and gain levels between sources, preamps and the amp.

If you have no hiss while just using the amp only, add components back one at a time and see when hiss returns. You might be able to fix the problem by decreasing the input sensitivity of the amp, reducing the output of the source, or using resistors in between the two to reduce gain.

One other thought -- have you tried different tubes in your amp? I know nothing about the design of your amp, but if the hiss is equal in both channels, it may be a bad preamp tube. Ones like 12AX7, for example, are dual-channel tubes so one tube can affect both channels.  Bad driver or output tubes typically affect only one channel unless the whole complement of tubes is getting old.

Class A/B has nothing to do with noise -- it simply describes how the amp is biased -- class A mode at low power, switching to class B operation as the power increases.  That switch can take place at a fraction of a watt to many watts, but doesn't generate or eliminate noise by itself.

I've not used either specific amp, but do know that Yamaha is a good company if you like their sonic character. I'm not familar with Atoll.

Finally,I doubt that a power conditioner would affect the hiss at all -- hiss is not the typical way in which power line noise affects sonic playback.

Confusing thread -- first hiss, now hum! Two distinctly different problems!