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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?

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Showing 2 responses by russ69

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 

They rave about these cheap tiny Topping/Aiyima amplifiers with class D TPA 3250 amplifier boards.

Like most things in life, cheap products are not always very satisfying. What you want are products that deliver good value for the performance. In class D amps, the Rogue Hybrid Sphinx is in that category. But don't read the ASR review because they hate audiophile products and don't have the slightest clue on what sounds good. 

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 

You could experiment with something like this (inline attenuators)

This works in most cases, unless your custom designed amp is just crazy noisy or has way more gain than the average amp. I have 9 tube amps, all are dead quiet. 

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