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TPA3116 Integrated Amplifier with Cardas bits (Sold to Jake J.)

 



This commissioned integrated amplifier, with rear mounted Alps blue velvet potentiometer was built in 2020.  The recipe includes many boutique Cardas brand audiophile quality parts.  These parts include Cardas machined solid copper binding posts, Cardas RCA connectors, Cardas teflon insulated high purity copper output wire, Nichicon and Panasonic capacitors, Alps blue velvet volume potentiometer.  Western Electric panel meter adorns the walnut faceplate and sweeps to the center when the amplifier is powered on.  The amplifier was upgraded in 2022 with my current reference, a high purity copper EI style transformer.   The audiophile who owned this amplifier traded it in toward an amplifier with a different meter and faceplate.  This formerly owned amplifier is listed for sale on US Audiomart.

16x16x5.5 enclosure

20 watts into 8 ohms 40 watts into 4 ohms

TPA3255 (Sold to Michael of Perrysburg, Ohio)

 

Features include: 3e Audio Amplifier board mounted on neoprene isolators, Hammond toroidal transformer, Nichicon Fine Gold on the power supply.   KLEI Harmony copper binding posts and RCA’s.  Dueland cotton insulated tinned copper wiring with WBT silver solder used throughout.  A gorgeous sounding amplifier.

How to purchase a Fleawatt Amplifier

Since I only build amplifiers as a hobby, when one is available to purchase, it will be posted on here and US Audiomart.  I am not taking on custom builds at this time.

TPA3255 Amplifier (Sold to Robin L. of Los Gatos, California)

 


Oil varnished cedar faceplate, vintage analog panel meter, large Antek toroidal transformer, regulated linear power supply with Nichicon Gold power supply capacitors.  Belden brilliance input wire and Dueland cotton insulated stranded copper output wire.


TDA 7492 Amplifier (Sold to Jeff of Toledo, Ohio)

 


TDA7492 producing 20 watts per channel into 8 ohms.
This chip is a real sleeper. As with any amplifier, system synergy is key, but the TDA7492 is stunning with certain speakers.  The owner of this amplifier auditioned many different amplifiers with his Klipsch KLF-20 speakers and settled on this amplifier for it’s superlative sonic attributes.
This amplifier was built with a Triad Magnetics power transformer, Dueland cotton insulated output wire and Belden brilliance input wire.  A vintage panel meter adorns the hand finished cedar faceplate.

Ayima A07 Amplifier Adventures & Modifications


This modded A07 was sold to Brad M. in Stone Mountain, Georgia

 
In 2004, Six Moons reviewed the $39 Sonic Impact Tripath amplifier.  At that time, this amplifier took the budget audiophile world by storm.  The “Sonic T” as it was affectionately called, came scary close to the sound of many very respectable low watt amplifiers.  DIY Audio enthusiasts, myself included, began experimenting with Tripath “chip amps”.  Around that same time, Gainclone amplifiers, based on the class A/B LM3886 integrated circuit were also wildly popular among DIY’ers.  Then, the Texas Instruments TPA3110 & 3116 entered the scene and many audio enthusiasts concluded they were a less lean sounding alternative to some of the Tripath offerings.  Fast forward and the current budget amplifier making a splash is the Ayima A07 using the Texas Instruments TPA3255, which is the more powerful offspring of the TPA3116.  

YouTube reviewers abound and there are no shortage of positive reviews of this amplifier.   Purchasing a few of these brought me back to my Tripath amplifier modding days.  There are several recommended modifications to the A07 to make incremental improvements.  

Some of these suggested modifications are replacing the input buffer Op Amps.  Sparkos Labs specifically, makes a well executed and reportedly good sounding op amp. (Shout out to Sparkos for the quick shipping and friendly service)  The heat sink in the stock A07 is not well ventilated, so many have drilled holes in the enclosure to properly vent it.  Some of the early A07’s came with Nichicon power supply capacitors.  Mine did not and were generic types.  Replacing these is often beneficial.  These capacitors are quite close to the heat sink.  Some heat reflective tape on the side of the capacitors nearest the heat sinks was recommended by several people.  

My stock A07 did have some static while idle and rotating the volume pot.  Once the volume is set, this is a non-issue, but the volume pot, I suspect, is a very low cost affair.   I won’t post a review of the stock A07, but I would say that most of what one would read on-line or see in a video is accurate.  This is definitely a budget audiophile’s dream come true.  

I bought three of the A07’s to experiment with.  First, I did the recommended Op Amp and capacitor swaps.  In addition, I swapped the stock output wire with some short pieces of Dueland tinned copper wire.  These modifications allowed me to keep the amplifier board in the stock enclosure, although the top lid had to be modified to accommodate the increase height of the op amps and Nichicon capacitors.  These changes did make a subtle change in the sound of the stock amplifier.  Whether they were worth the expense would depend on one’s budget and how much they value incremental increases in performance.

Next, I was curious to find out how replacing the external switching power supply brick with a large, high quality linear power supply would impact the A07.  Obviously this would require a larger enclosure to envelope a big transformer and power supply board.  Since the A07 circuit board would need to be removed to mount in a larger enclosure, I also felt it was appropriate to grace the A07 with a better volume potentiometer, binding posts, hook up wire and RCA connectors.  All of these modifications and additions come at somewhat of a high cost.  Were they worth the money and time?  For me, yes they were.  The most notable improvements in my system was the separation of instruments, larger soundstage and tighter, deeper bass.  I found the sound thoroughly pleasing.  As with anything in this hobby, preferences in sound presentation are subjective and often system dependent.   

If you have an Ayima A07 and would like it modified or placed in a new enclosures with linear power supply, please contact me.  If you don’t already have one and are curious, I have a few stock units on the shelf waiting to be all dressed up.  Happy Listening!




The fully Hot Rodded Ayima A07 complete with a vintage Hewlett Packard Panel meter.






Lii Audio F-15 Open Baffle Speakers (Built for Chuck in Ann Arbor, MI)




The Lii Audio F-15 is a wildly popular full range driver that excels in open baffles.
It is a true full range driver with no help needed in the bass department.
This pair was built using 1.5” thick butcher block and steel L brackets for support.



Mark Audio Pensil 10.3 designed by Scott Lindgren

 




Having built dozens of single driver speaker designs, many of which were designed by Scott Lindgren, I must say the pensil cabinet with the Mark Audio Alpair 10 v.3 is a stellar performer.
Numerous accolades abound regarding this driver.
I built my pair using Baltic Birch, Walnut Veneer from Rockler, 
Lamp Black paint from General Finishes, outriggers, binding posts and binding post plates from Dayton Audio.  This is my personal current reference speaker.

“Coltrane” (Sold to David of Norwalk, Connecticut)

David, who commissioned this amplifier, wrote to me that he owes his passion for music, notably jazz and for fine audio wares, to his father.  He was an audiophile and introduced David to Coltrane, Monk, Errol Garner, Oscar Peterson and others.  David’s father passed away in 2014 and David felt the greatest gift his father left him was instilling in him his love of music.   At David’s request, this amplifier has been named “Coltrane”.



This TPA3116 amplifier includes a high purity copper EI transformer, a regulated power supply with Nichicon Gold Tune capacitors, Klei naked Harmony RCA connectors and binding posts. Input wiring is shielded Belden Brilliance and output wire is Dueland brand cotton insulated stranded copper. A US Navy stamped vintage Western Electric meter adorns the last piece of Ambrosia Maple from the stock I obtained with this striking grain pattern.