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!
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