Budget HI-FI setup - Class T amp???

[admin_exported]

Good day, fellow HI-FIers!

I'm new to the hi-fi scene and i'm buying my first stereo setup, that is not 2.1 pc multimedia speaker system...

I did some research and found a lot of positive feedback on Class T amplifiers... I am particularly interested in Temple Audio Bantam Gold - 2 x 25w, its being sold on their website as "Better than T class quality". Its hand made in UK, price tag around 180 pounds. Are these Class T amps really on par with a lot expenciver class A/B amplifiers, or is this just marketing junk?? infos, experiences, please

After i buy my amp, ill hook some old Goldstar 3-way speakers... Until i gather some money to get proper stereo speakers for around 200 pounds for pair. You have any advice?

Thank you very much!

Rok

 

[Anonymous]

It depends on the chip used and it implementation on how it will sound you get good class T like you get good and bad other amplifiers. I have some Kingrex T20U class T amplifiers that use the 2020 Tripath chip which is I feel the best and the amplifier sounds superb, but you need to use it/them with high sensitivity speakers 90db+

 

[Anonymous]

Temple audio uses TA2024c chip, its 2x15w amp and is getting good reviews. It retails at around 90 pounds. But its big brother, Bantam GOLD has 2x25w of power, even better PCB, gold plated contacts ....

 

[Big Nads and Woofer]

I've heard the Bantam Gold and the Dac version - For the money the Bantam gold is the best amp I've heard, You just cant beat it for price. Sounds excellent too and if you bought one I'm sure you wouldnt want to spend £300-400 on amps that get mentioned round here. Give Temple Audio a ring to see if you can demo one..

It's about time WHF gave them a review!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, for aroundpounds including shipping its a bargain, thats what people say. But it have to be sure about it. Can i get a "classic" used amp for 200 pounds, that would beat Bantam Gold?

 

[Big Nads and Woofer]

It cant be beat for sound per pound period.

I'm looking to get one myself in the future....

 

[Pierz]

Such a shame the What Hifi people haven't reviewed these amps yet. Could be saving people an awful lot of money by the sounds of things.

 

[Pierz]

Such a shame the What Hifi people haven't reviewed these amps yet. Could be saving people an awful lot of money by the sounds of things.

 

[BigH]

I must say I have never heard them but here is a review:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/bantam_gold_e.html

Sounds pretty good.

 

[cheeseboy]

I run a class t modded amp. To be honest, I've not heard anything better sub 500 notes.

Only limiting factor is lack of connections, but that's not a problem for me.

But do make sure you have sensitive speakers to get the most out of it.

 

[hoopsontoast]

AFAIK, the Bantam Gold is not a Tripath (T-Amp) based amplifier.

I had one on extended loan along side the Amptastic TA2020 and prefered the latter. Both you get UK warranties and from UK companies, with the Amptastic being about half the price of the Bantam.

I would expect quite a large difference between the entry Bantam T-Amp (Classic?) and the Gold model. Both the Temple 'Classic' and Trends TA10 are TA2024 based, so that 6-moons review might give an indication between the two Bantam models.

I just thought the Amptastic sounded a bit more open and dynamic than the Bantam, despite the reduced power rating.

The Bantam was a nicer product to look at though, both had troubles with thick/heavy cables that can pull both lightweight amps around the shelf. I used an old Agate Stone on top to keep it in place.

Both amps were used with un-sensitive but easy to drive speakers (ATC SCM10 and Keesonic Kolt).

Remember most T-Amps are quoted power ratings at 4 Ohms and can be between 1% and 10% distortion, so the Amptastic is around 8wpc/8ohms & 12wpc/4ohms 0.1% IIRC.

 

[bluedroog]

I’ve never tried the Bantam amps but do own an Amptastic Mini-T amp. They may be very different but I’ll just speak about my personal experience with the Mini-T.

The sound quality surprised me, it really is very good. It feels very detailed and precise, very open indeed. That said I found it a little fatiguing over longer periods.

As is often mentioned with these amps careful speaker matching is important and I cannot stress this enough as it makes all the difference. I tried the amp on my main speakers (hope to upgrade soon1) B&W 602 rated at 90db and the results were great. I can see why people often say they could live with this as their primary amp in place of more expensive amps they already have, personally I couldn’t because of the fatigue I felt.

I often her it said these amps don’t go loud, well that isn’t strictly true as I didn’t get any near full whack and had to turn it down, what does happen is they quickly lose control and distortion sets in, for normal listening levels they sound really very good, as soon as they leave their comfort zone distortion kicks in an you can hear them struggle. That said the Bantam is rated as more powerful than the Mini-T.

I recently tried the same amp with some smaller and less efficient Mission speakers I had as rears in an AV set-up, well frankly this sounded nothing short of rubbish. The sound was just so flat, not better than a micro system really and I’ve had decent results from the Missions with larger SS amps.

May be worth checking out Amptastic as they have been working on a new model which I know is due to be released soon.

 

[Electro]

I bought a Poppulse T150 integrated T amp as a fill in while my Electocompaniet power amp was being serviced and it cost me about £160 , it is Tripath 2022 chip based and 70 wpc and is very heavy and solid with a large internal power supply and sounds extremely good and it will drive most speakers to high levels .

The pre amp section can be easily disconnected and the power amp section bridged into a mono block that doubles the output so you can buy another one and have a pair of 150 wpc monoblocks .

http://www.discoveryhifi.com/pdf/PopPulse%20T150%20manual.pdf

I am not sure if these are still available in the UK at the moment but there are other similar 2020 based T amps that are .

I don't know how they do it for the price :?

 

[SpursGator]

Sorry - I am late this thread but had to comment. I have an almost finished (working) DIY Class T amp - it's really mostly preconstructed, an Autocostruire board based around the 2020 Tripath chip. These amps really are lovely. It actually IS a class AB amp - the whole thing, on a chip. Think about it - no copper or very many parts, signal paths in microns instead of centimetres...it really ought to sound good and it does. The big limitation is that you don't get much power (I presume that you could print a pair of Bryston 28SSTs onto a silicon chip, too, but you powered it up, you'd probably end up sending a large ball of superheated silicon to Australia by way of your basement and the earth's core).

A lot of people with Class T amps are building their own super-sensitive speakers to get the most our of them, using Fostex, Supravox, etc. drivers. There is one guy who insists that the only speaker for an amp like this (or a SET amp) is a single-driver DIY speaker based on a full-range driver that you can only find inside some German radio that was produced for three years in the 1960s. He has a big disclaimer that he is not in favour of people buying up these radios on eBay just to rip the drivers out. To which I say: You got nothing to worry about, mate.

Very low-powered amps and very sensitive speakers are a strange and obsessive corner of hifi, but there is a world of enjoyment there, as these setups can scratch some itches that others can't reach. Clarinet solos, female vocalists, piano concertos, etc. have a naturalness that makes some people never go back. In other words, think of a Tripath amp as a poor man's tube amp.

I assume that the OP is asking whether a class T amp is a viable bargain option for normal hifi, and is not interested in a new hobby. To that I would say that a budget loudspeaker with good efficiency and light (most likely polypropylene) driver ought to sound good. I have a pair of such speakers - Boston A25s - I have not yet tried them with the T but I can later this AM and get back to you.

 

[andyjm]

Sorry - I am late this thread but had to comment. I have an almost finished (working) DIY Class T amp - it's really mostly preconstructed, an Autocostruire board based around the 2020 Tripath chip. These amps really are lovely. It actually IS a class AB amp - the whole thing, on a chip.

The Tripath 2020 is a class D switching amplifier, not class AB. The advertising blurb says it is 'like' a class AB in terms of the quality of its output, not that it uses class AB topology.

There isn't really 'class T', I guess thats just a marketing play on the the name Tripath. The amps themselves are classic high frequency swtching digital amps. No less impressive for that though.

There are probably more class D amps made than any other topology these days (mainly smartphones), but many subs use class D as do a number of high end manufacturers - Linn for one.

 

[SpursGator]

The Tripath 2020 is a class D switching amplifier, not class AB. The advertising blurb says it is 'like' a class AB in terms of the quality of its output, not that it uses class AB topology.

I stand corrected - thanks for that. That little marketing blurb has been expanded by others (such as cheerleading site sixmoons.com) and restated as fact. The Tripath sounds better than other class D amps I've heard, but then most of them have been much higher power and are not chip-based.

I tried the Boston A25s with my mostly-completed Tripath 2020 amp and let it play during much of the evening last night. I have to say, it was a huge disappointment. The music lacked depth, the imaging was fuzzy, and it completely lacked the magic that I experienced with the Fostex speakers. The exception was at very low volume, which did still have that 'alive' feeling. But I don't mean low volume as in, the way my wife listens. More like, barely audible.

I am a fan of the Bostons but let's face it, they were designed to be mainstream stereo speakers. They are quite efficient for a small speaker - they claim 89 dB/1W/1m, although I think that is exaggerated based on the fact that my Fostex minis should not do more than that - maybe 90 dB at the most - and yet play much louder in this setup. Most people who buy the Bostons are buying them with a Japanese solid state receiver in an American electronics store (probably 80-100W) and paired with one of those, in hifi or HC configuration, this is a lovely speaker.

But my theory that they could, due to high efficiency and light cones, be a 'poor man's high-efficiency speaker' and get a lot out of a very low-powered amp, did not really work out. I do like the natural sound from the 'Class T' amp, but I have a hard time thinking of a speaker that would get the most out one that you would not have to build yourself. Maybe others have suggestions - we're looking for a superlight cone, very low Xmax (my Fostex 4" drivers can only move about 0.3 mm at full excursion), and efficiency over 90db/W/m. They must exist but you aren't going to find them at Curry's, that's for sure.