Cheap Chineseese Component Challenge

[Wakefield Turntables]

The challenge is for you to purchase and develop a system as cheaply as possible from China. This system will live on my desk. So, I purchased this for £7 delivered.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401130405265?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's a power amplifier. :stalks:

More to follow.

[Audio Al]

Its 12volt does that count :scratch:

[paulf-2007]

I don't see why not, most amps have mains transformers.

[Jimbo]

That sounds a bit of fun Andy. Like the idea of putting together a very very cheap system but being an audiofool I would still want it to sound good. :)

I have been reading some very good reviews of Schitt audio products which seem to engage the philosophy of top end performance for a few bucks, but I think for seriously cheap you would have to go with Chinese for maximum bang for bucks.

It will be interesting what folk dig up?:eyebrows:

[alphaGT]

I've been thinking on a headphone only system for a friend of mine who lives in an apartment, no loud music allowed. I was telling him at band practice about small tubed headphone amps and he was astounded, one of the main problems with good audio is that most people don't even know it exists. Those Chinese tube amp kits for headphones can be had fairly cheap. The 'phones would be the most expensive part. His music is in his notebook, so a DAC and amp and he's good.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[struth]

Chromecast and a set of headphones and your good to go.

[Barry]

Report back in 18 months time. That seems to be the typical MTBF for cheap Chinese sourced equipment (based on my experience with DVD players).

[Ali Tait]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAM8403-module-mini-digital-amplifier-board-2-3W-Class-D-with-switch-pot-E75-/321674178484?hash=item4ae5466fb4:g:B7kAAOSwPYZU5iq M

[struth]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDA7297-AC-DC-12V-2-15W-Digital-Stereo-Audio-Amplifier-Dual-Channel-AMP-Module/302053418349?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%2 6asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D3d9dc0af335647e7a9e b2abe98a20808%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26 mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D321674178484
:eyebrows:

[Jimbo]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDA7297-AC-DC-12V-2-15W-Digital-Stereo-Audio-Amplifier-Dual-Channel-AMP-Module/302053418349?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%2 6asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D3d9dc0af335647e7a9e b2abe98a20808%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26 mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D321674178484
:eyebrows:

Flippin eck Grant thats unbelievable price!

[Arkless Electronics]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDA7297-AC-DC-12V-2-15W-Digital-Stereo-Audio-Amplifier-Dual-Channel-AMP-Module/302053418349?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%2 6asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D3d9dc0af335647e7a9e b2abe98a20808%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26 mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D321674178484
:eyebrows:

£2 eh... It would cost me about £16, including the pcb, for just the parts at trade cost, before any labour has gone into it and well before any profit has been made. I just checked the price of a TDA7297 chip and it's £2.94... You can get that down to £2 if you buy 100 at a time. Almost certainly a fake chip and the worst components known to man!

[Wakefield Turntables]

Amp now purchased. £5 delivered from China. :eek:.

Speaker cable is free. I have a choice of solid core Cu, some old Duelund 16 AWG tinned stuff, or even some Peter Walker original Quad hook up cable.

Debating what to use as a pre-amp, I already have a Little Bear tube pre-amp. Might decide for something else. We shall see.

Have fun.

[Jimbo]

Amp now purchased. £5 delivered from China. :eek:.

Speaker cable is free. I have a choice of solid core Cu, some old Duelund 16 AWG tinned stuff, or even some Peter Walker original Quad hook up cable.

Debating what to use as a pre-amp, I already have a Little Bear tube pre-amp. Might decide for something else. We shall see.

Have fun.

I think there are some very cheap Chinese valve preamps out there that are actually quite good as I heard one back at NEBO once. Forget who had it but he was a Scottish chap and owned some nice ancient Quad ESL's.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I've actually found my Little Bear P5-1 which cost £25 delievered. So, total cost so far £30.

The Little bear p5-1, stock photo I'm afraid but exactly like mine.

19788

I've decided to go down the route of my Klotz IC's, not sure how much these cost to make?

[LC1979]

This is a great idea for a thread, but the cheapest of the cheap components are bound to sound crappy. What about cheapest Chinese components that you actually rate as sounding good?!

My vote would be for SMSL amps. Something like this is silly cheap for how it sounds, but was about £10 cheaper when i bought it:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMSL-SA-36A-Audio-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B017W13O5W

DIYers can make their own even cheaper from bare boards off eBay for peanuts, but i don't have the patience!

[Rothchild]

If you're willing to up the budget to £7 you can have 50watts and bluetooth too:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDA7492P-50W-50W-Wireless-Bluetooth-4-0-Audio-Receiver-Digital-Amplifier-Board/141783446802?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D2220072%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2% 26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D4d8069eb49984fb9be 6bc613b0755037%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%2 6mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D152231847265

I've got a couple of the boards grant linked, used them for making 'camping speaker boxes' where I put them in a couple of skip found speakers, glued together, along with a 12v battery, a solar panel and a flying headphone cable to take feed from phone or ipad. Worked great for a beach party I went to.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Couple of quick pix. Just thought I'd get the Little Bear pre-amp out to see if it actually works. So I buddied it up with my old Quad 405-2.

19789

It's a bit busy around the back! I've got my Teac VRDS-25x CD player doing input duties via some homemade IC's including Belden and Klotz cables.

19790

It's not making a bad little noise so far. I've the JR149's singing away here whilst I'm modding the Lenco '75.

[spendorman]

Above are all expensive:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3-to-18V-TDA7266-Power-Amplifier-Module-Double-Channel-5-15W-CF-/272159153887

Had a couple of these for some time, still working and sound pretty good.

Just one on a pair of LS3/6 worked quite well.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Just out of interest this is a very cheap way to get into valves. You can have a little fun listening to valves and tube rolling at the same time. 6J1 valves are pretty cheap.

[paulf-2007]

Above are all expensive:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3-to-18V-TDA7266-Power-Amplifier-Module-Double-Channel-5-15W-CF-/272159153887

Had a couple of these for some time, still working and sound pretty good.

Just one on a pair of LS3/6 worked quite well.
I was thinking a mains transformer was an added expense but a 12v battery would suffice. I have two motorcycle sized batteries from an emergency light that would do. May be worth a go.

[spendorman]

I was thinking a mains transformer was an added expense but a 12v battery would suffice. I have two motorcycle sized batteries from an emergency light that would do. May be worth a go.

An old laptop power supply / charger is good. If these amps are used at at more than a few watts, a bigger or additional heatsink is needed, an old Computer CPU one will probably do.

[spendorman]

I was thinking a mains transformer was an added expense but a 12v battery would suffice. I have two motorcycle sized batteries from an emergency light that would do. May be worth a go.

An old laptop power supply / charger is good. If these amps are used at at more than a few watts, a bigger or additional heatsink is needed, an old Computer CPU one will probably do.

12V won't give maximum output, I think 24V is too much (check the data sheets),

[r100]

2$99 + a PSU lying around = 3$ and sound not that bad at all. Tweeks on diyaudio.com (http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/chip-amps/231988-what-heck-its-less-than-lunch.html)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TDA7297-Version-B-2-15W-Digital-Audio-Amplifier-Board-Dual-Channel-AC-DC-12V-/111681539054?hash=item1a00bd0bee

also this one (http://www.ebay.com/itm/272376560787?afsrc=1&rmvSB=true) with bluetooth

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/SoQAAOSwBahVZs9k/s-l1600.jpg

[spendorman]

2$99 + a PSU lying around = 3$ and sound not that bad at all. Tweeks on diyaudio.com (http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/chip-amps/231988-what-heck-its-less-than-lunch.html)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TDA7297-Version-B-2-15W-Digital-Audio-Amplifier-Board-Dual-Channel-AC-DC-12V-/111681539054?hash=item1a00bd0bee

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/SoQAAOSwBahVZs9k/s-l1600.jpg


I also bought three of these, one was dead, the other two perform no different (good) to the TDA7266 amps mentioned above, although the supplied heatsink is slightly larger.

[r100]

yep, that is the risk. Out of three I bought, 2 worked

[spendorman]

lol, exactly the same! I have a feeling that the TDA7266 version is more carefully (if that's an appropriate word) built.

Even the duff one was useful for the volume control pot and knob, they might be cheap, but quality seems OK.

[spendorman]

50W RMS per channel (into 4 Ohm), 30 W RMS per channel (into 8 Ohm).

"Chip: TPA3116D2
Audio Type: Class D
Input voltage: DC5-24V
Operating Frequency: 20 HZ-20 HZ
Output Type: 2.0 channel
Size: 84 * 51 * 29mm
characteristics:
A full range of protection systems with reverse power protection, speaker output protection against short circuit, but also with anti-shock switch design, switch machines without "POP" sound."

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-5-24V-TPA3116D2-2X50W-Digital-Amplifier-Board-Class-D-Dual-Channel-Stereo-AMP-/282361391300

[spendorman]

100Watts into 8 Ohms

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDA7293-Digital-Audio-Amplifier-Board-Mono-Single-Channel-AC-12v-50V-100W-/172360141083

Not tried these, but suspect that they are good. I have an old Radford SPA50 that is not working, had an unsuccessful attempt at repairing it, considered putting the above modules in, would need a different mains transformer though.

[Wakefield Turntables]

My cheapo power amp from China arrived today. More to follow when I have some time tonight.

[walpurgis]

My cheapo power amp from China arrived today. More to follow when I have some time tonight.

Could be interesting. :hmm:

[RothwellAudio]

100Watts into 8 Ohms

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDA7293-Digital-Audio-Amplifier-Board-Mono-Single-Channel-AC-12v-50V-100W-/172360141083

Not tried these, but suspect that they are good. I have an old Radford SPA50 that is not working, had an unsuccessful attempt at repairing it, considered putting the above modules in, would need a different mains transformer though.

£2.75??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can it be so cheap? And if you're unsure about forking out that much money they even give you the option to make an offer! At that price it would be rude not to buy a couple.

[Firebottle]

I can't see anything remotely 'digital' about it though, it is a class AB chip.

[spendorman]

I can't see anything remotely 'digital' about it though, it is a class AB chip.

Good point, I missed the description knowing that it's a class AB amp, and that's what I want.

[Arkless Electronics]

100Watts into 8 Ohms

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDA7293-Digital-Audio-Amplifier-Board-Mono-Single-Channel-AC-12v-50V-100W-/172360141083

Not tried these, but suspect that they are good. I have an old Radford SPA50 that is not working, had an unsuccessful attempt at repairing it, considered putting the above modules in, would need a different mains transformer though.

I built a chip amp into a SPA50 case myself! The Radford could well be repairable of course, as long as it's not in the state of the one I scrapped... they are very good amps when working properly.

[spendorman]

I built a chip amp into a SPA50 case myself! The Radford could well be repairable of course, as long as it's not in the state of the one I scrapped... they are very good amps when working properly.

Perhaps I'd better have another go at repairing the SPA50 before gutting it, though it I can't do it in the near future.

I guess that you may have used a chip amp that doesn't use a centre tapped transformer, out of interest, what chip amp did you use?

[Arkless Electronics]

Perhaps I'd better have another go at repairing the SPA50 before gutting it, though it I can't do it in the near future.

I guess that you may have used a chip amp that doesn't use a centre tapped transformer, out of interest, what chip amp did you use?

I didn't use the original transformer. In this one I used TDA1514 but there are better ones around. I made an (uncased) one using LM3886 and it is in another league.

[spendorman]

I didn't use the original transformer. In this one I used TDA1514 but there are better ones around. I made an (uncased) one using LM3886 and it is in another league.

The LM3886 was recommended by a BBC Engineer friend of mine.

This looks interesting: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HiFi-LM3886TF-Stereo-Amplifier-AMP-Assembled-Board-68W-68W-4-50W-2-38W-2-8-/172274154282

[Wakefield Turntables]

Here's the latest lash up. The amp cost £5 delivered and is actually very good for the money. It didn't come with a PSU so an old laptop PSU had to do.

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q388/SPUNKGOBBLER/DSCN3016_zpsh8bzrkfp.jpg (http://s349.photobucket.com/user/SPUNKGOBBLER/media/DSCN3016_zpsh8bzrkfp.jpg.html)

A bit of a rats nest with regards the cabling. I had it linked upto my JR149's and it controlled them quite well. I'll write a few notes up at some point.

[danilo]

The LM3886 was recommended by a BBC Engineer friend of mine.

This looks interesting: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HiFi-LM3886TF-Stereo-Amplifier-AMP-Assembled-Board-68W-68W-4-50W-2-38W-2-8-/172274154282

Cheap Junk.. made of Fake bits virtually ALL of them including the lm3886. Lots of info about on this..if bored

This is a Proven good sounding Lm3886 amp. Not as silly cheap though https://www.neurochrome.com/taming-the-lm3886-chip-amplifier/