Lepai LP-2020A+ Mini Tripath Stereo Amp, Part 1

[Sleepy0827]

Thanks for your reply. The speaker I mentioned is Yamaha NS-AP7900MBL which is on sale on newegg right now (29.99), FYR.

[Maxxarcade]

@Sleepy0827 You might be able to go to Parts Express and get a pair of bookshelf speakers with slightly better specs for around that price. Regardless of what you decide, let me know how it turns out.

[Sleepy0827]

Hi, thanks for the video clip and I am pretty insterested in this amp. I am just wondering if it could drive a pair of speaker with 82db sensitivity (6ohm) for a pretty small room? Thank you very much.

[Maxxarcade]

@Sleepy0827 It probably won't sound very good, but it's cheap enough that it would be worth a shot. I've never seen speakers with that low of a sensitivity, what are they?

[KaygenKerrigan]

hey i have the Lepai LP-2020A+ but it doesn't have that little switch on it. i see you said its a tone control switch/bypass switch what does that do?

search this on amazon: Lepai TRIPATH TA2020 Class T Mini Amp Hi-Fi Stereo Audio Amplifier

THATS THE ONE I BOUGHT - August 17, 2011 only issue i have with it is the RCA white and red are the wrong way or output the opposite. but the mp3 input is fine. weird

[newricardo1e93]

@KaygenKerrigan dont worry about the rca input, mine too is inverted and the mp3 works fine too

[rohitchhiber]

I guess this doesn't have phono, so will it go well with a turntable (built in pre-amp)? I'll be using headphones with it.

[Maxxarcade]

@rohitchhiber It won't run headphones, unless perhaps you modify the speaker outputs a bit. It only has line in and speaker out.

[teflondon91]

@Maxxarcade You can take a tap off the preamp to drive headphones.

[danrulz98]

Ever run the tests on this thing?

[Maxxarcade]

@danrulz98 BigDWiz tested it a while back, but I haven't tried it myself yet. I've been pretty swamped with other stuff, and haven't done anything with audio in a while.

[miles85916]

Hey Max, can you do a review on a upgraded power supply? I noticed a big different after i upgrade my power supply to a 12v 3000mA

[racerz510]

Hello should I risk buying this for my sony bs1000s? it says I needs an amp with 8 ohms. Does anyone know what I should buy??

[Maxxarcade]

@racerz510 This amp can only give 8 watts into 8 ohms.

[iwillmakeureyesblead]

how much was it shipped

[Maxxarcade]

@iwillmakeureyesblead Last I checked, it is $21.00 plus shipping, and includes the power supply. The shipping is usually less than $10.00.

[iwillmakeureyesblead]

where did u get this

[Maxxarcade]

@iwillmakeureyesblead Parts Express.

[imfercho]

Very practical if you want to use some car speakers in your room. I'm guessing it would sound pretty good hooked up to a PC or something.

[Veebroo]

I am an engineer and after opening up this amplifier I saw all the schoolbook failures of electronics assembly. For the price you can't really argue it, but I wouldn't buy it again....

Distortion 0,4% isn''t what makes this amp sound bad by the way, it's the poor quality components really, the PCB design being the main component. Only the main IC is great, which is probably the only reason the amp even works...

[mrparadise212]

can you get 3.5mm to rca connector? so i wouldn't need the cd player?

[stan464]

Ahhh Love Counting Crows! Fantastic Band.

[cantsolvesudokus]

can this be attached to a 12V car battery ?

[Maxxarcade]

@cantsolvesudokus Yep, just make sure you have the polarity correct.

[cantsolvesudokus]

@Maxxarcade i am planning to cut the AC adapters wire and attach one of them to the positive pole and the other to the negative pole of the 12V car battery. now how to know which wire should be connected to which pole ??

[Maxxarcade]

@cantsolvesudokus Look at the AC adapter to see what the polarity is. I think the center pin is positive, but I'm not certain. Once you cut the wire, You need a multimeter to find which one is connected to the center pin.

[cantsolvesudokus]

@Maxxarcade think I got it, thanks

[StinkyCheese9999]

@cantsolvesudokus

That should be easy for you to figure out once you have the amp (or for any product), simply determine polarity with the PSU plugged in then after the cord is cut, determine continuity of the plug contact and wires with a multimeter.

However it need not be destructive of the power supply, just get a piece of wire and solder on a barrel connector (costs about $1) then you can make it as long as you want, BUT either way ALWAYS put a fuse on it at the battery.

[Tri3Dr]

@cantsolvesudokus

And i have heard that car batteries are actually best kind of power sources for this amplifiers.

[ryankhan11]

Nick Cage's movie career has gone so bad, hes doing youtube review videos for mini amps.

[platinumzs1k]

can you use this as a headphone amp?

[Maxxarcade]

@platinumzs1k I'm not sure actually. Most headphones are pretty high impedance, and you would need to make an adapter cable to connect to the speaker terminals.

[StinkyCheese9999]

@platinumzs1k

Typical headphones have a shared ground while the two "negative" outputs on this amp cannot be wired together. If you have a separate ground coming from each headphone driver (or replace the wires yourself) then yes but why considering you still have to use bare wires for the speaker terminals OR put a new set of plugs and jacks on t he cans and amp? Also IIRC, there is a capacitor on the output with a value that needs changed to drive such a large difference in impedance.

[bigdwiz]

I finally got one of these amps in and put it on my bench for RMS power output. Check out my channel for the video. I really enjoy your videos, keep them coming!

[khaled6100]

can this amplifier power 100 watt speakerhorn as what u found in police cars ?

[TheElectricnoob]

I have one of these lil LP-2020 amps too and all i can say is it sucks, totally and utterly unlistenable. A crappy class B amplifier is way way way better sounding than this aluminum box.

[wonmoretyme]

I just ordered one from Amazon.I want to mount a system on the back rack on my bicycle. Now i'll have to build a closeure for it, the battery & speakers. Looking forward to your next review. Thanks.

[lineartechbd1600]

way back in the 90's i had a similar amp sold by radio shack. they were the same size with those mounting tabs. they simply had a on off button and were about 20 plus 20 watts.

[uxwbill]

I bought the Dayton DTA-1 (which is TA-2024 based and has lower--though optimistic--power ratings). Apple used the T amps in a few computers as well.

THD rises pretty sharply with these...Tripath's figure is some 10% at maximum output. They don't specify a 2 ohm power rating in their literature, so I'm not sure if it is safe.

At reduced power, these tend to clip--and clip in a nasty way--when pushed. I think it could hurt speakers. (I tested with weak batteries in mine.)

[uxwbill]

@uxwbill I am surprised to hear that this set has an external protection relay. Tripath claims their chips are overload, overheat and short-circuit protected. The protection seems to work, at least when it comes to short-circuiting.

Running from good batteries, I'd say the DTA-1 can give a clean 6 or so watts per channel--not at all bad. They are basically "switchmode power supplies for audio amplification" as you said.

[Maxxarcade]

@uxwbill I believe the relay in this Lepai was mainly to prevent the power on/off thump that people complained about in the earlier version. It also trips if you distort it too much LOL. But it's kinda neat how it has that same little delay and click that a big amp would have when you turn it on.

[Organgrinder010]

I've seen lots of these "T" amps get modded with fat audio-grade film caps, etc. I wonder how far you can go with these. .4%THD isn't terrible at all when compared to a similar-grade tube amp -but our ears wouldn't agree!

[Maxxarcade]

@Organgrinder010 Some time I would like to experiment with the 100WPC ones... They would be nice to mount in an organ console too :-)

[MN12BIRD]

I've seen some similar Class T amps before. They look really interesting and of course they're cheap. Tempting toy.

[PhattyMo]

There's a whole slew of mods you can do with those. If you look on DIYaudio or other sites there's loads of info. Better caps,bigger power supply,better filtering inductors on the output,etc,etc.

Perfect for someone who wants to tinker,but not go broke in the process.

[labobo]

i'll be looking forward to your next video

[727JeffN]

Great little amp!

[ThePhonoJack]

Tripath made some great value products, just about five years too early. Unfortunately now out of business, but ample supply of chips, components for the hobbyist

[Ryuke112]

I'm total noob when it comes to amplifiers and music equipment. So why do you need an amplifier connected to the CD player? You can't just plug in speakers?

[weasel2htm]

@Ryuke112 The CD player outputs are called a "Line Level" output, think of it as an un-amplified output.

[costellom5]

can't wait for the next video :))

[TheComputerNerd0101]

Another great video! Thanks!

[haz939]

If you like Tripath class D amps may I suggest the TK2050 there wonderful!!

[tasmith1969]

I may get one, gut it, and make a small tube linestage out of the case! Just a bare case would cost over $20.00.

[Threemicsrecords]

More power means usually less distortion - not more volume (or loudness). 200W amp would only play 2 much louder then this gizmo, but since 200W 10 times more powerful, noise floor has to be much lower as well.

[Maxxarcade]

@Threemicsrecords Ya, but my 20W tube amp totally destroys this thing LOL. Even the 15 watt Marantz on my main PC can hold its own.

[Threemicsrecords]

@Maxxarcade You right, Tube Amp sounds always great because it compresses signal bringing up even harmonics and shortens transients (peaks). I used to have old Rotel amp (RX302 ?) that had only 20WPC and sounded fantastic even though preamp was noise as hell. i think characteristic of the amp and how well amp can handle transients is most important...

[TechStories79]

@Maxxarcade What amp would you recommend as being one of the cleanest out there? say for home theatre or just to hook up real decent speakers to for loud music? I'm just keep to do away with my old all in one system and get serious, be nice to know models/brands to start with. cheers.

[Djkyle65]

Sweet cant wait

[daddyoca69]

I seen a flood of these on ebay for about 2 years now and I been thinking about getting a decent size one for my computer speakers since its low amp (even though I have a prymid 90amp supply) and the Vol knob...

[HDXFH]

Nice little amp :)

[SpeakerFreak95]

thats a really nice amplifier, I plan to get a few for around the house, and in my car.

[ouimetnick]

@SpeakerFreak95 They sure seem to be powerful for their size. Bash has a nifty technology that makes a light, but POWERful plate amp for home theater subs.