This is a review and detailed measurements of the 3e Audio 480-1-29A, TPA3255 based class D amplifier module. It was sent to me by the company in a reference design for ease of testing:
The module is the PCB to the right and costs US 89.99 from company Aliexpress store. This is the mono version (I reviewed the stereo version earlier). The differentiation is pulling the required class D filter into the amplifier feedback loop (PFFB) and with it, essentially eliminate the effect of speaker load on frequency response. Low cost implementations lack this which can make the tonality somewhat variable. Other optimizations are done to extract better performance out of the TI TPA3255 class D amplifier module.
When swapping the stereo module for mono above, I was impressed by the hefty machined aluminum heat coupler. It is quite substantial and spreads the heat nicely to large area of the case bottom.
The included power supply in this sample is MORNSUN LOF550-20B48-C. Specification is 48volts at 6.5 amps with air cooling and 11.5 amps with forced air. Latter allows more than 550 watts to be provided to the amplifier.
3e Audio 480-1-29A Amplifier Measurements
The initial set of measurements match the stereo version so I will quickly go over them:
We get more power:
We had 206 watts in stereo. Same improvement with 8 ohm load:
Stereo version produced 92 watts.
Interesting to see the transfer function change some in this version:
Cleaner than mono at first but then worse at higher frequencies. Here is the stereo version again:
I captured the switching frequency and was impressed by how low its level was, and how high the frequency was:
Amplifier Reactive Load Test
This is one robust amplifier, essentially not caring about the load down to impressive 2 ohms!
You get nearly 600 watts here!
Note that the test only keeps the amp at these power levels for short period of time so this is not "continuous" amount of power in the pure sense of that term.
Conclusions
I don't know what to be more impressed by: the TI TPA3255 or 3e Audio's engineering skills. This is an incredibly well performing at this price level. Of course you have to account for adding a capable power supply and case to get these numbers but still, one can't help but be impressed.
I am happy to recommend the 3e Audio 480-1-29A, class D Amplifier.
Manufacturer Specifications Amp Module:
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The module is the PCB to the right and costs US 89.99 from company Aliexpress store. This is the mono version (I reviewed the stereo version earlier). The differentiation is pulling the required class D filter into the amplifier feedback loop (PFFB) and with it, essentially eliminate the effect of speaker load on frequency response. Low cost implementations lack this which can make the tonality somewhat variable. Other optimizations are done to extract better performance out of the TI TPA3255 class D amplifier module.
When swapping the stereo module for mono above, I was impressed by the hefty machined aluminum heat coupler. It is quite substantial and spreads the heat nicely to large area of the case bottom.
The included power supply in this sample is MORNSUN LOF550-20B48-C. Specification is 48volts at 6.5 amps with air cooling and 11.5 amps with forced air. Latter allows more than 550 watts to be provided to the amplifier.
3e Audio 480-1-29A Amplifier Measurements
The initial set of measurements match the stereo version so I will quickly go over them:
We get more power:
We had 206 watts in stereo. Same improvement with 8 ohm load:
Stereo version produced 92 watts.
Interesting to see the transfer function change some in this version:
Cleaner than mono at first but then worse at higher frequencies. Here is the stereo version again:
I captured the switching frequency and was impressed by how low its level was, and how high the frequency was:
Amplifier Reactive Load Test
This is one robust amplifier, essentially not caring about the load down to impressive 2 ohms!
You get nearly 600 watts here!
Note that the test only keeps the amp at these power levels for short period of time so this is not "continuous" amount of power in the pure sense of that term.Conclusions
I don't know what to be more impressed by: the TI TPA3255 or 3e Audio's engineering skills. This is an incredibly well performing at this price level. Of course you have to account for adding a capable power supply and case to get these numbers but still, one can't help but be impressed.
I am happy to recommend the 3e Audio 480-1-29A, class D Amplifier.
Manufacturer Specifications Amp Module:
- < 85uV Output Noise (AES17,A-weighted)
- 480W @ 1% THD+N, 1kHz, 2Ω
- 600W @ 10% THD+N, 1kHz, 2Ω
- 111dBA dynamic range
- THD+N < 0.01%, 0.3W – 300W, 3Ω
- 90% Efficient Class-D Operation (4 Ω)
- Fully differential layout design for lowest noise and distortion
- Very Compact size(105mm*90mm*38.5mm – L*W*H)
- Additional power ON/OFF reset circuit for Pop noise suppression
- BTL configuration only for best audio performance
- AUX Power Supply Output(12V/0.2A) for DSP Pre Amplifier
- Single supply voltage range 24V~51V(UVP:24V)
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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