Highest quality ~10W classAB

[Paramount3027]

I'm looking for low power (10-15W) amplifier designs, but on the top end side.
Something classAB. Chip or discrete, medium complexity at max.

• First Watt amps are highly praised, but they are classA.
• LM3886 is to much power.
• LM1875 is a good baseline 0.015% THD, anything better in discrete?

 

[staticV3]

I'd suggest the Modulus-86, but that one uses the LM3886.

Is there a reason you're avoiding Amps with >15W power?

 

[al2002]

I'm looking for low power (10-15W) amplifier designs, but on the top end side.
Something classAB. Chip or discrete, medium complexity at max.

• First Watt amps are highly praised, but they are classA.
• LM3886 is to much power.
• LM1875 is a good baseline 0.015% THD, anything better in discrete?

I'm looking for low power (10-15W) amplifier designs, but on the top end side.
Something classAB. Chip or discrete, medium complexity at max.

• First Watt amps are highly praised, but they are classA.
• LM3886 is to much power.
• LM1875 is a good baseline 0.015% THD, anything better in discrete?

Have a look at the Renardson MOSFET amp. Low parts count, elegant design, low distortion.

One moment, please...

 

[fpitas]

I'd suggest the Modulus-86, but that one uses the LM3886.

Is there a reason you're avoiding Amps with >15W power?

Or for that matter, demanding class AB.

 

[Paramount3027]

I'd suggest the Modulus-86, but that one uses the LM3886.

Is there a reason you're avoiding Amps with >15W power?

I have a small work room, and thin walls, also high power amps sound worse at low levels
see https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/power-amplifiers-the-importance-of-the-first-watt

Class A is nice, but I don't like wasting that much power and heat.
Intersting, making a chip amp better with an opamp, although LM3886 is bit too much for the mentioned reasons.

 

[Paramount3027]

Have a look at the Renardson MOSFET amp. Low parts count, elegant design, low distortion.

One moment, please...

Looks nice, are there any versions that leverage an opamp to simplify it and (maybe) make it better?

 

[HarmonicTHD]

I have a small work room, and thin walls, also high power amps sound worse at low levels
see https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/power-amplifiers-the-importance-of-the-first-watt

Class A is nice, but I don't like wasting that much power and heat.
Intersting, making a chip amp better with an opamp, although LM3886 is bit too much for the mentioned reasons.

The Mod-86 is super clean (ca 0.0006% THD plus N at 1W which is ca 104dB SINAD) at low levels (btw most SOTA amps nowadays are). See the data on Neuchromes web page (thd vs power).

 

[fpitas]

I have a small work room, and thin walls, also high power amps sound worse at low levels
see https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/power-amplifiers-the-importance-of-the-first-watt

Class A is nice, but I don't like wasting that much power and heat.
Intersting, making a chip amp better with an opamp, although LM3886 is bit too much for the mentioned reasons.

Class D is fine at low levels, in fact it works best there. No crossover distortion whatsoever. A friend uses Hypex UcD180 amps hooked directly to his horns, with excellent results. He may use 30mW when he's rocking out.

 

[al2002]

Looks nice, are there any versions that leverage an opamp to simplify it and (maybe) make it better?

7 transistors are about as simple as an amp can get. The Renardson already has outstandingly low distortion.

 

[Hatto]

There are these nowadays: https://www.schiit.com/products/gjallarhorn

 

[voodooless]

Just get a LM3886 and use a lower voltage PSU. Or just don’t turn it up too much as most normal people would do Remember that the difference between 15 and 40 W is just a few dB.

 

[zman01]

+1 for the Modulus-86. If you run it on lower voltage rails, you can get lower output power. I have my Modulus-86 running off +/-25V, and that is probably giving me close to 30 watts output with 8 Ohms load. The design also has gain settings, so you can set it to a lower gain if total SPL is one of your concerns.

What speakers are you using?

It is possible to configure certain Class A designs at lower voltage rails, so that you have a lower power output around 12-15 watts. The power draw also gets reduced - for example ~30 watts/channel vs 60-75 watts/channel vs a typical Class with 25 watt output. A lower power amp will need smaller heatsinks and smaller transformer, resulting in some space and cost savings there too. However, a Class AB amplifier like the Modulus-86 will have lower distortion vs Class A.

 

[eeMGee]

I'm looking for low power (10-15W) amplifier designs, but on the top end side.
Something classAB. Chip or discrete, medium complexity at max.

• First Watt amps are highly praised, but they are classA.
• LM3886 is to much power.
• LM1875 is a good baseline 0.015% THD, anything better in discrete?

Here is a nice LM1875 implementation as a composit amp:

Ultra Low Distortion Audio Composite Amplifier Kit LM1875

The magical sound of the Ultra Low Distortion Audio Composite Amplifier Kit LM1875. No more listening fatigue, noise and distortion. Just pure sound!

www.kaltecs.com

But I have no experience with it.

Martin

 

[notsodeadlizard]

This is a very good unpretentious to build and stable amplifier:

Building Elvee's Circlophone: Documentation, Parts, Accessories, & beginner friendly

Building Elvee's Circlophone: Documentation, Parts, Accessories, & beginner friendly Intro Circlophone is a new topology (a more efficient Class A, dynamic class AA), with a live sound character and an easy build. These are fun! ♦ The Original, optimized Circlophone ♦ The Germanium...

www.diyaudio.com

The design is scalable for different output powers and load ranges.
This is a very worthy construction to repeat.

 

[Paramount3027]

Here is a nice LM1875 implementation as a composit amp:

Ultra Low Distortion Audio Composite Amplifier Kit LM1875

The magical sound of the Ultra Low Distortion Audio Composite Amplifier Kit LM1875. No more listening fatigue, noise and distortion. Just pure sound!

www.kaltecs.com

But I have no experience with it.

Martin

Composite LM1875 looks very promising, low part count, low THD. I will read up on it, cheers!

 

[GPx86]

I'd recommend the Schiit Gjallarhorn as well. I've been using two of them for low volume listening and they are very impressive.

 

[SIY]

I have a small work room, and thin walls, also high power amps sound worse at low levels
see https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/power-amplifiers-the-importance-of-the-first-watt

Class A is nice, but I don't like wasting that much power and heat.
Intersting, making a chip amp better with an opamp, although LM3886 is bit too much for the mentioned reasons.

Don’t pay much attention to that bit of marketing. The displayed waveforms are from a grossly misadjusted amp. Normal medium and high power AB amps are absolutely fine for 1W or less operation.

Chip amps like 1875 or 3886 are pretty old and although they sound fine, perform far less well than more modern components.

 

[fpitas]

Don’t pay much attention to that bit of marketing. The displayed waveforms are from a grossly misadjusted amp. Normal medium and high power AB amps are absolutely fine for 1W or less operation.

Chip amps like 1875 or 3886 are pretty old and although they sound fine, perform far less well than more modern components.

Yeah, I suspect they greatly magnified the crossover distortion. Or found a 1967 amplifier to test

 

[Paramount3027]

I'd recommend the Schiit Gjallarhorn as well. I've been using two of them for low volume listening and they are very impressive.

Gjallarhorn has a nice marketing text explaining the importance of low power amps.
The amp is kinda expensive, is it classA basedon on output/transformer ratio?

True that discrete classAB can be biased closer to classA if higher quality is required.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I have a small work room, and thin walls, also high power amps sound worse at low levels

Damn. So I need to have a low power amp for low volume and a high power amp for higher volume? Or maybe a stack of amps with different power so I don't have to choose between only low / high volume..