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New Dual TPA3255 Module + PFFB / Fully differential / OP amps DIP8 @ Great price
I recall that you’re a total expert on the TPA3255! I’d love to get your thoughts on this board. The price is definitely very cheap, but it seems like not many people are discussing it. Thanks!
Mark185
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2025
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- 155
I am a curious EE with some decent test equipment (Quant Asylum QA403) and I have spent way too much money buying and testing multiple TPA3255 boards from Amazon and Aliexpress. Some are capable of impressively low distortion provided the right power supply is used at the optimum voltage. All I have tested have significantly higher distortion at 48 volts compared to 36-40 volt range. They also run much hotter. The quality of the power supply is also important. MeanWell LOP power supplies are among the best but they are also more expensive than most. The advantages of the MeanWell LOP are small size, power factor correction, good regulation, and ability to tweak the voltage output with a potentiometer. You will pay somewhere between $60-120 for MeanWell LOP supplies with between 300-600 watts depending on model and where you buy it. Then you still have to factor in cost of a decent case and cooling fans if you are going to run these amplifiers at high power.
This is all doable and I have done it to replace the guts of a B&K AV6000 home theater 6 channel amplifier that died.
The thing is, I could have purchased 3 Aiyima A07 Max amplifiers for less than I spent on DIY for equivalent performance. For that matter, I could have gone with Fosi V3 Mono amps and still come out ahead if purchased on sale. I picked up 2 V3 Mono amps last year for about $75 each. A MeanWell LOP-600-48 would easily drive 3 V3 Mono amps so would need 2 power supplies.
Long story short, I think I am done experimenting with DIY TPA3255 boards. It was fun but not economically wise. The other factor to consider is that counterfeit boards that look like higher quality boards also exist and it is hard to know what you are buying on Aliexpress. A very knowledgeable DIY designer on diyAudio forum named Nolperi built a beautiful 6 channel home theater amplifier using SAMP-100 TPA3255 boards that he modified to have PFFB. Once built, he noticed that some boards had great peformance but 2-3 of them did not. On closer inspection he determined the underperforming boards are very likely counterfeits. One had a solder blob where there is supposed to be a chip capacitor in the TI reference design.
For future DIY projects, I will spend a bit more and buy boards from guys like @eclipsevl and @uriy-ch who have some very interesting designs with DSP chips on the amplifier board. Their designs are not TPA3255 based. They use other TI chips that take direct digital inputs and do not need a DAC between the DSP and the amplifier chip. The engineering is solid and both document their designs well - far superior to anything on Aliexpress. They fix bugs when they find them and publish what they did to improve the board design. Did I mention they both have DSP on board allowing the user to do parametric equalization and active crossover designs? Both sell 4 channel designs for approximately $200 plus tax, shipping and tariffs if they apply. @eclipsevl has written custom user interface software that enables setting the DSP chip without having to understand Sigma Studio design software. His software interface is very similar to what miniDSP supplies but his work is original. Lastly, both inventors provide outstanding technical support over on diyAudio forums. They respond quickly to questions.
At this point, I have spent well over $2500 to buy and test Aliexpress TPA3255 boards, Aiyima amplifiers, Fosi amplifers, 3E Audio amplifiers, and various power supplies I also have purchased boards from both @eclipsevl and @uriy-ch. I could have purchased a high end Class D amplifier for that money but I do not regret the knowledge gained.
Bottom line for me is that Aliexpress is a crap shoot and not worth it in the long run. My time is worth something and I would much rather spend it on DIY products that are well supported, have documented performance and better quality control.
This is all doable and I have done it to replace the guts of a B&K AV6000 home theater 6 channel amplifier that died.
The thing is, I could have purchased 3 Aiyima A07 Max amplifiers for less than I spent on DIY for equivalent performance. For that matter, I could have gone with Fosi V3 Mono amps and still come out ahead if purchased on sale. I picked up 2 V3 Mono amps last year for about $75 each. A MeanWell LOP-600-48 would easily drive 3 V3 Mono amps so would need 2 power supplies.
Long story short, I think I am done experimenting with DIY TPA3255 boards. It was fun but not economically wise. The other factor to consider is that counterfeit boards that look like higher quality boards also exist and it is hard to know what you are buying on Aliexpress. A very knowledgeable DIY designer on diyAudio forum named Nolperi built a beautiful 6 channel home theater amplifier using SAMP-100 TPA3255 boards that he modified to have PFFB. Once built, he noticed that some boards had great peformance but 2-3 of them did not. On closer inspection he determined the underperforming boards are very likely counterfeits. One had a solder blob where there is supposed to be a chip capacitor in the TI reference design.
For future DIY projects, I will spend a bit more and buy boards from guys like @eclipsevl and @uriy-ch who have some very interesting designs with DSP chips on the amplifier board. Their designs are not TPA3255 based. They use other TI chips that take direct digital inputs and do not need a DAC between the DSP and the amplifier chip. The engineering is solid and both document their designs well - far superior to anything on Aliexpress. They fix bugs when they find them and publish what they did to improve the board design. Did I mention they both have DSP on board allowing the user to do parametric equalization and active crossover designs? Both sell 4 channel designs for approximately $200 plus tax, shipping and tariffs if they apply. @eclipsevl has written custom user interface software that enables setting the DSP chip without having to understand Sigma Studio design software. His software interface is very similar to what miniDSP supplies but his work is original. Lastly, both inventors provide outstanding technical support over on diyAudio forums. They respond quickly to questions.
At this point, I have spent well over $2500 to buy and test Aliexpress TPA3255 boards, Aiyima amplifiers, Fosi amplifers, 3E Audio amplifiers, and various power supplies I also have purchased boards from both @eclipsevl and @uriy-ch. I could have purchased a high end Class D amplifier for that money but I do not regret the knowledge gained.
Bottom line for me is that Aliexpress is a crap shoot and not worth it in the long run. My time is worth something and I would much rather spend it on DIY products that are well supported, have documented performance and better quality control.
