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Tripath amplifiers

windhoek

windhoek

The Phoolosopher
Having recently bought an Amptastic mini-1 and found its sound to be more enjoyable than I was expecting, I'm now interested in all things Tripath. There's just something really nice about the Tripath sound, or at least, there's something really nice about the Amptastic implementation of the Tripath TA2020 chipset.

The sound I've been getting can be described as warm and sweet with a rolled off bass, or rather, not rolled up to begin with.

I'd love to have an amp with these characteristics but with more power on tap. Apparently you can, or you could, buy Tripath PCBs that could deliver more power but DIY amplification is above my pay grade as it were.

Anyway, I'm enjoying music through the wee Amptastic as it is so that's good enough for the time being.

Suffice to say I've been converted :)
 
I’ve had a few Tripath amps with the most recent being the Amptastic. I don’t know why I took so long to get round to buying one because I’ve pondered over one for a few years, better late than never I suppose. Anyway my first experience with a Tripath amp was the Bel Canto EVO2i Gen II. It was a great sounding amplifier that was powerful and clean but a bit lean. It drove my Sonus Faber Guarneri’s very nicely. If I remember correctly I only replaced it because it didn’t have a phono stage.

https://6moons.com/audioreviews/2ifollowup/followup.html
https://positive-feedback.com/Issue17/belcanto.htm

My two other Tripath amps are just for playing with, they are not the quality of the Amptastic but can be fun nonetheless. They are a Lepai LP-2020a+ and a Topping TP-21. Now I have the Amptastic I may pass them on and spread the fun.
 
I enjoyed my time with the Mini-1, and prior to that, a little trends Audio amp that was probably sweeter, but with less power.

I’ve always been interested in Lehmans Tripath offering. Called the Stamp iirc, and supposed to be a pretty high level integration of the technology apparently.
 
lordmortlock said:
I enjoyed my time with the Mini-1, and prior to that, a little trends Audio amp that was probably sweeter, but with less power.

I’ve always been interested in Lehmans Tripath offering. Called the Stamp iirc, and supposed to be a pretty high level integration of the technology apparently.
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I had the Stamp for quite a while, it's a stunning amp. Still only the same power as the Mini-1 though as it uses the same chip.

RE: Tripath and more power- you can get them but they wont sound like the TA2020 in the Mini-1 and all the other variants.
 
matt j said:
RE: Tripath and more power- you can get them but they wont sound like the TA2020 in the Mini-1 and all the other variants.
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I beg to differ, the TA2050 in the Bel Canto was very good and it put out 120w into 8ohms and 200w into 4ohms.
 
Tripath folded many years ago and would be surprised it there are now any genuine chips left even if an amp purports to be Tripath chip based. I had a 2024 (still have) and a 2020 based one. Nice sounding amps but they were easily killed if the speaker leads touched each other.
 
You can still get the Topping TP60 on the second-hand market - 80W (-ish) / channel; linear PSU; 2 inputs; battleship build.
 
GRC said:
You can still get the Topping TP60 on the second-hand market - 80W (-ish) / channel; linear PSU; 2 inputs; battleship build.
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The TP60 is fantastic when it works properly. That said I have had issues with it making static noise and cutting out. The little TP21 on the other hand has been flawless.
 
No longer have mine but I don't recollect it ever giving me a problem . . . I also had the little TP20 Mk2 which was fun!
 
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