Tripath TA2020 chip and diy class T-amplifier kit(AMP6)

It has been a long while since I added one of my own projects to the diyAudioProjects.com website. I had actually finished this project back in the summer, but never got around to pulling together a web page for it until now. Over the past few years I have read a lot of good things about Class-T Amplifiers (T-Amps). For those who are unfamiliar with T-Amps, the chip manufacturer (Tripath) describes the Class-T amplifier chip as one that can offer both the audio fidelity of Class-AB and the efficiency of Class-D.


I decided to try a kit from 41hz.com as they are priced very well and I have read several good reviews of their T-Amp kits. I opted for the AMP6 kit which uses the popular Tripath TA2020 chip. The kit was only $39 and fairly simple to put together.

For the enclosure, I used a prefabricated aluminum chassis. The results are a little industrial looking, but heck, I am interested in the sound quality, not the enclosure.


A lot of people describe T-Amps as having a "warm tube like sound". I didn't think so. I did not like the sound when mated with high efficiency fullrange speakers. However, with more traditional speakers (2 and 3 way) I was very pleased with the performance of the little AMP6 (about 12W into 4 ohms and only 7W into 8 ohms). It provided accurate tight bass and detailed mids and high. While I prefer the sound from my DIY LM3886 Chipamp (gainclone) Kit, the AMP6 is a solid preforming small amplifier with an excellent price to performance ratio.