Full disclosure: I purchased this amp, it was not provided by the manufacturer. All of the opinions in this video are my own and the content wasn't reviewed by anyone prior to posting. Affiliate link is placed below for your convenience. I receive a portion of the sales from these links, which help me bring you more unbiased content for this channel. TDA7498E 160+160 watts - goo.gl/dw9LbO
Thanks, but you're getting at least 1% THD at these settings correct? I'm thinking 40~50 watts @ 4ohm @ 0.01 THD Clean Rating? So I can figure out which speakers to buy. My PA system is 6200 watts, but I never use all of that because I want it as clean as possible and the same idea with my guitar amps. I using 2 full stacks running at 220 watts @ 2ohm 2 heads and 2 top and bottom speaker cabs a total of 16 12 inch, 440 watts @ 2ohm stereo to get the cleanest sound (Headroom) I'll use at the most 180~200 watts and normally a total of 100 watts when I play clean and picking from that 440 watt People tell me it's overkill but when I hear them play clean, it's still distorted because they're pushing their 100 watt head or amp to 80% I only push mine at 20~40% and the amp heads last longer. All about the headroom. I played some really big venues Larkfest was 80,000 people so I do need the power regardless
MrBrymstond Pretty sure these tests were done @ 1% THD. Just to give you an idea. And it all depends on your definition of clean. Some claim you can hear 1%. Other people say anything under 3% is fine. This is very limited in it's uses really. He says it doesn't have good bass. So probably terrible dynamics. Low damping factor. Zero soundstage most likely. I wouldn't expect great vocals. Maybe good for computer speakers alongside a powered sub? Plenty of clean power for that I'm sure.
Hey Big D, i appreciate you taking the time (and coin) to run these tests. I've got some bluetooth speakers I want to build as Xmas gifts this year, and several of the boards I'm considering are on your Chinese Invasion 2 list. I know the D'Amore/SMD AD-1 dyno ain't cheap, and it's great to see a regular audio guy that's out there testing anything and everything with it!
Ordered 2 of these, use a 4channel dsp use 2 6.5 a 3inch scans peak dome and a 1inch Dayton dome. A 600watt power supply. Im going to build a active center speaker
I wonder if the lack of bass response was do to the boost converter. I don't have any proof and I really don't understand how the converter works but I know that big beefy power supplies with large caps are used on home audio amps for just that reason (Better bass response) Buying one of these today to play with. Thanks Big Deeeeeeee!
You might wanna check the output terminal labels. Mine were marked incorrectly. I checked using an oscilloscope. + and - speaker output is reversed on both channels.
I've just blown this up this morning, brand new, i only got it delivered yesterday, now it's on its way back to Amazon. Tested it this morning just to see if there was any sound coming out, i tested it on my subwoofer by replacing the TPA3116D2 mono module i usually run on, it appeared to push my woofer less than the 3116. Therefore, knowing that i bought it to use it bridged for the subwoofer only, i've bridged those J1-J2-J3-J4 and thank god i've i've been cautios and i didn't hook it up to the woofer or the computer. It lasted 1 second long after being powered on, made a big POP, smoke, so i promptly shut off the 24v power supply. Curious to see what happened, i've removed the heatsink and i've found a SMD 202 resistor being slightly bulged. Although the bridges were soldered up accordingly to the scheme on the board, and me having hooked up just the left channel (BLT) from the NE5532 pre-amp, i've removed the bridges and decided to give it another go, no matter the result : an ever bigger POP, and 3 legs chopped off the TDA chip. This has to be the crappiest board i've ever got my hands on, they didn't even bother shoving in a manual telling you how to operate it, i just had to take my guess and look at how other people did it (that didn't go to well i suppose lmao).
Hi BigDWiz Thx a lot 4 testing "China-Boards" it's very interesting, to see what you get for almost nothing. I have done a lot of testing myself and i suggest you put at least 2x22000uF 50V capacitors in parallel, very close to the amp power terminals (max 4 inch thick cable between capacitor and terminal). Then you will get some different data! These boards are very sensitive to supply's ability to handle PEAK-currents. ALSO the wire you use in your test from booster to amp, is way too thin! 320W total RMS@36V = 9A RMS! So current at the top of sinewave = 18A (4ohm load), So if the amp is 90% efficient at best, you must calculate with a minimum of 20A@36V running 4 ohms. So try to put on some 8 AWG (10mm2) wire and test again, then you will be surprised!! If you put a scope on the amp's power terminals, when running the test, you will see what i mean... Best regards Jesper from Denmark..
Are the caps to provide extra current for power peaks? Is that what the two rows of large caps on the board are for? And so would upgrading them be any good?
@@andreaselme4127 yes, pwm (digital) amps draw serious current peaks, thats why you always see rows of capacitors, and the bigger, the better. It needs to be very low ESR-caps, thats why there usually is several medium sized in parallel, the ripple current peaks in 300KHz to 1MHz, so low internal resistance in hf region is important.
Hey Jesper, may I pick your brain for a second about the voltage booster, as you seem to know what you're talking about....I'm using a couple of car amps for home use and running them from PSU's. I'm guessing the PSU is under-powering them at 12v, would using the booster to make it up to 14v (if I can) make any noticeable difference to the amps output?
@@incorporeal3793 probably not tbh, the power supply can only output so much power on the 12v rail, so even boosting it to 14v wont help alot because the main power is stil coming form the power supply. Getting a larger wattage power supply would help id bet
Jesper, good info, thanks. The boost converter is only rated to 20A, it's possible that might be hitting the limit too. Have you ever run your TDA boards at their maximum rated voltage? I'm reading the spec sheet and it specifies 45V as max DC input voltage. It seems you could reasonably get an extra ~10% by bumping it up to 40V. Incorp, you can do that but you're still limited to the current output of the power supply into the DC/DC boost. You can put multiple PSU's in parallel or a really big one to get a lot of 12V current and feed a big boost board.
hey im trying to do a project thats something along those lines, could you share a diagram or something so i get everything right before i pull the trigger?
One of these , that voltage booster , a Bluetooth module, and an old PC power supply seems like it would make a good amp that you could use in a garage, or a small cabin without a big investment to to a built-in system.
Any chance you could do a BTL mono test? really curious about 4 ohm and 8 ohm load with BTL config because the 7498E datasheet only shows the rating on 3 ohm load in BTL mode
The output wattage comes from the theory also.Power=Volt^2 / Ohm,36v ^ 2 / 8=162 watt.Very good but it is not made for a lifetime,nor operation in full power and it is good as long as it lasts.
Thanks Bigdwiz for all the work you put into these videos. I know you stated the bass output was weak, but I'm wandering how much this could be helped by equalization. When you do these tests, could you also measure the output at bass frequencies? This would give us all a better idea of what it's capable of with some equalization.
+vettonator I show both 1kHz and 40Hz results near the end of the video. They are pretty close. The bass was ok, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting it to be stronger with the output power measured. It may be a limitation of the chip itself. The TI based chips do a better job (TPA3116/3118) sound much more deep and dynamic to my ears
BigDWiz oh my bad I guess I should pay closer attention before saying something. You've got me seriously thinking about building some kind of badass little Bluetooth speaker with one of these amps.
Even though it didn't hit rated. For less than 20 bucks that was still pretty impressive. I'm sure that what you trade is longevity but its a step in the right direction for the red team.
Would you mind sharing the reason you do listening tests through those extremely cheap speakers? How will you ever know when you find a really good deal in a amp?
Crappy amp will sound lifeless, distorted on great spkrs comparing to great amp which is transparent, has good resolution, dynamics and very low subjective distortions (not THD). Often spkrs own colorations and distortions will hide amp problems.
Thanks for doing these videos I have been looking at a couple myself thinking of doing a mini Bluetooth boom box with them. I was unsure of there actual performance ,now to buy a couple and we will see how they stand up long term. Keep up the good work!
BigDWiz yea I would have to play around in sketchup, figure out what I could do for a sub channel maby a 6x9 I know RF makes a nice 2way that might fit the bill. I'm thinking this would out preform 80% of the Bluetooth speakers on the market right now although it's gonna be 10x larger... big size comes big sound I guess
Considering putting one of these in the attic above my back patio, audio input coming from an airport express, and ceiling speakers mounted in-ceiling under back porch. Would heat in the attic be an issue? Just want it out of sight and always on. Decent enough to pump tunes through a couple Definitive Technology di 6.5str speakers? They are dual voice oil 8-ohm, so would like to wire each one parallel to achieve the 4-ohm numbers.
I am totally surprised that I have never seen a step up power supply to boost the incoming voltage to an amp. How long has this been out and is this something that is used in competition? Makes me wonder how much power I left on the table the last 30 years. Lol
I've been playing with one of these amps for a few days and indeed it has some roller coaster of a crossover band. It's relatively flat from 200 Hz to around 23 kHz, there's a huge spike around 26 kHz, then drops off to zero gain at about 28 kHz. On the low end, gain drops slowly from about 200 Hz until it goes down to 100 Hz then falls like a brick. Perhaps this amp was made for dogs?
Sir, I bought the same amplifier with the black squares instead of those orange caps... What will be the difference? Also, please I need your advice where to set the voltage of my Buck Converter, at 30 volts? This is the amp that I am building for my stereo electric guitar effects (stereo reverb, delay) : Amplifier: TDA7498E 2*160W 12-32V Power Supply: 36V 10A Switching Buck Converter: 300W 20A 6-40V 2x JBL CS763, 45W RMS, 135W Peak
If you were to use a 9S LiPo battery to power this it would be 37.8v max with a full charge. Do you think this little amp could handle that without letting out the Magic Smoke?
This amp module is designed for MAINS power. You cannot (practically) run a powerful amp off batteries, unless you have a short attention span. Consider a midrange 18650 cell; with 3000mAh capacity. Amp running at under 1/4 rated power x 2 channels = (say) 72W at 36V. That's 2 amps... so your battery lasts 90 minutes max, then will need 3 hours charging (at 1C)
yes but you dont constantly use 72 watts... with a 91db sensitive speaker you will use a few watts at most in normal situations (not party mode no) and music is not a sine wave so that 72 watts is absolute peak., most these boards work on 12v to 36v anyhow.
John Coops I would probably use much higher capacity LiPO batteries like what people use for RC cars. The battery bank would be much more expensive than the amplifier itself but how many 300 watt Bluetooth speakers have you seen? I'm sure the finished product could be well worth the build cost.
I accidentally raised the voltage up to 41v using the booster (before noticing the 30v meter was maxed at 33v...big dummy), so it can handle voltages around 40, just not sure how long :-O
Can you re-review using the 8ohm Speaker, because I've read that in the description of this tool it is recommended to use the 8ohm 32V-8A speaker I'm curious about the final result ??!! Thanks'
hello! I tried to do short with "J1" and "J2" but I didn't short "J3" and "J4" because there was not lines there. The integrated has exploded. Did it happen because I didn't connect J3 J4?
These work really well for efficient Biamp line array pa speakers. Double 8 inch 8 ohm woofers down to 4 ohms on 1 channel for mids and a compression driver on the other channel for highs. Use a external crossover and bam they DRIVE plenty enough for concerts. There is a small 36 volt 5 amp Ac to dc power supply you can get on ebay for 10 dollars and I add a couple 10000 uf capacitors on the output of the power supply for a dynamic buffer. Cost about 40 dollars per cabinet to power excluding the xlr connectors and ac power switch. Reply if you want more details
A very interesting test. I'm planning to use these amps to power active speakers for guitar use. The data sheet states the highest recommended power supply voltage as 39V (absolute max. 45V). As you have the test equipment, it would be really useful if you could test the amp up to 39V, to see how it holds up. I notice that the power supply smoothing capacitors on the amp board are rated at 50v, so there should be little risk of damaging the board. How about it? Thanks for a very useful and informative video! Doug
I accidentally ran this one over 40V (41V) before I noticed my 2nd volt meter maxed out at 33. I didn't see any smoke and it continued to work afterwards. If I get a chance, I'll try it at 39V
Thanks - would be very interesting indeed, as output power increases exponentially as voltage increases - I'm planning to run into 8ohm speakers, so I'm not looking to overload the amp or the power supply; just get the best power I can into 8 ohms. By my calculations, extrapolating from your results, I'm expecting you'll get 85W into 8ohms at 1% distortion with a 40V supply.
I think it is a matter of safety margin for the capacitors and maybe other components. 39V is a bit too close to 50V, especially for these knockoffs. While you may not destroy the board, you will probably shorten its lifespan.
You make a very valid point. However my amps have now arrived (I have 5 of them!!) and I've been running them in various guitar-related applications for a couple of weeks now. They're all running on 40v (modified cheap chinese "LED" power supplies). I've tested the main smoothing capacitors (rated at 50v, 105 degrees) and I think they can be relied upon (no worse than any other "brand" capacitor made in China". I've run them up to 150v RMS per side (sine wave, into 8ohm dummy load (both sides simultaneously) and 4ohm dummy load (one side only) - 5% distortion. They run continuously (2-3 hours) at this level, although they do get a bit hot - if the heat sink fan ever failed, there'd be an issue at this continuous power. So, I think that for "low-fi" applications like instrument amplifiers, PA monitors, etc. they seem absolutely ideal!! My biggest concern is the cheap power supplies failing ;-)
Oops! Typo in the above - I mean I've run them up to 150W RMS - sorry for the confusion. While I'm on the subject of power output, my results were: 40v 4ohm one channel - 142W at 1% (continuous), 168W at 5% (momentarily - didn't run it too long at that power level as it was getting hot!). 40v 8ohm one channel - 104W at 5%, 88W at 1%. 40v 8ohm both channels driven - 85W at 1%, 101W at 5% (continuous)
+James Drissel the cap is just missing some of the outer skin, no problem there. The bass output was less controlled than I like. Weak is probably a bad description. It's hard to explain unless you hear it in person.
Could build a strong set of powered near field monitors with this If you could just find one with dsp you could do some interesting stuff with active monitors and be less concerned about driver matching
Hey Big DWiz! Great reviews. I've been learning a lot from your videos. My question is (and maybe I searched wrong) have you done the Earthquake Mini D1000 series? I'm curious if these can power something like a Sundown SA-8 D4.
HEY BIGD! question...can you do an indepth video of setting up the blue voltage current meter you have there? i bought the same one with an 100A shunt...and i want to use it in my car audio system but not exactly sure how to hook it up to measure total current draw...thnx for all the great content...greetings from the netherlands!
The unit I bought has inputs and outputs, clearly marked. It is only designed for 20A max, so no external shunt. Try this diagram, it should work for your setup - goo.gl/XtPZKe
I recently purchased and upgraded with Bluetooth and per your video you were showing to use those terminals for bridging and wish little description It was saying to short those up-4 out for the Bluetooth I’m a little confused do you have any insight to this?.Dave
Hope you are doing well! I have two passive bookshelf speakers and each tower consists of Woofer 6.5 Inch 4Ω (60W RMS)+Mid-Range 4.0 Inch 8Ω(40W RMS)+Tweeter 1.5 Inch 4Ω (20W RMS) that is 120W RMS+ 120W RMS Three way system with crossover. Can I use my two passive bookshelf speakers with this amplifier boards as 2.0 with ease or not. If yes could you please advise me on the appropriate volt of the transformer and the ampere?
I don;t understand the bridge function. What do i physically need to do to bridge the pins J1,J2,J3, J4? Do i solder a wire from J1 to J2 and from J3 to J4?
If you would of bridged it on the back you would be able to do the 2ohm test on it. that really what it really for. its a single channels amp so it doesn't bridge channels. it just allows you to run it at lower ohms. If any one wondering what it's really for. 🧐✌️
I would love to see this amp bridged. This could make a great power amp for guitar, bass modelling preamps like a Line6 POD. With a power supply it would probably weigh five pounds. Would this amp have the power to drive a 12" guitar or bass speaker?
Hi BigDWiz, love your video, just subscribed. :-) I wonder how much can this amp output for an 8 ohm load for THD under 0.1%, since I'm wondering if it'll work adequately for a speaker with 40W RMS and 70W Peak rating . Thanks!
Bought this amp and literally smoked it when I shorted the speaker leads for only a moment. So, be careful it has zero short circuit protection. Other than that it sounds pretty good on my Polk Atrium 8 speakers. Bought a second one so each amp can drive one speaker. Will drive both of them with a 36v 15A power supply I bought.
@@1pcfred Yea. A lot of the chips are actually counterfeit TDA7498 not even counterfeit TDA7498E. Looks like he got something closer to a TDA7498E on his.
Very cool, I'm a car guy. Never knew the was such a thing as a amp dyno. I'm also a vintage guitar tube amp guy. If you bridged it to mono, and used a 36v transformer... is this viable, say for a pair of 4" 30 watt Eminence guitar amp speakers? Thanks!
The Amp Dyno has been around for 6-7 years. These mini chip amps are amazingly powerful and cheap enough to try and see if it’s suitable for your application
only if you had an AC to DC power converter capable of delivering enough current to power this amp. I could not find one, so this is why I used the batteries and voltage booster
I have the 1800w 40amp version of that boost converter my plan was to use it to charge a 45ah lithium battery in my car that needs 16.8v to be fully charged and I did not want to have to delete my friend battery due to the chemistry is being different so this would act as an isolator as well. Do you think it would work?
Awesome video!!! I use to buy this chinese amps for small projects!! haha also didnt you check if the voltage went down? the 36 volts? i would like you to make the same with the KNACRO 500W Mono amplifier!! is an insteresting board but will this get close to 500w? they sell it in amazon for 26 bucks!!!
I own the 7498 and 7498E, I am satisfied by the output they give, but I always want more so I went and found the TAS5630 chipset which will be my next build.....specs say it gives 2x300w @10%thd and something like 2x250w@ 4ohm 1% thd....If you could do a test on that chip it would be awesome....I wish i had an amp dyno like yours...
I have watched a number of your chinese mini amp videos but Im not making the connection to WHERE TO USE THESE? Can someone please explain what to do with them.
Totally my fault for not explaining. These are mainly used in DIY applications such as portable stereos, custom powered speakers, arcade systems, and more. Basically anywhere you have the need for a small amp and 24-36 volts to power it.
Howdy, I'm building a box with a 120W 8ohm 6inch sub and 2 35w 8ohm midrange speakers. Would this amp be suitable or off hand could you recommend an alternative? I do plan to use a bluetooth module as well (or an amp that has one integrated). I plan to build a semi portable bluetooth speaker. TIA.
I just bought this without looking at reviews. I'm backwards I guess, I just bought a voltage increase board to pump 33 v. Because I'm putting this in an old car radio, but what speakerscare going to match the best? 6x9 4 ohm? Or 8 ohm? And what for the front speakers, I was just going to split the signals to all 4 speakers
Honestly, the sound quality isn't going to be the problem with either. They will be sub par to a/d/s regardless, but particularly suffer in terms of build quality and accuracy of filtering (low/hi-filter, channel separation/ground loop noise ) not to mention being 25-40% of the advertised rms wattage. But if you have a stereo deck that has crossover crntrol (low/hi/subsonic filtering at least) I would run the amp at full frequency with no filters or bass boosts on. Use the stereo deck for dsp/filtering and set the gain on the amp correctly. Shouldn't be an issue
Full disclosure: I purchased this amp, it was not provided by the manufacturer. All of the opinions in this video are my own and the content wasn't reviewed by anyone prior to posting. Affiliate link is placed below for your convenience. I receive a portion of the sales from these links, which help me bring you more unbiased content for this channel.
TDA7498E 160+160 watts - goo.gl/dw9LbO
These things are crazy for the price, but what is the amount of watts for it to be totally clean?
Thanks, but you're getting at least 1% THD at these settings correct? I'm thinking 40~50 watts @ 4ohm @ 0.01 THD Clean Rating? So I can figure out which speakers to buy. My PA system is 6200 watts, but I never use all of that because I want it as clean as possible and the same idea with my guitar amps. I using 2 full stacks running at 220 watts @ 2ohm 2 heads and 2 top and bottom speaker cabs a total of 16 12 inch, 440 watts @ 2ohm stereo to get the cleanest sound (Headroom) I'll use at the most 180~200 watts and normally a total of 100 watts when I play clean and picking from that 440 watt People tell me it's overkill but when I hear them play clean, it's still distorted because they're pushing their 100 watt head or amp to 80% I only push mine at 20~40% and the amp heads last longer. All about the headroom. I played some really big venues Larkfest was 80,000 people so I do need the power regardless
MrBrymstond Pretty sure these tests were done @ 1% THD. Just to give you an idea. And it all depends on your definition of clean. Some claim you can hear 1%. Other people say anything under 3% is fine. This is very limited in it's uses really. He says it doesn't have good bass. So probably terrible dynamics. Low damping factor. Zero soundstage most likely. I wouldn't expect great vocals. Maybe good for computer speakers alongside a powered sub? Plenty of clean power for that I'm sure.
MrBrymstond I wrote my last comment earlier, but just posted it.
Actually if you pause the video and look at the specs it says 0.05% THD @ 1 watt.
MrBrymstond And I totally agree about headroom. Plus the dynamics are WAY better with more power. Your speakers really come alive with more power.
So, my employer pulled me to the side and asked me to stop saying “ you big dummy” when they make a mistake at work. 🤣🤣🤣. Thanks Big D
Hey Big D, i appreciate you taking the time (and coin) to run these tests. I've got some bluetooth speakers I want to build as Xmas gifts this year, and several of the boards I'm considering are on your Chinese Invasion 2 list. I know the D'Amore/SMD AD-1 dyno ain't cheap, and it's great to see a regular audio guy that's out there testing anything and everything with it!
This is the kind of review/testing I like. With technical details!
Oh snap! You've got that new Nike meter setup.
hifivega That's the Air Jordan edition too. TOTL! If you have to ask. You can't afford it.
Thanks, nice to see someone doing proper tests; that's exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate it very much!
The lack of blue tooth or audio controls isn't a negative unless the application requires it.
How about a review of some Mods/upgrades for these amps ??
This is what I used to make my bluetooth speaker and it turned out not a bad little 4x speaker. Defo loud enough for me. Glad I done it
do you have a hole list of these small amps. I like to find a good one for blue tooth for my next speaker build.
A couple of these and a minidsp. I imagine a decent low buck mid-fi living room system...
+J& K not bad
Ordered 2 of these, use a 4channel dsp use 2 6.5 a 3inch scans peak dome and a 1inch Dayton dome. A 600watt power supply. Im going to build a active center speaker
I wonder if the lack of bass response was do to the boost converter. I don't have any proof and I really don't understand how the converter works but I know that big beefy power supplies with large caps are used on home audio amps for just that reason (Better bass response) Buying one of these today to play with. Thanks Big Deeeeeeee!
That's a good amp for a component system for sure! It must sound good with crossovers!
It'd be interesting to see higher freq. results than 1khz because that's where Class D amps tend to fail - distortion-wise.
Man, love these videos, thank you. Would have loved to see what this amp can do in BTL though. Looking forward to your video on that DC/DC boost...
You might wanna check the output terminal labels. Mine were marked incorrectly. I checked using an oscilloscope. + and - speaker output is reversed on both channels.
World's greatest channel, period.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@wal Can I contact you for a few questions please?
What kind of bass and treble can you expect from this amp?
Could you do a dyno test of one of the tas5630 2.1 channel amps? I'd love to see if they'll really do 150x2 AND 300x1 in that tiny package!
+Anthony Cook I have like 10 of the mini amps I haven't tested yet. The one you mention sounds very intriguing
I'm having the hardest time finding an amp that I can run both channels into one speaker. It sounds like you said that can be done with this amp?
Yep, this amp will run in BTL mode with both channels wired in parallel to give 220W.
Should have done a run with the input sensitivity set to max. Lot of these low cost amps have quirky settings.
That is fo sho
Thanks for posting. Hopefully you did not take my comment in harsh way.
Not at all. I appreciate all feedback, including constructive criticism
I've just blown this up this morning, brand new, i only got it delivered yesterday, now it's on its way back to Amazon.
Tested it this morning just to see if there was any sound coming out, i tested it on my subwoofer by replacing the TPA3116D2 mono module i usually run on, it appeared to push my woofer less than the 3116.
Therefore, knowing that i bought it to use it bridged for the subwoofer only, i've bridged those J1-J2-J3-J4 and thank god i've i've been cautios and i didn't hook it up to the woofer or the computer.
It lasted 1 second long after being powered on, made a big POP, smoke, so i promptly shut off the 24v power supply.
Curious to see what happened, i've removed the heatsink and i've found a SMD 202 resistor being slightly bulged.
Although the bridges were soldered up accordingly to the scheme on the board, and me having hooked up just the left channel (BLT) from the NE5532 pre-amp, i've removed the bridges and decided to give it another go, no matter the result : an ever bigger POP, and 3 legs chopped off the TDA chip.
This has to be the crappiest board i've ever got my hands on, they didn't even bother shoving in a manual telling you how to operate it, i just had to take my guess and look at how other people did it (that didn't go to well i suppose lmao).
Hi BigDWiz
Thx a lot 4 testing "China-Boards" it's very interesting, to see what you get for almost nothing. I have done a lot of testing myself and i suggest you put at least 2x22000uF 50V capacitors in parallel, very close to the amp power terminals (max 4 inch thick cable between capacitor and terminal). Then you will get some different data! These boards are very sensitive to supply's ability to handle PEAK-currents. ALSO the wire you use in your test from booster to amp, is way too thin! 320W total RMS@36V = 9A RMS! So current at the top of sinewave = 18A (4ohm load), So if the amp is 90% efficient at best, you must calculate with a minimum of 20A@36V running 4 ohms. So try to put on some 8 AWG (10mm2) wire and test again, then you will be surprised!!
If you put a scope on the amp's power terminals, when running the test, you will see what i mean...
Best regards Jesper from Denmark..
Are the caps to provide extra current for power peaks? Is that what the two rows of large caps on the board are for? And so would upgrading them be any good?
@@andreaselme4127 yes, pwm (digital) amps draw serious current peaks, thats why you always see rows of capacitors, and the bigger, the better. It needs to be very low ESR-caps, thats why there usually is several medium sized in parallel, the ripple current peaks in 300KHz to 1MHz, so low internal resistance in hf region is important.
Hey Jesper, may I pick your brain for a second about the voltage booster, as you seem to know what you're talking about....I'm using a couple of car amps for home use and running them from PSU's. I'm guessing the PSU is under-powering them at 12v, would using the booster to make it up to 14v (if I can) make any noticeable difference to the amps output?
@@incorporeal3793 probably not tbh, the power supply can only output so much power on the 12v rail, so even boosting it to 14v wont help alot because the main power is stil coming form the power supply. Getting a larger wattage power supply would help id bet
Jesper, good info, thanks. The boost converter is only rated to 20A, it's possible that might be hitting the limit too.
Have you ever run your TDA boards at their maximum rated voltage? I'm reading the spec sheet and it specifies 45V as max DC input voltage. It seems you could reasonably get an extra ~10% by bumping it up to 40V.
Incorp, you can do that but you're still limited to the current output of the power supply into the DC/DC boost. You can put multiple PSU's in parallel or a really big one to get a lot of 12V current and feed a big boost board.
I love ST chips. I've built a few amplifiers with them. You can make a nice little amplifier using only a few components and a single ST IC.
please revisit these mini amps for their power and efficiency. Id like to build a boombox soon and would come in handy.
Interesting! I usually listen to music at lower volumes. What's it like at the lower end of the volume knob?
I use 3 of them on a 24V LED Power Source for my surround speakers. Awesome!
hey im trying to do a project thats something along those lines, could you share a diagram or something so i get everything right before i pull the trigger?
One of these , that voltage booster , a Bluetooth module, and an old PC power supply seems like it would make a good amp that you could use in a garage, or a small cabin without a big investment to to a built-in system.
Any chance you could do a BTL mono test? really curious about 4 ohm and 8 ohm load with BTL config because the 7498E datasheet only shows the rating on 3 ohm load in BTL mode
Quite late to ask, I know, but did you run any noise level tests on the fan?
Whoa! Early notification! Awesome!
BigDWiz, keep up the good work. I'm learning a lot.
+Der Pinguin 👍
The output wattage comes from the theory also.Power=Volt^2 / Ohm,36v ^ 2 / 8=162 watt.Very good but it is not made for a lifetime,nor operation in full power and it is good as long as it lasts.
Thanks Bigdwiz for all the work you put into these videos. I know you stated the bass output was weak, but I'm wandering how much this could be helped by equalization. When you do these tests, could you also measure the output at bass frequencies? This would give us all a better idea of what it's capable of with some equalization.
+vettonator I show both 1kHz and 40Hz results near the end of the video. They are pretty close. The bass was ok, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting it to be stronger with the output power measured. It may be a limitation of the chip itself. The TI based chips do a better job (TPA3116/3118) sound much more deep and dynamic to my ears
BigDWiz oh my bad I guess I should pay closer attention before saying something. You've got me seriously thinking about building some kind of badass little Bluetooth speaker with one of these amps.
You are THE MAN, man! Keep up the good work
Even though it didn't hit rated. For less than 20 bucks that was still pretty impressive. I'm sure that what you trade is longevity but its a step in the right direction for the red team.
Fo sho, not a bad deal
Would you mind sharing the reason you do listening tests through those extremely cheap speakers? How will you ever know when you find a really good deal in a amp?
Porkchop's Papi because of a amp sounds good on cheap speakers , it will sound great on good speakers
Crappy amp will sound lifeless, distorted on great spkrs comparing to great amp which is transparent, has good resolution, dynamics and very low subjective distortions (not THD). Often spkrs own colorations and distortions will hide amp problems.
Thanks for doing these videos I have been looking at a couple myself thinking of doing a mini Bluetooth boom box with them. I was unsure of there actual performance ,now to buy a couple and we will see how they stand up long term.
Keep up the good work!
+CorysCustomInstalls this one is the most powerful I've tested thus far, but not my favorite. I think the TPA3116/3118 models sound better
BigDWiz yea I would have to play around in sketchup, figure out what I could do for a sub channel maby a 6x9 I know RF makes a nice 2way that might fit the bill. I'm thinking this would out preform 80% of the Bluetooth speakers on the market right now although it's gonna be 10x larger... big size comes big sound I guess
Agreed, thanks. Can you suggest one w/bluetooth?
May you tell me? How much max current draw at max volume on 4-ohm load at 36v dc?
Current = Volts / Ohms = 9 Amps But that's probably not the answer you're looking for.
As I recall, it isn't recommended to run this amp powered at 36V continuously (if you want it to last any amount of time)
hey there, nice review.
Would you recommend running this on a 2 ohm load? I got the 7498 and it runs pretty hot at 4 ohms itself
It might do, the 7498E is far more energy efficient than the 7498, it also handles lower ohms better. Don't know about 2 ohms though.
I bought a 7498e ic board .35volt gave 2amp power .The sound went off and the ic is not hot after 5 minutes
Considering putting one of these in the attic above my back patio, audio input coming from an airport express, and ceiling speakers mounted in-ceiling under back porch. Would heat in the attic be an issue? Just want it out of sight and always on. Decent enough to pump tunes through a couple Definitive Technology di 6.5str speakers? They are dual voice oil 8-ohm, so would like to wire each one parallel to achieve the 4-ohm numbers.
I am totally surprised that I have never seen a step up power supply to boost the incoming voltage to an amp. How long has this been out and is this something that is used in competition? Makes me wonder how much power I left on the table the last 30 years. Lol
I've been playing with one of these amps for a few days and indeed it has some roller coaster of a crossover band. It's relatively flat from 200 Hz to around 23 kHz, there's a huge spike around 26 kHz, then drops off to zero gain at about 28 kHz. On the low end, gain drops slowly from about 200 Hz until it goes down to 100 Hz then falls like a brick. Perhaps this amp was made for dogs?
Cheezy Dee this, my sir, is some valuable information you've got there!
What do you mean it falls after 100hz? test showed almost same power at 1khz as with 40hz, you sure you didnt get board with lpf?
Sir, I bought the same amplifier with the black squares instead of those orange caps... What will be the difference?
Also, please I need your advice where to set the voltage of my Buck Converter, at 30 volts? This is the amp that I am building for my stereo electric guitar effects (stereo reverb, delay) :
Amplifier: TDA7498E 2*160W 12-32V
Power Supply: 36V 10A Switching
Buck Converter: 300W 20A 6-40V
2x JBL CS763, 45W RMS, 135W Peak
If you were to use a 9S LiPo battery to power this it would be 37.8v max with a full charge. Do you think this little amp could handle that without letting out the Magic Smoke?
vettonator i think the max voltage is 36.. check the store page
This amp module is designed for MAINS power. You cannot (practically) run a powerful amp off batteries, unless you have a short attention span. Consider a midrange 18650 cell; with 3000mAh capacity. Amp running at under 1/4 rated power x 2 channels = (say) 72W at 36V. That's 2 amps... so your battery lasts 90 minutes max, then will need 3 hours charging (at 1C)
yes but you dont constantly use 72 watts... with a 91db sensitive speaker you will use a few watts at most in normal situations (not party mode no) and music is not a sine wave so that 72 watts is absolute peak., most these boards work on 12v to 36v anyhow.
John Coops I would probably use much higher capacity LiPO batteries like what people use for RC cars. The battery bank would be much more expensive than the amplifier itself but how many 300 watt Bluetooth speakers have you seen? I'm sure the finished product could be well worth the build cost.
I accidentally raised the voltage up to 41v using the booster (before noticing the 30v meter was maxed at 33v...big dummy), so it can handle voltages around 40, just not sure how long :-O
Can you re-review using the 8ohm Speaker, because I've read that in the description of this tool it is recommended to use the 8ohm 32V-8A speaker I'm curious about the final result ??!! Thanks'
hello! I tried to do short with "J1" and "J2" but I didn't short "J3" and "J4" because there was not lines there. The integrated has exploded.
Did it happen because I didn't connect J3 J4?
Even though it is a very late reply. Yes, the instructions say to short J3 to J4 as well. That is why it exploded LOL. Feel bad man. I'm loving mine
These work really well for efficient Biamp line array pa speakers. Double 8 inch 8 ohm woofers down to 4 ohms on 1 channel for mids and a compression driver on the other channel for highs. Use a external crossover and bam they DRIVE plenty enough for concerts. There is a small 36 volt 5 amp Ac to dc power supply you can get on ebay for 10 dollars and I add a couple 10000 uf capacitors on the output of the power supply for a dynamic buffer. Cost about 40 dollars per cabinet to power excluding the xlr connectors and ac power switch. Reply if you want more details
Wuzhi audio build new tda7498e board , verry nice wondom Design.
What is your opinion on those Monoprice bookshelf speakers?
This be a great amp bridged
A very interesting test. I'm planning to use these amps to power active speakers for guitar use. The data sheet states the highest recommended power supply voltage as 39V (absolute max. 45V). As you have the test equipment, it would be really useful if you could test the amp up to 39V, to see how it holds up. I notice that the power supply smoothing capacitors on the amp board are rated at 50v, so there should be little risk of damaging the board. How about it?
Thanks for a very useful and informative video!
Doug
I accidentally ran this one over 40V (41V) before I noticed my 2nd volt meter maxed out at 33. I didn't see any smoke and it continued to work afterwards. If I get a chance, I'll try it at 39V
Thanks - would be very interesting indeed, as output power increases exponentially as voltage increases - I'm planning to run into 8ohm speakers, so I'm not looking to overload the amp or the power supply; just get the best power I can into 8 ohms. By my calculations, extrapolating from your results, I'm expecting you'll get 85W into 8ohms at 1% distortion with a 40V supply.
I think it is a matter of safety margin for the capacitors and maybe other components. 39V is a bit too close to 50V, especially for these knockoffs. While you may not destroy the board, you will probably shorten its lifespan.
You make a very valid point. However my amps have now arrived (I have 5 of them!!) and I've been running them in various guitar-related applications for a couple of weeks now. They're all running on 40v (modified cheap chinese "LED" power supplies). I've tested the main smoothing capacitors (rated at 50v, 105 degrees) and I think they can be relied upon (no worse than any other "brand" capacitor made in China". I've run them up to 150v RMS per side (sine wave, into 8ohm dummy load (both sides simultaneously) and 4ohm dummy load (one side only) - 5% distortion. They run continuously (2-3 hours) at this level, although they do get a bit hot - if the heat sink fan ever failed, there'd be an issue at this continuous power. So, I think that for "low-fi" applications like instrument amplifiers, PA monitors, etc. they seem absolutely ideal!! My biggest concern is the cheap power supplies failing ;-)
Oops! Typo in the above - I mean I've run them up to 150W RMS - sorry for the confusion. While I'm on the subject of power output, my results were: 40v 4ohm one channel - 142W at 1% (continuous), 168W at 5% (momentarily - didn't run it too long at that power level as it was getting hot!). 40v 8ohm one channel - 104W at 5%, 88W at 1%. 40v 8ohm both channels driven - 85W at 1%, 101W at 5% (continuous)
Have you done any investigation of why the bass was weak on what seems a right stout amp? That odd cap has me wondering...
+James Drissel the cap is just missing some of the outer skin, no problem there. The bass output was less controlled than I like. Weak is probably a bad description. It's hard to explain unless you hear it in person.
Could build a strong set of powered near field monitors with this
If you could just find one with dsp you could do some interesting stuff with active monitors and be less concerned about driver matching
Excellent vid and tests of amps!
Hey Big DWiz! Great reviews. I've been learning a lot from your videos. My question is (and maybe I searched wrong) have you done the Earthquake Mini D1000 series? I'm curious if these can power something like a Sundown SA-8 D4.
HEY BIGD! question...can you do an indepth video of setting up the blue voltage current meter you have there? i bought the same one with an 100A shunt...and i want to use it in my car audio system but not exactly sure how to hook it up to measure total current draw...thnx for all the great content...greetings from the netherlands!
The unit I bought has inputs and outputs, clearly marked. It is only designed for 20A max, so no external shunt. Try this diagram, it should work for your setup - goo.gl/XtPZKe
BigDWiz hey thnx for the answer i will be looking in to it....sorry to see the amp blow up in the next video...
Hi, thanks for your work. Is there a comparison between tpa2116D2 and tda7498E at maximum voltage possible ? Regards
I recently purchased and upgraded with Bluetooth and per your video you were showing to use those terminals for bridging and wish little description It was saying to short those up-4 out for the Bluetooth I’m a little confused do you have any insight to this?.Dave
digging the test tracks
Sir the wattage results will tell what speaker wattage to hook in that amps? Mmm a noob question...
Hope you are doing well! I have two passive bookshelf speakers and each tower consists of Woofer 6.5 Inch 4Ω (60W RMS)+Mid-Range 4.0 Inch 8Ω(40W RMS)+Tweeter 1.5 Inch 4Ω (20W RMS) that is 120W RMS+ 120W RMS Three way system with crossover. Can I use my two passive bookshelf speakers with this amplifier boards as 2.0 with ease or not. If yes could you please advise me on the appropriate volt of the transformer and the ampere?
Hi
I need a 120w rms for my small subwoofer 4homs.
I have a 150w step up 12v to 30v adjustable.
do you recommend any board?
Regards
Use 36v 10A smps power supply for full power.
I don;t understand the bridge function. What do i physically need to do to bridge the pins J1,J2,J3, J4? Do i solder a wire from J1 to J2 and from J3 to J4?
Thank you for this video. I'm asked, what's the true watt power.
Thanks.
If you would of bridged it on the back you would be able to do the 2ohm test on it. that really what it really for. its a single channels amp so it doesn't bridge channels. it just allows you to run it at lower ohms. If any one wondering what it's really for. 🧐✌️
Thanks Big D. Pretty sweet little amp
+Prokon's Tech Center thanks for watching and commenting 👌
0:47 thanks for permission.
I would love to see this amp bridged. This could make a great power amp for guitar, bass modelling preamps like a Line6 POD. With a power supply it would probably weigh five pounds. Would this amp have the power to drive a 12" guitar or bass speaker?
I want try this for my boss gt100 and metal zone pedal soon. My plan is connect this power amp to fender mustang 1 8 inch speaker.
Hi.
Can you test the Ground Zero GZRA 1.1650D monoblock or the DD Audio M1D?
do a quick bridged mode
This is really cool! I want a diy (solder yourself type kit), real audio grade quality mono block 150-200 @ 4ohm would be great!
Do you get pop sound at power on / off?
I was too distracted by the autographed shoe box to watch anything else 😂😂.
@BigDWiz You called this a knockoff, it's not a copy of anything more expensive that I know of. What are you referring to?
The caps and main chip may be fakes. I don't know for sure, but it seems probable the caps are fake just based on the cost of the board
Hi BigDWiz, love your video, just subscribed. :-)
I wonder how much can this amp output for an 8 ohm load for THD under 0.1%, since I'm wondering if it'll work adequately for a speaker with 40W RMS and 70W Peak rating . Thanks!
More than enough, if you max out that amp you would probably break that speaker. Depends on what voltage you are sending through it.
Bought this amp and literally smoked it when I shorted the speaker leads for only a moment. So, be careful it has zero short circuit protection. Other than that it sounds pretty good on my Polk Atrium 8 speakers. Bought a second one so each amp can drive one speaker. Will drive both of them with a 36v 15A power supply I bought.
What do you expect for the price? They build this cheap crap with counterfeit parts. That includes the IC.
@@1pcfred Yea. A lot of the chips are actually counterfeit TDA7498 not even counterfeit TDA7498E. Looks like he got something closer to a TDA7498E on his.
Have you used the amp Dyno on a Onkyo Integra m-504? I have four of these that I bought back in 1994 I'm just wondering how good they actually are
No, but yes Onkyo receivers are strong 💪
Very cool, I'm a car guy. Never knew the was such a thing as a amp dyno. I'm also a vintage guitar tube amp guy. If you bridged it to mono, and used a 36v transformer... is this viable, say for a pair of 4" 30 watt Eminence guitar amp speakers? Thanks!
The Amp Dyno has been around for 6-7 years. These mini chip amps are amazingly powerful and cheap enough to try and see if it’s suitable for your application
Could this be powered from a 110 outlet only? Making a stereo and doing my homework. Thanks! Shane.
only if you had an AC to DC power converter capable of delivering enough current to power this amp. I could not find one, so this is why I used the batteries and voltage booster
I have the 1800w 40amp version of that boost converter my plan was to use it to charge a 45ah lithium battery in my car that needs 16.8v to be fully charged and I did not want to have to delete my friend battery due to the chemistry is being different so this would act as an isolator as well. Do you think it would work?
Awesome video!!! I use to buy this chinese amps for small projects!! haha
also didnt you check if the voltage went down? the 36 volts?
i would like you to make the same with the KNACRO 500W Mono amplifier!! is an insteresting board but will this get close to 500w? they sell it in amazon for 26 bucks!!!
Is there a reason why I couldn't use this for a guitar amp setup with a tube preamp?
I own the 7498 and 7498E, I am satisfied by the output they give, but I always want more so I went and found the TAS5630 chipset which will be my next build.....specs say it gives 2x300w @10%thd and something like 2x250w@ 4ohm 1% thd....If you could do a test on that chip it would be awesome....I wish i had an amp dyno like yours...
Thanks for this video, how to connect the speaker in bridghe mode?
@ 2:05 he shows us where to bridge on the board .
I have watched a number of your chinese mini amp videos but Im not making the connection to WHERE TO USE THESE? Can someone please explain what to do with them.
Totally my fault for not explaining. These are mainly used in DIY applications such as portable stereos, custom powered speakers, arcade systems, and more. Basically anywhere you have the need for a small amp and 24-36 volts to power it.
What makes for good bass in these chips? I have a TAS5352A in my K.GUSS DP-A1, not sure if the bass is okay or good.
Hi @BigDWiz Can I use this amp for 2Ohm speakers? I have two 4Ohm speakers (1 woofer + 1 midrange/tweeter)
Unless the impedences of the woofer and midrange/tweeter are the same (which is very unlikely), you would want to put them in series getting 8 ohms.
4:47 68W its RMS? thanks
you ever do any linearity test or distortion?
I don’t have a proper THD analyzer (yet), but hope to get one in the future
What if you wanted to connect this to only one speaker?
Howdy, I'm building a box with a 120W 8ohm 6inch sub and 2 35w 8ohm midrange speakers. Would this amp be suitable or off hand could you recommend an alternative?
I do plan to use a bluetooth module as well (or an amp that has one integrated). I plan to build a semi portable bluetooth speaker. TIA.
I just bought this without looking at reviews. I'm backwards I guess, I just bought a voltage increase board to pump 33 v. Because I'm putting this in an old car radio, but what speakerscare going to match the best? 6x9 4 ohm? Or 8 ohm? And what for the front speakers, I was just going to split the signals to all 4 speakers
If using 4 then you’d want 8 ohm speakers to give a final load of 4 ohms per channel
Hello Sir is it okey to supply that amplifier with exactly 36 volts?
Awesome - love these reviews ! - kinda bummed it uses close to 4W on standby ...
How would you rate sound quality... 1 being a Pyle or boss amp, 10 being an a/d/s, 300/2, or early zapco?
Honestly, the sound quality isn't going to be the problem with either. They will be sub par to a/d/s regardless, but particularly suffer in terms of build quality and accuracy of filtering (low/hi-filter, channel separation/ground loop noise ) not to mention being 25-40% of the advertised rms wattage. But if you have a stereo deck that has crossover crntrol (low/hi/subsonic filtering at least) I would run the amp at full frequency with no filters or bass boosts on. Use the stereo deck for dsp/filtering and set the gain on the amp correctly. Shouldn't be an issue
Can I use a 36v 10 amp switching dc power supply to power this? You were only pumping 1 amp into this? Sounds like i might blow this thing up.
Your link is not working for the amp or boost
nice video.. can it be used in car..
i have focal speakers and was looking for some cheap amp..
I know that your comment is 6 years old but I use 2 of these in my car with the voltage booster in the video. Works well.
Yes, it's very powerful amp, but how is the sound quality, do you know? How could we make the sound quality is good? Thanks