Lepai LP-2020A+ Tripath Class T Mini Amplifier - TA2020 - Amp Bench Test
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- See the latest Lepai min amplifier, the LP-2020A+ up close and personal. I show off the connections, test the amp with music, then put the amp to the RMS power output test on the OldSchoolStereo.com test bench.
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I can't stress enough how great this little amp sounds! Also, I was expecting more output during the RMS wattage testing and if you go by the numbers themselves, it doesn't appear very impressive. For around $25 US, I can't imagine a better deal for a small amp. It would be great to power some small bookshelf speakers or to be used in a portable stereo. See my buddy Jamesstargate1 here on UA-cam as he's made a dozen or more boomboxes using these little Lepai amps.
The amp is based on Class T topology and a tripath design. It also promises 88% efficiency and makes the most use of 2A I've ever seen in an amp. My LP-2020A+ didn't come with a power supply, so make sure you have an extra 12-14v 2-5A adapter with a center positive 5.5mm x 2.1mm plug. Luckily, I had an older LCD monitor with a compatible power supply.
Let me know what you think about this little powerhouse!
Video taken with an iPhone 4, edited on the iOS iMovie and uploaded directly to UA-cam, no computer required!
Hi, I used a 12v 5A power supply for the testing of this amp. Remember, my measurements are using resistive loads, the most difficult load on an amp. Reactive loads may give you rated power. Either way, this is a fantastic little amp! Thanks for the comment.
@normalicy I just verified 12.25V from the adapter I was using. I also got in my 5.5mm x 2.1mm adapters today and tested the amp with a 12v lead acid battery. Still AMAZED at the SQ of this little amp!
At the time I did the video, I had an Audio Authority Model 978 100A 13.8V power supply. I recently got my hands on a big 250A variable 9V-19V power supply for testing car audio amps, would be interesting to see how much input voltage these 2020's can handle and the resulting power. I'm betting they will safely handle up to 15V of input and probably give a nice power boost with the extra input voltage as well.
BigDWiz I have a home made power supply, yes that's a hobby of mine but anyway, I hit this same amp with 17.6 volts and it puts out 23 watts @ 2 ohms clean no clipping no distortion. Built my own personal shop radio using one of these but have sense switched to the Blue tooth version.
@jpierce55 Actually, this little amp (LP-2020A+) does a decent job driving some desktop speakers. The 10w doesn't seem like much on paper, but it sounds pretty full and lifelike. I brought the mini amp to work and showed to a friend who does DJ work and he was quite impressed how it sounded with some small Boston Acoustics CR6 bookshelf speakers.
I'm not aware of any of these tripath amps being bridgeable. A small car audio amp may be your best bet, but you are correct they are much more power hungry...
@pimpablo I think one would suffice if you are using 8ohm or 4ohm drivers. The amp will handle 4 ohms per channel nicely, so if you did 2 8ohm drivers per channel, this should work well. If you find one amp is not powerful enough, you could always pick up another? Contact me directly through UA-cam if you need help w/ the wiring.
I am listening to this video through my second Lepai LP-2020A+ Class T amp. The pure clarity and sweetness of sound impresses me always. It sounds like a Class A linear amp. I used my first amp to drive my double 15" DJ boxes with Reggae to loud (undistorted) party volume over 3 hours, and the case was barely warm. A music producer bought it for his studio at cost price.
I do not understand how one of the greatest electronic circuits (IEEE rating) is not sweeping the world, and the genius Dr. Tripathi's firm went into bankruptcy...jealous backlash? I understand many others are trying to get this performance by other methods......Advice: buy Class T chipsets.
@Maxxarcade I got mine off Amazon and some sellers provided an adapter, I guess the one I bought from did not. I use either 100hz or 1khz for testing, and have found very little difference in the results. My car audio power supply is 13.8v, so I could give it a test and see if there is any difference in the output.
Of all the ones I bought to test, my favorite is the LP-2020A+. It does have adequate power to drive speakers to a normal listening level in a small room and the sound quality is very good
Good deal! This is still my favorite mini amp for the price, only wish I hadn't wasted my money on the other ones. This is the whole reason I tested all of these amps, to find out which one was the best and although I haven't tested a few (Dayton, Topping, etc), from the ones I've tested the LP-2020A+ is my favorite. Leo is great BTW, seemed very interested in what I am doing.
BigDWiz - OldSchoolStereo-com
@pimpablo It could work, but I'd want to know for sure if the TV's RCA outputs (or headphone out?) is variable with the volume control on the TV. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to remotely adjust volume. It no doubt, has enough power to some small speakers, even powers my 12" Rockford DJ speakers well. Also, sounds great with 5 inch Boston bookshelf speakers.
I've tested mine with some Boston Acoustics CR6 8 ohm bookshelf speakers and it sounds FANTASTIC!! I think you will be happy w/ the sound.
There's a sony receiver, which had a partnership between Sony and Tripah in the 2000s, launched the 5.1 HCD-S300 or DAV-S300 receiver, which uses 3 Tripah TA-2020 chips. For many years, the HCD-S300 was considered just another "cheap sony receiver", but recently this receiver prices have skyrocketed because it owns the original TA-2020 Amp and has an unique design of 30w per channel instead of 20w like the ones out there. And yet the project was built with a "special refinement" in relation to other projects that use the TA-2020. I have the receiver HCD-S300 and it's been alive for 21 years, and the receiver continues to run at full power, it's an very warm and immersive sound, the capacity of this receiver is impressive, I've plugged the Yamaha NS-F350 speakers and the amp held up perfectly, and the sound was... outstanding...
You need a 2A 12V adapter which has a 2.1 by 5.5 mm plug with center positive. These can be found on eBay for around 5 dollars shipped.
@Maxxarcade I just ordered some 5.5mm x 2.1mm adapters and should have them in a week or. I didn't want to ruin my other AC adapters by removing the plug. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in the output at 13.8v...
If you are using a battery, no A/C adapter, just the 5.5mm by 2.1mm plug ensuring the center conductor goes to the positive wire and the outer goes to negative. If you don't know which wire runs to the center connector, use a multimeter to test. You don't want to hook it up backwards or you'll be buying a new amp...
It is a Velleman HPS50 o'scope. It does audio calculations from 2 ohms to 16 ohms, and yes, it's calculating from RMS voltage. Simple ohm's law. I use resistive, not reactive loads as well.
Thanks for the test videos. I have a project putting a sound system on my wheelchair as I am a singer.
@J273 It is a line level input, runs in parallel with the RCA line level inputs
@AiriasasFTW You will need a 5.5mm x 2.1mm plug and 16-18ga wire should be sufficient for the 2A of current required by this amp. Make sure to use center positive. I found the plugs on eBay. Not sure I would use this in a car, but I guess you could. Just don't expect much power output! It is better suited for a small near-field system in a controlled listening environment...
@jecia66 It should work, just not sure how much playback time you'd get w/ 8 AA batteries. Try it and let us know!
It all depends on how loud you listen to your system? One of my first surround sound systems had an amp with only 10w/ch for all speakers and this was adequate for watching TV and movies at low to medium volume. If your room is small, this amp may be adequate for your needs. Just know this amp is not bridgeable so you'd either need to use dual CC speakers or only one channel of the amp
I'm pretty sure I tested it both ways and the resulting output power was nearly identical. This is still my favorite mini amp and really sounds more powerful than it really is. I see Parts Express is now showing a newer 100wpc model with built-in BT...but it is Class D, not T. I still may get one just to test it out.
I bought it off Amazon and it didn't come with a power supply. You need a 2A 12V adapter which has a 2.1 by 5.5 mm plug with center positive. These can be found on eBay for around 5 dollars shipped. Alternatively, you can use a small 12v battery or 8 AA batteries wired in series
Thank you for watching and commenting!
My output test results were with THD of approx 1 percent. It can power vintage speakers, just depends on how much volume you expect...
I've actually considered using 2 of these myself, I think it would work great! The only concern would be the need of a pre-amp to control the overall volume of both units (unless you wanted to adjust 2 different volumes?) I think a car stereo pre-amp would be a good choice, plus many have built in crossovers, which may also be useful
No, the amp requires a DC input, you just need a 5.5mm by 2.1mm plug w/ center positive, run the center connector to positive, the outer connector to negative. I believe they sell these adapters on eBay for cheap
I did the same tests (power output) using my 13.8V 100A Audio Authority power supply (used for car audio displays) and the output was the same. Amp still sounds fantastic, and I agree, the 2A adapter is weak for this unit.
@TheTsx Are you sure you have the LP-2020A+ model and not the LP-2020 model? I believe the A+ model adds the "defeat" button to bypass the tone controls
Yes, amp appears capable of supporting 8 ohm, 4 ohm and 2 ohm loads
I think most today come with a power supply. The one I see on Amazon lists a power supply as included. Still my favorite little amp for testing speakers with!
It all depends on how loud you want to listen to your system. These amps will drive most speakers to a decent level, but you can't expect to fill a large room with such little power.
The more the Ah, the longer the battery will last. With the LP2020A, you could get by with a 2.5Ah battery and it should last 6-8 hours. I used a larger battery in the toolbox boombox, b/c I used a high powered Alpine car stereo head unit that takes a lot more current draw to operate
I just got in another Lepai...the LP-V3 - 700W Max or 25W RMS at 4 ohms. We'll see about that. I should get the other models over the next few days and will do a big shootout of the sub 20 dollar tripath amps...
I just found another interesting mini-amp from Lepai...it's the LP-168HA. It is a 2.1 amp rated at 40x2 and 68x1 (yeah, right!) and wants 14.4v at 5A. It even has a sub volume and built-in x-over! If this amp only does half it's rated power, it could be REAL nice for a portable boombox setup. Use a couple of 4" mids, 1" tweets and a single 6.5 or 8" sub...sounds like a good project. Could be relatively light weight w/ a 12v 2.5Ah battery. I'll have it in a few weeks and will test it out!!
Tripath 2022?
Thank you for the comment!
I should be getting in a few more of the little China amps in the next few weeks. A few from Kinter and another Lepai, the LP-V3 model with the "Bose" Power IC. Will test them all, let's see which one is the champ of the cheapo amps! They are prob all the same w/ a different heat sink...LOL
Just bought it and I'm impress, it has so much power! and it use much less energy, really impressed!
I've been using this amp for a few years now with some full-range 3 inch speakers taken from a broken tv, in decent cabinets. Sound quality is very good. The power supply is often the limiting factor for solid-state IC amps like this one. I am using a 12 volt 5 amp supply on mine, and I bet it puts out more clean power than 10 watts per channel. Thanks.
@AiriasasFTW The LP-2020A+ is my favorite of the bunch. It's not the most powerful, but sounds the best to me. I'm guessing it's the Tripath design vs. the BTL used in most of the other amps
It would work, but this amp may be difficult to use in a car audio environment. Most car stereo head units have more power than this amp and would be better for that application. Just because your speakers are 60w capable, you don't need an amp w/ exactly that much power, it just lets you know how much they can handle.
Thanks for this review.. it was the deciding factor in my purchase!! I love the actual wave distortion level test!!
Wow, that one came in a different type of box from the ones I got. Mine came with a Vonage AC adapter and a bigger box. I wonder how much better it would work at 13.8 volts of clean power.
I usually use 1Khz for testing. Do you have a reason for using 100Hz?
Nice review! good that you got the right equipment!
I got a 6x9" single 50W Alpine speaker boxed with 10 D batteries and an Alpine amp, using for BBQ and other outdoor parties. The good thing of the Alpine is that it has a crossover and can mix 2 inputs in to 1, plus of course, bridge the 2 outputs in to 1 speaker. The problem is that I'm sure it has a DC2DC converter that drains a lot of the batteries...
For those who haven't seen the video, check out my video "The World's Most Powerful iPod Dock? Athena iVoice....". The amp inside this iPod dock smokes the Lepai at every ohm load.
great video for the power output tests, exactly what i was looking for.
I appreciate it, but I bought a Audio Technica AT LP60. It has a pre amp built in. I ordered this amp based on your video, and just waiting on it to be delivered. Right now I'm just playing the platter through my television speakers, LOL. I bought some bookshelf speakers on ebay, but I can't use them until I get the amp. Thanks for posting the video, bro!
It's a small room, so I guess it should be fine. I'll update you when I recieve it. Im using this amp to power a set of pioneer bookshelf speakers (6 ohms, 80 watts max)
I'm going to re-test this amp using the SMD DD-1 and a 1kHz test tone to verify RMS power output. I'll test all of the Chinese mini-amps using the same parameters to keep the playing field even...
I've been very intrigued in the idea of getting one of those tiny amps. Just no need for one. Surprising how much volume you can get out of 5-10w with reasonably efficient speakers.
You may consider checking to see what kind of voltage you're actually getting out of that 5A adapter. Most of them put out more than they claim at lower amperages (not sure on monitor power supplies though).
I'm not sure one of these amps and speakers under the seats of a car would sound very good. You really need more power than one of these amps can provide to drown out road and engine noise, plus, speakers mounted under the seats (unless they are bass speakers) probably won't work very well. I understand not wanting to disturb your interior. I would recommend custom kick panels by your feet, but not sure if you would want to do that or not.
If your using the power supply that came with it that's why it clips so soon, if you connect it to a 6amp supply it will usually get close to it's rated power, the voltage drops on the included power supply before the cam can reach it's rated power
Im thinking of buying a vinyl turntable and just running it to this amp. I think it would be perfect since I don't care about having a radio station reciever anyway. Man that thing sounded good on the video!
These amps with the 2020 chip sound very good.
Agreed!
I would love to see you bench test an old tube amp to see how it does compared to these new digital mini amps.
those amps have to be magic because they are amazing that amp can power all of my home audio equipment not all at once of Corse but they are amazing
I have used power supplies for these amps up to 15volts and 2 or 3 amps (or higher) with very good results. I've tried 16volts but they shut down with 16volts.
Question Derick BigDWiz Out of this china amplifiers is this the best you tested? Any good little amps out there that I can hook it up to positive and ground to a regular 12v battery, or how can I use this little amp portable maybe and adapter?
I like this LP2020A+ the best out of all I tested. Incredible value and can be hooked up to a small 12V battery for hours of listening enjoyment.
Dereck BigDWiz Any especial cable or adapter I need to hook it up with a 12v battery Thanks...
Would make a great amp to use in a boombox situation or get the powersupply out of an old computer to power it and make a nice office or bedroom system
Glad I heard you on TechGuy with Leo, I'm subscribing to your channel :)
try the whole same test at 1kHz please, most rms readings are measured at that frequency
Shopping this out, the big point made by so many is the amperage fed into this unit. I have to presume that you used a 2A supply on this video. Could you redo this with a 4A and prove or deny that the extra amperage gives the amp sufficient headroom to hit the claimed wattage ratings.
Thanks for doing the video!
Thanks for the review. Very helpful. This seems to be the best "Bang-For-Buck" buy in mini amps, and I just ordered one. I am just curious if you had this amp set to "direct" or "tone" mode during the testing? I have read that if tone mode is enabled, it can add distortion, even if the bass/treble knobs are set flat.
Well...you will need a preamp to add 'gain' and 'tonal correction' before you can actually connect this neat little amplifier to a turntable.
Thanks for testing this amp. I already own it, but it's nice to know what it's capable of. FWIW, it will power my Sony SS-B3000's (with 8" woofers) to comfortable levels. I would like to request that you test the Dayton DTA-1, if possible. It seems to be the more "professional" choice over the Lepai amp, and can be had for about $10 more. It's rated 15W/channel, so it'd be nice to see how it compares.
if it doesn't damage the amp or cut off, try doing a test with a 14v power supply of the same amperage and see how much it puts out.
Yes, 12v battery works best
Great review. I've recently ordered a Tripath 2020 amp from ebay. Not this brand but something similar I guess. Going to play with it when it comes in :) From looking at the circuitry inside, the 2020a+ looks like its got a bigger heatsink.
I remember many of the Tripath 2020 based amps rate it at around 6-7W RMS into 8 ohms for low distortion (less than 1%). The 20W I think is for 10 percent distortion. For sensitive speakers, these are amazing little amps :)
Running it on 14v makes it work so much better.
@bigdwiz Cool, let me know what you find. 14.5v is the absolute max rating I think, so 13.8 should be perfect.
Or as other's have mentioned, (8)AA batteries equals 12v
Thanks, it appears Leo got a kick out of my Chinese Mini Amp Invasion vids!
This amp is suited better to bookshelf type speakers or car audio coaxial speakers. It doesn't provide sufficient power for subwoofers IMHO
i have an amplifier i made around a tda-7384 ic from scratch and i wonder how it would compare to the lepai? the "mosfet 50" amp you see on headunit faceplates have an ic that is similar to this. This is a very simple amp to construct from scratch, with parts totaling about 10 dollars, as i had the ic from an old deck that kicked the bucket, a blank copper board, and muriatic acid i used to etch the board. i tested the amp draw at 4.5A @ 18v, 4 ohms, and 100hz tone and got 21w x 4 rms clean.
I have a 12V 4Amp adaptor. It's actually the same polarity and socket as my laptop but don't want to risk breaking it with 19 Volts!!
Have you determined the actual difference between the LP-2020 and the newer LP-2020A? Is the 2020A supposed to be able to drive lower 2 ohm loads as mentioned in the video?
Would it be OK to use a small 12v motorcycle battery on this amp?
Thanks for the quick response D. To hook up the ta2020 is it just straight forward ac adapter wire splice to the battery - to - and + to +?
When you were doing the test with your meter did you bypass the equalizer? It looks like you did I just want to be sure.
Hi, I'm curious about the measuring instrument you're using. What model is it? When it displays the wattage, is it actually calculating that from the voltage using the value you enter for resistance?
No, I really dont. I could also just use the single factory speaker that sits behind the grill on the passengers side. Everything is stock on my 55 it even has a generator instead of an alternator. I was hoping to find something I could put in my glove box and control my iPod. Are there any other amps that are small with more power that you can think of? The hum of a V8 with nothing else can be a little...sedating.
Hi,
Congratz for your very interresting videos.
I'm newbe in mini amps and i'm looking at your videos to get knowledge as i plan to add music sound on my motorcycle.
I guess i understand the "Lepai LP-2020A+" is your favorite of the mini amps at this price level.
In this price level is also the "caliber ca75.2". Do you have feedback on this mini amp or can you make a review on it ?
Thanks again for your infos.
Hey bro I own the lepai 2020a+ its perfect for what I use it for but I want to start running 2 4ohm speakers in parallel on each channel will the amp survive running 4 speakers at 2ohm I'm powering with a 12v 9amp battery
Thank you. Your video was very helpful.
Thinking of getting the 700W version of this, 25W RMS. It appears you deffinitely get what you pay for... i saw your video for the 700W V3 and you got a max of like 10W!! Totally ridiculous claims. Anyways, are these cheap amps good enough to just run half decent speakers off my clock radio? I have a Memorex iPod dock/clock radio and i want to run better sound since it does have a line in and output.
@bigdwiz: have you ever check what kind of op-amp Lepai 2020a+ is using inside? that's a nice amp compared to the kinter mini amp u've checked..
Thanks for a helpful video. Do you by chance have any experience with the Cheng Sheng hs-9004 amp? If so how would you compare it to this one?
@bigdwiz Yes its the LP-2020A+
I opened the case ant somewere it says TA2020B
It sounds really good but there is no small button
I'm thinking on buying this Lepai amp, seems that it doesn't use a DC2DC converter, not sure if 15V is too much for it. Pretty sure it can't be bridged, so I'll just use one the channels. Plus will have to check out about mixing the 2 channels in to 1.
Or maybe you can recommend me a better option? Was considering the LEAD Audio K4-21 Tripath TA2021b 25Wx2ch but it doesn't have an EQ. Don't you have a review on this do you?
i wonder how this amp compares to a well-made homemade amplifier project that is made around a tda-7384 amp ic or a pal-00* mosfet50 ic that pioneer uses in their headunits?
@bigdwiz I've been tempted to build a pair of powered computer speakers with this kind of setup.
Idk why, but I dig that first funk/jazz song. Do you happen to know the name?
Also, I have done a video using this fascinating little amp taking on a pair of JMlab Daline 3.1 floor speakers (4 Ohms) that you may want to see and hear. This (the T-Amp design) is definitely a high value product indeed.
♫Happy Listening!♫
Thanks for the review! Just wondering what will happen if you simultaneously have two inputs connected, for example, one connected to PC, the other one to iPod. Can this amp play both inputs at the same time? Thanks again!
I would be really curious to hear the difference between Lepai 2020a+ and something high-end like Marantz or Onkyo. Listening to Pink Floyd on a Lepai 2020a+ with B&W 620s sounds totally crystal.
Agreed 🤙
It's pronounced LePai as in Le Hair Pie (family inside joke). Brother of famous actor is also an inventor that rearranged the wording to LePai for his new company.
is the Lepai LP-2020A+ suitable for any GEEKOMs Minis and external speakers?
@bigdwiz I'm looking forward to the results too.
Hi BigDWiz,
I have seen that this amp you recommend the most of the others mini amps,
I have trouble to check if it supports my speakers,
these are their spes:
pure acoustics model ex-600f
impedance 8 ohm
recommended amp power 20~180W
frequency: 42hz ~ 20000Hz
sensitivity: 88dB +- 2dB
would be great if you could help me and tell me if this amp suits these speakers