I realized that I had not been aware of this family of Class AB chip-amps.
and after considering the purchase of a $165 Chinese LM3886 amplifier with balanced XLR input: It would be interesting if Amir could test the Chinese balanced XLR version, because if it performs decently, it would be an excellent choice for those who want a medium-power, budget Class AB amp to connect via XLR to a USB DAC.Īfter seeing Amir's review of the excellent $1,300 Neurochrome Modulus-286 (kit) amplifier:Īnd a new thread started today by the owner of an Akitika GT-102 ($314 kit, $488 assembled): I'll be interested to follow any discussion of this by ASR regulars who are familiar with this class of amplifiers. I wonder how many of them are "well-engineered"? I didn't take time to dredge through posts at the various DIY audio forums, but there is a long history of DIY "gain-clone" LM3886-based amplifiers, and I can only assume that there is a wide variation in reliability, consistency and quality of the LM3886 modules.Īlthough I considered the above cheap Chinese LM3886 amplifier with its balanced XLR inputs as a backup to my soon-to-be-completed ICEpower 200asx/200AS Ghent audio balanced XLR amp, I decided to stick with a RCA input TDA7498E Class-D amp for backup. Look at the dizzying array of LM3886 modules at this image-based search page. I am aware that it takes good engineering and proper implementation to make a good audio amplifier. He has this to say about the LM3886:Like Class-D amplifiers, a decent chip is only a start. Tom Christiansen, the owner of Neurochrome, is an electronics engineer who built the kit for Amir to test, and actually worked in op-amp design at Texas Instruments/National Semiconductor. If not engineereed properly, LM386-based amplifiers can apparently cause problems including severe distortion, particularly at low frequencies, when driving 4Ω speakers. From what I could find on the internet, the LM3886 is a low distortion, fairly high output and low distortion op-amp that required careful implementation.
Like Class-D amplifiers, a decent chip is only a start.