Speakerplans.com Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > General > 12v Powered Systems
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Lepai LP-838 3 Channel Mini Amplifier Stereo
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Lepai LP-838 3 Channel Mini Amplifier Stereo

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
Grinner View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User
Avatar

Joined: 02 December 2005
Location: essex
Status: Offline
Points: 407
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grinner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Lepai LP-838 3 Channel Mini Amplifier Stereo
    Posted: 18 May 2011 at 8:05pm
has any1 used 1 of these for an ultra portable system yet.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180410650233&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT



Back to Top
fraction View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 24 May 2011
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Points: 15
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fraction Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2011 at 8:08pm
I bought one of these for testing and they're a bit crappy in terms of sound quality when compared to a tripath 2020.  

What they do have is massive gain and a sub channel.  I couldn't have the main volume up more than 3/4 of the way without massive distortion and could only manage 1/2 way on the subwoofer channel.  This was from a HTC mobile phone.  But at this volume I'd say it rivaled the 2020 in volume.  The sub speaker I tested it with was pretty ineffecient, so I guess it would go louder.

Worth playing with but I'm sticking to the 2020 for now.

Back to Top
tinkerings View Drop Down
New Member
New Member


Joined: 04 October 2013
Status: Offline
Points: 5
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tinkerings Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 October 2013 at 11:54am
yes, and just completed it recently. "ultra portable" being kinda debatable, the center channel a 12" woofer in a 15wx16dx24h rear loaded folded exponential horn cabinet, left and right having 8" mid-woofers and piezo tweets in similar rear loaded folded horn cabinets measuring 11wx12dx23h. the woofer got a pair of coils pirated from old computer power supplies as cheepo low pass filters, the piezo's got 50-ohm resistors to limit shrieking. I dont have a db meter but this little monstrosity is VERY loud with plenty of deep bass. the 12 and the 8's were PE square framed clearance items, low power higher efficiency home stereo replacement type. I've been kinda enfatuated with rear loaded folded exponential horn cabinets for having a SUNN 115BH to play bass guitar through. I'd connected the 838's center channel to it one day just to see and DAAAAYYYUMMM it impressed-inspired me to build similarly for the 838 with a more efficient 12" woofer.

I'd also built a pair of parasites being they're all 8-ohm configurations (the 838 being ok with 4-ohms), 15h, 5w top, 11w bottom, 11d, trapeziodal rear loaded exponential horns with 6" drivers and 1" tweets.. the object being a better horn for not having parallel sides in its internal passages, which works well but no doubt theres plenty of room for improvements on the concept. they're kinda like "subcompact metronomes" built on the fly, totally by intuition (whats a software calculator? lol). the parasites can sit atop left right or spread wider, the whole 5 pc cookie sounds good indoors or out, and projecting some BASS outdoors on small power sure isnt an easy challenge.

yup, here it is a bit over 2 years later Grinner..
and to fraction, agreed the 2020A+ being a nicer amplifier to start with, the 838's sub channel WILL go batty beyond 1/2 volume especially if the main's volume is up 5/8 or so, and it'll start warming up too!
a lot of what we get for sound really depends on the speakers we're connecting an amp TO of course, and the 2020 has an honest 2 watts more per channel to play with (distortion taking over past about 8.3 watts), which sure isnt insignifigant. the 838 might push an honest 6 to 6.5 to the left right channels and 10-11 to the center before it starts puking, IMHO, which is likely a pretty fair eval for not even having any real testing equipment to play with. speaker efficiency being very critical for loud and clean, typically the sub-channel is about 1/3 and the mains about half, you'd have to hear it in person of course!
Back to Top
lutkeveld View Drop Down
Young Croc
Young Croc
Avatar

Joined: 23 September 2013
Location: The Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 517
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lutkeveld Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 October 2013 at 12:15pm
About the gain on the sub channel, there are two versions on the market: one with a smooth bass knob and one with a rippled knob. The smooth knob is the fixed version and is the one i'd recommend. The other one is not worth your money since the sub channel is almost not usable. It's difficult to get to know which one the ebay seller is selling because of the poor english.
Back to Top
tinkerings View Drop Down
New Member
New Member


Joined: 04 October 2013
Status: Offline
Points: 5
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tinkerings Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 October 2013 at 1:07pm
it's got the fine teeth on the sub channel gain and yup it's near over sensitive. typical music being 1/4 to 1/3 at most, and heavier bass dance music it cant be open much or it'll start flooding and hammering.
I'd tried one of their 168HA's, might have been defective because the 838 outperformed it, even with using a FiiO mp3 headphone booster inline. kinda used to how this 838 does but might look to swap in a higher value pot on the sub channel would be smoother control.
over at PE's forums theres a good bit of info for modifying the TA2020+ to improve its already good sound quality by replacing a bunch of caps, I wouldnt know where to begin with the 838 for that, or if there are amp chips that'd replace existing ones for a little more power and-or a little less heat along with it. not that I'm unhappy with it for what it is and does now, but another usable watt or two is always a nice option! was cool looking through forums here yesterday learning "rear loaded folded exponential horns" being slang shortened to "scoops". I also like the simple principle of those "metronome" type home speakers I'd seen at the quarter wave site, but it'd be a near sure bet my crazy energetic dog would knock em over unless I tied em to the cieling (hmmmm..).
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.06
Copyright ©2001-2023 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.141 seconds.