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Sure JAB 2 "all in one" amp / bluetooth / bms

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bitSmasher View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bitSmasher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Sure JAB 2 "all in one" amp / bluetooth / bms
    Posted: 06 September 2016 at 12:51pm
This was posted on another forum, and really caught my attention...
Sure are making the "JAB 2" series, of TPA3116/3118 amps with Bluetooth 4.0 APTX as well as aux input
There are options for breakout boards, and even a battery management solution for charging lithium cells


It's appealing as a simple, almost turnkey, solution for portable rigs
Not super powerful, and you could clump together a bunch of parts to do the same job, but the fact it's simplified and from a reputable manufacturer means this could almost be "the one" to start with

What do you lot think?
https://www.instagram.com/batteryacidsoundsystem/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hemisphere Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 September 2016 at 1:34am
Looks pretty good.

At ~$40 for reasonable bulk and maybe as low as $35 each at production volumes with the bluetooth + interface panel + bms options added, they could form the basis of an ultra-cheap/entry-level/kit-form kind of box, using something like this: http://www.parts-express.com/grs-8fr-8-full-range-8-speaker-pioneer-type-b20fu20-51fw--292-430 + this http://www.ebay.com/itm/30W-18V-Car-Boat-Camping-Solar-Power-Panel-Module-Battery-Charger-Bank-Flexible-/122101706717?var=&hash=item1c6dd42fdd:m:m9laUK66KvAtwmnL1S_5hMQ

Not the ideal woofer but 46 largely glowing reviews suggest it's at very least a bargain at the price. 4 of them in a Boominator style arrangement would pump out 117dB with the Sure board with masses of cone area giving a very respectable amount of rumble.

Add a few lifepo4 cells + one of those cheapo thin flexible Sunpower modules (30w@$40) from eBay to make use of the MPPT capability and you'd have everything you need for a quite respectable system with lightweight battery + respectable amount of solar built in for $130 + cabinet hardware. Even at 1 off prices on all of that you're still looking at just $160 + cabinet hardware for something which could tick a lot of boxes for people on a budget.

One major concern: Notorious Sure QA.. It seems like almost every other person who buys a board from them has something to complain about, from fake components to 100% DOA. Maybe they've cleaned up their act, or perhaps they would take a high volume client more seriously, but if not it's a big risk for any application tbh. "Buy cheap, buy twice".

Anyway that's my thought experiment :) I bet there are loads of other things you could do with that if it actually does what it says on the tin.

Edit: 

Something like this?


Plastic Adam Hall cabinet corners (@~40p each) + 12mm aluminium edging from I don't know where, basic stuff. Side handles I have no idea but I guess there are some cheap plastic ones that fit the format. One side would be the main panel with all electrics etc the other side would have a panel just for balance that could have operating instructions and such written on it or maybe a little pouch there for putting cables/jack converters/mp3 players and whatnot.

The solar panel I have in mind is this one: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/30w-High-efficiency-sunpower-cells-ultra-thin-3mm-flexible-solar-panel-for-12v-battery/1282404_32298074884.html the size of the box is dictated by the size of the panel, the corner protectors would cover up the mounting points and it's an all-black panel (picture number 4 is an accurate representation of the product) so it should really look very neat. 

Grille would be aluminum expanded mesh (1 or 2mm thick, flattened) partly for weight partly for cost, and 10 or 12mm foam on top of that, which is probably the only way of keeping the not very sturdy looking woofers halfway protected from the elements, though a light spray of something water-repellent may do more good than harm.  

Plugging the measured parameters from the PartsExpress page (may not be accurate or reliable but from what people are writing, more accurate than the manufacturer's specs) into WinISD (4 drivers in a 62 litre box tuned to 55Hz) gives this result:


Green line, compared with a rough best guess of the Boominator simulated with P Audio HP-10w drivers. Kinda peaky and it really seems too good to be true in terms of efficiency and maximum SPL, but if that's anywhere near accurate it may just be worth the trade-offs for the sake of the target, which is an acceptably good quality extra-loud ultra-budget box.


Edited by Hemisphere - 07 September 2016 at 6:50am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lost eden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 September 2016 at 1:25pm
What are your thoughts on the 3x 18650 board? Seems like it would be a convenient plug-&-play option for smaller builds, but would it be enough power to bother having the JAB2-50 in the first place? If it could do maybe ~10W per channel for 2-3 hours I'd consider it. A nice little wooden box with maybe the spare pair of 3" Tang Band drivers I still have somewhere, that I can just slap a set of 18650 in the back of & connect to over bluetooth sounds lovely! Might not be any way to know whether it will fit longer protected 18650s other than buying it though...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hemisphere Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2016 at 4:27pm
3x 18650 cells is anaemic for a 100w amplifier. If they're decent ones though, say 3.4ah @ 12.6v that's 42.84WHr. Call it 40WHr, assume 85% amp efficiency and 7:1 music program, you would get 2-3 hours at maximum volume (50w per channel), and at -6dB from maximum or with a varied level program averaging -6dB, 8 hours+

The battery holder is field serviceable, like a TV remote, so if you carried 6 spare cells with you (maybe buy different brands so they could be colour coded not to mix them up) and took advantage of the solar charging function in the daytime you'd have a reasonable chance of round the clock battery life. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lost eden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 September 2016 at 6:59pm
Well I ordered one to play with, it's been a while since I've had a completely unnecessary audio project to consume my free time :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bitSmasher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 April 2017 at 12:35am
Hey lost eden, have you spent much time with it? any opinion?
I am buying both 30w and 50w boards, might be a while until I can play with them but hope to report back with testing and experiences... 
https://www.instagram.com/batteryacidsoundsystem/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bitSmasher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 April 2017 at 10:43am
Amps and parts arrived today, funny that the amps are so small they're in the same size box as the add-ons.

Here it is, set up with my bodgy variable PSU:



After a bit of head scratching and squinting at diagrams, it was wired up and working...

I'd really like to make some time to test the 30W and 50W but no doubt will just rush in to a boom box build.

Some initial observations first:
* The cables all seem a bit cheap and flimsy, and a bit of a mess as they're not contained in any way but individual wires between connectors. They're also 50cm long which is more than ample.

* There aren't any instructions and I believe the Bluetooth and Charge LEDs are marked incorrectly on the diagram (see below). Still not quite sure what the LEDs are meant to indicate.

* I don't quite understand what the push button does on the extension board, as one LED on the board doesn't seem to correspond to the seperate LEDs on the amp.

* The seperate 3.5mm socket has a 4 pin connector, and I can't work out where that's meant to go either!

It might be worth posting a video showing functionality, and we can all have a guess how it's meant to work

For reference, here are the diagrams available - just in case they disappear from the Sure site:





I feel a bit silly trying to make sense of this, but will just get a test box built and see how it works - my fussiness on the benchtop isn't as imporant as its performance as a system.
https://www.instagram.com/batteryacidsoundsystem/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote slaz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 April 2017 at 1:48pm
When running on battery power (i.e. the 3S Li as charged/managed on-board) - is there a built-in DC-DC converter to up the supply voltage to ~19V or ... or does the 3116 just get direct battery voltage ?

REMEMBER....POLITICIANS AND DIAPERS SHOULD BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bitSmasher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 April 2017 at 6:59am
I wouldn't know what to look for on the board to answer that question, but I had another quick play with the 30w TPA3118 unit...
Using a Samsung tablet via Bluetooth, signal generator app playing sine waves. App and tablet at 100% volume, amp wound up too.

With the variable psu sweeping between 12v and 22v, the output stayed constant at 7.8v - measured with "true rms" DMM
Swapping to the battery pack gave the same output voltage.

Does this sound right? It'd be around 15w in to 4 ohms, constant output...

This was a bit rushed so I can't be conclusive, but I'd be happy to try a few other measurements with a bit of guidance. Wish I'd tried using headphone jack to see what an analog signal could do.
https://www.instagram.com/batteryacidsoundsystem/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Padde298 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 June 2017 at 9:09am
Interesting post. Following it from here.Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bitSmasher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 October 2017 at 9:36pm
Since these haven't been intuitive to work with, I've neglected the amps and focused my limited DIY energy on other things.
Alas I finally pulled out the box of bits and played around last night, to get familiar with them again - hoping to put them to use by November.

One major hurdle I face, hoping someone can give advice, is charging the 18650 batteries



With everything connected, and a 19V 6A supply, the red MPPT light illuminates but the battery voltage hasn't increased at all. It was 11.9 when first plugged in, and even after being left for 8 hours this hasn't changed at all.

Is this "normal" or should I be doing something different?

I guess the next test is to run the battery flat, and try again...
https://www.instagram.com/batteryacidsoundsystem/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote carlosdelondres Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2017 at 9:22am
I've been getting the mid tops on a micro syste up and running with the SUre JAB2/3 combo. Might be able to shed some light on some stuff.

- the bluetooth and charging leds are indeed labelled wrong on the doc you posted. I think this is now updated on the Sure website. The board I have has a slightly different layout to yours.

- the pushbutton on the extension board puts the amp into standby mode with bluetooth switched off/amp off (supposedly, not measured power draw)

- There is an onboard DC-DC converter to keep amp supply voltage the same whether on 18650s or dc in. At least there is no perceptible change in output when switching from one to the other

- 18650 charging. Still not got to the bottom of this. When I first set it up, the cells came up to 3.96 volts from about 3.66 (long time in storage...). Ran the amp for a while. saw the volts drop and charged again, same thing. However, yesterday I checked the voltage and saw 4.01.

On my board, the red led (socket 5 on diagram above) comes on when power is supplied, and the green comes on when charging (socket 4 above).

Waiting to hear back from Sure on the charge voltage.

I have also noticed a horrible background chirping is present in the audio output when powered from mains only (without the 18650 board connected). Don't know if this is the case with others?

I have managed to break off several of the connectors on mine due to the force required to remove the plugs, watch out for this! 3 and 4 pin seem particularly vulnerable as the grip the plug has on the socket is not balanced by enough retaining force from the soldered connections...


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