Amp Deal of the Century!

madmax

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-accurian-homeplug-digital-audio-receiver-amplifier--pi-2049804.html

Wade through every RadioShack you can find! These cool little amps are rated at 50 watts, used to be $160 to $300 depending on when you were looking but now, they are $15 because they are totally useless without some silly **** sending unit you need to make them work as designed. The sending unit is no longer available...

So, just pop the top, remove the silly receiving board by disconnecting some cables and you end up with a very nice, smooth sounding little amplifier complete with nice torroid power supply. (just feed the signal into the "Line Out" jacks after disconnecting this board). Don't poke around in this one with power applied!

I auditioned it on a friends KEF bookshelf speakers and it sounds very sweet! I'm already looking to see what hopups could be done to it!

madmax

WilliamM2

If you read the reviews at RS, it seems a lot of these fail pretty quickly. But for $15...

madmax

Yea, they are talking about some power transistor. I will try to figure out if a particular one is getting warm before going too far. I see one that looks like it powers the add on board. Woo hoo, I love a new challenge!
madmax

madmax

Just picked up a pair of their bookshelf powered speakers for $30. Sweet too and almost as easy to modify. Same situation as the amps as far as no signal inputs other than AC line. I just disconnected the receiver board and hard wired the inputs. I wonder who manufactures these things for them? Very professionally done!
madmax

gidrah

For $15 it's a no brainer. I'll probably snag one for bi-amping.

Polk65

Thanks for the head's up. I picked one up last night and just popped the hood. It works and sounds pretty good. I'm thinking of using it for my computer rig or when checking out used speakers. This is easy!

(1) Remove two wiring connectors, four screws and nylon cable tie.
(2) This is what to remove.
(3) What you own.
(4) Found this on the top right corner of the board. It may be possible to find the transmitter somewhere.
(5) Two 50v 6800 uF caps.
(6) As Max says, connect your inputs to the RCA line out jacks. I'm going to change the speaker out connectors to standard jacks.
(7) Specs.

madmax

Its all descrete components too so if anyone wanted to replace caps, diodes transistors etc it would be very easy. Its my guess that the board we are unhooking is the same board used as the transmitter, just wired to different connectors.

A friend here at work just walked by and heard my powered speakers and was quite impressed with the sound.

madmax

fredv

Bought one from the local RS and have the receiver board out.
It is well worth the $15 just for the transformer itself!!
I am thinking about adding a low voltage tube to the input as a buffer
A 6GM8 will be a good candidate ....

madmax

I'm pretty sure it is a common ground amp but have not yet had a chance to remove the main pcb to look. They have me pulling double duty at work...
madmax

A tube would look real cool poking out of the case.

hearingimpared

I got mine yesterday, they said it was their last one. There are six other Rat shacks in the area, I'm gonna see if I can get another.

fredv

The RS shop that I went to had 5 left after I bought mine. They even joked to give me some discount if I bought them all :-)

madmax

I picked up the first one, liked the sound and figured at $15 you can't beat it. I picked up a few more figuring that I'm always needing an amp at my home bench to try modified stuff on and you never know when I'll want one for some special project or whatever.
madmax

Edit: Forgot, maybe one as a headphone amp.

ledhed

Well, I got one and am getting ready to remove the board. Will the volume still work or will I need a pre?

michael_w

Anyone found these in Canada? All the radio shacks have turned into "the Source CC" here and I can't find them online.

fredv

ledhed wrote: »

Well, I got one and am getting ready to remove the board. Will the volume still work or will I need a pre?

You don't need a pre, and the volume will work as well as the bass, treble, and balance knobs. Use the "line out" as RCA input, they share the same trace of the receiver's input to the PCB.

ledhed

Nope, no need for a pre. I'm sitting here listening to Boston More than a Feeling by my iPod (wanted to try something with a variable output first) using shoestring speaker wire because my good wire was too big a gauge for it. Sounds pretty good- right now I feel confident it is just as good if not better than my old Kenwood AVR which was slowly dying. Now all I need is a cheap pre amp so I can have multiple preouts.

rskarvan

Is it possible to... bridge this little amp... into a 100W mono-block?

cmy330go

Anyone having trouble getting these? I just found a local store that claims they have 5 of them. I'd be willing to pick them up and ship them for actual shipping cost.

If I do this I'll probably keep one. But that still leaves 4 for whoever.

ledhed

Do yours have tons of static or is it probably just all the EMF in my room?

MillerLiteScott

I ordered 1 today. They will call me when it comes in.

It should be great for testing rig and for a mini rig where ever.

madmax

None of mine have any static. Did you unhook both connectors from that board?
madmax

rskarvan

I'm thinking of using this for a better quality computer system speakers. Good application - I think?

Nisqually Dave

Hey anyone in the Tacoma Area looking for these, there are 3 in Tacoma at the 72nd st Store

7 at the Lacy Store

4 in Gig Harbor Store

3 at the Port Orchard Store

If you call one of the stores they can look up and tell you what stores have them

ledhed

madmax wrote: »

None of mine have any static. Did you unhook both connectors from that board?
madmax

Well, the board isn't in it anymore so it can't be that

fredv

The 2 that I have don't have static either. The noise level is comparable to the t-amp. Is the static present after power on with or without any source connected?

Polk65

Thanks Fred. I was hoping someone with a t-amp would chime in. Can you give any other comparisons between them such as tone and power?

On the flip side of the main board the negative terminals DO share common ground. I hooked up a cd player and SDA CRS+ for an hour with volume at 10 o'clock. The amp got hot but did not fail and delivered clean sound. For S&G I turned the knob up to 11 o'clock and it was ok. At 12 o'clock the amp's relays kicked in and muted output. I quickly dialed back to 11 o'clock and the relays switched the music back on. The speakers are fine and the amp has no static.

Some mod discussion and ideas over at diyaudio http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=84685
and to a lesser extent at fatwallet http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/arcmessageview.php?catid=18&threadid=643263

The failures some have had I believe is due to in part to the add on board trapping heat. By removing it heat is reduced but it still gets hot. The sides of the top cover have groupings of three holes. I'm going to cut out the tabs separating them to create larger slots for more airflow. So far I've re-routed the power wires away from the audio wires. If you remove the cable tie around the blue and white wires they tuck neatly into the very top left corner.

If you see the transmitter 15-1938 grab it and take it to the bay. Three recent auctions have sold for over $100
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110114343925
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190102070160
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190106819371

AsSiMiLaTeD

Are these mods something anyone can do, or do I need to know about this stuff?

AsSiMiLaTeD

Nevermind that, I see Polk65's post above with pictures, looks to be an easy switch with no real work involved...

I'm gonna grab one of these and see how it stacks up against my TEAC...

madmax

ledhed wrote: »

Well, the board isn't in it anymore so it can't be that

Maybe its a wireless connection?

Sounds like you may have a defective unit. I'd put it back together and return it if you can't find an external reason for the noise. At work I have mine sitting on top of my PC (a VERY noisey place electrically) and am experiencing absolutely no noise.

madmax

ledhed

Well, it is definitely the unit. Has a hum even without being connected though the noise does not increase as the volume increases. I read that bypassing the preamp board gets rid of tons of static so I may try that eventually. Right now I'm pretty happy with it.

gidrah

Polkmaniac wrote: »

I'm gonna grab one of these and see how it stacks up against my TEAC...

Ditto.