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…Ode to Charlize… Charlize oh CharlizeThis lass called Charlize Awesome beauty and style All grace and poise Your beauty Calms my spirit and mind Bowls me over Again and again and again…
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And you haven’t even heard her sing yet. Yeah folks, in collaboration with Calv Acoustic Labs, we present you… Charlize. Charlize is a Tripath Class-T amp based on the excellent Tripath TA2020. After mucking about with various Tripath chips (TA2021, TA2022, TA2024), the 2020 won us over by a large margin (like Charlize!).
Initially we decided to put out a kit but then we were torn between offering an “easy-to-build-but-compromising-sonics” kit versus a “hard-to-build-but-offers-superior-sonics” kit. So between the two, we went for the latter. Hey, you wouldn’t compromise with Charlize, would you? If you are wondering, usage of surface mount components is indeed a necessity for switching designs. This is because switching at 800kHz, copious amount of noise is released and if you don’t channel this energy away, it’ll get into your music. Let’s restate this. It’s a neccccccessssssssiiiitttttttyyyyyyyy! I have had the priviledge of playing with another TA2020 kit that uses entirely through hole components and… lo and behold! We are happy to be justified in this regard. SMT indeed sounds BETTER. So we’ll be offering you fully soldered/assembled/tested Charlize. Yes! We do all the hard work for you! As PCB size is slightly smaller than a credit card and TA2020 doesn’t even require a heatsink (it runs cool like us), it’ll be really nifty to mount into your enclosure of choice. |
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Assembled/Tested Charlize
Fedex shipping to USA/Canada – USD17.
Fedex shipping to most parts of Europe – USD25.
Oh yeah, at this price, we are daft enough to offer you Elna Cerafine input caps and Rubycon “Super Low ESR” power supply caps. You can tell we are bowled over by Charlize!
Charlize Vital Statistics
Power ratings are always over-hyped. Some will call this 20W, while some says 10W. But ask them, at what THD? See for yourself here.
You can use a 12V battery or those wall mount adaptors that puts out 12VDC. Just verify with a multimeter it’s really putting out 12VDC and not higher. Above 14VDC, say goodbye to Charlize! You can wire the input to a volume pot of 50kohm to make it an integrated amp or just plain RCA sockets. Please note as TA2020 output stage is bridged, DO NOT tie them to GND.
Important!
Please note that 12VDC is wired to square via of J1 and GND is wired to round via of J1.
In other words, when you receive Charlize, the white wire goes to 12VDC and black wire goes to GND.
Mistake here is catastrophic! Charlize will leave you forever!
Now you’ll love Charlize even more!
Yup! Charlize with air core inductors. Smoother, better clarity, improvement all around! At the loss of slight dynamics though, but if your speakers are sensitive enough, get this! We tried many inductors before stumbling on the perfect combo of inductance and damping factor. But there’s more to it! It had to be wound by virgins on a full moon’s night! Any other way, you’ll regret! (I tried winding some myself. It sounded fat at the bottom and thin at the top, just like me.) Since they are hard to come by these days (virgins), again we’ll do all the hard work for you. We have this ultra-cool vendor who can even wind inductors/trans in his sleep do all this.
Assembled/Tested Charlize
USD90 (RM315)
Set of 4 air core inductors
USD13 (RM40)
Fedex shipping to USA/Canada – USD17.
More wiring info for you.
Can’t find such a 3-way selector switch? Wire up a power switch, minus pin 1 of above selector. During OFF, Charlize will see less than 8VDC. She’ll be sleeping like a baby. When you toggle the switch, she gets 12VDC and she’s ready to sing!
Coming soon! Monica and Charlize invites YOU to a threesome!
I just received the two Charlize2 modules I ordered… carefully connected they lie on my desk and now work like a charm – did not like a programmable switching power supply (lab gear) firsthand, so I hooked them to a 12V motorcycle battery instead, and let them drive vintage two-way Braun L-550 speakers.
Thanks so far for rapid shipment half around the globe!
Both Charlize2 girls enjoyed new years eve and some days off in Almaty, Kasachstan… but today arrived unharmed thanks to being well packaged.
I guess it is now correct to let them accommodate a little before they face the real task: a direct comparison with a Radford STA25 MkIII valve amp 8)
What I have heard so far is quite promising. Let´s see…
Walther
Hi, I have got a Charlise from a friend but am confused (as the one i got is naked and has no wires pokeing out of it)
The web site for charlise info says the following:
Important!
Please note that 12VDC is wired to square via of J1 and GND is wired to round via of J1.
when you receive Charlize, the white wire goes to 12VDC and black wire goes to GND.
Mistake here is catastrophic! Charlize will leave you forever!
However the photo shows the a caption stateing
12v DC ground going to the square land (not to the round) on the PCB and clearly contridicts the above, so if i get one its 50/50 chance of killing it? 😥
Please definatively state which the round and square polaritys actully are in relation to Charlise polarity.
Cheers
johnny
hello. i have the same confusion as johnny, and need the sam clarification. would appreciate a comment that might clear it up. many thanks.
charlize2 pcb has very clear markings on the pcb denoting 12v and gnd.
yeo
hello keo: HELP. i have wired charlize carefull according to your instructions. input voltage is negative at the board only, as you indicate, but i keep getting 12 volts dc at the outputs. i have gone over the wiring many times. there are no shorts. what do i do next?