Sparkos Op-Amps - Magic Beans or Musical Bliss? Fosi BT20A Pro Install 

Worked for Bell Laboratories for decades and was into HIFI deep from the 70's through the 90's, Had a Rotel integrated in the 90's that used average sounding op amps, I had some old non functioning CD players and I pulled the buffer chips out of those. JRC has some decent sounding op amps, but I really liked the Ti TL082 J-FET package. But only the Hecho in Mexico - for some odd reason the Fabriqué En CHINE units had poor sound (silicon die possibly wirebonded with Al wire instead of Au, then possibly poor metallurgy on the DIP leads). I will say, Don't like gain limiting feedback chip operational amplifiers in any audio circuit Period. p.s.: Scientists and engineers at Bell labs invented the LASER, the MASER the 300B triode, the Transistor and Westrex Motion Picture Sound. And ... the Stereo LP. Cheers! - Sandy the Ancient Boston Audiophile

Ha I have no doubts there, glad I didn’t let any of the magic smoke out of these two!

Hey Frank, yep spot on, such a simple upgrade as well.

Sparko here - glad to hear that you are liking the devices :)

I had the same results. Actually needed to turn my sub level down, because of the added low- end extension.

@@andrewsparks3157 so... "Sparkos Inside" decal??? If I ever sell my A07, those Op Amps are staying with me!

@@ADREISTER 🤡🤡

Thank you!

No problem 👍

Sure thing! Thanks for the support

I have heard positive notes about that Geshelli as well, I should try to get my hands on one sooner than later.

​​​​@@MattCoykendall1 yes you should. I have a standard J2 AKM with linear PSU, and more recently, added the J2 S using Sparkos SS2590 Pro's + linear PSU and upgraded dc cable. This setup has now replaced an older >$3k DAC/PSU combo in my main system. I think that a real testimonial to Geshelli &Sparkos Labs as well as a nod to the maturing of digital technology over the last few years.

​@@kenlyon8285 I am actually on their site doing a bit of reading right now.

@@MattCoykendall1 just give Sherri @ Geshelli a buzz. Very helpful folks.

@@MattCoykendall1 definitely! I bought the Fosi BT20A Pro and love it "as is" but might try rolling the op-amps one day for fun. Thanks for the video showing exactly how to do that without damaging the amp.

Hey Ken, glad you enjoyed the combo with the Fosi as well. As for the tip-toeing... yes, some topics require a delicate touch.

@@MattCoykendall1 yes. I imagine the life of a RU-vid megastar requires a delicate balance and superior restraint.😃

@@kenlyon8285 LOL megastar is a bit of a stretch, more like gain of sand on the beach, but I'm trying, we are growing!

Glad to hear that you are liking the devices :)

Devin you certainly have went down the rabbit hole! Have fun with it!

Nice! Plus the modding in general is fun.

I know this feeling!

Very well said & you're totally right about going with something better & definitely the part about if the chip cost more then the amp part 👍🏿🤦🏿🤷🏿

Sounds almost like the thumbnail for the video with the added hole in the case ha!

It does !. Also, due to a drill disaster, I scratched up the casework, so I ended up painting it in the style of Mondrian. It now looks either cool or ridiculous depending on your point of view.

due to the fact that the Burson op amps are taller they also offer a " soft " riser that is made from small wires so you can lay the opamp down on its side and pretty much fit the opamp anywhere to where the wires reach by bending them over slightly...

Hey sounds like a great little system your putting together. I can’t speak on the synergy of the J2S 3602 along with 3602’s in the V3, I haven’t had that combo yet, yes you will need risers for the V3, it’s a tight fit.

Appreciate it

Hey Kevin, I did test this with Bluetooth, the Bluetooth actually varies a lot between these little amps. This one has pretty good performance as far as the implementation goes, range and quality. You should notice a difference with the Sparko’s. I still have mine installed in that same amp, sounds great.

sir what other op amp have test? what op amp is close to sound of tube? ( sweet, mild, bass)

@@jericlee1509 Keep in mind that no one OpAmp will give you a total transformation. I've been experimenting with OpAmps now for over two years, and here are my observations/recommendations: 1. For the most part, I've found that the Discrete (remember that word - Discrete) OpAmps wind up giving you the greatest improvements in sound quality. This includes improvements in instrumental timbre, overall sound tonality, and warmth. Of course, Discrete Op Amps are also more expensive. 2. Of all the IC (small) Op Amps that you notice inside of class D amplifiers, I have found that the MUSES02 (in my opinion) is the best of that variety. Now the MUSES02 will still set you back in the $40+ USD price range. 3. Of the Discrete Op Amps, there are 3 that I can strongly recommend, those being: a. Burson V5i - this one may run you from the $40 - $50 range (depending on where you get it from) and is roughly 1 - 2 times larger in size than the regular IC based Op Amps. It adds (again, in my opinion) more overall warmth, better instrumental timbre, more dynamics, and better bass response. But do remember that there are some class D amplifiers that already a built-in tonal curve to accentuate the bass and there's not much you can do about that. What discrete Op Amps might do is to try and make that bass tighter and more dynamic. The website address to that OpAmp is here: www.bursonaudio.com/product/supreme-sound-opamp-v5i/ b. The 2nd recommendation that I can make, and this one is most expensive of the bunch (but not necessarily the best overall) is the Burson V6 classic - but I'll tell you right now that it may NOT fit most of the budget class D amps because it is very tall and that may interfere with the amplifier casing. That runs from $89 to $100 USD, depending on where you buy it from. The website address to that OpAmp is here: www.bursonaudio.com/product/supreme-sound-opamp-v6/ c. The final recommendation, and in my opinion, the best (again, remember, I'm offering personal opinions here based on experimentation), is the Sparkos Labs SS3602. Now this OpAmp is much larger width-wise (around 3-4 times larger an an IC), is priced between the Burson V5i and the Burson V6 classic. Overall, it has a warmer tonality - spread through the entire frequency range, not just one particular area. It demonstrates great dynamics, superb highs, and a very nice midrange. It cost (before discount) - $79.80 USD, however new customers usually get a discount which ranges 15-20% off). If you are a repeat customer (you have to be a repeat customer though), the 20% repeat discount can be had with the code: RETURN20. The website for this OpAmp is: sparkoslabs.com/product/dual-discrete-op-amp-ss3602/ In the end, there is no one OpAmp that makes an amplifier sound "just" like a Tube Amp. What these OpAmps do is to change the personality and tonality of the amp and no two users will have the same musical tastes on how they prefer their music to sound. With budget amps, I've long since found out that the Sparkos Labs OpAmps give you a huge bang for the buck and inches your amp closer to that Class AB or Hybrid Tube sound. Good luck:

@@MrBenherrmann thanks so much, really help, have heard or try of staccato op amp?

@@jericlee1509 Not off hand - I haven't heard of that one.

@@jericlee1509 I've tried a variety of the small IC based ones. They have limitations and the right now, the only Discrete versions I can recommend are those I recommended in my previous reply.

Yes but I believe you do require the risers for a A07 that I show in this video.

@@MattCoykendall1 that falls in line with other things I’ve heard , thank you!

If it smooths things out, you are removing detail, it's as simple as that. Just like a valve amplifier.

@@MichaelBeeny it wasnt detail. it was harsh..exaggerated.. ears are different

Agreed, 2 BT20A's would have been optimal. I wouldn't doubt the Fosi sounds better but the Cambridge will open you up to a lot more inputs.

Yep, I need to be fair being this is my subjective take.

@@MattCoykendall1 and that’s why I sub’d. I appreciate you.

They do, it’s a tight fit.

I just got my Fosi BT20A Pro and AirPlay from my iPhone through a very old Apple Airport Express WiFi wireless router extender A1264 with 3.5mm audio jack. You can get one under $20. The sound quality is more dynamic than the Bluetooth route.

you have upgraded op amp everywhere

Yes, as long as the speaker is sensitive enough, anything with a mid to high sensitivity should be fine at reasonable volumes.

Hook this amp up to a pair of Heresys or L-100s and you're in for a real treat. The TPA3255 chip will drive almost any speaker you can find to room filling volume.

@@MattCoykendall1 Thanks for reply. Can we attach equalizer?

You can flip chips in any of these amplifiers with only the right screwdriver to open the case and a pair of tweezers. No soldering involved. The Op-Amps will be in sockets so it's a pull out, push in deal just like Matt showed in the video. No... you do not need a different power supply. In fact flipping on the stock 32volt supply that comes with the amp seems (can't swear to "is") more pronounced. But even if you did need a different power supply, the new one would simply plug into the back of the amp, like the stock one does... unplug the old, plug in the new.

I'm not sure what you're talking about on the back of the amp. My dac has 32 multibit dacs, 16 per board. The dude from sparkos just said i would need more power supply per board running 32 total i/v converter single opamps and a pair of duals for outputs. I basically need to change my capacitors to higher capacitance and/or higher voltage. I just don't know how much more and if all the caps around each dac and i/v discrete or just around the i/v discrete or just the main larger power supply caps before the voltage regulators or ALL of the above. I'm not tech savvy with this kind of stuff, but neither is my local tech and i would need exact directions to give him to do the work which requires soldering. I've also read some say that you can't just increase voltage or capacitance to designs without doing calculations or something so i cant just say, hey tech put in the biggest capacitors you can fit physically on the board@@Douglas_Blake_579

@@HailKingCeezer Okay ... so now I discover you're not even talking about the BT20A amplifier. Sorry, can't help you without a lot more specifics about your equipment...

I actually moved the Sparkos op-amps over to the new V3, they will likely live in that one until something new comes along to experiment with. It was a tight fit on the v3 and does require a riser but its doable.

@@MattCoykendall1 Maybe you will give your opinion on the sound of the 2 amps? I find the V3 much better.

not to mention that as the 5532 was the standard in the audio professional equipment for decades, it means that amost all the music existing on the planet has passed trough tens of 5532 before reaching the final customer. So the claim is that the change of the last final opamp in the chain will magically recovers all the sound quality lost during all the production process? I claim that a change in sound is necessarily measurable. If a change is measured, so it mean that the original signal has been distorted in some way. the so called "subjective" changes that can't be objectively measured are a bullshit. it's a reaction to a belief and bias. if you like the "smoothness" and other magic words introduced by distortion in a signal up to you, but don't pretend it's a more pure sound.

No, most are class AB or class A

If I just spent $80 on a preamp chip. I KNOW it will sound better! lol. Wont it?

@@MichaelBeeny Not necessarily. It's about the requiremenrs of the circuit, supply voltage, slew rate, needs compensation or not, type of input (JFET, FET, bipolar, etc). The opamp is only a part of the equation, opamp rolling is funny (I have done it), but to date I haven't done any test where one opamp magically sounds better than the rest, just because it's more expensive. If that be true, you'd see plenty of evidence and countless YT videos.....

Always good options as well.

Warmer usually means, loss of detail. Fuller means added harmonics. Valves basically.

DaTa! MuSt hAvE dAtA! I dOn'T bElIeVe PeOpLe WhEn tHeY uSe ThEiR wOrDs! /s

@@kraig7777 I have no idea what you are talking about. Try English.

@@MichaelBeeny woosh

You listen with your ears, not an HP spectrum analyser. Instruments are used in design to confirm proper functioning and stable circuit. DATA, specs. Are you measuring the correct attributes? Forget % THD- it's virtually useless. This is for product brochure one upmanship. Ask Sparkos for data. Cheers! Sandy - Bell Labs Engineer (ret.) and long time Boston Audiophile