Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

[DanielT]

I don't have a PA5 but just got curious. 36% have stated defective. On an amp that is roughly around 7 months old at most.

This is not difficult. Remove it from the market. Responsible for Topping: Return to the drawing board and test and test again. After that you release a new amplifier. Consider this PA5 a mistake. Money back to those who bought one. Then damage control and build on the brand in terms of reliability.

Edit:
What I just wrote has probably already been covered in the thread, in which case I apologize for the repetition. But the thread is 35 pages long. I can't bear to read all those pages.

 

[Doodski]

I don't have a PA5 just was curious. 36% have stated defective. On an amp that is roughly around 7 months old at most.

This is not difficult. Remove it from the market. Responsible for Topping: Return to the drawing board and test and test again. After that you release a new amplifier. Consider this PA5 a mistake. Money back to those who bought one. Then damage control and build on the brand in terms of reliability.

The issue is that the issues keep coming. Can't make and release models and then have to refund for them. Life does not work that way.

 

[delta76]

I don't have a PA5 but just got curious. 36% have stated defective. On an amp that is roughly around 7 months old at most.

This is not difficult. Remove it from the market. Responsible for Topping: Return to the drawing board and test and test again. After that you release a new amplifier. Consider this PA5 a mistake. Money back to those who bought one. Then damage control and build on the brand in terms of reliability.

Edit:
What I just wrote has probably already been covered in the thread, in which case I apologize for the repetition. But the thread is 35 pages long. I can't bear to read all those pages.

People with good PA5 usually just enjoy it. It is much more likely for people with defective ones searched for solutions, found the thread, and vote.

I completely agree the defective rate is unacceptably high, but if I have to guess I would say something closer to 20%. This is already 10x the bad case of 2% failure rate

 

[DanielT]

The issue is that the issues keep coming. Can't make and release models and then have to refund for them. Life does not work that way.

Well, not BUT 36% defective on a gadget that's new. It's bad. Really bad.

Is the PA5 still being sold? Are the errors fixed? What do you mean keep coming? The errors? Does Topping see customers as beta testers who pay full price for a product they have not tested for durability and reliability?

 

[Doodski]

What do you mean keep coming?

Differing models with issues keep coming.

 

[DanielT]

Differing models with issues keep coming.

Different models of PA5?
If that's the case, isn't it quite simple? Stop selling it until the bugs are fixed. Or have I missed something now?

If the PA5 needs, in some parts, to be redesigned, surely Topping can fix that?

... 36%...

Edit:
Solve the problems of PA5, protect the reputation of the brand.

 

[jevchance]

Where a PA5 has failed, is it a consistent left-channel issue?

Serial number #2201, not a problem at the moment.

Here to report a failure of the left channel. This is my second failure, as the first arrived with a DOA power supply. Mine was connected directly to a E50 via balanced connectors.

Mine is also a serial #2201 unit.

Here's a timeline for reference:

1. Ordered from Amazon (seller: Aoshida HIFI-US) 3/18/2022
2. Arrived 3/19/2022. First unit DOA, bad power supply.
3. Hooked up 3/21/2022. Sounds great, extremely happy. Never experienced any crackle.
4. Purchased a Marantz amp to replace it, disconnected 7/24/2022. Powered off, then unplugged speaker cables, then unplugged power adapter.
5. Installed in my office 7/28/2022, left channel dead upon hookup. Unit was powered off when hooked up to speakers.
6. Contacted Topping support 7/28/2022. They agreed the unit is faulty and bounced back to the reseller.
7. Contacted Aoshida HIFI-US 7/29/2022, waiting for a response.

Video proof that I am experiencing the issue and not a troll, as this appears to be a concern for some:

 

[Doodski]

Different models of PA5?

Different models does not include the PA5. There are multiple models as we know.

 

[DanielT]

Different models does not include the PA5. There are multiple models as we know.

Okay, but I didn't understand anything from what you just said. Different "multiple models". Not PA5? Topping,..what? Various Topping amplifiers, which are sold, on the market now? Or what do you mean?

Edit:
PA5 is a product from Topping. But you cannot automatically generalize the problems with this to other Topping products. If that's what you mean, I agree with you.

 

[jevchance]

Okay, but I didn't understand anything from what you just said. Different "multiple models". Not PA5? Topping,..what? Various Topping amplifiers, which are sold, on the market now? Or what do you mean?

Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

Currently suffering from a similar problem, sound on the right speaker cuts out sometimes, and i get random plopping sounds on occasion, i just switched the cables.( Left/Right).. Lets see what happcheck the transport units first. Yeh definitely check cables or if streaming see if it’s router...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[DanielT]

Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

Currently suffering from a similar problem, sound on the right speaker cuts out sometimes, and i get random plopping sounds on occasion, i just switched the cables.( Left/Right).. Lets see what happcheck the transport units first. Yeh definitely check cables or if streaming see if it’s router...

www.audiosciencereview.com

That was a good response from Topping.

 

[Doodski]

That was a good response from Topping.

ermmm... From...>>> Jul 13, 2022

 

[DanielT]

ermmm... From...>>> Jul 13, 2022

Okay but. Quote from Topping that you referenced:

".. the PA5 failure rate is slightly higher than our PA3s, LA90, MX5."

How much?

"But since the failure rate is still within the normal range, .."

By what kind of definition?

.".and even if the product fails, it won't cause more harm, so we didn't stop selling."

...Harm to whom?

"But we knew it would affect the user experience, so we took action and researched."

That was good.

Edit:
What you referenced from Topping was on page 25. After that others must have asked the basic questions I now did. I will read the thread. Damn why did I start this. I don't own a PA5.

 

[MAB]

Here to report a failure of the left channel. This is my second failure, as the first arrived with a DOA power supply. Mine was connected directly to a E50 via balanced connectors.

Mine is also a serial #2201 unit.

Here's a timeline for reference:

1. Ordered from Amazon (seller: Aoshida HIFI-US) 3/18/2022
2. Arrived 3/19/2022. First unit DOA, bad power supply.
3. Hooked up 3/21/2022. Sounds great, extremely happy. Never experienced any crackle.
4. Purchased a Marantz amp to replace it, disconnected 7/24/2022. Powered off, then unplugged speaker cables, then unplugged power adapter.
5. Installed in my office 7/28/2022, left channel dead upon hookup. Unit was powered off when hooked up to speakers.
6. Contacted Topping support 7/28/2022. They agreed the unit is faulty and bounced back to the reseller.
7. Contacted Aoshida HIFI-US 7/29/2022, waiting for a response.

Video proof that I am experiencing the issue and not a troll, as this appears to be a concern for some:

Sorry to hear.
It looks like Aoshida addressed the power supply issue rapidly.
Keep us posted on how the warranty service on the PA5 amp progresses since you are outside of the Aoshida 30-day return window.
We have observed that the reseller has asked the customer to pay the bill for warranty return shipping to China. And they have asked that the customer to mark the item with really low value (like $20) to avoid customs duties, which also puts the burden on you if the item is lost in transit (which is what happened to me with another reseller). Would like to hear if they are still using the same method despite this being an ongoing issue.

 

[MAB]

Okay but. Quote from Topping that you referenced:

".. the PA5 failure rate is slightly higher than our PA3s, LA90, MX5."

How much?

"But since the failure rate is still within the normal range, .."

By what kind of definition?

.".and even if the product fails, it won't cause more harm, so we didn't stop selling."

...Harm to whom?

"But we knew it would affect the user experience, so we took action and researched."

That was good.

I think what @Doodski is saying, Topping released this statement then did nothing. I must have posted a dozen times here directly referencing them, and sent PMs too, but heard nothing. For instance post #639, a week after this initial message:

I'm gonna try again. I request that you respond this time.
I specifically asked for help (PM and posted to this thread). I don't need to go over the details again. Are you going to help?

I will say it seems John Yang has gotten the resellers moving in the right direction, at least in my case with my second Topping return (A30 Pro in this case). But I am not ready to give Topping Service a good rating yet!

 

[MAB]

Edit:
What you referenced from Topping was on page 25. After that others must have asked the basic questions I now did. I will read the thread. Damn why did I start this. I don't own a PA5.

I know the feeling!
Hard to follow the bouncing ball. I tried to summarize in my other post!

 

[raest]

Is the PA5 still being sold?

yes

Are the errors fixed?

not even close

What do you mean keep coming? The errors?

the errors definitely keep coming. i'm not the only one whose replacement unit kicked the bucket

Does Topping see customers as beta testers who pay full price for a product they have not tested for durability and reliability?

well... yeah. they only have "the most advanced QC in hifi", why would they test when we can and pay them for it? it worked for videogames, surely it will translate beautifully to Amplifiers and other hifi electronics!

 

[Holmz]

…
I completely agree the defective rate is unacceptably high, but if I have to guess I would say something closer to 20%. This is already 10x the bad case of 2% failure rate

With most engieering stuff a failure in design could make it 100% bad.
I suppose some part is getting stressed in a way that 20, 30 or 40% of that part fails.

…
Edit:
PA5 is a product from Topping. But you cannot automatically generalize the problems with this to other Topping products. If that's what you mean, I agree with you.

But we could extrapolate that the QC and testing is stressed across the range to not allow resources for thorough foir best practices.
If money needs to be cut from somewhere, then it is hard to cut it from design and manufacturing… so it needs to come out of individual parts, labour rates, or QC.

 

[jevchance]

Sorry to hear.
It looks like Aoshida addressed the power supply issue rapidly.
Keep us posted on how the warranty service on the PA5 amp progresses since you are outside of the Aoshida 30-day return window.
We have observed that the reseller has asked the customer to pay the bill for warranty return shipping to China. And they have asked that the customer to mark the item with really low value (like $20) to avoid customs duties, which also puts the burden on you if the item is lost in transit (which is what happened to me with another reseller). Would like to hear if they are still using the same method despite this being an ongoing issue.

A clarification: Aoshida didn't address the issue rapidly, Amazon did. The item was sold by Aoshida, fulfilled by Amazon. Now I'm outside of Amazon's 30 day window, so it's on Aoshida to make good. Fingers crossed.

Sorry to hear yours was lost in shipping, that's just terrible.

 

[Rottmannash]

1) You're trusting what a rep told you. (Talk about faith) Wouldn't you think if these issues were truly resolved, this would have been stated by topping somewhere, if not here, then anywhere would suffice.
After Topping has already been notified of the issues by members here and also Amir, It just seems strange they have not made a statement which anyone so far is aware of. But the Apo's rep knows.
2) Nice they are providing a shipping label for a defective product still under warranty. But why should you be paying shipment for a replacement product? I'm almost sure you paid to have the original one purchased to be shipped to you, so doesn't seem right you are paying to have the replacement unit shipped.

You have just made another great post of why I wouldn't want to play the Topping lottery. Anyways, hope it works out for you in the end.

@JohnYang1997 stated on ASR a couple days ago they don't know what's causing the problem so how could they have possibly have fixed it on newer units?