Please convince me to wait for the Topping A50s.

[bonesy]

Newbie asking for advice please.

I have the Topping D50s/A50/P50 stack which I use with a pair of Sennheiser HD660S but I feel a bit disappointed with the A50 after a few weeks. I also have a Musical Fidelity V90-DAC and V90-HPA which I use with HD 598s and a Musical Fidelity M2si in a seperate system as well as an old Audiolab 8000A and a few DIY DACs so I've been able to mess around with all the combinations to test and the A50 is clearly letting the side down in my opinion. (The D50s sounds awesome with the MF V90-HPA btw).

Lockdown has got me thinking of buying a better headphone amp and demoting the A50 to being my bed-side amp for my phone. Should I wait for the Topping A50s or look to upgrade? I'm pretty convinced if I decide to upgrade it's going to put me on the road to at least 2 years of putting aside thousands for relatively minimal improvement on the D50s/A50s when I could get some very good 3-way speakers to go with my main hi-fi. If anyone can convince me otherwise I'd be happy to keep an open mind. Thanks.

 

[RayDunzl]

Newbie asking for advice please.

Welcome to ASR.

Advice?

Relax.

 

[bonesy]

Welcome to ASR.

Advice?

Relax.

Thank you. I shall try : )

 

[RayDunzl]

What's your question?

Looks like you can go sideways with a headphone amp, then you talk speakers.

I like speakers.

 

[bonesy]

What's your question?

Looks like you can go sideways with a headphone amp, then you talk speakers.

I like speakers.

Yeah, I like speakers. My current living situation has appalling room acoustics though and I've really got into using headphones of late. The speakers was just one of many options for an alternative way of spending my money. My question, when's the A50s coming out?

 

[Hemi-Demon]

East answer, get a used drop THX 789 for $250-$300, enjoy till you can get something better to taste (if need be).

 

[Berwhale]

What is disappointing about he A50? Have you tried EQ? And Welcome to ASR.

 

[gikigill]

The THX789 is now available for 300 new

 

[bonesy]

What is disappointing about he A50? Have you tried EQ? And Welcome to ASR.

Hello and thanks for the welcome. Disappointed relative to how impressed I am with the D50s for roughly the same price. There's something about how seperated the left and right channels sound that makes me feel like I'm being shouted at from either side rather than having an image presented to me. The 2.5mm balanced input has worked itself loose already but as I only really use the 6.35mm I've ignored it. I've been using the PEACE EQ program and loaded the 598 and 660s parameters in and they definitely improve both.

 

[DuxServit]

I’m very happy with Geshelli Archel2, better even than the THX789. I have both side by side. Using HD650 and FostexTH900 rev1.

 

[bonesy]

I’m very happy with Geshelli Archel2, better even than the THX789. I have both side by side. Using HD650 and FostexTH900 rev1.

They look interesting. What do you feed into it and does it make any difference to you un/balanced..?

 

[Berwhale]

There's something about how seperated the left and right channels sound that makes me feel like I'm being shouted at from either side rather than having an image presented to me.

I don't think the amp would be the cause of this unless it's faulty. Have you checked the HD660s to make sure that the polarity is not reversed on one of the earcups? The markings on the connectors should point outwards.

 

[Human Bass]

The 660s comes with a 4.4mm cable, the A50S has a 4.4mm output, so wait

 

[raif71]

The 660s comes with a 4.4mm cable, the A50S has a 4.4mm output, so wait

 

[Peib]

Im waiting for A50s too. I remember i was waiting for the first a50 since i bought d50 on summer 2018. Its april 2020 and nothing yet :S

 

[bonesy]

The 660s comes with a 4.4mm cable, the A50S has a 4.4mm output, so wait

I'll resist. If the SMSL M200 and SP200 weren't so ugly I might have been tempted.

 

[ReaderZ]

I'll resist. If the SMSL M200 and SP200 weren't so ugly I might have been tempted.

I think you can just buy from shenzhenaudio right now. But note someone says it has 4.4 balanced but on the product page on shenzhenaudio it says 2.5 balanced not 4.4, you may want to make sure it's what you wanted.

 

[bonesy]

I think you can just buy from shenzhenaudio right now. But note someone says it has 4.4 balanced but on the product page on shenzhenaudio it says 2.5 balanced not 4.4, you may want to make sure it's what you wanted.

I think you might be thinking of the A50. I'm talking about the A50s.

 

[jae]

Hello and thanks for the welcome. Disappointed relative to how impressed I am with the D50s for roughly the same price. There's something about how seperated the left and right channels sound that makes me feel like I'm being shouted at from either side rather than having an image presented to me. The 2.5mm balanced input has worked itself loose already but as I only really use the 6.35mm I've ignored it. I've been using the PEACE EQ program and loaded the 598 and 660s parameters in and they definitely improve both.

The A50 apparently measures quite decently and should have enough power, the output impedance is a bit high but this is not a problem for the higher impedance on the 660s. Assuming there's nothing wrong with your actual unit it sounds more like you dislike the 660s rather than the amp. That being said there are many better amps from a technical standpoint for the price or cheaper like JDS Atom, Magni heresy, SP200, geshelli etc.

 

[ReaderZ]

I think you might be thinking of the A50. I'm talking about the A50s.

ohhh, my mistake.