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Topping PA3 Review (Stereo Amplifier)

Bob from Florida

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It's true, announced on Topping's Facebook page
Google could not find it and the distributor does not mention it. Not being familiar with Toppings product announcements - checking Facebook never occurred to me.
 

bahamot

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It's coming, it's on topping fb and shenzenaudio fb.
Screenshot_20210915-205501_Facebook.jpg
 

JohnYang1997

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Hi @JohnYang1997, is this the first of the 3 ones we are expecting?
I have somewhere at the back of my memory some rumours of 3 amps, two integrated amps and one monobloc. A first one for desktop usage, another one for the living room (more power)... But I think that the expected chasis was a D90-matching one, at least for the integrated amps (with the more powerful one being "taller" than the desktop option... are these rumours still alive?
Not one of those. And those are still coming.
 

jst

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Any spec yet for the s ?

How much is PA3 in your countries, guys ? Cheapest I can find is 64 usd in Indonesia. Kinda surprising since everywhere else it's 100+. Thought it would be cheaper on aliexpress but no. Market value varies wildly, sometimes I wonder where the store gets their product much much cheaper from.

Anyway, I don't understand electronic/technical stuffs, can anyone tell in easier-to-digest words as to why pa3 is bad ?
 
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gvl

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Rather nothing special than bad, distortion is a bit high, but likely not very audible for general use.
 
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Toku

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Any spec yet for the s ?

How much is PA3 in your countries, guys ? Cheapest I can find is 64 usd in Indonesia. Kinda surprising since everywhere else it's 100+. Thought it would be cheaper on aliexpress but no. Market value varies wildly, sometimes I wonder where the store gets their product much much cheaper from.

Anyway, I don't understand electronic/technical stuffs, can anyone tell in easier-to-digest words as to why pa3 is bad ?
In my understanding, the PA3 is a model that has already been discontinued and has been discontinued. It seems that there is still distribution stock in the market, but it is not as popular as products such as AIYIMA.

The PA3s is the successor model and one of the two RCA inputs has been changed to a TRS balanced input.
I would like you to change the amplifier chip from STMicro TDA7498E to TPA3255 or MA12070, but if it remains TDA7498E as before, it will not be attractive at all.
 

DSJR

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I posted earlier about distortion levels and it's amazing how far we've come in forty years, even if our ears on their own (blindfolded in other words) can't hear the difference so much. The mid 80's UK HiFi Choice books are quite happy with solid state distortion in the -70dB region as well as 19-20kHz IMD at around -50dB and of course the growing high-end-guru status of the author at this time means a total mental block and objective denial as regards valve gear offering worse than -40dB distortion levels, as they still sounded great to the panel (I learned to read between the lines of this reviewer as he became a master of damning with seemingly generous praise... Some far eastern models, despite measuring superbly with test tones, seemingly weren't very good at driving real world loudspeaker loads back then and a couple of superbly measuring Sony ES models came out badly subjectively (I suspect sighted) - I also suspect the phono stages let them down rather than the line inputs in the days when CD was viewed with intense suspicion...
 
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JohnYang1997

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Any timeline update?
The relatively low power one hopefully will come this year. But eventually our bets are on class D amps. Class AB will still be larger, heavier and more expensive. Don't get me wrong I love to achieve best that I can so the higher power class AB amps are still coming.
 

Toku

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UAN

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PA3s are the answer to the new SMSL amplifiers. In PA3s there is no bluetooth, tone control and other functions that are not necessary for sound quality. And the price is competitive. Success is assured!
 

pma

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So why not to compare this "SOTA" amplifier with the 20 years old consumer electronics Yamaha as it performs without any repair after 20 years?


I can see no progress in analog power amplifiers other than miniaturization. Everything else is worse.
 

UAN

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I had a Yamaha AX-496 amplifier, hard, exhausting sound and very good objective parameters. Suitable only for discos.
Now the amplifier is on the MA12070 chip, I really like the sound of this class D amplifier.
 

MCH

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Topping, a bit of VOC for free for you. It is getting too many little boxes with the too many power supply units. Make one of these with a decent headphone amp and my money is yours. The common use case for these things justifies it. If it needs to be 1 cm bigger let it be.
 

Matias

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So why not to compare this "SOTA" amplifier with the 20 years old consumer electronics Yamaha as it performs without any repair after 20 years?


I can see no progress in analog power amplifiers other than miniaturization. Everything else is worse.
The current model measures better and costs 150 usd only. More powerful amps are coming soon.
 

VeerK

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The relatively low power one hopefully will come this year. But eventually our bets are on class D amps. Class AB will still be larger, heavier and more expensive. Don't get me wrong I love to achieve best that I can so the higher power class AB amps are still coming.
Low power class AB D90/A90 form factor? I remember you were having difficulty with heat dissipation in chassis last year, I’m just waiting to see if I can match my existing gear instead of getting Benchmark AHB2.
 

Toku

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I received the PA3s I ordered from Aoshida HiFi today and am testing it immediately. It has evolved significantly from the previous PA3.

I'm comparing the sound quality of the SMSL AO200 and Sbaj A20a, which use the same MA12070 chip in PBTL, side by side.
Almost no white noise can be heard from the SP when there is no sound.
Pop noise when turning the power on/off and switching the input is completely silent.
It's PA3 generated a lot of heat, but PA3s hardly feels heat.
t arrived and I can't talk about sound quality, but it's a good impression so far.
I knew in advance that the amp gain was low, but the volume would not be the same unless the volume position was raised a lot compared to other amps. On the other hand, I don't feel any gang error.
I have just arrived, but the first impression is very good.
 
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