• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Topping LA90 Review (Integrated Amplifier)

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 35 4.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 50 6.2%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 193 24.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 524 65.3%

  • Total voters
    802

JSmith

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 8, 2021
Messages
5,153
Likes
13,220
Location
Algol Perseus
What’s $350?
Everything should be tree fiddy... I always need tree fiddy;

qqa7ok.jpg
;)


JSmith
 

Billy Budapest

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Messages
1,812
Likes
2,688
No, not awesome when you can spend this money and get very similar performance and real world power.
The only amplifiers with “real world power” (whatever that means) that come close to the LA90’s noise and distortion measurements are priced in excess of $1000, and the closest one is $3500.
 
Last edited:

hyfynut

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
99
Likes
71
"real world power" for $800 is more than 80 watts at 4 ohms. Let's call it for arguments sake 120w a channel or greater at 8 ohms. Also let's not forget that even though this amps numbers are incredible (at about 80w) you can't here the difference in distortion between the next bunch of amps on the Sinad chart and this one so I'll gladly take a higher inaudible distortion number to get more power.
 
Last edited:

hyfynut

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
99
Likes
71
And people before were complaining that the PA-5 is overpriced.

Now people are complaining that 80wpc is not enough for them. Really.

Lots of trolling in this thread.
Seems like 2 completely different complaints about 2 different products. Or do you call anything other than complete adulation trolling?
 

IPunchCholla

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Messages
1,102
Likes
1,384
"real world power" for $800 is more than 80 watts at 4 ohms. Let's call it for arguments sake 120w a channel or greater at 8 ohms. Also let's not forget that even though this amps numbers are incredible (at about 80w) you can't here the difference in distortion between the next bunch of amps on the Sinad chart and this one so I'll gladly take a higher inaudible distortion number to get more power.
Your example is only 5 dB louder. But I agree with your point. But the options aren’t as prevalent as I would like. Here is a screen capture of the amps over 80 SINAD (my threshold given listening style and need for headroom) that have been reviewed. Is there a $400 to $800 dollar amp that does 150-160 into 8ohms at a reasonable SINAD, flat response, and low distortion across the spectrum? The only one I’m seeing on the list is the Outlaw 2200. It’s frequency response isn’t great, but it gets you 200 watts into 8 ohms and two channels would be about the same cost as the LA90. But if you don’t need the power (and many people don’t since 8/16 watts 4/8 ohms will give you 90 dBSPL at a 2 meter distance with 90db/watt/meter speakers), the LA90 is a bit better in some perhaps audible ways, much better in inaudible ways.

1DEE9630-D056-46F2-9693-780B8D8AE20F.png
 
Last edited:

eboleyn

Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
92
Likes
98
Location
Portland/OR/USA
"real world power" for $800 is more than 80 watts at 4 ohms. Let's call it for arguments sake 120w a channel or greater at 8 ohms. Also let's not forget that even though this amps numbers are incredible (at about 80w) you can't here the difference in distortion between the next bunch of amps on the Sinad chart and this one so I'll gladly take a higher inaudible distortion number to get more power.

I'm not sure why you're spending all this effort dissing the Topping LA90, which is a confirmed achievement in low distortion measurements at anywhere near that level of power output at any price, much less sub-$1000 which is unheard of in the audiophile world.

If you don't need or want this kind of insanely low distortion at moderate power, then don't buy it.

As to the implication that nobody would ever need this level of low distortion, well "need" is relative, but there are scenarios you could construct where one could indeed tell the difference (low volume but high sensitivity), though given the huge range involved it's probably rare.

For others maybe this is a "bought a giant pickup truck or sports car but just use it for commuting" case, and while you can laugh about people who "buy more than they need for an application", it's not exactly a huge splurge in this case compared to the various random audiophile buys out there, haha... (says the guy who is seriously thinking of getting an LA90).
 

mdsimon2

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 20, 2020
Messages
2,478
Likes
3,316
Location
Detroit, MI
Your example is only 5 dB louder. But I agree with your point. But the options aren’t as prevalent as I would like. Here is a screen capture of the amps over 80 SINAD (my threshold given listening style and need for headroom) that have been reviewed. Is there a $400 to $800 dollar amp that does 150-160 into 8ohms at a reasonable SINAD, flat response, and low distortion across the spectrum? The only one I’m seeing on the list is the Outlaw 2200. It’s frequency response isn’t great, but it gets you 200 watts into 8 ohms and two channels would be about the same cost as the LA90. But if you don’t need the power (and many people don’t since 8/16 watts 4/8 ohms will give you 90 dBSPL at a 2 meter distance with 90db/watt/meter speakers), the LA90 is a bit better in some perhaps audible ways, much better in inaudible ways.

View attachment 209669

Obvious answer is the plethora of Hypex NC252MP (~150 W x 2 in to 8 ohm) and NC502MP (~350 W x 2 in to 8 ohm) based amps available for less than $800, offering 95+ dB SINAD at 5 W in to 4 ohm and spec’d stability down to 2 ohm. I would also argue Hypex has a much better reliability track record than Topping.

Michael
 

hyfynut

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
99
Likes
71

I'm not sure why you're spending all this effort dissing the Topping LA90, which is a confirmed achievement in low distortion measurements at anywhere near that level of power output at any price, much less sub-$1000 which is unheard of in the audiophile world.

If you don't need or want this kind of insanely low distortion at moderate power, then don't buy it.

As to the implication that nobody would ever need this level of low distortion, well "need" is relative, but there are scenarios you could construct where one could indeed tell the difference (low volume but high sensitivity), though given the huge range involved it's probably rare.

For others maybe this is a "bought a giant pickup truck or sports car but just use it for commuting" case, and while you can laugh about people who "buy more than they need for an application", it's not exactly a huge splurge in this case compared to the various random audiophile buys out there, haha... (says the guy who is seriously thinking of getting an LA90).
It's really no effort at all. Yes the specs are incredible. But I would imagine they should be for an $800 32 watt amp. I doubt that any distortion differences above sinad of 90 are audible regardless of how sensitive your speakers and ears are, especially since the distortion your speakers produce will more than make up for it. Everything above that point is for bragging rights. It's got nothing to do with the level of distortion anybody needs. It's all about us not being able to hear it.
Now I don't know who would call an amp that can produce 120w into 8 ohms a "giant pickup truck" in this scenerio. That's a considerable exaggeration. A better comparison would be perhaps a mincooper vs a sedan.
 
Last edited:

IPunchCholla

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Messages
1,102
Likes
1,384
Obvious answer is the plethora of Hypex NC252MP (~150 W x 2 in to 8 ohm) and NC502MP (~350 W x 2 in to 8 ohm) based amps available for less than $800, offering 95+ dB SINAD at 5 W in to 4 ohm and spec’d stability down to 2 ohm. I would also argue Hypex has a much better reliability track record than Topping.

Michael
I was forgetting those. Ice power builds also show a lot of promise. It would be good to get more reviews of those. Didn’t the VTV have some issues? The review index isn’t working on my phone. Buckeyes’ look like a great bargain. I actually enquired about one, but they were out until August (this was in March). But your right, I personally would go with one of those over the LA90.
 

eboleyn

Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
92
Likes
98
Location
Portland/OR/USA
I doubt that any distortion differences above sinad of 90 are audible regardless of how sensitive your speakers and ears are, especially since the distortion your speakers produce will more than make up for it.
While I would mostly agree, it is getting in the Zone of some headphone amps, and as someone who can hear the noise floor on some supposedly low distortion amps, pushing further into the zone of "no-way can we hear distortion or noise" has appeal. Well-made speaker driver units decrease the ... I guess I'll call it the "distortion floor" as the signal goes down. Amps do not, so there are some boundary cases where that low-level noise indeed injects itself in.

Everything above that point is for bragging rights. It's got nothing to do with the level of distortion anybody needs. It's all about us not being able to hear it.
Let's say you're right, for the sake of argument. How often are >$1000, >$5000, >$10000, etc. audiophile things arguably well out of the zone of someone being able to tell the difference? A lot! People still want them sometimes, and the entire market of high-end audio exists for that purpose. There are >$10000 audiophile tube amps that produce only a handful of watts and they get purchased regularly for the properties people want from them. In this case it's really not in that super-costly zone, being still sub-$1000.

Now I don't know who would call an amp that can produce 120w into 8 ohms a "giant pickup truck" in this scenerio. That's a considerable exaggeration. A better comparison would be perhaps a mincooper vs a sedan.
Haha, sure. I was just trying to make the example of "buying something you don't need". Maybe a car that has absolutely insanely accurate handling better than super-sports-cars but can only go 60 mph? Haha.
 

Billy Budapest

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Messages
1,812
Likes
2,688
Seems like 2 completely different complaints about 2 different products. Or do you call anything other than complete adulation trolling?
The people who complain the loudest usually gave the least relevant things to say, that’s all. Legitimate criticism is one thing. Ridiculousness is another.
 

Billy Budapest

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Messages
1,812
Likes
2,688
you can't here the difference in distortion between the next bunch of amps on the Sinad chart and this one so I'll gladly take a higher inaudible distortion number to get more power.
That is a legitimate viewpoint. No one is arguing that the noise and distortion performance the LA90 achieves is audible. But to get near its envelope-pushing performance in that area, you need to spend a heck of a lot more than $800, with the notable exception of another Topping product which people similarly slammed for being “too expensive” and “underpowered.”

People like to complain just to hear their own voices and to see if they can bait others. That’s called trolling.
 

Billy Budapest

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Messages
1,812
Likes
2,688
It's really no effort at all. Yes the specs are incredible. But I would imagine they should be for an $800 32 watt amp. I doubt that any distortion differences above sinad of 90 are audible regardless of how sensitive your speakers and ears are, especially since the distortion your speakers produce will more than make up for it. Everything above that point is for bragging rights. It's got nothing to do with the level of distortion anybody needs. It's all about us not being able to hear it.
Now I don't know who would call an amp that can produce 120w into 8 ohms a "giant pickup truck" in this scenerio. That's a considerable exaggeration. A better comparison would be perhaps a mincooper vs a sedan.
There is no practical difference between an 80wpc amp and a 120wpc amp if you are considering power output alone. It can get probably 1-2% louder at maximum volume—I can’t even guess how many dB that is but it’s got to be less than 1dB.
 

IPunchCholla

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Messages
1,102
Likes
1,384
There is no practical difference between an 80wpc amp and a 120wpc amp if you are considering power output alone. It can get probably 1-2% louder at maximum volume—I can’t even guess how many dB that is but it’s got to be less than 1dB.
1.8 dB
 
Top Bottom