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Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

F1308

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Prices go elsewhere....


And I wish the XLR were at right angle, to lower the load on my keyboard synth jacks.
Found !!!!

 

Dennis_FL

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My wife has been bugging me to get rid of the "ugly" component rack and I keep telling her it is needed.

Now, with CDs and BluRays ripped to hard drives, Roon, and DACs plus the mini components the size of books, I can hide everything behind the chair. Or maybe somebody is making a mini component rack?
 

boXem

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It's Topping, they don't care. If it fires up your home the insurance won't cover this, at least in Germany.
They should care. The responsible is the importer on the EU territory, so sellers buying directly from Topping are responsible from the CE compliance.
 

Nango

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Grotti

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Congratulations to @JohnYoung1997 for this remarkable amplifier. Having breakfast right now and silently contemplating, if I should sell my Elac DPA-2 since I don't need it's max power at all. But please don't tell my wife... ;)
 

Sharpi31

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£350 delivered from Amazon UK, not available until at least 15th January though.

I might give it a try.

$350 inc. delivery to the UK from Shenzhenaudio. But you roll the dice when it comes to import VAT ;)

 

vaidd

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Is there any popping when turning it on/off, switching inputs, or plugging/unplugging TRS cables? Also looking forward to the teardown. Thanks for the review.
 

MZKM

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Sensitivity is 2.6 so if I understand correctly I probably shouldn't try it with my Denon x3700h?
Amir only tested it to 2Vrms, so unknown. He did however test the X6700 and ran the test higher and when the Denon is set to a volume of 90 (unclear what this is in Relative scale) then it can go up to 4.4Vrms before clipping, so loads more headroom then needed for this Topping. If that Denon has the amp disconnect feature then use that too.

Though the higher wattage of the Denon‘s internal amps likely outweighs the benefit of cleaner wattage offered by this Topping.
 

Mart68

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$350 inc. delivery to the UK from Shenzhenaudio. But you roll the dice when it comes to import VAT ;)

VAT at 20% is near enough the difference in the dollar/pound rate - so same price either way. Highly unlikely that you will dodge the VAT.

Either way it's cheap enough to take a punt on.
 

bloodshoteyed

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If only sellers were checking the CE compliance of what they sell. It's already available...
 

MZKM

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The Topping D90SE was shown to be able to do 5Vrms (125dB SINAD!).
Can someone more familiar with the math figure out what kind of wattage a larger brother to this beast could achieve using the same low (19dB) gain?
Would it be around ~125W 8ohm?
 
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hestejoe

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I guess that this would make many DACs the bottleneck in a system. Incredible performance for the price.

Also, it seems like 99% who are listening to music via stereo speakers could get this + a decent dac and then only wonder about which speakers to use.

Maybe we should inquire Amir to focus more on Speakers/Headphones from now on?
 
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H-713

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Yes. I am fully aware of how class-D amplifiers work and I have read that paper. Like I said, it depends on the application - just because it was designed as an audio amplifier does not mean that it cannot be used for other purposes. There are a few things (unrelated to the distortion) that make this somewhat interesting for other applications.

Amir's frequency response graph suggests it might do what I want, but I either need a plot with more data points or just a measured slew rate (which is what matters for this application).
 

daniboun

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Amir could tell us about the "secret chips" inside the PA5 ? At least your opinion... ? I spoke to Topping last week but they will keep the secret...
 

Haskil

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Lisez le bruit des mesures avant de poser une question comme celle-ci. Le bruit A07 serait plus élevé de 20 dB.
Exact : lire les mesures permet de comprendre qu'une telle question ne devrait pas être posée...

Le rapport signal/bruit de cet amplificateur est tellement bon qu'il est en fait un candidat idéal pour ceux qui ont des enceintes haut rendement à pavillon... La puissance sera largement suffisante, pour ne pas dire excessif, et le silence sera total ....
 

F1308

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Is there any popping when turning it on/off, switching inputs, or plugging/unplugging TRS cables? Also looking forward to the teardown. Thanks for the review.
Don't tell me you go plugging and unplugging without first powering down ?
Please, don't any more, oh please.
There are even recommendations to ensure volume ZERO before powering up...!!!!
 
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