Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[Rottmannash]

Topping needs “better” performance for a “lower” price?

For $350, there is not much room for improvement. We are talking better objective performance over almost all parameters than the current Purifi offerings for 1/3 the price.

Am I missing something but doesn't the Purifi amp have significantly higher output than this amp? Isn't power the most important parameter for an amp? All thing being equal otherwise?

 

[PeteL]

The preamplifiers I rotate around are the Apt Holman, Mac C24 and C29. They handle my analog and old media. Right now I use my DAC directly connected to my amp with an RCA switcher. The dual switchable input on the PA5 is appealing to me since I can just switch it directly on the amplifier.

You may be Ok, all these have fairly high gain. and should be abble to give you 2.5 Volts unclipped you may find yourself running the pots quite high

Edit: Apt Holman in uncertain. Specs say other wise but Amir measurment seam to show a significant rise in distortion past 0.4 V. that would be problematic

Edit 2: oh, Amir measurments are at unity gain, nevermind, you’ll be alright.

 

[aj625]

..from v1.1 user guide


View attachment 168565

 

[Billy Budapest]

Am I missing something but doesn't the Purifi amp have significantly higher output than this amp? Isn't power the most important parameter for an amp? All thing being equal otherwise?

An amp with high power output but also with high noise and high distortion would not be a pleasant listening experience. Anyway, I had originally said “almost all parameters” but to make it more clear, I added in something about an exception for power output.

With the Toping amp delivering in excess of 100 watts per channel, you certainly won’t be hurting for power under most listening scenarios. If you need more power at similar levels of performance, you can go with Purifi, or NCore, or Benchmark, etc. It is good to see this level of performance now available at the $350 price point, anyway.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

Am I missing something but doesn't the Purifi amp have significantly higher output than this amp? Isn't power the most important parameter for an amp? All thing being equal otherwise?

You’re not missing anything this should probably be $200 amp.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

An amp with high power output but also with high noise and high distortion would not be a pleasant listening experience. Anyway, I had originally said “almost all parameters” but to make it more clear, I added in something about power output.

With the Toping amp delivering in excess of 100 watts per channel, you certainly won’t be hurting for power under most listening scenarios.

Curious: how could it deliver 100 watts per channel? Do you see the power supply it is using and the total power available? After one reaches a certain level of quality and anything above this level is not audible, what do the better specs get you? Bragging rights? It’s a nice little amp, overpriced IMO seem to be a good product and if somebody feels it’s worth it they should buy it.

 

[jhaider]

I agree to a certain degree - there are so many great active speakers out there now, I doubt I'll ever need a desktop amp. But for a small hifi setup? In an office, or in a bedroom? Even a small main setup, with efficient speakers, this thing is killer.

If the 200W version which has been hinted at has similar competitive pricing and performance it will be a game changer.

While the current design makes sense for a desktop with passive speakers. I would like to see the attenuation knob on the back. Even better, separate ones for each channel, accessible with a small screwdriver.

As many have written this kind of low noise, mid-power amp is just the ticket to drive tweeters, especially higher sensitivity tweeters. But a big knob on the front invites cleaners, children, etc. to mess with the level. Not a huge deal for a desktop amp, but ruinous to the voicing of an multiamped speaker.

 

[PeteL]

An amp with high power output but also with high noise and high distortion would not be a pleasant listening experience. Anyway, I had originally said “almost all parameters” but to make it more clear, I added in something about an exception for power output.

With the Toping amp delivering in excess of 100 watts per channel, you certainly won’t be hurting for power under most listening scenarios. If you need more power at similar levels of performance, you can go with Purifi, or NCore, or Benchmark, etc. It is good to see this level of performance now available at the $350 price point, anyway.

I see 83 Watts in 4 ohms, 48 in 8. it’s not “in excess of 100 Watts per channels.” Close enough but again you need a strong 2.5 Volts to get there. It’s really tought off as a desktop amp, I wouldn’t say “most listening scenario” but for a very specific scenario where you have a balance dac, no need for subs or remote and relatively low power requirement.

 

[L Plate]

Not disagreeing per-say, just noting the DBR62 is somewhat power hungry and this amp will run out of power playing loudly in rooms larger than small-medium. That said your suggested system, or one with any number of decent speakers under a grand would likely be a great starter set or even a end game for many easily satisfied folks.
The JBl 530's are $250 right now and the Polk R series is on sale. Even the KEF Q line (Q350)might be a good fit for some.
I'd prolly want a subwoofer with all of these

You definitely need a subwoofer. I owned a Q350 and bass is so-so.

 

[dwkdnvr]

You’re not missing anything this should probably be $200 amp.

Really? Exactly what amp do you see as setting the benchmark in the 'budget' category to suggest that this is a $200 amp? Even the Neurochrome Mod-86 (which I have) which is the best 'inexpensive moderate power' amp that I'm aware of is going to be $700+ and is arguably not much better in terms of distortion and inferior in measured noise. Unless you want to advance an argument that distortion products down -85dB are good enough to be inaudible in all cases, I fail to see how this isn't a significant step forward in the 'budget' category.

The Purifi is a better amp than this, but is fully 3x the price in even it's cheapest incarnation. If you can afford a Purifi, then certainly go that direction. For folks just starting out or who have budget constraints, this is a great option.

 

[Rottmannash]

Really? Exactly what amp do you see as setting the benchmark in the 'budget' category to suggest that this is a $200 amp? Even the Neurochrome Mod-86 (which I have) which is the best 'inexpensive moderate power' amp that I'm aware of is going to be $700+ and is arguably not much better in terms of distortion and inferior in measured noise. Unless you want to advance an argument that distortion products down -85dB are good enough to be inaudible in all cases, I fail to see how this isn't a significant step forward in the 'budget' category.

The Purifi is a better amp than this, but is fully 3x the price in even it's cheapest incarnation. If you can afford a Purifi, then certainly go that direction. For folks just starting out or who have budget constraints, this is a great option.

i bought my VTV Purifi for $999.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

Really? Exactly what amp do you see as setting the benchmark in the 'budget' category to suggest that this is a $200 amp? Even the Neurochrome Mod-86 (which I have) which is the best 'inexpensive moderate power' amp that I'm aware of is going to be $700+ and is arguably not much better in terms of distortion and inferior in measured noise. Unless you want to advance an argument that distortion products down -85dB are good enough to be inaudible in all cases, I fail to see how this isn't a significant step forward in the 'budget' category.

The Purifi is a better amp than this, but is fully 3x the price in even it's cheapest incarnation. If you can afford a Purifi, then certainly go that direction. For folks just starting out or who have budget constraints, this is a great option.

Own Purifi and several Hypex. Good amps yes they cost more but IMO for a speaker amp most would want more power than the PA5. For people with budget concerns what about the Aiyana A08 for $120?

 

[eardiggler]

Own Purifi and several Hypex. Good amps yes they cost more but IMO for a speaker amp most would want more power than the PA5. For people with budget concerns what about the Aiyana A08 for $120?

I tried an A08 a while back. I had all types of strange issues and ended up returning it. It had a loud pop when turning on. When turning off it also popped and had DC spike to the speakers that was concerning. The sheet metal was thin and had a cheap feel. The volume dial scraped and was not centered. It also performed very different (subjectively listening) from speaker to speaker. Maybe I had a dud but my impression of it wasn't that great.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

I tried an A08 a while back. I had all types of strange issues and ended up returning it. It had a loud pop when turning on. When turning off it also popped and had DC spike to the speakers that was concerning. The sheet metal was thin and had a cheap feel. The volume dial scraped and was not centered. It also performed very different from speaker to speaker. Maybe I had a dud but my impression was that it was POS.

The Aiyima A07 plus a hefty-enough PSU -- with a measured SINAD of 83, which I found tolerable even with the 90+dB sensitivity speakers I used to have on my desktop -- is a better buy at about $100 (or less on sale) shipped. Even without resorting to the DIY required to use an industrial SMPS, an A07 with a 48VDC 5A power brick should be able to deliver something north of 70WPC into nominal 8 ohm loads. I currently use two -- powered by a single 48VDC (throttled down to 46V) 10A SMPS -- for my four ambient/surround speakers, and IMO they're excellent at that job. Of course the PA-5 is a much better performer -- but its price is more than three times higher.

 

[CedarWind108]

Schiit is working on $3,000/pair monoblocks. With all the future amps Topping will likely soon come out with, not sure how anyone will be able to justify that kind of pricing ever again. I’m guessing a lot of companies will have to adjust their strategies now. The next Topping speaker amp will likely be a nearly perfect product.

 

[aj625]

Is there any difficulty in making cheap thx speaker amps when there are so many cheap headphone thx amps already ? Why can't ahb2 tech be cheaper ?

 

[Walter]

I see 83 Watts in 4 ohms, 48 in 8. it’s not “in excess of 100 Watts per channels.” Close enough but again you need a strong 2.5 Volts to get there. It’s really tought off as a desktop amp, I wouldn’t say “most listening scenario” but for a very specific scenario where you have a balance dac, no need for subs or remote and relatively low power requirement.

Yes, it is a desktop amp but I personally think the use case is much broader than that. The output IS in excess of 100 watts per channel into 4 ohms at 1% distortion, which will be inaudible for most musical peaks, where the majority of the energy tends to be either above or below the frequencies we are most sensitive to. That is plenty for many scenarios, including the living room for most people in Asia or Europe, or even in America among the people most likely to want an amp in this price range. And it is certainly enough for most offices or bedrooms.

Yes, you need a balanced preamp or a single ended one that puts out at least 2.6V, but so do most Hypex and Purifi builds. Same for subs and remotes--the PA5 at least has a volume knob and two inputs, neither of which will be the case with a "pure" power amp. Plus, having a sub, if you can high pass your mains, means that the PA5 will be powerful enough for even more rooms. It seems as if you are "criticizing" (not exactly, but not sure of a better word to use) it for not having a built in subwoofer out and remote like, say, an SMSL AO200, which a Purifi/nCore also will not have, while also not having the power of the latter despite being priced much less. Pretty much a no win scenario

The closest competitors I see are NC122MP based amps, which will generally cost an additional $60-$100 or more with only a single input and no volume knob. Whether performance is better depends upon which measurements you consider most important. Personally, I'd pick the PA5, with the next step up in my mind being an NC252MP. I'd love to see a properly conducted blind test comparing the PA5 and an NC122MP based amp on multiple speakers with varying impedance curves. Heck, I'd love to participate in one.

The Aiyima A07 plus a hefty-enough PSU -- with a measured SINAD of 83, which I found tolerable even with the 90+dB sensitivity speakers I used to have on my desktop -- is a better buy at about $100 (or less on sale) shipped. Even without resorting to the DIY required to use an industrial SMPS, an A07 with a 48VDC 5A power brick should be able to deliver something north of 70WPC into nominal 8 ohm loads. I currently use two -- powered by a single 48VDC (throttled down to 46V) 10A SMPS -- for my four ambient/surround speakers, and IMO they're excellent at that job. Of course the PA-5 is a much better performer -- but its price is more than three times higher.

To me, the PA5 is a significant step up from the A07/A08 type of amp. I think of those as "make do" amps--ones I would use while saving up money for something better, or for surround/garage/kids' room/other casual listening use--or hobbyist amps for people who are willing to upgrade components and power supplies. Similar to the TPA 3110 and TPA3116 bare boards I used to have sitting on their boxes because I could never get around to putting them in a case. The PA5, on the other hand, I consider a "serious" amplifier. Of course, that also brings with it an expectation of quality and reliability. If a $70 amp stops working a month after the warranty expires, I'll be irritated but figure I took a chance and it didn't work out. If a $350 amplifier fails in under 5 years and either can't be repaired or has to be sent back to China, I'm going to be quite upset. Only time will tell if the PA5 meets that standard.

 

[aj625]

Yes, it is a desktop amp but I personally think the use case is much broader than that. The output IS in excess of 100 watts per channel into 4 ohms at 1% distortion, which will be inaudible for most musical peaks, where the majority of the energy tends to be either above or below the frequencies we are most sensitive to. That is plenty for many scenarios, including the living room for most people in Asia or Europe, or even in America among the people most likely to want an amp in this price range. And it is certainly enough for most offices or bedrooms.

Yes, you need a balanced preamp or a single ended one that puts out at least 2.6V, but so do most Hypex and Purifi builds. Same for subs and remotes--the PA5 at least has a volume knob and two inputs, neither of which will be the case with a "pure" power amp. Plus, having a sub, if you can high pass your mains, means that the PA5 will be powerful enough for even more rooms. It seems as if you are "criticizing" (not exactly, but not sure of a better word to use) it for not having a built in subwoofer out and remote like, say, an SMSL AO200, which a Purifi/nCore also will not have, while also not having the power of the latter despite being priced much less. Pretty much a no win scenario

The closest competitors I see are NC122MP based amps, which will generally cost an additional $60-$100 or more with only a single input and no volume knob. Whether performance is better depends upon which measurements you consider most important. Personally, I'd pick the PA5, with the next step up in my mind being an NC252MP. I'd love to see a properly conducted blind test comparing the PA5 and an NC122MP based amp on multiple speakers with varying impedance curves. Heck, I'd love to participate in one.

My ahb2 hardly needs to go beyond 10 to 20w with evo 4.2, though my room is small but in a medium to even big room it may be 30w maximum. Imo it depends on speakers too. Big speakers going deep say below 35hz eat lot more power as human ears are less sensitive to bass frequencies.

 

[spacevector]

Members are free to do as they like.

Excellent, many thanks amirm.

@daniboun - have at it buddy!

 

[capslock]

IEC 60320 applies to every appliance below 250V.

Then most laptops are not IEC compliant, either? Bet Dell and Intel didn't know about that...