Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[restorer-john]

Just to be sure:

1. Are TRS inputs regular 6.35 mm (1/4 inch) stereo female jacks? All the information I have been able to collect in this thread and elsewhere refers to TRS inputs but does not mention whether they are 6.35 mm / 3.5 mm or stereo / mono
2. What is the input voltage used in Amir's measurements? 0.5 V?

Yes. Normal 1/4" headphone jacks. 6.35mm. Nothing special, but incredibly inexpensive, reliable and strong.

The input voltage Amir fed for the 5W@4R test would have been ~500mV. For rated output, I believe 2.5V (2500mV) is needed.

 

[brandonhall]

Please @JohnYang1997 - transfer this amplifier technology over to something larger, with balanced inputs, a remote, internal power supply and double the power, and you'll have my money in an instant

This is exactly why they have the E50. With the E50, you get balanced outputs, a preamp, and a remote. If you want a reference quality (reproduction without coloration) system, the offering from Topping is truly an endgame for the desktop.

 

[BaaM]

Certainly not power (quite an interesting thing for an amplifier. Just sayin').
Certainly not this (meh) THD vs Frequency.


Dejà vu... Yet, this the very first time, after three (full) years of membership, that I would 100% agree.

At this point, Amir could almost post only SINAD charts and call his reviews done. I have the feeling that only very few of us are still trying to have a bigger picture over the complete data.

Pity.

Dieu merci.... <3

 

[Chrise36]

I don't have to return it. On low cost items, companies usually don't ask for them back but some do.

Any thoughts on Christmas give away to members or put it on on auction here since the performance is verified?

 

[Doodski]

Any thoughts on Christmas give away to members or put it on on auction here since the performance is verified?

For Christmas we should be sending @amirm a donation rather than expecting a freebie.

 

[Holmz]

Speakers don't know if they are connected to a 100w amp or 25wamp if you are using below 25w power most of the time. It's the current delivery which matters for dynamics not the power rating. For current delivery output impedance of amp is key. Amps which nearly double the power on halving the impedance even if they are only 25w at 8ohms are better than amps having 200w in 8ohms and 320w in 4 ohms as most of the time you are not using even 25w in 8ohms.

Sorry you are the one… I see this current delivery argument like some amp is going to spit out 200A.
I suppose if it is a current source and the speaker impedence goose high or low then one could get something.

But if it is applying a voltage gain, then whatever the rail is at, divided by the speaker impedance, will be the current.
It is not force feeding the current to the speaker like a XMAS goose. It is providing voltage which determines the current needed to hold that voltage up.

To say otherwise is something I cannot seem to understand.

 

[Chrise36]

For Christmas we should be sending @amirm a donation rather than expecting a freebie.

We can combine both!

 

[Holmz]

I am really wondering what SPL levels most people here are listening to.

32WPC gets you 15 dB on top of the the sensitivity lvl of your speakers. That seems well over the expectations for any nearfield / desktop setup.

I cannot imagine listening to 85+ dB for longer than half an hour a day. I would go def really soon otherwise.

This is a great quality amp for the price for anyone who doesn't want to go deaf.

Evan purifi amps go about just 4 dB louder than this little beauty.

Would I use it for my main system in the living room? Probably not (I have a purifi based amp). But for everything else it seems to be pushing the boundaries we have known so far. I would not hesitate to buy it for my desktop or bedroom setup.

Maybe start a poll (or pole).
One could be loudest, and another be average.
In know the car I listen louder, because the noise is higher, so I maintain a constant SNR.

 

[Doodski]

@aj625 the current idea comes from the reserve of current stored in the power supply smoothing caps. The current through the speakers is determined by the resistance of the speaker and is not something the speaker draws or as @Holmz wrote is not force fed into the speaker in huge amounts on musical demand. There is a finite amount of current determined by the impedance.

NOTE: On musical transients more current can be delivered to the speaker if the power supply has it available and that is limited by the resistance of the power supply and the amp topology.

 

[capslock]

Regarding the increase in THD from about 3 kHz on, this is like many Class AB amps or even the Neurochrome composite amps: the feedback loop begins to run out of bandwitdh.

In fact, I wonder if the composite approach was taken here, hence an external feedback loop wrapped around a chipamp. Maybe this can be done with UcD amps, too. After all, their bandwidth is not that much worse than an LM3886.

 

[Holmz]

@aj625 the current idea comes from the reserve of current stored in the power supply smoothing caps. The current through the speakers is determined by the resistance of the speaker and is not something the speaker draws or as @Holmz wrote is not force fed into the speaker in huge amounts on musical demand. There is a finite amount of current determined by the impedance.

NOTE: On musical transients more current can be delivered to the speaker if the power supply has it available and that is limited by the resistance of the power supply and the amp topology.

Do I need a fancy power conditioner to clean up the wall power in order to deliver the “powerful musical transient” and maintain airy sound, and the magic?

 

[Doodski]

Do I need a fancy power conditioner to clean up the wall power in order to deliver the “powerful musical transient” and maintain airy sound, and the magic?

No. The power supply in the Topping brick will have all the smoothing required for the amp. There will also be additional smoothing caps right in the amp circuitry as well as caps for shunting undesirable energy to ground. The same goes for your class AB 200w/ch amp. A backup system is nice in case of power outage but extra filtering/smoothing is smoke and mirrors snake oilZ.

 

[Calleberg]

Do I need a fancy power conditioner to clean up the wall power in order to deliver the “powerful musical transient” and maintain airy sound, and the magic?

What you COULD do, and this will increase sound quality IMMENSELY; to "wife/gf/bf can hear the difference from the kitchen" level, is to ask topping to sell you a PA5 not for $350 but instead for $3500. It is a well known fact that "sticker shock" is VERY benefical to perceived sound quality . Its all in the details...

 

[Interference]

Nice piece of gear, for sure.

Just a remark: looking at the manual, I see PA5 minimum recommended impedance is 3 ohm. Hypex Ncore amps have power ratings down to 2 ohm loads.

 

[Ata]

I am really wondering what SPL levels most people here are listening to.

32WPC gets you 15 dB on top of the the sensitivity lvl of your speakers. That seems well over the expectations for any nearfield / desktop setup.

I cannot imagine listening to 85+ dB for longer than half an hour a day. I would go deaf really soon otherwise.

This is a great quality amp for the price for anyone who doesn't want to go deaf.

Even purifi amps go about just 4 dB louder than this little beauty.

Would I use it for my main system in the living room? Probably not (I have a purifi based amp). But for everything else it seems to be pushing the boundaries we have known so far. I would not hesitate to buy it for my desktop or bedroom setup. In fact, I will probably get E50 + PA5 combo to replace my Loxjie A30 once the power brick gets certified for use in the EU.

For desktop setup, of course, but at 3m to MLP you lose much of those 15db, and you could be starting with 84-85db to begin with. Still plenty for me but not for others.

 

[Walter]

Nothing special, but incredibly inexpensive, reliable and strong.

Yes, I really don't get the wailing and rending of garments that goes on every time Topping releases another compact device with TRS. Absolutely nothing inherently wrong with TRS.

 

[antcollinet]

Can you use standard Stereo patch leads for the interconnect with TRS?

 

[BoredErica]

This is exactly why they have the E50. With the E50, you get balanced outputs, a preamp, and a remote. If you want a reference quality (reproduction without coloration) system, the offering from Topping is truly an endgame for the desktop.

But where is the balanced output for the subwoofer?

 

[aj625]

? Sorry but current delivery and power rating is the same thing... does ohm law tells you something? If what you mean is that the rated power at 8 ohm is not the only important rated power, yes I agree with that, but from rated power at X ohms, we can derive the current.

Problem is the output impedance. If power is not supported by sufficiently low output impedance then doubling of powe with halving the speaker impedance will be impossible as ohms law takes into account the overall circuit resistance/impedance not just load impedance.

 

[Walter]

Can you use standard Stereo patch leads for the interconnect with TRS?

Yep. TRS just means tip-ring-sleeve--the "official" name for the stereo patch cables used in pro audio all the time. Just make sure it has the ring and is not just the two conductor TS mono cable.