3e Audio A5 Stereo Amplifier Review

[Overseas]

Quite an outstanding product, at least in the SQ/ price ratio, from a small small company and its weak infrastructure taking us by surprise!? You are are free to pay the premium for some big brand with high marketing and infrastructure costs then.

 

[howard416]

Quite an outstanding product, at least in the SQ/ price ratio, from a small small company and its weak infrastructure taking us by surprise!? You are are free to pay the premium for some big brand with high marketing and infrastructure costs then.

A high-performing product that seems to be not particularly reliable, especially on launch.

 

[Overseas]

Reliability should not be negotiable.
Site functionality is different.

 

[pieterv1]

Your website is still down.

This is not inspiring confidence.

Why does it matter even...

It's not that they were selling it from their website.

 

[sejarzo]

Reducing the volume using the built-in pot does mitigate the issue, but isn't practical for everyone. If you e.g. have a sub connected to your pre-processor you want don't want to accidentally change the power amp's gain as this would upset the balance between mains and sub.

Wouldn't any user simply re-run the process originally used to balance mains vs subs after adjusting the volume pot on these amps, or am I missing something?

 

[harkpabst]

Wouldn't any user simply re-run the process originally used to balance mains vs subs after adjusting the volume pot on these amps, or am I missing something?

Yes, I generally agree. That's why I explicitly said:

... you want don't want to accidentally change the power amp's gain ...

The knob also serves as the selector between RCA and XLR and as the manual off switch. The pot isn't stepped and there is no scale or markings on the front facia you could use as a guide.

Adjusting the volume and then readjusting the subwoofer level is certainly doable ...

... but isn't practical for everyone.

Let me repeat that the 3e Audio A5 works well as it is in both my setups with volume bypass enabled. A lower higher auto-on sensitivity (lower voltage) and/or an off/auto/on switch would just improve this fabulous product even further.

 

[sejarzo]

The knob also serves as the selector between RCA and XLR and as the manual off switch. The pot isn't stepped and there is no scale or markings on the front facia you could use as a guide.

Sorry, I initially misinterpreted your comment.

Back in the day before stereo preamps had a passthrough to allow easy integration with an AVR, I used a DVM to set the volume pot to unity gain, cut a tiny triangle of vinyl tape and placed it on the front panel to mark the spot.

 

[Overseas]

A high-performing product that seems to be not particularly reliable, especially on launch.

Probably you mean the cases of opamp failure.

 

[antcollinet]

Why does it matter even...

It's not that they were selling it from their website.

A website is a vital part of marketing for modern companies. If they are not even able to keep the lights on at the web-server, how confident should I be that they are planning and able to be in business for the long term?

Plus finding info on the product becomes difficult.

 

[audioje]

I don't see any site selling this in the US. Where did people order from?

 

[SlowJim]

aliexpress

 

[harkpabst]

Or: audiophonics.fr

 

[testp]

2ch poweramp / sub related question, nothing to do with this amp, but reading here and thinking about sub matching it got me thinking about input level matching (scaling to be exact): if main amp has input gain set to: 10 dbu,
should sub input gain ideally also be set to: 10 dbu,
...to match scaling when volume is changed (after system is calibrated already to loudness ~80db)?
(even then how does "amp/speaker drivers" & "subamp/sub driver" impedance keep calibrated output volume to each other at lets say 68db? or is calibrated volume not maintained at different loudness levels ex. 68db?

 

[harkpabst]

Forum Rules explicitly ask to keep review tasks on topic ...

 

[testp]

Forum Rules explicitly ask to keep review tasks on topic ...

thx! got it...

 

[transformer-coupled]

the auto on/off save nothing or even slightly higher than trigger(optocoupler+3.5mm Jack+wire)

I got your 3e 5A power amplifier at home days ago it sounds great with my Dynaudio speakers!!! Very detailed and with drive control over woofer, no fatigue, so good!And it has all the things I love most in amplifier:
-->Really low distortion and noise course.
-->Bypassable volume control (if it's not a pure power amp, but with this it works as good with my loved Malaysian transformer passive line stage)
-->External PSU, for the possibility of upgrade it with linear PSU or battery or whatever but it already sounds amazing with the nice SMPS included so no need for now.
-->No need to mess with trigger on without another trigger components like my great Topping E50 DAC pairing for make it turns on without pushing any cristal screen that looks like "about to broke" everytime I push it and it makes it so dirty finger prints (as with topping B100 amps, this is a review versus it all about) so better also the 3E-Audio!
-->Based on a known reliable circuit (TPA3251) even with the necessary feedbacks error cancel to reduce THD+N to this high end level.(Not that "class B-AB" of dubious reliability of the competition of that other company that on other hand has best DACs)
Now you will think uhmm this guy is too much positive hehehehe well only God is perfect for so for be picky if I would to enhance something perhaps I would add way to disconnect the auto off sensor because for RCA at really low volume late listening (which I love sometimes) it gets off with music, but I didn't try yet with balanced , perhaps with balanced it works at "late night volume" anyway it's already perfect for me.
Good job! Hope we can other year upgrade your amps (this power amp or your diy kit module PFFB I already got since lot time and it works also perfect ) and works with even better measurements
Edit: I tried this solution of ASR forum and it works!!! https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...lifier-with-pffb-is-coming.54799/post-2204860
A5 all the way till next better measuring 3E-AUDIO amp generation other year!!

 

[transformer-coupled]

The PA5 II lists at € 164.14 on hifigo, but I am not sure if that is an expired sales price, because when you click on it, the price (with 19% German VAT) is € 193.11. But the A5 should really be compared to the PA5 II that has about 40% more power into 4 Ohms. It lists at € 251.33 on hifigo.

I have Amir's results for the A5 and PA5 II copied side by side. Unless the 15 kHz THD+N will tell us a different story, I'd still argue that aside from the power, the PA5 II is still a hair's breadth ahead:

- SINAD is identical
- 1 kHz 2nd and 3rd harmonic are 2 dB lower in the PA5 II (ok, that is within unit-to-unit variation), but maybe more significantly, harmonics in the 12 - 20 kHz range are about 8 dB lower for the PA5 II
- similarly, in the multitone IMD test, the grass in the 12 - 20 kHz range is about 5 dB lower in the PA5 II
- in two-tone IMD, 18 and 21 kHz products are about 2 dB lower in the PA5 II
- for the next order (16 andd 22 kHz), the PA5 II is aobout 8 dB lower
- (for the products around 38 kHz, the A5 is about 15 dB better, but I think this is owed to a steeper output filter rather than better transfer function linearity)

I did a similar side by side with archimago's tests of the A5 and PA5 II Plus, and they were more like head-to-head regarding SINAD and IMD, and with a (smaller) edge on output power for the A5 (4R: 121 vs. 102 W, 8R 62 vs. 56 W).

So other than the 10 - 20% higher output power (depending on whether you look at 4 or 8 R and the Plus version or not), I do not yet see what the A5 does better, even if it comes close or maybe draws equal.

How does the A5 achieve higher power? It does use 2x TPA3251 whereas Topping never told us what chip they use or how many.

Well the best thing I can say for Topping ABOUT AMPLIFIERS is that Topping DAC is my favorite DAC everyday DAC since years ago.
Full doc
Topping for high end DAC, yes in DAC they are sota ... And no fault with my old E50 or new d50iii yet...hand on wood
3e-Audio for high end power amps or high end amp module (measures almost as good than topping amps with MUCH better reliability -have their amps modules 260-2-29A since years and no fault even with 3 ohm speakers and coaxial speakers cable , even harder load, in summer for hours without any problem never-) (you can't say that for topping amps)
And if you believe in volume control quality like me and the crew of audiocircle forum, for preamp (line stage) that malaysian transformer volume control line stage they talk so much pages

 

[EddNog]

…And if you believe in volume control quality like me and the crew of audiocircle forum, for preamp (line stage) that malaysian transformer volume control line stage they talk so much pages

What’s the brand and model of this line stage?

-Ed

 

[transformer-coupled]

is there any evidence to suggest these will be as non fatiguing as the hypex or purifi class d designs.

subjetively in my case yes, but yeah is not lab proof statement but for my ears, class D/B with external smps PSU sounds WAY warmer and not listening fatigue than purifi/hypex with internal hypex smps psu

 

[transformer-coupled]

What’s the brand and model of this line stage?

-Ed

Promitheus TVC preamp more info in other forums like this https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=31621.0