3e Audio A5 Stereo Amplifier Review

[pieterv1]

It works perfectly.But to be honest, I'm a little disappointed, after listening to A5 for a few days, I realized that my smsl ao300 is not so bad.

SMSL in general is pretty highly rated in general so not much of a surprise maybe?

Although the difference is pretty subtle probably, do you have a preference?

 

[Mario_Primo]

Which speakers are you using?

Not expensive floor speakers,4 ohms,89 Db sensitivity

 

[Bamish]

Not expensive floor speakers,4 ohms,89 Db sensitivity

Could be that your ao300 with the Infineon chip has little to no load dependency when paired with your speakers which is great.

 

[MiniAudioGuy]

actually both chip has click(normally we/Ti don't call it pop) during on and off, this is something inhence from the TPA32xx itself, we confirmed this with ti when them released at 2016 IIRC. these behavior related to the startup trim on both positive and nagitive input till PWM output at the end, and also a combination others tolerance like the LC filter.
3251 is slight lower than 3255 from our experience.

Well I don't consider a click and a pop the same thing.

In my mind, clicks might come from the amp when powering on/off via a relay - it doesn't cause a big sound in the speaker that could damage it.

Pop in the speakers is undesirable during power on off. With the A5 I don't hear the pops, where I was getting them on the Aiyima A70.

 

[Martner]

Reserved for @AdamG to post the specs.

Manufacturer Specifications:

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Hey there,
I could use some help making a decision:

What would be the better choice for a pair of Elac debut reference dbr62?

2 x A7 Mono or a single A7se?

Thanks for any input/opinion!

M.

 

[Tofffsy]

Why not a single stereo A7?
@3eaudio is the best placed to answer

Hey there,
I could use some help making a decision:

What would be the better choice for a pair of Elac debut reference dbr62?

2 x A7 Mono or a single A7se?

Thanks for any input/opinion!

M.

 

[3eaudio]

Hey there,
I could use some help making a decision:

What would be the better choice for a pair of Elac debut reference dbr62?

2 x A7 Mono or a single A7se?

Thanks for any input/opinion!

M.

@Martner
A7se will more cost effetive,while A7 will give you higher performance.
A7mono will give you best option even there is further speaker upgrade.

 

[Nippithon]

A5 or A7...
I went with the A5 to drive a pair of Magneplanar MG 1.4's (87db) in a small-ish room. Once my order was in I questioned my decision (and I still do!). Why the heck didn't I just spring the extra $40 for the A7? Turns out, though, that the A5 is as loud as I want and has plenty to give. Really digging this amp.

 

[3eaudio]

A5 or A7...
I went with the A5 to drive a pair of Magneplanar MG 1.4's (87db) in a small-ish room. Once my order was in I questioned my decision (and I still do!). Why the heck didn't I just spring the extra $40 for the A7? Turns out, though, that the A5 is as loud as I want and has plenty to give. Really digging this amp.

if high power is not a MUST,i will say A5 or other brand (TPA3251) is the only best selection for user,but today's marketing trend is that, spend not a huge extra money,you can get much higher power one with a number(they used to writed it as 300W+300W?) easier atract buyer's attention,just a good deal,why not?
thanks to some other brand here,well you may already know.....

 

[NDA357]

А7 стерео с родным блоком 48в5а
Будет ли разница при смене блока на 48в10а?

 

[Martner]

Thanks all for your help. I will take the 2 x A7 Mono Blocks.

 

[Martner]

Why not a single stereo A7?
@3eaudio is the best placed to answer

Btw, a special thank you for your comment. It helped reminding me that I always get the models wrong. I actually meant the A7, not the A7se. I would've probably ordered the wrong one, if had decided to go with the A7 stereo, without your comment...

 

[Mario_Primo]

When I got my a5, I was surprised by its weak power.In bypass mode, my wiim ultra doesn't sound that loud at 100% volume. I should have bought an a7...

 

[3eaudio]

When I got my a5, I was surprised by its weak power.In bypass mode, my wiim ultra doesn't sound that loud at 100% volume. I should have bought an a7...

are your speaker high impedance like 8ohm and high power one?with wiim ultra output support 2Vrms you can achieve max output from A5 end.

 

[3eaudio]

А7 стерео с родным блоком 48в5а
Будет ли разница при смене блока на 48в10а?

@NDA357 sorry missing this. if the speaker is 4ohm, with 10A one it will better overall in high power output especially the bass become deep and stronger.

 

[Alannn]

When I got my a5, I was surprised by its weak power.In bypass mode, my wiim ultra doesn't sound that loud at 100% volume. I should have bought an a7...

The WiiM Ultra's line output level can be set to either 500 mV or 800 mV in the settings. Yours needs to be switched to 800 mV.

"100% volume" level correlates with input level, not "weak power."
Conversely, power output limit is indicated by clipping leds regardless of position of volume knob.

 

[NDA357]

@NDA357 Извините, что это упустил. Если динамик на 4 Ом, то с динамиком на 10 А будет лучше в целом при высокой выходной мощности, особенно басы становятся глубже и сильнее.

У меня Klipsch rp600m2 (8ом, 94.5db, 100v)

 

[3eaudio]

У меня Klipsch rp600m2 (8ом, 94.5db, 100v)

5A is good enough.

 

[Mario_Primo]

The WiiM Ultra's line output level can be set to either 500 mV or 800 mV in the settings. Yours needs to be switched to 800 mV.

"100% volume" level correlates with input level, not "weak power."
Conversely, power output limit is indicated by clipping leds regardless of position of volume knob.

If I set 800 mVrms, it will sound even quieter...

 

[rock]

There is something that users of the A7 or A7 Mono should be aware of. When using a 48V 10A GAN adapter, ground loop noise occurs when using the RCA input. The solution is to block the grounding port of the adapter’s power cable.