harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
No. Did you ask your DAC first?
Somehow it's rather unlikely for a power amp to care about pausing the audio.
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3e Audio A5 Stereo Amplifier Review
- Thread starter amirm
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Somehow it's rather unlikely for a power amp to care about pausing the audio.
Roland68
Major Contributor
This is usually a typical ground/ground loop problem.
For a moment I thought I had found just the amp I was looking for, but I see that you can't connect a sub to it, not even via high level input, if I'm not mistaken. What a shame...
Although on second thought, I could simply add a preamp or a DAC with dual low-level outputs, or use a splitter and connect my sub via RCA there, leaving the 3e as a power amp.
Although on second thought, I could simply add a preamp or a DAC with dual low-level outputs, or use a splitter and connect my sub via RCA there, leaving the 3e as a power amp.
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Roland68
Major Contributor
If you want high-quality subwoofer integration, you can use an AVR.
Stereo amplifiers that can do this well are all well over €/$1000. There are various threads on this topic on ASR.
The most sensible solution is to use an active module, e.g. from MiniDSP or Thomann t.racks, such as the t.racks DSP 4x4 Mini or the symmetrical t.racks DSP 4x4 Mini Pro for €/$119 or €/$159 respectively. This is a professional solution, beyond the capabilities of AVRs and with the option of EQ for both speakers and subwoofers, as well as room EQ.
You can also simply use a Y-cable (splitter cable), which is what many amplifiers with a subwoofer out offer, but without good tuning options for the high- and low-pass filters, you won't achieve good tuning.
I would choose powerful floorstanding speakers with two 17cm or two 20cm woofers, such as the Heco Aurora 700 or 1000, depending on the room size. In my experience, this produces better results.
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
The WiiM Ultra offers - amongst other things - near perfect subwoofer integration for a lot less than $1000 and it also supports various EQ options, from a simple graqhical equalizer to independent left and right 10.band parametric equalizer. It also sports automatic room correction.
You will know better than me which speakers you need for your room and your listening preferences.
I second the idea of an active module for proper subwoofer integration instead of a low (sub) line level output on a power amp that looks handy only at first glance. Mine from MiniDSP provides low pass filtering for sub amp, high pass filtering for stereo power amp, and filters for room correction, all things I consider mandatory if you are going to the bother of using a sub or 2 (or 3).
Happy that 3eAudio omits bass output of limited usefulness. I like the idea of separates: streamer, power amp, dac, subwoofer integration, and possibly preamp depending on needs. Anyone can buy a cheap avr for bells and whistles or a high dollar boutique one for features combined with good performance.
Happy that 3eAudio omits bass output of limited usefulness. I like the idea of separates: streamer, power amp, dac, subwoofer integration, and possibly preamp depending on needs. Anyone can buy a cheap avr for bells and whistles or a high dollar boutique one for features combined with good performance.
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I have no personal preference for one separate box per function but I fully agree that 3e Audio did the right thing. This is primarily a (very high quality) power amp sub integration should be handled separately.
Hi to everyone, I've been reading this forum for a while, loads of useful info, and this is my first post
Has anyone tried this amp with Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 ?
I'm building inexpensive stereo setup for 5x5 living room, speakers will be placed on the stands or on some furniture around 1,5-2 meters from me
The source feed will be mostly via USB from my laptop, sometimes via bluetooth from the phone
I've already have some old USB dac, changing it to USB + bluetooth dac will be next step
I've read here that Topping PA5 would be great for them, so I'm assuming that A5 should be great too, correct ?
Has anyone tried this amp with Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 ?
I'm building inexpensive stereo setup for 5x5 living room, speakers will be placed on the stands or on some furniture around 1,5-2 meters from me
The source feed will be mostly via USB from my laptop, sometimes via bluetooth from the phone
I've already have some old USB dac, changing it to USB + bluetooth dac will be next step
I've read here that Topping PA5 would be great for them, so I'm assuming that A5 should be great too, correct ?
Multicore
Major Contributor
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Welcome to ASR.
Idk who has tried it but you can be confident that 3e Audio A5 amp will drive the Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 speakers as well as any other amp.
The Topping PA5 has lower voltage gain which means it might not be as suited to some of your sources. Of these two I'd choose A5 if I were you.
Either amp with suitable source should be plenty loud in your 5x5 (meters I assume) living room.
Btw: when you want specific advice about choosing an amp you might do better to start a new thread and state your question. It's more likely to be noticed as a question like that.
Thanks for the prompt reply!
So, I will go with 3e Audio A5
And thank you for the advice, I will create new thread next time
I planned on getting one from Amazon yesterday. Planning to use a RAW MDA1 for volume control.
Ended up ordering a PA5 II instead. The turn off pop was a huge concern. My speakers are efficient, the tests indicated turn off pop is audible. Do you get a pop when turned off?
The auto off was a big plus. Hate forgetting to turn amps off.
Ended up ordering a PA5 II instead. The turn off pop was a huge concern. My speakers are efficient, the tests indicated turn off pop is audible. Do you get a pop when turned off?
The auto off was a big plus. Hate forgetting to turn amps off.
what turn off pop? never encountered that with the A5
No turn off pop for me either with the A5 - I am using 91db 8Ohm speakers.
No turn off or turn on pops for me either, connected to 86dB 8Ω speakers.
harkpabst
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I'm getting a slight turn-off pop if the amp is still on and I remove the mains power.
When the amp automatically switches from on to standby there's no pop at all.
When I manually switch the amp from on to standby there's no pop at all.
No pop when switching on either.
I guess it may have been an issue with the unit tested by Amir. Look on page one of this thread. The turn off voltage spike is 10x higher than the tested Topping PA5 II.
My speakers are over 100 dB efficient. Repeated pops may damage a DE-120 compression driver.
So already got remorse, if no remote I wanted auto off.
My speakers are over 100 dB efficient. Repeated pops may damage a DE-120 compression driver.
So already got remorse, if no remote I wanted auto off.
somebodyelse
Master Contributor
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The turn off spike on the unit measured was ~15mV. How is that going to damage a DE-120?
The voltage spike for the PA5 II was 0.3mV if my interpretation of chart is correct. Evaluated as no pop. A5 is evaluated as will pop.
I am fairly confident his measurement is manually turning it on and off. Not unplugging the power supply.
Hot plugging and hot unplugging is usually not recommended for the power brick. Connect to amp, plug in wall, turn on amplifier.
I may end up with both. Or wait for another product like the TP RA3 to come along with a remote. Amplifier sits 40’ away and up a flight of stairs.
I am fairly confident his measurement is manually turning it on and off. Not unplugging the power supply.
Hot plugging and hot unplugging is usually not recommended for the power brick. Connect to amp, plug in wall, turn on amplifier.
I may end up with both. Or wait for another product like the TP RA3 to come along with a remote. Amplifier sits 40’ away and up a flight of stairs.
There is someone with the same or similar Problem with the A7, maybe ground Problem in the chain, who knows, but maybe it helpes you:
3e audio A7/A7 Mono Amplifier Review
There would be no way to test whether any pop occurs with just the amp plugged in, and nothing else connected because you've removed the ability to play any audio through the amplifier. This is not a case of random pops happening while the amp is sitting idle, which is why it is not a grounding...
audiosciencereview.com
Did it sound like this?
Popping issue
(If you listen to the file, there are mouse clicks at 3 and 16 seconds to start and pause the audio content -- the popping is at the 17 second mark)
I experienced it with my newly-acquired A7. It's not the amp, but it does cause someone to jump to that conclusion when it's not present using different amps (as it was in my own situation).
Same thing when I tested various configurations in my system. I just got the A7 for my desktop computer system, and no such issue was present until I connected the A7. After testing several different conditions, when I changed the configuration to have my Mac Mini connect to my DAC via Bluetooth (removing any physical connection to the DAC), the issue was gone.
Although I have written (in my post that @Chaos01 cited), I do note that when going with the configuration of: Mac MIni --USB--> DAC (D50 III) --TRS--> A7, setting the DAC to preamp mode, and enabling the A7's volume bypass, no popping was observed. It is too late for me to test any of that right now, but I think it's something I have to double check because in all other tests, the popping occurred if my Mac was connected to my DAC via USB. It could be that the D50 III suppresses it enough when it's in control of the volume rather than using the amp to control the volume. It also happened, to an extent, if I bypassed my other system components, and went straight from the Mac's 3.5mm headphone out to the A7 directly (the extent being that it was only present if the A7's volume bypass was enabled, and it was not as loud as the other conditions where the pops occurred).
I also tested the amp in my bedroom TV setup, running TOSLINK out from the TV to a Topping E50 DAC, and Balanced (TRS) out from the DAC to A7. Source, technically, would have been my cable box, connected to the TV directly via HDMI. Absolutely zero problems in that scenario, regardless of whether the DAC was in preamp or DAC mode, and the A7's volume bypass enabled/disabled.
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