3e Audio A5 Stereo Amplifier Review

[Raiju]

Shouldn't the decoupling caps be Elna Simic II from the factory?

They changed them to Rubycon YXF 1 uF, which makes sense for the caps close to the op amps. The ones further away are 10uF. I guess they couldn't find enough stock of 1uF Simic II. Luckily I managed to get some 1 uF, they were produced mid 2023 and were still good.

 

[harkpabst]

View attachment 512006

They changed them to Rubycon YXF 1 uF, which makes sense for the caps close to the op amps. The ones further away are 10uF. I guess they couldn't find enough stock of 1uF Simic II. Luckily I managed to get some 1 uF, they were produced mid 2023 and were still good.

Mine are all 10 μF Elna Sonic II, mid 2022.

 

[pieterv1]

I'd say those Rubycon caps are top notch! Seems like the 1uF 50v YXF's are rated at 5000 hours @ 105°C, so industrial grade and objectively better than the Elna Silmic's.
Unless there's actual audio running through them, I'd prefer decent general use capacitors vs audio specific capacitors with a shorter lifespan.

View attachment 512006

 

[GGroch]

I'd say those Rubycon caps are top notch!

I do not know much about caps but the AI chat said the same, and that the Rubycons have lower ESR. Whatever that means. OTOH, using audiophile caps is a relatively cheap way to tweak your amp to be as you want and It might make a positive difference. No harm no foul.

 

[RandomEar]

I do not know much about caps but the AI chat said the same, and that the Rubycons have lower ESR. Whatever that means. OTOH, using audiophile caps is a relatively cheap way to tweak your amp to be as you want and It might make a positive difference. No harm no foul.

It's not and it won't make a difference unless the actual capacitance or type of cap is different. And even then, it depends how the circuit around it is designed - it might still not make any difference in some places if you install 10x the capacitance.

"Audiophile caps" offer one primary advantage: Superior margins for the seller and the manufacturer.

If I had any concern about caps in my devices - like a lack of longevity, a low temperature rating or out of tolerance parts due to bad QC - I would only ever replace those caps with good quality versions from reputable industrial manufacturers like Rubycon, Elna, TDK, Nichicon or Panasonic.

 

[pieterv1]

might make a positive difference. No harm no foul.

Yes, but it's just that - without the right tools and experience - it is much easier to do harm than good. Especially voiding warranty, physical damage like pulled pcb traces... all for marginal gains (if any).

I used to go all out with recapping jobs as well, always looking out for Elna, Nichicon Gold etc... I've now settled with Panasonic FC, which seem to be a good middle road in price vs advertised performance. And although maybe in some cases I could've taken to time to try and measure if there were any improvements, I have not yet clearly heard the difference. Of course there's the piece of mind aspect as well: for the device to last another few decades

 

[pedros_2005]

Hello. Do you think a 3e audio A5 amplifier would be superior to a Topping PA5 ii plus in terms of sound quality, considering that the 3e has volume bypass, has two TPA 3251 (dual mono circuit) and dual OPA 1656, compared to the ne5532 from the Topping?

 

[RandomEar]

Hello. Do you think a 3e audio A5 amplifier would be superior to a Topping PA5 ii plus in terms of sound quality,

No. Both measure better then the best case performance you can expect from an audio CD.

considering that the 3e has sound bypass,

That can be a useful feature.

has two TPA 3251 (dual mono circuit)

That offers potentially more power (not much in this case) and better handling of 2 Ω loads.

and dual OPA 1656, compared to the ne5532 from the Topping?

Irrelevant. What matters is what comes out of the speaker connectors. And in this case, both amps measure very similar.

 

[pedros_2005]

That can be a useful feature.

I mean volume bypass...

 

[Roland68]

Hello. Do you think a 3e audio A5 amplifier would be superior to a Topping PA5 ii plus in terms of sound quality, considering that the 3e has volume bypass, has two TPA 3251 (dual mono circuit) and dual OPA 1656, compared to the ne5532 from the Topping?

Definitely not, we've already verified this twice in blind tests with guests who brought their own A5. With such similar measurements, it wasn't to be expected.

The A5, however, naturally has higher performance and, thanks to its 2-ohm stability, also copes better with impedance-critical speakers.