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.

 

[lunaria]

I will most likely replace the A5se with a Topping Mini 300

I did return the A5se and got a Mini 300. The Mini 300 is silent when it's getting turned on or off (no pop whatsoever). I'm much happier with the Mini 300 physical on/off switch than the A5se auto power off.
The Mini 300 uses a bit less power than the A5se (7W vs. 9W at idle/very low volume, measured at the wall).

 

[Laurent]

Just got this amp and now nearly all my hardware has been replaced based on ASR measurements haha, I only realised that just now. Have to say I love this little amp, especially the auto on/off is handy. I am driving DIY Scan Speak Illuminator speakers from an RME ADI2 DAC and streamed through an RPI 3 running MoOde with an Allo Digione.

The 3e Audio replaces a much bigger and heavier Audiolab 8200p, which was ok, but not too great.

 

[Roland68]

Unfortunately, my potentiometer has a fairly large channel imbalance, especially at the beginning. This wouldn't be noticeable in a normal living room setup, but it's very bothersome in my desk setup.

Now, my question to other A5 owners is whether this is normal for this potentiometer.
The fully counter-clockwise position is around 7 o'clock for me. At 8 o'clock, only the left channel is playing, and only at 9 o'clock are the right channels at the same volume.
After that, everything is fine.

Is this the case with most A5s, or did I get a defective one?

 

[somebodyelse]

It's probably an outlier rather than typical. Whether it crosses the line to defective is another matter - I don't think pot track matching is anywhere in 3E's specs. What does the supplier say?

 

[Laurent]

Unfortunately, my potentiometer has a fairly large channel imbalance, especially at the beginning. This wouldn't be noticeable in a normal living room setup, but it's very bothersome in my desk setup.

Now, my question to other A5 owners is whether this is normal for this potentiometer.
The fully counter-clockwise position is around 7 o'clock for me. At 8 o'clock, only the left channel is playing, and only at 9 o'clock are the right channels at the same volume.
After that, everything is fine.

Is this the case with most A5s, or did I get a defective one?

I bypass the potentiometer and use my DAC as preamp. It might be possible to upgrade the potentiometer with a better one, like Alps blue.

 

[lunaria]

It's not unusual that potentiometers have a fair amount of channel imbalance at low volume. Yours seems rather bad though. I didn't measure channel balance on my A5se, but it didn't have audible issues (even at low amp volume).

Can you reduce the volume on your DAC / preamp or whatever? Your A5 might be ok at higher potentiometer levels.

 

[Roland68]

It's probably an outlier rather than typical. Whether it crosses the line to defective is another matter - I don't think pot track matching is anywhere in 3E's specs. What does the supplier say?

I bypass the potentiometer and use my DAC as preamp. It might be possible to upgrade the potentiometer with a better one, like Alps blue.

Since I bought the A5 from Amazon.de, an exchange isn't a problem.
However, if this is the case with many A5s, which is quite possible, then I can save myself the trouble of returning it. Many inexpensive potentiometers have an initial imbalance where one side is significantly louder. This usually goes unnoticed, though, as this range isn't used by most people.

Because the A series (like most small amplifiers) uses a mini potentiometer (approx. 10x10mm), conventional potentiometers like the RK27 can't be used.
Otherwise, I would have used a potentiometer with matched SMD resistors anyway, which would allow me to adjust the characteristic curve.
My problem is that I often test DACs without volume control. My DACs have built-in analog volume control, so it doesn't matter.

 

[Roland68]

It's not unusual that potentiometers have a fair amount of channel imbalance at low volume. Yours seems rather bad though. I didn't measure channel balance on my A5se, but it didn't have audible issues (even at low amp volume).

Can you reduce the volume on your DAC / preamp or whatever? Your A5 might be ok at higher potentiometer levels.

I'm particularly interested in whether my device is an outlier, or whether other A5/A7 users experience a volume inconsistency between 7:00 and approximately 8:30.
As I already mentioned, everything is fine from 9:00 onwards.

 

[harkpabst]

I'm particularly interested in whether my device is an outlier, or whether other A5/A7 users experience a volume inconsistency between 7:00 and approximately 8:30.
As I already mentioned, everything is fine from 9:00 onwards.

It might be somewhat on the unfortunate side of normal, but it's normal. The channel imbalance is explicitly mentioned in the specs:

5. 3-5dB channel imbalance is exist at 7-9 clock at very low volume position, make sure you accept this before ordering.

 

[Roland68]

It might be somewhat on the unfortunate side of normal, but it's normal. The channel imbalance is explicitly mentioned in the specs:

View attachment 520270

Thanks, I've looked at this table so many times, but apparently I've never read up to point 5.

As I like to say, the problem in most cases lies between the keyboard, the monitor, and the chair .