3e Audio A5 Stereo Amplifier Review

[Joe Smith]

That's exactly what doesn't work and the question comes up regularly in every thread about amplifiers with external power supplies.
It's not the manufacturer's focus that's wrong, but the focus on price. There are already enough amplifiers with internal power supplies, but they're in a higher price range for good reason, see below.

First of all, such power supplies have been in use for 20 years for workstation notebooks with significantly higher power (230 watts and more), without problems and under high continuous load. Defects are very rare and these power supplies are usually decommissioned after 7-10 years with the notebooks and then work for a few more years elsewhere. And we're talking about at least 8-10h/5d use, often even more.
So it's neither new nor untested.

In addition, such power supplies have an efficiency of around 94%, so that only a small watt range of waste heat can be generated and it doesn't heat up much during operation.

The big advantage is that you can connect any power supply, Mean Well, TDK, etc.

A larger housing with a built-in power supply would make the device significantly more expensive and require additional checks and tests, which would also have to be paid for by the buyers. Shipping costs would also increase significantly.
At the same time, the higher price would significantly reduce the number of units sold, so that the total costs would have to be spread over significantly fewer devices, which would make the device significantly more expensive.

No, you mistook me - I mean still separate SMPS supplies, like what Fosi and Aiyima and SMSL are doing now, but with ironclad certifications, excellent components and "hospital grade" or "Meanwell grade" quality. I'm ok with the current power supplies and only had a problem with one SMSL one years ago, but many buyers here seem concerned about the safety, lifespan and quality of the current bricks.

 

[Multicore]

To distinguish it from the actual integrated amp -- with the same DC-coupled output circuit -- in the Kenwood lineup, the KA-7002.View attachment 419378

Integrated amps and receivers had so many features back then.

The one I miss most is the mono switch.

 

[daniboun]

Once again I fully agree with Danydoun (whom I greet by the way ).

The work of Lester (boss of SYLPH AUDIO) is EXCEPTIONAL and he is above all a real enthusiast of hi-fi and musicality even if the latter 'quality' is considered subjective by some.

It's a shame that it doesn't also offer a 'finished' amplifier...

I agree should be nice to see a rtr amp )
Take a look here btw, I spent $ 280 for this project :

"ASH-400 Project" Sylph Audio FB-100 Stereo Module with advanced PFFB

Hi amigos, I'm coming back to the forefront with a new project. This time I focused on the Sylph Audio FB100 module, based on a TPA3251 and an advanced implementation of the PFFB. Voltage Gain is factory set @ 14dB (5V/V) on this module. So I intended to couple it to my DAC SMSL D6s which has...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

Hello daniboun.

I had already seen your achivement, which is very good

The wooden facades give a 'luxurious' look and are very sober, which is very positive

I'm sure you already have other great ideas in the works

 

[SMen]

This is exactly what I'm doing for a secondary system. Wiim Ultra (£279 in the Xmas sale) > 3E A5 (£180 shipped) > Fyne Audio F302i speakers (£200 as new from Ebay - £599 retail). Also added an Apple TV 4K 1st gen (£50 on eBay) and an Amazon basics HDMI audio extractor (£23 on Amazon) to get 24 bit 48 kHz streaming from Apple Music into the Ultra, controlled from my phone. Not bad at all for < £750 all in!

This is the thing ... I'm even more of a cheapskate ( ) using a Wiim Mini ...

but also with a small Android TV box which connects to it via WIFI alongside my phone, and displays and controls through the TV ... I was kind of pleased with myself for that one...

But the big question here is what happens when you pop that 3e A5 of yours into your primary system?

PS Nice speakers

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

@ Roland88:

To 'push' my reflection a little further about the use of resin to hide the components, here is what I think:

- This is a 'false solution' because it will not prevent reverse engineering.
- It will not make the task easier in case of a possible circuit malfunction.
- I especially find it a shame to 'mess up' with such a well-made PCB as we are used to from 3eAudio
(Don't take it the wrong way, it's a compliment apart from a piece of advice).

In short, I think 3eAudio should ditch this 'idioicy' in the next production of this wonderful PCB

What would be 'funny' is if someone copied you and left it visible and they were the ones who received the 'recognition' from customers

Have you thought about this ?

NB: I have contacted O-NOORUS so that they do not use this 'kind of method' which I think is 'counterproductive' in my humble opinion.

We'll see their reaction soon enough I think

 

[surroundman]

I'll stick to what can be bought around $100. Sure, all the improvements and features are cool and many will be willing to pay for them, but for me is hard pass. I paid about $80 for a new Fosi v3 with 48v power supply. I'll happily pay a few more bucks for the auto-sense feature, along with a few more for the volume bypass, but it will certainly be under $150 (after shipping and taxes), one day if such product arrives.

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

@ surroundman:

I think that you are like the largest representative 'share' for this type of product and that your choice seems to me to be completely justified.

O-NOORUS has understood this by offering a model such as their D4 for example, we will see what will happen with their D3 PRO model which should not be long in arriving on the market

 

[Roland68]

No, you mistook me - I mean still separate SMPS supplies, like what Fosi and Aiyima and SMSL are doing now, but with ironclad certifications, excellent components and "hospital grade" or "Meanwell grade" quality. I'm ok with the current power supplies and only had a problem with one SMSL one years ago, but many buyers here seem concerned about the safety, lifespan and quality of the current bricks.

In the EU there is no certification anyway, just a declaration of conformity from the manufacturer or distributor.
This means that whenever a buyer (from the EU) buys such a device outside the EU, they are responsible for it themselves. In the USA and other countries, the situation is different.

With a manufacturer like 3E Audio, I assume that they have tested these power supplies extensively to avoid any problems.
However, everyone can use the power supply as they wish, that is precisely the advantage. Perhaps 3E Audio is also willing to deliver without a power supply at a lower price.

However, I now advise against power supplies from the medical sector. In my experience, industrial power supplies that have been optimized for a strongly fluctuating and short-term high power output, e.g. Mean Well HRP-N/N3, are more suitable.

And hand on heart, how many of the power supplies that were supplied with these amplifiers had serious problems or burned out? By this I mean only official products from 3E Audio, Topping, SMSL, Fosi etc., no no-name products from dubious sources.

 

[amarsicola]

This review is for A5, not A7. I do have an A7 and it has come with a monster power supply. I will test that very soon.

Hi Amir can you make sure the power supply provided for the A7 is the "standard" 48V/5A (see screenshot below) that should be shipped to consumers? Thanks a lot

 

[Rottmannash]

This a TPA3251 chipset... )) DC Supply Voltage (PVDD_x) is 12 to 38V max

How does this amp compare to the one you built? I seem to remember a thread where you built a nice amp from one of these chips?

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

@ Roland88:

You are right about the PSU MEANWELL HRP-600N3-48.

The RIPPLE is only 2mV, which is very low compared to the commonly used power supplies usually.

In addition, it can be set to 51V with a current of almost 12A, which is totally impossible to obtain even with a Gan 48V-10A power supply that is much less 'good' in terms of general characteristics, especially during large load fluctuations.

As a reminder, TEXAS INSTRUMENTS used the MEANWELL HEP-600-48 for the writing of the DATASHEET of the TPA3255, they certainly have a reason otherwise they would have used the 48V-10A Gan (LOL)

Now you think it's a coincidence that I used a 51V - 23A power supply for my DIY amp with two chips TPA3255 ?....

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

In the context of a single chip TPA3255, I had also made two creations and each of them had a 600W power supply (51V - 12A) ->

Realization with 3eAudio PCB:

Realization with SYLPH AUDIO PCB:

Version 1:

Version 2:

Absolute reliability for both amplifiers

 

[spiritlevel]

But the big question here is what happens when you pop that 3e A5 of yours into your primary system?

The primary system amp is also class D - a Nord Acoustics Hypex NC252 - which I think is always going to be a step up from this 3E A5 amp, great as it is at the price. The Nord cost around 3x more.

 

[Pritaudio]

This is exactly what I'm doing for a secondary system. Wiim Ultra (£279 in the Xmas sale) > 3E A5 (£180 shipped) > Fyne Audio F302i speakers (£200 as new from Ebay - £599 retail). Also added an Apple TV 4K 1st gen (£50 on eBay) and an Amazon basics HDMI audio extractor (£23 on Amazon) to get 24 bit 48 kHz streaming from Apple Music into the Ultra, controlled from my phone. Not bad at all for < £750 all in!

How are you sure you are getting 24bit 48khz with the Apple TV 4K 1st gen.
Airplay doesn’t do lossless.

 

[spiritlevel]

How are you sure you are getting 24bit 48khz with the Apple TV 4K 1st gen.
Airplay doesn’t do lossless.

It does through the Apple TV 4k. When you control the Apple TV from Apple Music on an iPhone, and you have an Apple Music subscription, you are not actually using Airplay in the normal way - music is not streamed from/through the phone to the ATV. Instead, the phone acts as a controller/remote and the Apple TV streams the music natively from Apple;'s servers (I have no music stored on my phone at all). It's therefore similar to playing music directly from a computer - the ATV pulls the stream losslessly and passes it through HDMI to a wired optical connection to the Ultra. There's no streaming audio locally from one device to another so no conversion to 256k AAC as normally happens with Airplay.

There's threads about this in plenty of places, including on this forum I believe. Don't have time to go digging for them right now but have read enough on it to be confident.

Edit: here's a couple of threads for example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/15batue/apple_tv_4k_lossless_apple_music_and_iphone_remote

Apple TV as music source without a displa… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[boxerfan88]

Sorry, perhaps I lost something important... What imbalance you mean?

Refer to Note 5 at the bottom of this chart found on their product website.
Unsure if this imbalance was detected in this review.
3-5 dB imbalance is quite big.
And 8-9 o'clock volume control position is quite common ... i would fall in this group.
I must commend the manufacturer for highlighting this weakness upfront.

 

[Guddu]

Refer to Note 5 at the bottom of this chart found on their product website.
Unsure if this imbalance was detected in this review.
3-5 dB imbalance is quite big.
And 8-9 o'clock volume control position is quite common ... i would fall in this group.
I must commend the manufacturer for highlighting this weakness upfront.

This is potential potentiometer error, not in the amplifier module.
This should be common to all pots except specific gang error free ones which I haven’t seen in budget products.

P.E. Using vol bypass on amplifier and controlling volume on DAC/Pre/Source should eliminate it completely, just in case.

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

Like Fosi V3 STEREO but not the case with TOPPING PA5 II.

 

[JSmith]

Unsure if this imbalance was detected in this review.

No... Amir tested it in bypass mode, as stated in the review.

And 8-9 o'clock volume control position is quite common ... i would fall in this group.

Most probably wouldn't though, as they would have a DAC with digital volume control or pre-amp... so would only use the amp volume to set max level (if at all), which would be well past 7 - 9 o'clock on the dial.

I must commend the manufacturer for highlighting this weakness upfront.

Agree, transparency is best for things like that.


JSmith