3e audio A7/A7 Mono Amplifier Review

[phoenixdogfan]

Thanks for this review, Amir. I think it's interesting to compare this one to the NAD C3050. While the NAD obviously has so many features (DAC, Streamer, Dirac Live), it seems like an apples to oranges comparison, it's worthwhile to note that the e3 is far better measuring and costs one fourth the price of the C3050 while having slightly better power. That $1200+ saving will buy a very nice streamer DAC and/or a DAC plus Dirac Live on your PC, with enough cash left in your pocket to look at a down payment on a set of speakers.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Boy Amirm

Nice review. OF TARIFFS , oh yeah on the amp also….but the one thing you may not have thought of is that there is a real need to create problems so one can claim credit and money for fixing it…

AC power conditioners. OR Trade Barriers

Speaker cables. OR. Voter ID issue

Op amp rolling. OR. Deregulation

Boy I sure wish someone would fix all these for me.

 

[Bleib]

Nice, the only thing that's missing is the usual, a remote and more inputs

 

[howard416]

Thank you Howard. I couldn’t find easy way to compare amp high frequency distortion and tweeter distortion for my knowledge level.

I looked up what resembles the tweeter in revel f206 I have. I can see freq response. That’s all I can understand.

View attachment 444250

ScanSpeak D3004/660000 | HiFiCompass

The THD measurements at distance of 315 mm and voltage levels 2 - 2.83 Volt were carried out with High Pass Filter "on" (2nd order Buttreworth type, 500 Hz cutoff, HPF2-500). The THD measurements at distance of 315 mm and voltage levels 4 - 8 Volt were carried out with High Pass Filter "on" (2nd...

hificompass.com

Look at "HD frequency response (315 mm distance)" at the various voltage levels. It's not easy to do a rigorous comparison, but let's say at a crossover of 2 kHz between tweeter and mid/woofer, I would estimate that the speaker is probably sending overall only 10-20% of power to the tweeter.** So let's look at the 1 W measurements (5 W multi-tone * 20% power :: extremely crude, I admit), which would be the 2 V test given the 4 ohm impedance of this tweeter. If you pick 10 kHz as an arbitrary comparison point, you'll see the following contributing harmonic distortions:

HD2 @ 5 kHz: - 50 dB
HD3 @ 3.33 kHz: -75 dB
HD4 @ 2.5 kHz: -90 dB
HD5 @ 2.0 kHz: -86 dB
HD6 and up: not measured, normally considered negligible

The multi-tone test is primarily intended to capture IMD but harmonics (someone correct me if I am wrong) will show up as well. We don't have a multi-tone test for that tweeter, but the gist of it all is that you have harmonic distortion at much higher levels than the hash in the multi-tone (admittedly from tweeter HD2 which at the level it is, is not audible) while you don't have anything near that level in the amplifier multi-tone which includes IMD products and which probably over-emphasizes the contribution of the top octave anyway. By the way, I can probably count on one hand the number of conventional hi-fi dome tweeters out there with competitive performance (Bliesma and a few others). Much of what's out there is not nearly as good.

** The 50/50 split for most music, in terms of power distribution, usually happens at a crossover of 300-500 Hz depending on who you ask.

 

[Chaos01]

I’m not sure how that’s relevant.

What I’m pointing out is this:

Power vs. distortion tests:
– Done with 8 and 4 ohm resistive loads
– Both channels driven

Reactive load tests:
– Done with only one channel

So assuming it can deliver the same performance shown in the reactive load test with both channels running is unlikely, especially considering the power supply is 52V at 9A.

For that there are the A7 mono's.
But for the A7 a stereo both Channel reactiv load Test would be interesting

 

[Matt_Holland]

So are we saying that the only benefit of going mono on this amp is the get perfect crosstalk and to relieve any concerns about power output when both channels are driven?

 

[daniboun]

If we consider the power/price ratio the A7SE still seems more interesting to me for $100 less....

3E AUDIO A7SE Amplifier

3E Audio, a recognized player in the DIY world, now offers a Class D Stereo amplifier incorporating audiophile Hi-Fi components. The A7se amplifier is based on a TI TPA3255 chips in BTL configuration, and two dual OPA1612A OPAs.

www.audiophonics.fr

 

[Toni Mas]

Too expensive...

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

People hi

A beautiful achievement with good SINAD results, although not without flaws and, above all, relatively expensive !

One could, of course, highlight the 'justification' for this price by the use of components from leading brands (and renowned models), but...

... I wonder about the origin of some of them, such as the ELNA SILMIC II (RFS) capacitors, well-known for their 'audio performance'.

Indeed, I personally find it impossible to find them available from authorized dealers like MOUSER or FARNELL, for example, or even directly from ELNA, since they stopped producing them a few years ago

So what's the situation ?

In the case of this amplifier, is the customer getting the original product that's promoted in the advertisement ?

If you have clear and precise answers, I'd be interested because I know many people in the 'DIY world' who would like to have them available again, even from reputable manufacturers.

Just a note: even TOPPING and SMSL don't use them in their highest-end products and have 'necessarily adopted' models still available from NICHICON, such as the ES MUSES or UFW models, for example.

I doubt this is for budgetary reasons or to limit the already exceptional performance of their devices, we agree

In France, there's a well-known saying: "All that glitters is not gold."

 

[Guddu]

Interesting but......

People hi
A beautiful achievement with good SINAD results, although not without flaws and, above all, relatively expensive !

relative to what? which other similar amplifier are you relating it to for comparison?

As far as I could tell, the only other similar amplifier with similar performance is Topping PA7/PA7+ and A7 is relatively cheaper.

One could, of course, highlight the 'justification' for this price by the use of components from leading brands (and renowned models), but...


... I wonder about the origin of some of them, such as the ELNA SILMIC II (RFS) capacitors, well-known for their 'audio performance'.

Indeed, I personally find it impossible to find them available from authorized dealers like MOUSER or FARNELL, for example, or even directly from ELNA, since they stopped producing them a few years ago

So what's the situation ?

In the case of this amplifier, is the customer getting the original product that's promoted in the advertisement ?

If you have clear and precise answers, I'd be interested because I know many people in the 'DIY world' who would like to have them available again, even from reputable manufacturers.

Just a note: even TOPPING and SMSL don't use them in their highest-end products and have 'necessarily adopted' models still available from NICHICON, such as the ES MUSES or UFW models, for example.

I doubt this is for budgetary reasons or to limit the already exceptional performance of their devices, we agree

In France, there's a well-known saying: "All that glitters is not gold."

If the components are original or genuine, works fine and have performance that we are seeing then how does it matter what other brands are using?

Are you implying it uses sub-standard components with lower performance or life or ratings?

P.S. I know that you are knowledgeable but these comments aren’t helping.

 

[Alannn]

So are we saying that the only benefit of going mono on this amp is the get perfect crosstalk and to relieve any concerns about power output when both channels are driven?

Two A7 Mono's are spec'd to output 4% more power into 4 ohm loads. So it's pretty much all about the look. But that's absurd, because the look of these tiny enclosures will never compete with the thick metal faceplates and dancing Vu meters.

Perhaps the market will be for a home theater owner with 5 or 7 channels to buy one.

 

[Alannn]

...relative to what? which other similar amplifier are you relating it to for comparison?

As far as I could tell, the only other similar amplifier with similar performance is Topping PA7/PA7+ and A7 is relatively cheaper...

3E Audio A7se is similar when outputting into 4 ohms and higher, and cheaper. BTW, Amir remarked he would review the se model (A5se actually better for low budget, if A7se power is not needed) if 3E Audio sent him one..

 

[Chaos01]

ICIETDIYEUR, to expensive in your opinion ? Buy the soyyin Version from AliExpress, its cheaper. Or the 3e A5.
Or Go and buy a douk a5 or fosi but dont leave useless comments here. And dont use bold or underlined letters with no sense, only Strange people do that.
You can also diy the older 3e Module for a little less money. There is no other Produkt in the marked with similar Performance cheaper, If so, than Name it.

 

[Guddu]

3E Audio A7se is similar when outputting into 4 ohms and higher, and cheaper. BTW, Amir remarked he would review the se model (A5se actually better for low budget, if A7se power is not needed) if 3E Audio sent him one..

A7se uses 1 x tpa3255 chip for stereo,
A7 uses 1 x tpa3255 chip per channel.
I am not implying any performance parameters, but just saying that BoM is different for A7 vs A7se and so price would be different as well.

 

[Hart]

Seems like the small scale amp with the outboard transformer is becoming really prevalent. I think the Apollon NCx500ST, (in my humble) is still the most impressive amp that has been reviewed so far, clean and very powerful. Will probably be my next amp.

​

 

[DazST]

As far as I could tell, the only other similar amplifier with similar performance is Topping PA7/PA7+ and A7 is relatively cheaper

I don't know about other countries, but it looks like the A7 costs $460 AU here (via Aliexpress) whereas the Topping PA7 is $800 AU (and PA7+ is $900). So clearly much better value in the 3eA7.

 

[Jimster480]

Seems to eek past the Fosi V3 Mono in terms of performance. However there is no seller in the USA, only Aliexpress.us has it and it is $176 + Shipping for a Mono version. $276 + Shipping for a Stereo Version.

Do they both have the same performance?

 

[3eaudio]

Seems to eek past the Fosi V3 Mono in terms of performance. However there is no seller in the USA, only Aliexpress.us has it and it is $176 + Shipping for a Mono version. $276 + Shipping for a Stereo Version.

Do they both have the same performance?

same.
we are also very sorry about the tariff change recently which impacted our Amazon store (plan at May).

 

[daniboun]

A7se uses 1 x tpa3255 chip for stereo,
A7 uses 1 x tpa3255 chip per channel.
I am not implying any performance parameters, but just saying that BoM is different for A7 vs A7se and so price would be different as well.

A PBTL configuration here brings about 10% more power for 100€ more.... If you think about it: there is a minimal difference between the A7 and A7SE. So I maintain that the A7SE remains a real bargain

 

[daniboun]

... I wonder about the origin of some of them, such as the ELNA SILMIC II (RFS) capacitors, well-known for their 'audio performance'.

Did you read the 3E Audio spec ? I quote :

"3E Audio A7se: Quality components​

Elna Silmic II​

ELNA Silmic II capacitors have proven capacities and are often used in Hi-Fi applications"