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3e Audio A7 [TPA3255 PFFB Stereo] Finished Amplifier - User Impressions | Owner's Thread

As i know, with class D it is not that a Problem like with class AB and Others, because Class D have very high Damping Factor, right!?
Many cheap class D amplifiers have a low output resistance (equaling a high damping factor), but only at low frequencies. At higher frequencies their output resistance often rises significantly. Not so with the 3e Audio A5 and A7 amps! Their output resistance is constantly low over the entire audio band.

The term "damping factor" really stems from the idea how the amplifier ensures proper damping of the electromechanical resonant circuit presented by the woofer in it's enclosure. But a constant output resistance is considered beneficial in general, because a non-constant damping causes load dependency.
 
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I’m in Australia. I’ve already sent them a message on Aliexpress enquiring when they’ll have more stock.

Would you recommend an A7 or 2x A7 Mono’s for my setup? I have a Wiim Ultra as source which would go into an A7 or 2x A7 Mono’s which would power my Elipson XLS 15 passive speakers. Speakers are rated 200W @ 6ohm 92db sensitivity (dropping down to 3.2ohm). Not entirely sure what the benefits of running 2x Mono’s would be over a Stereo, other than better channel separation
Personally I went with the A5 but I already have Fosi V3 monos. Looking at your speakers and their efficiency you could go with the A5 also... for me the ability to adjust balance in my analogue set up made (still makes) me consider the A7 monos but you have a digital front end which will handle this kind of thing I understand.

The A5 is also comparative overkill with dual 3251 chips and drives down to 2ohm ... my hunch was to dip my toe in the water with an A5 ... and if you are not going to buy long balanced cables and redo your wiring popping a stereo unit next to your Wiim should be perfectly fine... A5 or A7.
 
@Guddu @harkpabst @Piotr @mcdn @SMen and etc.

thanks all for your feedback and chime in,things won't be so perfect at the beginning but we keep learning and improve.
regarding the audio sensitivity,do you have experience what level set will be more convenience for most of the people? 1mV or something like that? i can ask team to do a quick evaluate test.

You need to have a way for the user to disable this feature.
 
You need to have a way for the user to disable this feature.
Exactly! In a nutshell that is what you @3eaudio should take away from all those posts.

Whatever you think you need to install as an automatic, make sure that it can be switched off. It is just not possible to cover all use cases, not even by a long shot. Many users - like me - will be ok with a "mainstream" auto function. But I knew I would use it as a kind of high fidelity reference and for use in a "standard" situation as a stereo (music) system.
I could be interested to buy 3 more for use with my DSP crossover, but not with this automatic. The tweeter amp will probably shut off all the time (probably even with a different threshold), so that's a no. I need a plain vanilla version or the possibility of disabling all these "intelligent" functions, which are way too dumb quite often.
surround --> problems
active --> problems
gaming --> problems
near field --> problems
very low volume --> problems
high sensitivity speakers --> problems
...
 
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Dear all,
First post on this forum for me ! I am a happy owner of the 3e A7 amplifier since yesterday (got it from Audiophonics, delivered in 3 days), and I wanted to share my first thoughts with you on this thread, since I found the discussions here very helpful in taking the decision to pull the trigger.
I use the A7 in my main system, it is fed by a Minidsp Flex as the preamp and powers a pair of Triangle Antal EZ.
What I like about the amp:
- superb channel separation compared to the Arcam SA20 it is replacing
- damping factor seems consistently high over the whole frequency range, and this little beast grips the speakers with authority
- a lot of power available without strain
- stability with low impedance speakers such as the Antal
- the footprint of the thing is incredibly compact
What I like less:
- auto-off sensitivity. This has been discussed at length in the thread, and I can only confirm it is a bit annoying. Using it with the volume bypass, I cannot reach the low levels I wish for late night listening without the amp going off after 5 min... Using the Minidsp volume control, I need to keep it above roughly -35dB in order to keep the amp alive, while I'd like to listen with Minidsp volume down to -45dB...
- workaround is to indeed use the volume control of the A7 and set the pot at 12 o'clock, then I obtain the listening dynamics I want, including on the low side !

Anyway, the performances of this amp are impressive, and the subjective quality of the low level listening using the above trick to prevent auto-off is superb. If on top of this, as I hope, the amp is reliable over the next years of use, I'd say I've stabilized my audio setup for a while now !

Cheers
 
You need to have a way for the user to disable this feature.
In my use scenario I have extended gaps between music playing and I cannot use an Amplfier that turns off during short (5 minutes is short) periods of silence. Please provide an option so this functionality can be disabled.
 
I'm presuming that people are at least finding that the 3e's switch on again when the signal re-starts (after auto off).
 
I'm presuming that people are at least finding that the 3e's switch on again when the signal re-starts (after auto off).
This is indeed how it behaves in my hands: listing music with an input amplitude large enough to keep the A7 on, if I stop the music the amp goes off after 5min, and then wakes up (auto-on) rather swiftly when music is resumed with the same input amplitude.
 
I’m in Australia. I’ve already sent them a message on Aliexpress enquiring when they’ll have more stock.

Would you recommend an A7 or 2x A7 Mono’s for my setup? I have a Wiim Ultra as source which would go into an A7 or 2x A7 Mono’s which would power my Elipson XLS 15 passive speakers. Speakers are rated 200W @ 6ohm 92db sensitivity (dropping down to 3.2ohm). Not entirely sure what the benefits of running 2x Mono’s would be over a Stereo, other than better channel separation
Buying two of these is pushing close to NCx500 territory with only a third of the power of that amp. The stereo version of the A7 already runs in bridged mode dual channel so you'll benefit from good separation already.
 
Buying two of these is pushing close to NCx500 territory with only a third of the power of that amp. The stereo version of the A7 already runs in bridged mode dual channel so you'll benefit from good separation already.
I ended up ordering 2x Fosi V3 Mono’s instead, as I have no idea when the A7 Mono or Stereo are back in stock
 
for what it’s worth, it’s an excellent product.
Almost everyone who heard A7 at my place praised the product and asked which brand is it! ..... see if you can consider adding your brand somewhere on it, may be something like:

View attachment 418853
A question for 3e Audio if you don't mind. I own a 260-2-29A and am struggling driving it with a potentiometer. What's your recommendation, 100k? 50k? linear or log? Stepped or not? Thank you.
 
I would suggest to 3E Audio to add the subwoofer output to their A5/A7 amp. Just Fosi Audio ZA3 has one. Having such sub out would be very convenient, because connecting the subwoofer to a class D amp using a high-level connection is tricky.
 
I would suggest to 3E Audio to add the subwoofer output to their A5/A7 amp. Just Fosi Audio ZA3 has one. Having such sub out would be very convenient, because connecting the subwoofer to a class D amp using a high-level connection is tricky.
Power amplifiers should not have a subwoofer output. It's the wrong place. Sub out belongs to the pre-processor which can provide proper low pass filtering and high pass filtering for the mains.

These are not desktop amps, these are serious High-End power amps. They just happen to be compatible with desktop use.
 
Power amplifiers should not have a subwoofer output. It's the wrong place. Sub out belongs to the pre-processor which can provide proper low pass filtering and high pass filtering for the mains.

These are not desktop amps, these are serious High-End power amps. They just happen to be compatible with desktop use.
Yes.
A power amp should remain a power amp.
Otherwise use an integrated amp or a Pre-Amp with sub-out functionality.
WiiM Ultra is a good and very versatile example, but there are many other options.

Jürgen
 
WiiM Ultra is a good and very versatile example, but there are many other options.
Curious what that list looks like to you as other than the WiiM and miniDSP Flex, I haven't seen too many desktop options with adjustable bass management - meaning more than a second full-frequency output.
 
Hi. I've been using my A7 for a week or so now. Sounds good and performs as advertised. I have not experienced the amp swithing off. The only issue for me is that it takes a couple of seconds for it to switch on so you'll propably miss the begining of your song. For this reason only I think the auto switch is not ideal, although it does not keep me from enjoying my setup.
 
Curious what that list looks like to you as other than the WiiM and miniDSP Flex, I haven't seen too many desktop options with adjustable bass management - meaning more than a second full-frequency output.
Sorry, I did not look for a desktop option - but if you include full size, there are several more options like Cambridge Audio or Eversolo. All of them more expensive...
I also bought a full-size power am in the meantime.
 
@3e Audio
A question for 3e Audio if you don't mind. I own a 260-2-29A and am struggling driving it with a potentiometer. What's your recommendation, 100k? 50k? or less? linear or log? Stepped or not? Thank you.
 
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