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

Just a quick question for those who have some experience with mono Amps versions... Have you noticed a qualitative difference between adjusting the level volume from the 2 mono amps or from a dac (for example an SMSL MDA1). Bypass mode or not? Is it difficult to adjust the right balanced stereo ?
Volume bypass on amplifier is the way to go with mono amplifier pair to avoid imbalances.
Or keeping volume at max.
 
@harkpabst Have you received your A5 yet? My A7 Mono is stuck in the Netherlands (it has been there since Monday)... It looks like the shipment traveled from China to Europe (the Netherlands) faster than it will travel from the Netherlands to Poland (which I find a bit embarrassing).
The Netherlands have two X-mass days and a plane is faster than a truck.
 
Volume bypass on amplifier is the way to go with mono amplifier pair to avoid imbalances.
Or keeping volume at max.
Even at max volume there could be an imbalance. That was the case with my Aiyima A07 Max mono amps. There was a 3db difference between the two that I was able to verify using my mic and REW.
 
That was the case with my Aiyima A07 Max mono amps.
With mono amplifiers, imbalance is more likely to occur, while with stereo amplifiers, this is almost impossible because there is one chip for both channels in the amplifier.
 
Even at max volume there could be an imbalance. That was the case with my Aiyima A07 Max mono amps. There was a 3db difference between the two that I was able to verify using my mic and REW.
You are correct, but It’s the artifact of type of potentiometer used.
 
Just a quick confirmation on RCA input R & L print issue, it’s just print issue (at least on my unit).
Red one is still Right channel input even though print is L. Likewise, White one is Left channel but print is R.
* Input connections aren’t inverted, just print issue.
A got this question twice, so thought of clarifying it here.
 
@harkpabst Have you received your A5 yet? My A7 Mono is stuck in the Netherlands (it has been there since Monday)... It looks like the shipment traveled from China to Europe (the Netherlands) faster than it will travel from the Netherlands to Poland (which I find a bit embarrassing).
We are in the same boat. Mine got stuck in the Netherlands too, starting from December 23rd. The postal service there seems really slow; I think it’s still waiting for transit. I’m not sure if it will be transported by plane or truck, but either way, it’s an 8-hour trip, not a week-long delay. FedEx delivers in 1-2 days.
 
@harkpabst Have you received your A5 yet? My A7 Mono is stuck in the Netherlands (it has been there since Monday)... It looks like the shipment traveled from China to Europe (the Netherlands) faster than it will travel from the Netherlands to Poland (which I find a bit embarrassing).
My A5 made it to German customs in Frankfurt and appears to be stuck there. Prior to that it spend Christmas in the Nederlands as well. :p

The local carrier (DHL in my case) had already announced delivery on Friday but at the end of the day it became clear that customs processing had not even completed.

Even at max volume there could be an imbalance. That was the case with my Aiyima A07 Max mono amps. There was a 3db difference between the two that I was able to verify using my mic and REW.
It's possible, but not too likely. 3 dB is really pretty extreme.

The A7 Mono has a dedicated volume bypass switch, so the potentiometer is completely out of the way. If the amplifier chips had such a difference in gain this would clearly show up in other use cases as well. I cannot believe that. The circuitry around the chip shouldn't be all that sensitive to part tolerances.
 
Received the 3e A5 yesterday. Color me impressed. It's replacing a comparatively very expensive 85lbs class AB stereo amp that I'm getting too old to be able move when needed anymore. PFFB has definitely leveled if not raised the bar in my system.
 
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The Netherlands have two X-mass days and a plane is faster than a truck.
I understand everything, especially that a truck is slower than a plane, but the Christmas holidays in the Netherlands are December 25 and 26. My parcels arrived in Europe on December 21 and at the post office in the Netherlands on December 23. One of these parcels is still there (and it's December 30), while the other has been in transit to Poland since December 28. Given the progress of these parcels, it looks like one A7mono will arrive after New Year's and the other one a week later, which is funny because they were ordered together in one purchase.
 
3e-Audio pride themselves in producing some of the best performing TPA325x series amplifiers currently available. Why do they use a cheap potentiometer for the volume control rather than Alps potentiometers ? Personally I would far rather have proper switches for Power and Input selection.
 
3e-Audio pride themselves in producing some of the best performing TPA325x series amplifiers currently available. Why do they use a cheap potentiometer for the volume control rather than Alps potentiometers ? Personally I would far rather have proper switches for Power and Input selection.
I don’t think it’s difficult for @3eaudio to provide better components but then cost goes up and people here (many if not all) then compare these amps with Aiyima/Fosi versions prices.
But they have covered this with bypass switch at least.
 
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3e-Audio pride themselves in producing some of the best performing TPA325x series amplifiers currently available. Why do they use a cheap potentiometer for the volume control rather than Alps potentiometers ? Personally I would far rather have proper switches for Power and Input selection.
the Gain error is typical parameters for all potentionmeter due to the carbon painting for each resistor is not identical,see Alps spec,this is also common to other brand unless you specify them to filter out customized, for example LED with specified BIN Code.
other product also have this case depend on how you find it at a very special tap position,normally in the low position due to smaller resistance tolerance.
please note that a amp has typ 20dB gain so the potentionmeter actually is much less then their spec.
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received ny pair of A7 Monos yesterday.
Iin order not to get lost in epic sound explanations I'm brave enough to say this are the best sounding Class-D amps on the market right now.
The price asked is a yoke considering the sound quality you get.
Over recent years I have been following the development of Class-D amps and heard and own a lot of them but again 3E Audio offers a performance that is and will be hard to beat.
I can only recommend, hear it and be surprised
 
The price asked is a yoke considering the sound quality you get.
Typo: Joke

Can’t say on A7 mono, but I share same impressions for A7 Stereo.
About thermal performance, we kind of abused A7 on 31st Dec eve running to its fullest with 48v 10a psu for about 4-5 hours and A7 was warm enough only.
It did hold nice clean powerful presentation, never felt loosing anything.
@3eaudio Don’t know what did you find in your testing that you didn’t keep A7’s thermal performance to best in that table of yours on website, but it’s nothing short of excellent.
 
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Typo: Joke

Can’t say on A7 mono, but I share same impressions for A7 Stereo.
About thermal performance, we kind of abused A7 on 31st Dec eve running to its fullest with 48v 10a psu for about 4-5 hours and A7 was warm enough only.
It did hold nice clean powerful presentation, never felt loosing anything.
@3eaudio Don’t know what did you find in your testing that you didn’t keep A7’s thermal performance to best in that table of yours on website, but it’s nothing short of excellent.
sorry,initial intention is only comparing for all the 5 models, as A7 is dual chip so it's idle thermal is highest,but not means it is worse than others....
the implementation we learned is a combination of bigger heat-sink + aluminum chassis for thermal dissipation. it is easy to touch the internal heat-sink(through the op-amp hole) and it's temp is very close to the aluminum chassis on the bottom side.
actually we took two enhanced change: chassis extend 6mm depth and heat-sink extend 4mm wider in mass production, sadly increase the cost and weight, but we did try best to improve(solve) user's expectation on thermal performance.
 
sorry,initial intention is only comparing for all the 5 models, as A7 is dual chip so it's idle thermal is highest,but not means it is worse than others....
the implementation we learned is a combination of bigger heat-sink + aluminum chassis for thermal dissipation. it is easy to touch the internal heat-sink(through the op-amp hole) and it's temp is very close to the aluminum chassis on the bottom side.
actually we took two enhanced change: chassis extend 6mm depth and heat-sink extend 4mm wider in mass production, sadly increase the cost and weight, but we did try best to improve(solve) user's expectation on thermal performance.
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:

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Received my A5 a few days ago. The auto on/off is not sufficient when gaming or watching podcasts.

I'm currently playing Alan Wake II, a survival horror game where you solve puzzles and also play as a detective. The A5 will power off as footsteps and rain is not loud enough to keep it on. I then have to bring up the Windows sound menu and adjust volume to make a sound to wake it up.

When watching podcasts and pausing to use the bathroom or make a snack, the auto on is not fast enough when I resume playback and I miss some dialogue and have to rewind every time.

30 minute auto off would be helpful here. Or maybe a simple on switch like...I don't know...every single other device that exists on this planet? Sorry I'm just frustrated here.

Anyway, I'm returning the device.
You can't defeat the auto on/off sensor? That's kind of unfortunate. I wonder what the voltage threshold / time with no voltage is to determine a shutdown @3eaudio ?
 
You can't defeat the auto on/off sensor? That's kind of unfortunate. I wonder what the voltage threshold / time with no voltage is to determine a shutdown @3eaudio ?
No signal for 5 min to standby, also noted in 1st post.
 
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