3e Audio / Alsozone Multi-Channel Amp - Owner's Thread

[Aerodynamics]

View attachment 517107


Quick thoughts


The unit is easily the smallest 8 channel Amp I have ever seen.


The banana plugs have a satisfying click to them. Also means that you have to use plugs and can’t run bare wire as far as I can see. I personally love using banana plugs but I am sure some people might not be happy about that decision. 8 pairs of banana plugs are included with the unit, please see the attached picture.


The tiny green Plastic tab to remove the plastic on the front plate is useless and ripped right off without removing the plastic.


The LEDs aren’t obnoxiously bright but all the LEDs seem to be lit up even though I am only running 4 channels currently.


Infrared thermometer shows the case to be warm to touch at 40.3 degrees after I guess it remained on all night.


Sound wise it seems brilliant. I cannot tell the difference between this and the Stereo A7 while powering my Ascilab C6B and Philharmonic BMR V2 Monitors. Admittedly I do not have golden ears. I seem to be able to raise the volume to hearing loss levels without issue. I also can’t tell any audible difference between this and the Buckeye 3 channel Purifi(2nd Gen) amp that’s used in my Home theater setup downstairs. This amp is being paired with my Marantz Cinema 60 as the processor.




If anyone needs more pictures, just let me know. IMO this is a pretty great deal considering the competition and how relatively small the unit is.

if using Auto mode, you don’t need to use the front power button. It will bypass the auto setting and power all the channel.

Can you confirm the length is 460mm/18.1 inches? If so, it doesn’t appear to fit in a standard 19” rack which would be an odd design decision.

 

[john61ct]

It would fit on a shelf just fine behind the rails, just not be able to slide in and out "longitudinally" from the front.

You could still drop it in from the top, or slide it in "laterally" from the side

or from the front sideways then spin.

 

[Aerodynamics]

It would fit on a shelf just fine behind the rails, just not be able to slide in and out "longitudinally" from the front.

You could still drop it in from the top, or slide it in "laterally" from the side

or from the front sideways then spin.

Yes but it would be a major pain in the arse if you ever needed to get to something in the back especially if there’s other equipment above and below it.

 

[john61ct]

I make a point of designing my shelving and racks with that functionality in mind, to make frequent moves / changes / swaps / re-routing easy.

Then again I don't give a fig about aesthetics, doing both I admit would be a bit harder.

A good 3' depth also helps, could slide in sideways from the front and then rotate.

Most of my gear I do not need front access, nice to be able hide those in the back sections.

Also enables wrapping / bundling cables so less of a rat's nest on the backplane

 

[anonyless]

before

after

my original thought before it got here, is having the PAM152 on top of the subwoofer (purely out of aesthetics) , now i'm not so sure anymore

first impressions:
no pop noise when the Ultra turns it on/off (cos 3e audio cares about the important things, not BT/app crap) which I had with the Vibelink
trigger works perfectly
it came with 2 prong 16A power cable, although there's ground connection in its AC plug (weird). i used it anyway.
very well packed

 

[anonyless]

How has others' experience been with the 12v trigger input? When my wiim toggles the amp off, only one of the lights shuts off. Not exactly sure what that indicates. Didn't see anything in the manual

did you get the trigger issue figured out? mine works perfectly with the Ultra - all lights on the amp shut off when i turn the Ultra into standby

 

[chaddawkins]

Is there a way to change the led light colors?

 

[Guddu]

Is there a way to change the led light colors?

I guess the answer is NO.

 

[Guddu]

3-Channel PAM153 - User Impressions

I finally got TPA3251 based PAM153. I needed a power amplifier to use with my AVR as external power amplifier for L/C/R as well as with my DAC for 2-channel stereo.

Amazon delivery was fairly quick, took 5 days.

Case is really solid with smooth finish, it looks better in front than the pictures show. Loads of vents all over the case should help in thermal performance.

My current speakers, Mofi Sourcepoint 8, have 6 ohms impedance and I have never seen watt meter showing over 15-18 watts ever running with 3e A7 amplifier.
And so, I thought I will get TPA3251 version and see if it has required power or not. Amazon's return policy was always there to return and get TPA3255 version.
Not shying from saying that I chose PAM153 for its better higher frequency noise/distortion compared to TPA3255 based PAM253, even though I know it may not be remotely detectible by ears. And just to keep economy in check, PAM153 is cheaper as well compared to PAM253.
This also allows me to quick compare (for myself) 3eAudio TPA3251 vs TPA3255 modules/amplifiers as I already have their A7 which dial-TPA3255 power amplifier.

2, 3 and 4 channel PAM amplifiers have same case with different no. of modules installed. Here is how it compares with A7 in size:

All the settings are on the back panel, so talking a few additional minutes in verifying all connections before power ON might save time and efforts later.

Speaker Connectors: It does need banana plugs and they have the plugs included which works fine but I prefer using something better for quality/stability.
I was using cables with thicker spades before but had to get new set of cables with banana plugs to use with it.

GAIN - Low vs High
I always used 3e A7 with low gain and it had more than enough power available always.
I set gain to LOW on PAM153 as well and DIRAC set the pre-amp volume 2dB higher than 3e A7.
PAM153 has more than enough power for my Mofi SP8 speakers in my used case, I did push it to my ear bleeding levels paying some lower bass tones for few minutes to see if clipping LEDs would come up but they did not.

Idle Power Usage (captured with smart Watt Meter)
- While nothing playing, PAM153 consumes about 11 Watts
- My normal listening levels consume about 11 - 15 Watts, haven't seen it going beyond that level yet

Hiss/Noise/Pop
- RCA and XLR inputs fed with 2.6Vrms and 5.3Vrms respectively (full volume on DAC) and no hiss/noise from speakers on low or high gain settings.
- No Pop noise on power ON/OFF

Auto (signal sense) Power ON/OFF and 12v Triggered IN/OUT
- Auto/Trigger is selectable on the back panel of the unit, for each module independently
- Auto power ON works as soon as it gets signal on selected input - RCA/XLR
- If RCA and XLR both are connected and XLR is selected then signal sense auto-ON works with XLR input signal only and not with RCA
Note: Ensure that correct input is selected for Auto-ON
- 12v Triggered input worked every time without failure, used triggered out from Onkyo RZ50 AVR
- For testing, I connected Triggered Out/THRU on PAN153 to another (Fosi BT20A Max) amplifier and it also worked every time without failure

PAM153 - in Action, subjective

PAM153 is a power amplifier and it did deliver the power needed for my speakers to perform.
I was expecting high fidelity and PAM153 totally delivered. I have been using Mofi speakers in the same room for several months and comfortably familiar with the characteristics.
Sound output is clean, neutral and balanced with realistic tonality to me. Vocals, breathiness, imaging and soundstage are all so present provided in the songs.
Instruments and stereo separation is clear and totally noticeable.
My speakers, Mofi Sourcepoint 8, have great mid-bass and bass presence and it provided the power needed even getting louder.
Clipping LEDs never came up when playing sub-base and bass heavy tracks.

Few nit-pickings:
- Input selector - RCA/XLR switch is at the back of the unit. It is all good but makes it difficult in general if frequent switching is needed.
- No LED to identify which input is selected. It may not be desired in set and forget cases but it is surely helpful to have on front.
- No LED Dimmer - Not an issue for me personally but something users look for if they are sensitive to it
@3eaudio - probably something that could be changed/improved for future products.

Need not to say that I am totally happy with PAM153.

 

[john61ct]

It's nits that need picking, not knits 8-D

 

[Guddu]

It's nits that need picking, not knits 8-D

Correct, but whats 8-D?

 

[john61ct]

me laughing, I wear glasses

 

[anonyless]

Idle Power Usage (captured with smart Watt Meter)
- While nothing playing, PAM153 consumes about 11 Watts
- My normal listening levels consume about 11 - 15 Watts, haven't seen it going beyond that level yet

have you had a chance to test its power usage while it's in standby (back power button on / all leds off ) ?

Hiss/Noise/Pop
- RCA and XLR inputs fed with 2.6Vrms and 5.3Vrms respectively (full volume on DAC) and no hiss/noise from speakers on low or high gain settings.
- No Pop noise on power ON/OFF

same here with the PAM152 .
i was a bit concerned at start with the 2 prong power cable supplied with the amp, as I did have ground loop noise with the A5 connected in the same setup to the Ultra, that was gone once I switched to the Vibelink (3 prong connector).
now I can assume for certain, the noise had to do with the A5's external power supply and the Ultra's poor grounding.

Clipping LEDs never came up when playing sub-base and bass heavy tracks.

Few nit-pickings:
- Input selector - RCA/XLR switch is at the back of the unit. It is all good but makes it difficult in general if frequent switching is needed.
- No LED to identify which input is selected. It may not be desired in set and forget cases but it is surely helpful to have on front.

i have a hunch (unlike the A5/A7 series), they don't want you to switch between inputs on the fly with the PAM series - or maybe it has to do with the modularity design of these amps that prevents from having a proper input switch button per channel on the front.

i'm extremely happy with it too