I'm still in the middle of a dispute with amazon.de. Depending on how it turns out, I'll share my experiences here in detail. It's important to note, however, that even though this involves the purchase of an A7 mono from 3eAudio, it has nothing to do with the product or the manufacturer, 3eAudio. That's why I ordered the PAM253 through the Alsozone website.
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3e Audio / Alsozone Multi-Channel Amp - Owner's Thread
I am considering ordering 2, PAM258 amps directly from Alsozone to replace all amps in my current system. I'm anxious to hear everyone's experiences with their purchase experience before the end of the month when the discount code expires. I'm particularly interested in any tariff costs as I am also considering 4, PAM254 amps from Amazon but they are considerably more expensive if there are no additional tariff costs ordering from Alsozone. Also, I'm concerned about other's experience with dead amp channels. Thanks.
I had an excellent experience purchasing a PAM158 from AliExpress. My experience with it, and why I returned it, is discussed in posts 34 and 47 in this thread.
I paid only the final price that AliExpress charged. No extra duties or taxes were applied. I’m located in Canada.
I got my 258 Friday after ordering from Alsozone directly. It was packed extremely well. The box was wrapped in plastic and tape and the box itself was also heavily taped. The unit was nearly fully encased in foam and plastic protectors reinforced the corners.
The shipping process used Yun Express and Gofo, I had never used them before but all came out ok
The shipping process used Yun Express and Gofo, I had never used them before but all came out ok
Are you physically located in the USA or Europe? I was trying to decide whether to buy from ALSOZONE directly or Amazon... tariff charges are my big worry.
I’m in the US. Haven’t had any info about additional tariff charges
Very nice.
No, what would be nice is an indication that there won't be any.
I recently received an AE direct-imported item from FedEx here in the US
The $50 tariff bill arrived 10 days later.
This is NORMAL now, don't be surprised.
I recently received an AE direct-imported item from FedEx here in the US
The $50 tariff bill arrived 10 days later.
This is NORMAL now, don't be surprised.
Alright, some updates on my PAM256:
3E Audio sent me a new module to replace my defective one. I wouldn't call it trivial to install these, but if you're good with a screwdriver and following directions, it's certainly well within the capabilities of your average enthusiast and doesn't take terribly long.
I am pretty impressed with the performance. I haven't done any measurements, but it was capable of driving the speakers to reference (and a little beyond) without any harshness (let alone clipping). I had been planning on getting a Buckeye 3 channel to drive the fronts, but now I'm not so sure that's necessary. I have a teensy bit of white noise coming off one of my pre-outs that I am trying to figure out - it's not there when I remove the RCA cable from the amp, and it was present on both amp channels I tried, so I suspect that it's the AVR, not the amp.
Auto-on works alright, but the 12v trigger mechanism is the way to go if you can do it.
The biggest dislike I have is that it simply isn't very good for rackmounts. It does fit, but you have to angle it behind the rails due to it being slightly oversized (by like mm's). This was a weird oversight by 3E Audio, so I hope they release a version that's set up for this use case. I'd like to see them release the modules for adding channels, too.
3E Audio sent me a new module to replace my defective one. I wouldn't call it trivial to install these, but if you're good with a screwdriver and following directions, it's certainly well within the capabilities of your average enthusiast and doesn't take terribly long.
I am pretty impressed with the performance. I haven't done any measurements, but it was capable of driving the speakers to reference (and a little beyond) without any harshness (let alone clipping). I had been planning on getting a Buckeye 3 channel to drive the fronts, but now I'm not so sure that's necessary. I have a teensy bit of white noise coming off one of my pre-outs that I am trying to figure out - it's not there when I remove the RCA cable from the amp, and it was present on both amp channels I tried, so I suspect that it's the AVR, not the amp.
Auto-on works alright, but the 12v trigger mechanism is the way to go if you can do it.
The biggest dislike I have is that it simply isn't very good for rackmounts. It does fit, but you have to angle it behind the rails due to it being slightly oversized (by like mm's). This was a weird oversight by 3E Audio, so I hope they release a version that's set up for this use case. I'd like to see them release the modules for adding channels, too.
I have an a7 mono running my center channel while the Alsozone runs surround/height channels.
I haven’t tried switching channels yet but they seem to be level matched well and of similar transparency
Without measuring it would be hard to say
I haven’t tried switching channels yet but they seem to be level matched well and of similar transparency
Without measuring it would be hard to say
The PAM258 would be well suited for running 4 top layer and 4 surround speakers in a 7.1.4 setup, but for the life of me why did they choose to make a cinema focused power amp 460mm wide??? This will not fit in a 19 inch rack, it would have been perfect at 450mm
chaddawkins
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chaddawkins
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I considered holes for the clipping LEDs, the other LEDs seem pointless to me (I know how many channels I have). It would be easy to add small holes at any time, there's already reliefs for the LEDs in the back of the plate to center the drill bit on.TBH, I'd like that, but with the LEDs.
TBH, the power LEDs proved useful to me immediately diagnose that a channel went bad.
chaddawkins
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I get they use the LEDs for diagnosis but they're easy to view by taking the top of the enclosure off. I expect 99% will never need this and 1% wants to view those LEDs on all the time.
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I felt like getting the top of the enclosure off was a giant pain in the ass... there's at least a dozen screws to do it. (The other reason to have them is so you can see what channels are on if you use auto mode.)
I think I'm going to get a PAM258 next month... I'm satisfied enough with the one I've got that I think I'd like to quit using the AVR's amp entirely. That'll put me in a good position to upgrade to a dedicated pre-pro next year.
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