3e audio TPA3255 260-2-29A Amplifier Review

[daniboun]

people is taking the 350 euros cost of Daniboun as reference for the amp tested but the amp Amir tested has a 550W power supply, and those don't come cheap. (100 eur /110 shipped from audiophonics - 125 euros shipped from digikey). I don't think daniboun build with a 250W power supply can reach anywhere closer to the amp in review.

The TPA3255 chip has a better THD+N figure with lower voltage. I'm not particularly looking for power in my case.
Ain't sure you will see a big difference between a 48V/5A PSU and a 48V/10A in pleasant listening conditions for the human ear

You can achieve about 103.2dB sinad 5W@4R with a 36V PSU :

 

[Rick Sykora]

Your eye is on the wrong end of the market.


IMO you're looking at the wrong end of the market here. Companies like Fosi and Aiyima are ever-so-close to producing TPA325X amps with filtering for more like $100 and change than many are willing to admit. Already Fosi makes the very competent V3 with SINAD 88 that can be bought with 48V/5A power supply for $105. Once they make an amp that performs like the module reviewed here why on earth would most buyers pass on it in preference of modules-in-box using Hypex or Purifi?

My perspective is my own, no doubt...

Not sure what end of the market you mean, so would be helpful for you to be more specific.

p.s.

reinforcing why perspective is important, in this case, my point of view is based on my experience with electronic manufacturing. I do not study the amplifier market and so am not making any prognostication in that regard. Any other opinions (notably unsubstantiated ones), while interesting, are irrelevant.

 

[MCH]

The TPA3255 chip has a better THD+N figure with lower voltage. I'm not particularly looking for power in my case.
Ain't sure you will see a big difference between a 48V/5A PSU and a 48V/10A in pleasant listening conditions for the human ear

If that is fine for you, it is fine for me too, but these are power amplifiers for a reason and many people look at the power they can bring. And some might be mistaken thinking they can build a 144W per channel amplifier like the one reviewed with those same components and budget.
Nothing wrong with being ok with less.

 

[Guddu]

The PA7 plus has around 20db gain via XLR (balanced) and 26db via RCA. (SE mode).
99db Sinad / 5W@4R (26db gain)
102db Sinad /5W@4R (20db gain)

By reducing the gain of the 260-2-29A from 20.5dB to 16.5dB you can get a very good 105.8dB sinad 5W@4R ) which would propel it even higher in the Amplifier Sinad list )

Surely right, but does it really make sense to run for SINAD between these like this for any meaningful difference?

 

[sarieri]

fair enough, but personally I won't scold Topping's other products for PA5 failures.

My two LA90D failed after two months. RA3 failed after 20 hours of use. I think you are probably too confident about Topping's QA. In fact, we(customers) are Topping's QA.
And if you ever dealt with topping's aftersales, or SMSL's aftersales, or just any other aftersales service from China, you will find that it's almost a joke. Non-existent, period. I doubt 3E Audio can be any worse than that.

 

[daniboun]

Surely right, but does it really make sense to run for SINAD between these like this for any meaningful difference?

Considering that any amp with a Sinad greater than 95db under ASR test conditions will sound the same to human ears, indeed, it makes little sense)

 

[sarieri]

people is taking the 350 euros cost of Daniboun as reference for the amp tested but the amp Amir tested has a 550W power supply, and those don't come cheap. (100 eur /110 shipped from audiophonics and out of stock, lets see the price when they have it again in january - 125 euros shipped from digikey). I don't think daniboun build with a 250W power supply can reach anywhere closer to the amp in review.

Mine came with Meanwell LRS 600w SMPS. And it cost $120 in total plus the module. I can make an aluminum case for an extra $50. Price in EU is just way too much.

 

[Guddu]

My two LA90D failed after two months. RA3 failed after 20 hours of use. I think you are probably too confident about Topping's QA. In fact, we(customers) are Topping's QA.
And if you ever dealt with topping's aftersales, or SMSL's aftersales, or just any other aftersales service from China, you will find that it's almost a joke. Non-existent, period. I doubt 3E Audio can be any worse than that.

Wow… that’s scary for me being a topping product owner….. so better leave it here

 

[CedarX]

Very similar performance but different configurations, with the PA7 using an external power brick. The main problem with the Topping at this point is hesitance in the marketplace because of the PA5 debacle. I've looked at the PA7 and PA7 Plus but have passed so far because I want to see how reliable they are over the next several months or so. I also think that prices for the high-SINAD TPA325X amps will continue to fall as Fosi and Aiyima get into the market with newer models.

My two LA90D failed after two months. RA3 failed after 20 hours of use. I think you are probably too confident about Topping's QA. In fact, we(customers) are Topping's QA.
And if you ever dealt with topping's aftersales, or SMSL's aftersales, or just any other aftersales service from China, you will find that it's almost a joke. Non-existent, period. I doubt 3E Audio can be any worse than that.

Fair points about Topping... but how is the reliability of this 'amp' going to be assessed? 3E Audio sells... a module, not an 'amp'. So if several of these fail, who's fault is that? 3E Audio? TI, the TPA3255 chip maker? Or the DIY-er who put the amp together?
Although interesting, these performance and reliability comparisons are like trying to compare a car with a crate engine, apples & oranges...

 

[sarieri]

Wow… that’s scary for me being a topping product owner….. so better leave it here

Just to clarify. My two LA90D is first batch, where lots of owners complain about QA issues. The ones that came after August 13th or so is free of issues(I don't recall the specific time). My LA90D came back from aftersales has been doing its job for about 4 months. And I do not hear anyone with second batch modules fail anymore. At least not lots of them.
My RA3 failed because of the volume module, so probably not comparable to PA5/7 since the TPA325X circuit in RA3 is just fine and PA5/7 do not come with Volume modules.

My point is: Topping is probably less reliable than you think on Amps. For DACs and Preamps, I think they are fine.

And BTW, with SMPS running at 34.5V, and slight gain mod, you can achieve 106dB SINAD on these 3eAudio module with even higher SINAD and power than PA5, why bother buy Topping?

 

[sarieri]

Fair points about Topping... but how is the reliability of this 'amp' going to be assessed? 3E Audio sells... a module, not an 'amp'. So if several of these fail, who's fault is that? 3E Audio? TI, the TPA3255 chip maker? Or the DIY-er who put the amp together?
Although interesting, these performance and reliability comparisons are like trying to compare a car with a crate engine, apples & oranges...

I assume if anything happens, 3eAudio will ask you to use a DMM to measure the SMPS's voltage output. And if that's fine(most likely). They will KINDLY ask you to ship the module back. And it's gonna cost $100 bucks or so and then ship it back to you which is gonna cost another $50 or so. So pretty much non-existent aftersales warraty I can think of.

But the point is, how is Topping different in anyway? Their policy is simple: I(Topping) take care of all repair cost, regardless of in warranty or not; You take care of shipping and I don't care how much. Their policy has been like that in China or outside of China, which may sound fair to them, not so much to customers. You still have to wait at least a months for the shipping of course.

 

[musicforcities]

Each picture corresponds to a different model. Click or hover on the picture to see the part number. Now scroll down about 1 widow lower on the page until you get to the table that shows the differences between each model (there are six lines in the table).

Ah ha! Got it. Thanks. Though it’s much more clear in the manual, here is the most relevant page:

Currently $90 for the mono PBTL (so 180 for two) and $110 for the 2 channel BTL.

 

[frabor]

We could actually compare the PA7 and PA7 plus to the 3E Audio but keeping in mind that both PA7 and PA7 plus use a dual TPA3255 chip (BTL)
PSU 48V/5A > PA7
PSU 52V/6.5A > PA7 plus

If they use a dual TP3255, one per channel, basically two mono amps in one board, the chip must be configured as PBTL

 

[Guddu]

I assume if anything happens, 3eAudio will ask you to use a DMM to measure the SMPS's voltage output. And if that's fine(most likely). They will KINDLY ask you to ship the module back. And it's gonna cost $100 bucks or so and then ship it back to you which is gonna cost another $50 or so. So pretty much non-existent aftersales warraty I can think of.

But the point is, how is Topping different in anyway? Their policy is simple: I(Topping) take care of all repair cost, regardless of in warranty or not; You take care of shipping and I don't care how much. Their policy has been like that in China or outside of China, which may sound fair to them, not so much to customers. You still have to wait at least a months for the shipping of course.

Almost correct, but if I buy from Amazon then at least I get 30 days return without question, and Amazon support most probably take care of warranty if buyer isn’t getting enough support from seller directly within described warranty period.

 

[K.Kevin]

The TPA3255 chip has a better THD+N figure with lower voltage. I'm not particularly looking for power in my case.
Ain't sure you will see a big difference between a 48V/5A PSU and a 48V/10A in pleasant listening conditions for the human ear

You can achieve about 103.2dB sinad 5W@4R with a 36V PSU :

Can you please disclose your affiliation to 3e audio?

Some of your posts are just you consistently leaping to the defence of this company and their products, and in your other posts you highlight their performance with an enthusiasm that comes across as advertisement.

Maybe you already have disclosed your affiliation and I missed it? Surely I’m not the first to have asked.

 

[Repdetect]

If price is approaching around 300 US dollars which is almost same as Yamaha R-N303BL receiver. Yamaha has Wifi, Bluetooth, Tuner, Phono, Tone controls with bypass switch. And Yamaha may be wide band, load independant, good power output, and low high frequency distortion at maximum power level in comparison.
https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-R-N303BL-Stereo-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B074F246M9/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2W4TG0PWZUZ7&keywords=yamaha+rs+receiver&qid=1701960159&sprefix=yamaha+rs+receiv,aps,730&sr=8-7
Regards.

You might want to take look at the codecs offered, or to be more precise, NOT offered.

 

[TheBatsEar]

Not taking away anything from well made 3e amplifier. Just sharing from price point perspective.

Not R-N303BL as mentioned in previous post but R-N303D. Which I guess would be same.
Link : R-N303D measurements
Good upto 100K ? Power output 144/4 ohms and 113/8 ohms. No noise figures and 19+20khz measurements.
Regards.

@amirm has a R-N202 for measurement in the pipeline, which has the same guts and specs, but lacks streamer and a DAC. Internal pics here:

Inside Yamaha amps

Just over a year ago I bought an AS501 for my daughter, and it is absolutely fine. It was only 359 euros in the Netherlands, and at that time a lot less than the AS701 that is only just a bit more powerful. In this day and age of internet radio I see no point in buying receivers anymore...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It won't beat this module in SINAD, i don't think. But it has beaten it in terms of features, price ($180), warranty and ease of use as it's not DIY.

 

[Repdetect]

Would be really nice if somebody like Ghent put together an enclosure with hardware and wiring. I imagine a suitable SMPS could be had on Amazon for l.t. $40-50. Maybe $250-300 for everything plus a tiny little bit of sweat equity.

I have no problem with all that you say, including sweat equity. What I need are detailed assembly instructions that include a parts list.
The last kits that I assembled were a Hafler preamp and power amp over 40yrs ago. Amp is still going strong AFAIK. Excellent assembly instructions.

 

[Okapi]

For those like me who are interested in the details of PFFB, TI has a helpful application report for the TPA32.. chips.

 

[daniboun]

Can you please disclose your affiliation to 3e audio?

This is a somewhat macabre accusation.... I have no stock in 3E Audio.
I'm just sharing my enthusiasm because I opened my previous thread based on this module. Just like I did for the DrMordor modules at the time.
And believe me man, you're going to have to bear with me a little longer because I'm going to test the next 3E Audio Mono module soon....

I think 3E Audio doesn't need me to be sufficiently appreciated)