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AIYIMA A08 Pro Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 8 3.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 34 14.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 169 71.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 24 10.2%

  • Total voters
    235

NoxMorbis

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Mar 21, 2023
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The presence of bass and treble dials with no tone defeat is a deal breaker for me. How do I adjust them at home for flat response without any measurement equipment?
Do you listen to music with measuring equipment? I use my ears. What sounds good to my ears is good. Just because there aren't tone controls doesn't mean the signal is flat. Music is dynamic, not a specific frequency.
 

NoxMorbis

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I should have seen cheapaudioman power cable video before...now I know nothing he says has any value lol
That guy is just good at talking and markets his Youtube videos for a living. His reviews have no merit at all. He doesn't even use a simply distoriton meter or a nything else when reviewing. It's just "sounds good to my ears!" with some flubbery verbiage you might hear on a audiofool forum.
 

NoxMorbis

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My 08 Pro does not run cool. Even at a very low listening level, like 1 watt, it gets pretty toasty. I don't remember my early Douk 3116D based amp doing that. Any ideas?
 

Horseflesh

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I apologize but I have a really dumb question about the A08 Pro which will expose my shocking ignorance about other aspects of hifi!

I bought one intending to use it to drive a pair of outdoor speakers. This works great with Bluetooth and I think the amp sounds pretty OK.

Unfortunately I had no luck hooking the Ayima up to the "PRE OUT" jacks on my older Sony AVR. The meter doesn't even twitch.

If I hook up a device with a headphone jack to the A08 Pro's RCA jacks, then I get sound, so I assume the A08 Pro is working correctly.

So, either I do not understand my AVR manual and the "PRE OUT" jacks are not actually active... Or, "PRE OUT" is not the kind of signal that the A08 Pro is expecting. Is a preamp output a lower level than "line?" I have had preamp outputs on every kind of stereo I have ever had... But not tried to use them until today.

This is extra confusing because when I look up how to use preamp outputs, the diagrams I see just show them cabled up to what seem to be normal audio inputs on an amp.

Thanks in advance for gentle corrections, haha.
 

NoxMorbis

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I apologize but I have a really dumb question about the A08 Pro which will expose my shocking ignorance about other aspects of hifi!

I bought one intending to use it to drive a pair of outdoor speakers. This works great with Bluetooth and I think the amp sounds pretty OK.

Unfortunately I had no luck hooking the Ayima up to the "PRE OUT" jacks on my older Sony AVR. The meter doesn't even twitch.

If I hook up a device with a headphone jack to the A08 Pro's RCA jacks, then I get sound, so I assume the A08 Pro is working correctly.

So, either I do not understand my AVR manual and the "PRE OUT" jacks are not actually active... Or, "PRE OUT" is not the kind of signal that the A08 Pro is expecting. Is a preamp output a lower level than "line?" I have had preamp outputs on every kind of stereo I have ever had... But not tried to use them until today.

This is extra confusing because when I look up how to use preamp outputs, the diagrams I see just show them cabled up to what seem to be normal audio inputs on an amp.

Thanks in advance for gentle corrections, haha.
You need a DAC. The DAC in the 08 Pro is only for Bluetooth. The old AVR doesn't have a DAC built in. The reason it worked in your other amp is because our old amp was intergrated -- both DAC and AMP combined.
 

Horseflesh

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Now I'm really confused! The preamp outputs on my receiver should just be analog signals, right? The manual does not specify that they are coax signals. The only digital outputs are for the Mini Disc stage. (Boy that tells you how old it is!)

My goal is to take whatever is playing on that system (which usually comes in over HDMI) and send only the front L/R channels to the A08. Isn't that what a preamp output is for?

This is a diagram of the back of the receiver.

 

NoxMorbis

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Now I'm really confused! The preamp outputs on my receiver should just be analog signals, right? The manual does not specify that they are coax signals. The only digital outputs are for the Mini Disc stage. (Boy that tells you how old it is!)

My goal is to take whatever is playing on that system (which usually comes in over HDMI) and send only the front L/R channels to the A08. Isn't that what a preamp output is for?

This is a diagram of the back of the receiver.

No idea about your old rig, but if whatever you are trying to plug into the Aiyima 08 Pro does not have a built in DAC, you need to add one between that peice of equipment and the Aiyima 08 Pro. Analog needs to be converted to digital, therefore, Digit to Analog converter (DAC).

There is a fairly new "integrated" (amp/DAC) out from Topping called the MX3s. It has a built in DAC, so you might want to consider that. Maybe others can also suggest options.

However, you can get DACs fairly cheaply, like 20 bucks, that will do the job you need. Something like: Prozar for 13 bucks Just make sure it has the connections you need. If it does what you need and sounds good enough toi your ears, then it is good enough for your intended application.
 

Horseflesh

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I must have explained my situation poorly originally. Forget I mentioned bluetooth. I do have a DAC, I use a home theater receiver which has one built in as it takes sound over HDMI and sends it to multiple speakers. It has a headphone jack, analog preamp outputs, speaker outputs. I want the front left/right channels to be send to the A08 for amplification in another location.

I did purchase a +20dB preamp and I will put that between the home theater receiver's preamp out and the A08's RCA inputs, and will see what happens.
 

escape2

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No idea about your old rig, but if whatever you are trying to plug into the Aiyima 08 Pro does not have a built in DAC, you need to add one between that peice of equipment and the Aiyima 08 Pro. Analog needs to be converted to digital, therefore, Digit to Analog converter (DAC).
You are confused. The pre-outs on a receiver are analog, and you would feed that analog signal into the analog RCA inputs of the 08 Pro. Analog does not need to be converted to digital. The 08 Pro doesn't even have a digital input, other than Bluetooth.
 

escape2

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So, either I do not understand my AVR manual and the "PRE OUT" jacks are not actually active...
Have you tried looking in the owner's manual of your AVR to see if there is a setting to enable the pre-outs?

Have you tried using the Zone 2 or Zone 3 outputs on the AVR to see if you get any sound that way?

Also, make sure the 08 Pro has fully disconnected from all BT devices. If it's holding onto some BT device, the RCA input will not work.
 
Last edited:

Horseflesh

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The pre-outs on a receiver are analog, and you would feed that analog signal into the analog RCA inputs of the 08 Pro.

That's exactly what I am doing -- and it doesn't work. There isn't a twitch on the meter and nothing is audible. It isn't a cable problem, I tried several. (Edit to add: It isn't Bluetooth being active either, I tried all this before I tried Bluetooth at all.)

I know my A08 Pro's RCA input is working because if I hook up another analog signal, like the headphone output from another gadget, there's no problem.

I have scoured my receiver manual and as far as I can tell, the preamp outputs should always be on. There are no settings at all for their operation. That is why I was wondering if the preamp outputs are intended to be lower than line level.

The other zones are a good idea, but sadly my receiver is so old that zone 2/3 are nearly useless. They can only provide a signal from an analog source!

I just found a forum thread discussing the same problem in another Sony of similar vintage and the poster did discover that the preamp outputs were not as hot as line level. So, I am optimistic that the preamp I ordered will fix this.

Thanks for your patience everyone, I did not intend to execute a lengthy threadjack.
 
Last edited:

NoxMorbis

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You are confused. The pre-outs on a receiver are analog, and you would feed that analog signal into the analog RCA inputs of the 08 Pro. Analog does not need to be converted to digital. The 08 Pro doesn't even have a digital input, other than Bluetooth.
I figured something I had wrong. Thanks.
 

NoxMorbis

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Every AVR has a built-in DAC.
I think I was thrown off by him saying even though it was 'analog' output wasn't working.

Also, for sure, if the BT on the 08 is connected, it automatically disables the RCA input.
 
Last edited:

NoxMorbis

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That's exactly what I am doing -- and it doesn't work. There isn't a twitch on the meter and nothing is audible. It isn't a cable problem, I tried several. (Edit to add: It isn't Bluetooth being active either, I tried all this before I tried Bluetooth at all.)

I know my A08 Pro's RCA input is working because if I hook up another analog signal, like the headphone output from another gadget, there's no problem.

I have scoured my receiver manual and as far as I can tell, the preamp outputs should always be on. There are no settings at all for their operation. That is why I was wondering if the preamp outputs are intended to be lower than line level.

The other zones are a good idea, but sadly my receiver is so old that zone 2/3 are nearly useless. They can only provide a signal from an analog source!

I just found a forum thread discussing the same problem in another Sony of similar vintage and the poster did discover that the preamp outputs were not as hot as line level. So, I am optimistic that the preamp I ordered will fix this.

Thanks for your patience everyone, I did not intend to execute a lengthy threadjack.
The outside ring background on the volume knob will trun blue when BT is connected. Red, when RCA is connected.
 

Horseflesh

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The problem I am having with the RCA inputs is 100% not due to Bluetooth being active. If adding a preamp doesn't fix it, I am going to be really confused.
 

NoxMorbis

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That's exactly what I am doing -- and it doesn't work. There isn't a twitch on the meter and nothing is audible. It isn't a cable problem, I tried several. (Edit to add: It isn't Bluetooth being active either, I tried all this before I tried Bluetooth at all.)

I know my A08 Pro's RCA input is working because if I hook up another analog signal, like the headphone output from another gadget, there's no problem.

I have scoured my receiver manual and as far as I can tell, the preamp outputs should always be on. There are no settings at all for their operation. That is why I was wondering if the preamp outputs are intended to be lower than line level.

The other zones are a good idea, but sadly my receiver is so old that zone 2/3 are nearly useless. They can only provide a signal from an analog source!

I just found a forum thread discussing the same problem in another Sony of similar vintage and the poster did discover that the preamp outputs were not as hot as line level. So, I am optimistic that the preamp I ordered will fix this.

Thanks for your patience everyone, I did not intend to execute a lengthy threadjack.
Let us know if that worked.
 

NoxMorbis

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The problem I am having with the RCA inputs is 100% not due to Bluetooth being active. If adding a preamp doesn't fix it, I am going to be really confused.
When you plug in the RCA cables, does the red background light come on around the 08's volume knob? Here is mine in Bluetooth mode:
PXL_20230410_203528477.jpg
 

Horseflesh

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When you plug in the RCA cables, does the red background light come on around the 08's volume knob? Here is mine in Bluetooth mode:

Yep, I have a red light.

Good news: the inline preamp gizmo seems to have solved my problem. So, the preamp outputs on my home theater receiver were just not hot enough for the A08 Pro inputs. (I did blindly buy the cheapest possible preamp, which is not the AudioScienceReview way, but for casual listening on modest outdoor speakers it seems to be fine.)

One thing that sucks is that the home theater system's preamp output level is tied to its master volume level, and this is not configurable. So, to control the volume inside the house and outside the house independently, I need to mess with the receiver's volume knob, the A08 Pro's volume knob, and possibly the volume knob on the preamp gizmo. I was really hoping the receiver's preamp outs would give the option of a fixed volume level, but nope.

Anyway, I now have basically what I wanted: I can turn the big knob on the A08 Pro, and the front L/R sound inside is repeated outside. And I learned the hard way how preamp outputs on a receiver actually work.

Thanks again for helping me figure this out.
 
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