• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

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

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,370
Likes
234,402
Location
Seattle Area
This is a review and detailed measurements of AIYIMA A08 Pro stereo amplifier with Bluetooth support. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $139.99.
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Bluetooth Review.jpg

It is so nice to see a VU meter on an amplifier! This one actually seems high quality with nice ballistic response (fast jump, a bit slower retard). Bass and Treble controls are there but I wish there was a tone defeat as well. The position of the indicators is where I had to set them for more or less flat response. I do like the very fine detents on it, allowing you to more precisely adjust them at least.

The included power supply is one of the largest I have seen but is rather light for its size:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Bluetooth back panel power supply Review.jpg


There are no remotes so the amp is for desktop use. Class D implementation means the amp ran with no temperature rise even after all my tests. Protection circuit was excellent with automatic restarted after overload. The meter is useful in this regard as the amp shuts down when the meter is almost at the end of its range.

AIYIMA A08 Pro Measurements
I warmed up the unit for about 10 minutes with very stable response:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Warm Up Measurement.png

Running our dashboard we see the usual good performance from AIYIMA amplifier range:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Measurement.png

Performance is above average despite the very low cost:

best budget stereo amplifier review.png


Noise level falls in the same category of very good:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier SNR Measurement.png


As noted, there was a bit of a struggle to get flat response:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Frequency Response  Measurement.png


And typical of their designs, there is load dependency.

Crosstalk was above average for all amplifiers tested:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Crosstalk Measurement.png


Multitone performance was very good:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Multitone Measurement.png


This little box outputs good bit of power at 4 ohms:

AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Power into 4 ohm Measurement.png

AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Max and Peak Power into 4 ohm Measurement.png


Even with 8 ohm load you have good bit of it:
AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier Power into 8 ohm Measurement.png


Transfer function (frequency vs power) is pretty good for class:

AIYIMA A08 Pro Stereo Amplifier frequency vs Power into 4 ohm Measurement.png


Conclusions
AIYIMA has a good class D platform which they turn into various configurations with good success. The A08 Pro is no exception. You get unique looks and to some extent, functionality at still a very reasonable price. With 100 watts per channel, both driven, you have very nice capability to drive any desktop speaker to its limit. My own wish is the remedy of the load dependency but otherwise, this is a job well done.

I am going to recommend the AIYIMA A08 Pro stereo amplifier.

----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 
Last edited:

Koeitje

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
2,292
Likes
3,880
That is one ugly amplifier, but hard to fault its performance for this price.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,370
Likes
234,402
Location
Seattle Area
Excuse me, does the load dependency at 8 ohms mean the treble may need a little help to quiet down?
It will depend on the impedance of the speaker you connect to it. But yes, you can use the treble to try to compensate if it gets too bright although the correction is not precise.
 

Schlippwhip68

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Nov 28, 2020
Messages
511
Likes
198
Location
Essex, UK.
It will depend on the impedance of the speaker you connect to it. But yes, you can use the treble to try to compensate if it gets too bright although the correction is not precise.
Great, thanks Amir.
 

TonyJZX

Major Contributor
Joined
Aug 20, 2021
Messages
1,891
Likes
1,821
Not bad. Tone controls too.


if the pic shows the levels as 'flat' well then that would get my goat.

But the performance of this is what I would welcome for $100! I think the fact there's some 'shtyle' to the case is even better. I feel like a normal style steel case wouldnt be as well received by many.

Also note there's a dac with tube section and a preamp w/ phono stage you can buy that fits in the top slot.
 

Schlippwhip68

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Nov 28, 2020
Messages
511
Likes
198
Location
Essex, UK.
if the pic shows the levels as 'flat' well then that would get my goat.

But the performance of this is what I would welcome for $100! I think the fact there's some 'shtyle' to the case is even better. I feel like a normal style steel case wouldnt be as well received by many.

Also note there's a dac with tube section and a preamp w/ phono stage you can buy that fits in the top slot.
Yep, that’s the Aiyima T8 and when paired look really ‘shtylish’ not sure how they would perform together though…
 

MCH

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 10, 2021
Messages
2,581
Likes
2,198
More like 160-170 eur in Europe, but still...

btw, someone posted here recently a link to a blog entry on a visit to Aiyima. The designer had some words about the difficulties of adding VU meters to amps: difficult to source (one last factory in Taiwan or something like that), tedious to calibrate etc.

Thanks for the review!
 

SaltyCDogg

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2021
Messages
99
Likes
273
Thanks Amir!

As with other Aiyima amps you can get a fair bit more power with a beefier power suppler.

Qualcomm QCC5125 Chip support SBC\AAC\APTX\APTX-LL\APTX-HD\LDAC
I wouldn't expect Amir to test the bluetooth performance, but can we predict it from the chip used?
 

fordiebianco

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 11, 2020
Messages
355
Likes
752
Location
British Isles

Dennis_FL

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 21, 2020
Messages
525
Likes
413
Nice device. And with bluetooth !! Like a VU meter, that's something you don't see everyday.
 

thewas

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
6,750
Likes
16,187
Like some other models from this brand it measures quite well, only a shame about those bass and treble controls without defeat or neutral position and that they aren't at the exact mid position for those measurements.
 

pavuol

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 2, 2019
Messages
1,562
Likes
3,950
Location
EU next to warzone :.(
Nice brick, you have to wait years for "established" brands to adopt at least (non-HD) apt-X, wheres these chinese companies implement it charmingly easy, this time with modern BT v5.0 with both Apt-X HD and LDAC.
Seems like it goes through CS4344 24-bit, 192 kHz DAC chip while using BT as source.

Combo mentioned above, looks avant-garde :)
a08pro+T8.jpg
 

TonyJZX

Major Contributor
Joined
Aug 20, 2021
Messages
1,891
Likes
1,821
A second VU meter where the volume knob is with the later in the middle where the tone controls is (scrapping them) and it would be killer looks.
Thanks Amir!

yes two VU meters and use one of the existing knobs for volume, the 2nd knob for a variable loudness control.

having BT in the base power amp AND in the t8 tube preamp is super kooky though.
 

AndreaT

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
613
Likes
1,182
Location
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Excellent review. The amp is not in the upper echelons of measurements, it is a good choice for non-believers in high SINADs as the price is affordable. Thank you Amir! Your reviews are extremely precise and a joy to read. In contrast with Denon, Aiyima improves the quality with its new products.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom