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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

Tangband

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So, after having this amp for 24hrs I decided to return it. Amirs measurements were confirmed during playback and the upper treble is a little…urm…’noisy’. While in general the amp does produce a somewhat clean sound it is quite a hard one too in my opinion. I compared it to my modded Aiyima A04 and there is a night and day difference in the bass. While the A08 pro hits hard with the bass, it’s quite short and cold. My A04 on the other hand with upgraded toroidal inducters absolutely wiped the floor with the A08 Pro in regards to warmth, bass and balance. The bass on the A04 is just rich and full, smooth and extended and the rest falls into place on an even keel. The one thing the A08 has in its favour in my opinion is its overall output but that is simply no substitute for actual sound quality. I will stick with my A04 and in fact ordered another today.
The Aiyima a04 seems to be one of the best sounding tpa3251 amplifiers out there. I have both a04 ( tpa3251 ) and a07 ( tpa3255 ) and I think the a04 sounds a little bit better.
 

pseudoid

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The scaling and ballistics are determined by the driving circuitry. Small moving coil meters are DC, usually with sensitivity around 0.5mV FSD +/-. So, you need rectification, peak/rms/average detection, pulse/peak extenders, DC hold amps, range switching resistive dividers and damping/overshoot control. And a few calibration pots.
I could understand all of the circuitry required to make it accurately and all ... but the complexity it adds/entails, almost always tells me that this is where our ears become much more reliable indicators of upcoming problems/issues.
With my luck, I'd miss the dang VU indications before I notice the smoke from the darn amp!:eek:
 

Schlippwhip68

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The Aiyima a04 seems to be one of the best sounding tpa3251 amplifiers out there. I have both a04 ( tpa3251 ) and a07 ( tpa3255 ) and I think the a04 sounds a little bit better.
I agree as do quite a few people about the A04. Aiyima got in touch with me today concerned about the return. I explained the same thing that I already have an A04 and in comparison the A08 Pro was sounding hard and cold and would probably benefit from a tubed preamp but did not have the means to test it with such. After returning it I bought a second A04. They replied again saying that maybe I would like the A07 which in all honesty I am not sure if I would as the A04 just has a lush low end already and as the A07 and the A08 Pro are using the same bigger chip they may be very similar to each other. Erin (Aiyima rep) went on to say, and here is the news, they are working on an upgraded A07 to be released soon, so keep an eye out ASR brothers and sisters!
 

Tangband

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I agree as do quite a few people about the A04. Aiyima got in touch with me today concerned about the return. I explained the same thing that I already have an A04 and in comparison the A08 Pro was sounding hard and cold and would probably benefit from a tubed preamp but did not have the means to test it with such. After returning it I bought a second A04. They replied again saying that maybe I would like the A07 which in all honesty I am not sure if I would as the A04 just has a lush low end already and as the A07 and the A08 Pro are using the same bigger chip they may be very similar to each other. Erin (Aiyima rep) went on to say, and here is the news, they are working on an upgraded A07 to be released soon, so keep an eye out ASR brothers and sisters!
Topping pa5 also uses the tpa 3251 chip.
 

Hipster Doofus

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How cool can you get , forget sinad. This is real science…just picture Tesla static waves flowing from the equipment in these photos….
EDFDDD3A-2A13-4985-BAF8-52AF3814D9C1.jpeg
B415BE08-F7F2-416B-BFA4-E77BEE4A4662.jpeg
F49F05AB-F228-44BC-A54A-F1EAED3BB6D1.jpeg
 

Schlippwhip68

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The Aiyima a04 seems to be one of the best sounding tpa3251 amplifiers out there. I have both a04 ( tpa3251 ) and a07 ( tpa3255 ) and I think the a04 sounds a little bit better.
I think, and no offence to Aiyima, they may have dropped the ball by soldering the op amps down. If they were left with dip 8 pin drops then at least the consumer could have altered the sound signature via rolling the op amps. I would have happily kept the A08 pro if that would have been possible
 

dpuopolo

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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.
View attachment 240550
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:
View attachment 240551

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:
View attachment 240552
Running our dashboard we see the usual good performance from AIYIMA amplifier range:
View attachment 240553
Performance is above average despite the very low cost:

View attachment 240554

Noise level falls in the same category of very good:
View attachment 240555

As noted, there was a bit of a struggle to get flat response:
View attachment 240556

And typical of their designs, there is load dependency.

Crosstalk was above average for all amplifiers tested:
View attachment 240557

Multitone performance was very good:
View attachment 240558

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

View attachment 240559
View attachment 240560

Even with 8 ohm load you have good bit of it:
View attachment 240561

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

View attachment 240562

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/
The meter on their T9 only reads the left channel. I wonder if this one is the same.
 

gnat_leader

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The Aiyima T9 Pro has just been released

:oops: what do yall make of it?
  • Did the non-Pro T9 really have the TPA3250? I saw marketing info that said it was using the TPA3221.
  • I like that they removed the tone controls in the Pro version.
  • the QCC3031 bluetooth chip in the Pro is much better? or not really?
  • what does "DSP sound chip" mean for the opamp chip?
  • what does MCU chip mean?


2022-11-07_16-31.png
 
Last edited:

gnat_leader

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:oops: what do yall make of it?
  • Did the non-Pro T9 really have the TPA3250? I saw marketing info that said it was using the TPA3221.
  • I like that they removed the tone controls in the Pro version.
  • the QCC3031 bluetooth chip in the Pro is much better? or not really?
  • what does "DSP sound chip" mean for the opamp chip?
  • what does MCU chip mean?


View attachment 241880

some subjective comments about the tube used in the Pro now versus the 6K4 used in the non-Pro from Doctorjohn review of the T9 non-Pro

"Just recently, I was loaned the 5725 (in spec’s more akin to Chinese 6J2/Russian 6Ж2П; also WE 409A) and it is a different sound: more extended at either end, a little louder and seemingly more dynamic, though sometimes showing a slightly rough edge, which nonetheless seems to benefit some material; ultimately, I’d think the 5654 is more balanced and closer to the more neutral sound of 6K4, but do try the 5725 as it is ultra-cheap and fun (yes, I'm going to get my own pair too)"

Btw, in part 1 of his review he states it's using the TPA3221 so this begs the question of what chip the Pro model is using - well what chip both models are using?

2022-11-07_17-02.png
 
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warpdrive

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came to the thread for the VU meter. if they had a more traditional box shape, it would be a fun amp to use for a desktop system
 

JakeK

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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 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?

I'd be interested in testing of the bluetooth function as well. I've found myself using the bluetooth function of my airstream S150 and more and I have ideas for using bluetooth to play music in other rooms as well so I'm interested in this sort of amp. There are many amps out there that include it but not many reviews actually test the performance very well. If the bluetooth isn't that well implemented I'd be better off getting an amp without it.
 

ljk

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came to the thread for the VU meter. if they had a more traditional box shape, it would be a fun amp to use for a desktop system
The T5 (which is quite new, so not much chatter about it on the 'net) has square VU meter. Specifications here.

Untitled.png
 

ljk

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T5 if you need the phono in, otherwise the Aiyima T9 Pro with optical and USB inputs (and TPA3250 chip) is a better deal.
well, if you don't care about the lack of tone controls.
Mentioned it because it may be that Aiyima are releasing newer models with this VU meter, warpdrive didn't specify any other requirements. I think it looks nicer. Added the specifications link and the image sums up all its features.
 
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pseudoid

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It seems like there really is an OCD, or at least a 'pre-occupation' (love-affair?) with VU meters @asr.
I love it!;)
 

ljk

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It seems like there really is an OCD, or at least a 'pre-occupation' (love-affair?) with VU meters @asr.
I love it!;)
The Youtube reviewers I follow have the same preoccupation (VU Meters, I mean), as well as liking spectrum analysers and graphic equalisers, which seem to have gone out of vogue in the last few decades (they were everywhere in the 1980s/90s). Some are vehemently against those, though.
 
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