Aiyima A20 Mono - New Comer

[rebbiputzmaker]

People pay good money for the VU meters!

Well, of course I guess people can be rather stupid, just wanting to watch meaninglessmeters. The only equipment that I’ve ever had meters on were tape machines, and amplifiers that needed to be biased. An example mentioned earlier, the Marantz Nine. The meter was there to bias the tubes.

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Well, of course I guess people can be rather stupid, just wanting to watch meaninglessmeters. The only equipment that I’ve ever had meters on were tape machines, and amplifiers that needed to be biased. An example mentioned earlier, the Marantz Nine. The meter was there to bias the tubes.

People love their eye candy. It doesn't even need to be accurate, just look cool.

Let's be honest here, if that VU meter is full-scale, meaning accurately covers the full alleged 300 watts potential output, the needle is barely even going to move during normal, sane playback with reasonably sensitive speakers in a appropriately sized room. So either they're almost useless, or they have their sensitivity dialed up so that they move and dance between 50 watts and basically slam the limiter any time output hits between 50 watts and max, considering I don't see any sort of adjustment for sensitivity.

 

[Audionaut]

Oh, those two Aiyima A20 Mono units are pretty cool—they have a nice design, too—but what I’ll probably never understand, and what I’ve already written here, is why they didn’t use the available space for a much better thermal design.

So, once again, it’s just like in those very slim devices—they’ve more or less copied that pcb design one-to-one—and they could have done a much better job of it.

 

[DavidK442]

Well, of course I guess people can be rather stupid, just wanting to watch meaninglessmeters. The only equipment that I’ve ever had meters on were tape machines, and amplifiers that needed to be biased. An example mentioned earlier, the Marantz Nine. The meter was there to bias the tubes.

Stupid as charged!
I love me some of dem thar vintage meters.

 

[Saponetto]

In absence of an adequate internal power supply, my thought is that a slimmer chassis with prominent vertical configuration should manage way better the thermal amount.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I like how they specd 600W at 2ohms and 10% thd....
Hahaha

 

[NTPC4]

3255 so this doesn't have to be so expensive
Hopefully they have sent an unit to amir

Haa. I just learned yesterday that the Naim CI-Uniti 102 streaming amp ($1800 MSRP/$1500 SP) uses TPA3255s amp chips.

 

[Guddu]

Williston Audio Labs YouTube channel have power measurements published today and A20 mono easily goes to 100w @ 8 and 200w @ 4 ohms with 48v 5a psu.
Definitely great beginning.

 

[babadono]

So there is un swappable opamp (SMT) on input board and then a swappable dip on the larger board. Where in circuit? of either?

 

[Audionaut]

Williston Audio Labs YouTube channel have power measurements published today and A20 mono easily goes to 100w @ 8 and 200w @ 4 ohms with 48v 5a psu.
Definitely great beginning.

Was there really anything else to expect from a 3255 amplifier in a mono configuration?
A beginning that is completely normal within the usual specifications.

 

[shlee]

I've got a pair of Fosi ZA3's running 48V/5A PSUs. I'd imagine the performance compared to this A20 mono would be the same?

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

I've got a pair of Fosi ZA3's running 48V/5A PSUs. I'd imagine the performance compared to this A20 mono would be the same?

A20 Monos have PFFB, so they perform more like Fosi’s V3 Monos, with no load-variable high frequency response.

 

[Wooferhead]

Hey Aiyima,

I am quite impressed by the A20 Mono but I am looking for a slightly more powerful amp.

Will you make one that produces 130W to 150W at 8 ohms THD+N < 1% with 48V/5A PSU?

I need that extra headroom for the speakers. This is only your first true mono amp and it has been well received.

Can you increase the power output in your next one? It will be even more popular if you do.

 

[DavidK442]

Hey Aiyima,

I am quite impressed by the A20 Mono but I am looking for a slightly more powerful amp.

Will you make one that produces 130W to 150W at 8 ohms THD+N < 1% with 48V/5A PSU?

I need that extra headroom for the speakers. This is only your first true mono amp and it has been well received.

Can you increase the power output in your next one? It will be even more popular if you do.

100 watts into 8 ohms is pretty amazing for these inexpensive chip amplifiers, and I imagine is at the limit spec’d by the chip manufacturer.
150 watts and beyond is pushing into amp module territory (Hypex, Purifi, etc.), which will double the price at a minimum.

 

[Wooferhead]

100 watts into 8 ohms is pretty amazing for these inexpensive chip amplifiers, and I imagine is at the limit spec’d by the chip manufacturer.
150 watts and beyond is pushing into amp module territory (Hypex, Purifi, etc.), which will double the price at a minimum.

150W might be pushing the envelop. I will be happy if it does 130W to 150W at 8 ohms THD+N < 1% with 48V/5A PSU.

100W is a little tight for me. I need more headroom.

 

[Wooferhead]

Can anyone recommend a good preamp with no DAC to go with the A20 Mono?

 

[DavidK442]

150W might be pushing the envelop. I will be happy if it does 130W to 150W at 8 ohms THD+N < 1% with 48V/5A PSU.

100W is a little tight for me. I need more headroom.

130 vs 100 watts is an additional 1db of headroom. Doubt you would even notice.

 

[StefanC]

Very poor HPF implementation, unfortunately. For me, unusable. Too bad; I was thinking of buying a pair. See from min 3:05.

 

[toilagamer852]

So the 80Hz HPF is a joke?

 

[Karlaka]

Very poor HPF implementation, unfortunately. For me, unusable. Too bad; I was thinking of buying a pair. See from min 3:05.

Hi, Stefan.
Why do you say the HPF implementation is poor? Do you find the attenuation curve too gradual?