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AIYIMA A70 Mono Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 15 7.5%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 63 31.3%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 103 51.2%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 20 10.0%

  • Total voters
    201
Is there a metric to rank pride of ownership?
This is a really interesting question nowadays.
I paid over £1000 for a Cyrus amp and I've always felt pride in owning it. People comment on it being 'cool' and it sounds great.
Now though, I have an £80 amp that actually, unarguably, sounds better than the Cyrus.
I feel no pride owning it however. I thought I was getting over that but every now and then I look and it and sigh.
Shallow, I know......
 
This is a really interesting question nowadays.
I paid over £1000 for a Cyrus amp and I've always felt pride in owning it. People comment on it being 'cool' and it sounds great.
Now though, I have an £80 amp that actually, unarguably, sounds better than the Cyrus.
I feel no pride owning it however. I thought I was getting over that but every now and then I look and it and sigh.
Shallow, I know......
The amplifier market is becoming like the watch market. The quartz revolution almost bankrupted Swiss watchmaking. A luxury market for mechanical watches emerged with a few survivor companies that created luxury priced products as status symbols. Rolex were never luxury-priced goods in the 1950s and 60s. They were mid to high-end sports tier. They are now. Are they inarguably better than a Casio G-shock? Of course not.

Me? I have all mechanical watches :) (but they're Japanese movements, not Swiss -- I'm not spending my money on luxury pricing.)
 
This is a really interesting question nowadays.
I paid over £1000 for a Cyrus amp and I've always felt pride in owning it. People comment on it being 'cool' and it sounds great.
Now though, I have an £80 amp that actually, unarguably, sounds better than the Cyrus.
I feel no pride owning it however. I thought I was getting over that but every now and then I look and it and sigh.
Shallow, I know......
How come? Don't all amplifiers sound the same?
 
The amplifier market is becoming like the watch market. The quartz revolution almost bankrupted Swiss watchmaking. A luxury market for mechanical watches emerged with a few survivor companies that created luxury priced products as status symbols. Rolex were never luxury-priced goods in the 1950s and 60s. They were mid to high-end sports tier. They are now. Are they inarguably better than a Casio G-shock? Of course not.

Me? I have all mechanical watches :) (but they're Japanese movements, not Swiss -- I'm not spending my money on luxury pricing.)
Good analogy!
 
The amplifier market is becoming like the watch market. The quartz revolution almost bankrupted Swiss watchmaking. A luxury market for mechanical watches emerged with a few survivor companies that created luxury priced products as status symbols. Rolex were never luxury-priced goods in the 1950s and 60s. They were mid to high-end sports tier. They are now. Are they inarguably better than a Casio G-shock? Of course not.

Me? I have all mechanical watches :) (but they're Japanese movements, not Swiss -- I'm not spending my money on luxury pricing.)

I completely agree with this.

To take a brief detour, has the watch market experienced a disruption similar to how Class D amplifiers have disrupted the high-end amp market?

What have the intelligent watches (Apple, Fitbit, Garmin, etc.) done to the watch market. Have they raised the average watch price while devastating the low end (Casio, Timex, no-name) brands?

I own a couple of nice quartz and mechanical watches. However, they are collecting dust. I currently wear an Apple Ultra (which I’ve had for two years), which is my ultimate watch for many reasons.

There are so many intelligent watches out there, but for me, the Apple Ultra is and endgame watch. Yes, it’s a bit bulky and the battery life isn’t the longest, but it keeps perfect time, tracks my activity, sleep, heart rate, and much, much, more. If an Ultra X is released with a 5-day battery life, I might consider upgrading, but the main point is that I’ll have no interest in owning more watches, and I’ll certainly never go back to a regular watch. (And owning a Purifi Class D amplifier from Audiophonics means I’ll never buy another amp.)

My questions are:

a) Have Class D amplifiers completely disrupted the mid to high-end amp market? Can the mid-tier players survive?

b) Have intelligent watches (Apple, Garmin, Fitbit, etc.) similarly upended the watch market and caused traditional, low and mid-tier brands like Seiko and Citizen to struggle?

Back to your regularly scheduled program!
 
The only integrated amp I've ever seen that does this correctly (by supplying both legs of the filter) is the Parasound Halo from a few years back.
The WiiM Amp and the WiiM Amp Pro integrated amps both offer proper high pass filtering for the mains and low pass filtering for the RCA subwoofer output. The filter slope is non-adjustable (always LR4) and the crossover frequencies cannot be set independently (which really isn't that much of an issue in most cases, especially since PEQ is supported). Both filters can be bypassed individually, in case you still prefer the low pass built into your subwoofer.

Not as cheap and not as powerful as a pair of A70 Mono, but they are truly all-in-one boxes.

The Fosi V3 Mono, while lacking the volume, subwoofer controls, and trigger seems to be a better choice for just a bit more money.
Personally, I don't see that as a lack. ;) A monoblock amplifier should be just that, an amplifier. Adding volume control to monoblocks is really rather silly, if you ask me. :)

But I see how Yippieyaiyiama ended up where they are, trying to find their unique selling point (not a point that attracts me). Competition is tough.
 
Hello! Dear owners of this device, do you have any pop/ clap when turning on/off this device? Thank you)
 
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I do use passive Subwoofers but would still (very sadly) not see any benefit of this unit over something else as the implementation is poor.

If you are on a very strict budget, OTOH, such an amp becomes attractive
 
How come? Don't all amplifiers sound the same?

No. Two amplifiers sound the same if they both have at least good measurements and they are both used in their ideal input and output conditions.

There’s no need for sarcasm to showcase your inability to misunderstand the matter.
 
Hello, here is my thoughts about the A70 Mono. For me it could be a good start to use them as “Standard” setup with our without a preamp. Roll the opamp and see how much more quality I can squeeze out. Either the will be kept in duty as such or used as dedicated amps in my OB subsection and see if the passive filter provided is sufficient. Right now I use a big low loss inductor (cut 6db/oct). The amps build in filter seems to cut 12db/oct). For me the A70 Mono could be a good starting point and I can end up having a fully active open baffle system.
 
Hello. I have such an amplifier on the way. I will use it for the passive subwoofer of the home theater. I will not use the frequency filter, the Denon AVR does the filtering. My question is which input should I use, RCA or XLR?
 
Hello. I have such an amplifier on the way. I will use it for the passive subwoofer of the home theater. I will not use the frequency filter, the Denon AVR does the filtering. My question is which input should I use, RCA or XLR?
I would use the RCA input. Make sure you set the amp to full-range with the switch on the bottom to avoid the A70 built-in filters.

I'm using mine for a subwoofer too, just getting it setup but might be stuck waiting a few days as I had to order a stereo to mono summing device to use my ZD3's RCA outs. I'm really hoping it's enough power for an RSS315HO-44 in sealed enclosure.

Edit 2: Using RCA out from the ZD3, the level is far too low. With V3 Monos (XLR) driving my front speakers, the sub is about 50dB quieter than the speakers with the volume on the A70 mono maxed out. I must be doing something wrong or my unit is defective. Either way I think it's going back.
 
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I would use the RCA input. Make sure you set the amp to full-range with the switch on the bottom to avoid the A70 built-in filters.

I'm using mine for a subwoofer too, just getting it setup but might be stuck waiting a few days as I had to order a stereo to mono summing device to use my ZD3's RCA outs. I'm really hoping it's enough power for an RSS315HO-44 in sealed enclosure.

Edit 2: Using RCA out from the ZD3, the level is far too low. With V3 Monos (XLR) driving my front speakers, the sub is about 50dB quieter than the speakers with the volume on the A70 mono maxed out. I must be doing something wrong or my unit is defective. Either way I think it's going back.
Okay, thanks, I'll use RCA. I have a 200W bass reflex subwoofer, and the Denon AVC x4700h + A70 is more than enough power for that. A sealed subwoofer requires more power, but it also sounds better.
 
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