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AIYIMA A70 Stereo Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 14 3.6%

  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 39 9.9%

  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 190 48.2%

  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 151 38.3%
  • Total voters
    394
GUGGE53 said:
Hi,
I'd say the power is a real issue with this one as well as the Fosi ZA3. I tried them both in my home cinema setup. The avr is a Marantz Cinema 70s. I'm running preout for LR to a Mcintosh MA8000 integrated amp. I tried both the A70 and ZA3 preout to surround and front heights. Volume cranked to max on the A70 and ZA3. Very underwhelming. Audyssey suggested +7 and +8 dB correction. When running direct from avr to speakers, correction was -6 and -5. The surround speakers are Dynavoice Magic Around 5 (4-8 ohm, sensitivity 90) and the heights are Dali Spektor 2 (6 ohm, sensitivity 84.5). For both speaker pairs, with each amp, the results were awful. Thought I missed something, so tried and old crappy Nobsound 01G Pro and that worked flawlessly. I know, the Nobsound surely doesn't test well etc, but for surrounds and heights for movies, it matters less, at least for me. For music I only use stereo or front with subwoofers. Note, I did not use the highest end power supply. It was the 48v 5a version. Also, at full volumes these guys both hum. So, here I voted poor. Don't know what's up.
Click to expand...
This is a gain issue, not a power issue.
 
GUGGE53 said:
Hi,
I'd say the power is a real issue with this one as well as the Fosi ZA3. I tried them both in my home cinema setup. The avr is a Marantz Cinema 70s. I'm running preout for LR to a Mcintosh MA8000 integrated amp. I tried both the A70 and ZA3 preout to surround and front heights. Volume cranked to max on the A70 and ZA3. Very underwhelming. Audyssey suggested +7 and +8 dB correction. When running direct from avr to speakers, correction was -6 and -5. The surround speakers are Dynavoice Magic Around 5 (4-8 ohm, sensitivity 90) and the heights are Dali Spektor 2 (6 ohm, sensitivity 84.5). For both speaker pairs, with each amp, the results were awful. Thought I missed something, so tried and old crappy Nobsound 01G Pro and that worked flawlessly. I know, the Nobsound surely doesn't test well etc, but for surrounds and heights for movies, it matters less, at least for me. For music I only use stereo or front with subwoofers. Note, I did not use the highest end power supply. It was the 48v 5a version. Also, at full volumes these guys both hum. So, here I voted poor. Don't know what's up.
Click to expand...
Did you try the +3dB switch on the back, if you're using RCA input?
 
antcollinet said:
This is a gain issue, not a power issue.
Click to expand...
OK, sorry if I don't use the right terminology. The fact remains that these two products are useless for my case. Isn't it feasible that others, apart from me, buy these products thinking, hey 300W at 4 ohm and half that at 8 should be able to drive "easy" speakers! Then I try an old extra low end product like the Nobsound and it works great in my use case. I acknowledge that I have a lot to learn, but I still have to question how products work (or don't). So, in the end your comment is not helpful.
 
GUGGE53 said:
OK, sorry if I don't use the right terminology. The fact remains that these two products are useless for my case. Isn't it feasible that others, apart from me, buy these products thinking, hey 300W at 4 ohm and half that at 8 should be able to drive "easy" speakers! Then I try an old extra low end product like the Nobsound and it works great in my use case. I acknowledge that I have a lot to learn, but I still have to question how products work (or don't). So, in the end your comment is not helpful.
Click to expand...
His comment highlights what appears to be your issue -insufficient voltage from your AVR to your amplifier. That’s as helpful as it gets.

And you shouldn’t be getting a "buzz" sound from your speakers -if you are, something isn’t right.
 
Old_School_Brad said:
His comment highlights what appears to be your issue -insufficient voltage from your AVR to your amplifier. That’s as helpful as it gets.

And you shouldn’t be getting a "buzz" sound from your speakers -if you are, something isn’t right
Click to expand...
 
GUGGE53 said:
Isn't it feasible that others, apart from me, buy these products thinking, hey 300W at 4 ohm and half that at 8 should be able to drive "easy" speakers!
Click to expand...
Ah - you read the sales blurb instead of looking for verification. I don't know how they are getting away with it, but all these little chip amp manufacturers are quoting the maximum power the chip is capable of, rather than the measured power of their actual implementation.

Abs max power measured here for these amps is about 180W in 4ohm.


But doesn't the +6/7dB gain setting that Audessey suggested work?
 
Exactly, something is likely not right. I just now tried an Aiyama a07 and just like the Nobsound, no issues with volume, no buzz... Anyway, if the issue is a mismatch between the gain from the AVR and those two amps, I guess I have learned something. Out of curiosity, is the anyway to boost gain? Cheers
 
antcollinet said:
Ah - you read the sales blurb instead of looking for verification. I don't know how they are getting away with it, but all these little chip amp manufacturers are quoting the maximum power the chip is capable of, rather than the measured power of their actual implementation.

Abs max power measured here for these amps is about 180W in 4ohm.


But doesn't the +6/7dB gain setting that Audessey suggested work?
Click to expand...
I oppose so if it wasn't for the buzz. I did read the ASR review and others, but did not realise or understand them properly it seems. It's easy to think they should be able to drive those speakers, but if the issue is low gain from the avr, I guess not. Thanks! I've been thinking about getting a proper 5 channel amp (like emotiva) to drive my speakers, but I have to be careful then, lest I run into the same problem. With the Ma8000 in my setup there is no problem of course.
 
GUGGE53 said:
I oppose so if it wasn't for the buzz. I did read the ASR review and others, but did not realise or understand them properly it seems. It's easy to think they should be able to drive those speakers, but if the issue is low gain from the avr, I guess not. Thanks! I've been thinking about getting a proper 5 channel amp (like emotiva) to drive my speakers, but I have to be careful then, lest I run into the same problem. With the Ma8000 in my setup there is no problem of course.
Click to expand...
A preamp might help....I have one between my DAC and the Ayima A70. Crank the volume on the A70 so it functions like a power amp and then I just control volume using the pot on the preamp. Drives 85dB sensitivity bookshelf speakers with no sweat.
 
MiniAudioGuy said:
A preamp might help....I have one between my DAC and the Ayima A70. Crank the volume on the A70 so it functions like a power amp and then I just control volume using the pot on the preamp. Drives 85dB sensitivity bookshelf speakers with no sweat.
Click to expand...
Thanks for idea! It seems like a bit of overkill to introduce something more in chain between the avr and the A70. The avr controls the volume now. Plus, if I add a preamp @ a couple hundred euros we are soon getting into Emotiva BasX territory cost-wise. The a70 is 200 euros... Right now, the sobering conclusion seems to be that the C70s is enough to drive the surrounds, heights and center with the MA8000 for the fronts, at least for the time being. Next step would be a more powerful 5 channel so the C70s would act only as a pre. Thanks for everybody's time and comments. Apologies for not being informed enough about power, gain etc.
 
antcollinet said:
Ah - you read the sales blurb instead of looking for verification. I don't know how they are getting away with it, but all these little chip amp manufacturers are quoting the maximum power the chip is capable of, rather than the measured power of their actual implementation.

Abs max power measured here for these amps is about 180W in 4ohm.


But doesn't the +6/7dB gain setting that Audessey suggested work?
Click to expand...
Just one more comment here. When I run audyssey the sound from the speakers is so low that there is no meaningful measurements for them. The results are, apart from the +7 dB gain suggestion, showing a crossover frequency of 250hz for the Dynavoice and 160 for the Dali. When I run without the A70/ZA3 (direct from AVR) they are 120 for the Dynavoice and 60 for the Dali. Dynavoice are nothing special, but surely 250 is pushing it. The Dali are very competent speakers, although I set the crossover higher than 60 manually....
 
GUGGE53 said:
Thanks for idea! It seems like a bit of overkill to introduce something more in chain between the avr and the A70. The avr controls the volume now. Plus, if I add a preamp @ a couple hundred euros we are soon getting into Emotiva BasX territory cost-wise. The a70 is 200 euros... Right now, the sobering conclusion seems to be that the C70s is enough to drive the surrounds, heights and center with the MA8000 for the fronts, at least for the time being. Next step would be a more powerful 5 channel so the C70s would act only as a pre. Thanks for everybody's time and comments. Apologies for not being informed enough about power, gain etc.
Click to expand...
Does your AVR have a configurable pre-out voltage setting? Perhaps the issue is that it outputs at something like 1.0V RMS. You want it to be closer to 2.0V for the A70 (1.9Vrms is specified). You could check the manual.
 
magreen said:
Does your AVR have a configurable pre-out voltage setting? Perhaps the issue is that it outputs at something like 1.0V RMS. You want it to be closer to 2.0V for the A70 (1.9Vrms is specified). You could check the manual.
Click to expand...
I can't find it anywhere. It's actually difficult to find what it is. I've googled it and checked the manual. Likely it is as you say, and equally likely nothing can be done about it. All the best.
 
GUGGE53 said:
I'll try to see if I can test the output. Not sure how.
Click to expand...
Send a full scale 60Hz test tone (disconnect ALL the speakers first or you might kill them or your ears) and measure the output of the RCA with a DVM.

Make sure the gain of the output you are testing is set to 0dB
 
antcollinet said:
Send a full scale 60Hz test tone (disconnect ALL the speakers first or you might kill them or your ears) and measure the output of the RCA with a DVM.

Make sure the gain of the output you are testing is set to 0dB
Click to expand...
OK, thanks for this. I guess I can get a test tone on YouTube. I don't have a meter so will have to get one. Cheers
 
Great! Thank you and thanks everybody else for your comments and suggestions. Much appreciated.
 
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