Aiyima T9

[kaopad999]

Say, Topping LA90 is a beast for that price (it's ONLY x8-10 cheapo Chi-fi toys if you know what I mean lol.)
Good power, very lean and clean sounding (too clinical/sterile for some, even).

I think an amp like this would suit my Missions actually as they're quite dark/warm sounding speakers. I wonder how the likes of the SMSL line would sound, such as the Da9, & A300

 

[kaopad999]

I think these amplifiers are great - they have allowed me to try and experiment with things - while leave my main system alone - and though I am going to sell my T9 (though I do like it) - I have an A07 which is fantastic paired with a reasonable DAC!!

How would you say the sound compares between the T9 and A07?

 

[Jeromeof]

How would you say the sound compares between the T9 and A07?

Much more similar to the A07 - with digital inputs I think it sounds great - not so much with the RCA inputs - probably needs a bit more power (I don't think you can get as high power output as you can from the A07).

 

[jbourne84]

I received mine about a week ago and actually wrote out a post on my initial impressions, somehow I managed to never actually post it so here's some pics from inside the unit, as much as I was willing to disassemble it anyway-

If you disconnected the speaker outputs then the whole thing would slide forward out of the case. Looks like they ran a hot glue gun over the threads of those connectors. I'm not familiar with these but I presume you have to unscrew that nut so it would take some work to get it apart, nevermind the desoldering. I am very curious about the whole OP Amp upgrade path with some sparkos given the reviews but for now I'll just enjoy the stock op amps.

I'm no audiophile and am pretty new to the tinkering side of audio equipment but I think it sounds good, and I'd definitely say it has a smooth/warm sound to it. Whether that qualifies as "better" is another question. I like it. I'm using it with my Klipsch R51ms.

No matter how many reviews or images of it I saw, I was still surprised by how small the thing is. Footprint isnt much bigger than an old 3.5 floppy disc.

 

[Snix]

not so much with the RCA inputs - probably needs a bit more power

I found this is almost a common trait for cheapo class-D. They need A/D converter and sometime they would pick the weirdest one, as well as USB. So maybe coaxial/optical are the best bet.

I received mine about a week ago and actually wrote out a post on my initial impressions, somehow I managed to never actually post it so here's some pics from inside the unit, as much as I was willing to disassemble it anyway-

View attachment 232609

If you disconnected the speaker outputs then the whole thing would slide forward out of the case. Looks like they ran a hot glue gun over the threads of those connectors. I'm not familiar with these but I presume you have to unscrew that nut so it would take some work to get it apart, nevermind the desoldering. I am very curious about the whole OP Amp upgrade path with some sparkos given the reviews but for now I'll just enjoy the stock op amps.

I'm no audiophile and am pretty new to the tinkering side of audio equipment but I think it sounds good, and I'd definitely say it has a smooth/warm sound to it. Whether that qualifies as "better" is another question. I like it. I'm using it with my Klipsch R51ms.

No matter how many reviews or images of it I saw, I was still surprised by how small the thing is. Footprint isnt much bigger than an old 3.5 floppy disc.

Thanks for the tear down. As you said, you need to unscrew the nuts at those knobs so you can take the cover off.
FYI
Be very careful with those flimsy cables!

 

[kaopad999]

Well, I've been doing some more critical listening today and decided to make a quick update.

When i was testing my Marantz Pm5005 against the T9 Yesterday i was using a cheap USB dongle DAC. Today i decided to hook up my tascam Audio interface and connect to it to Marantz. It's then i noticed how good the Marnatz can actually sound. More detail , better dynamics, midrange and just a more balanced overal sound.

Just goes show, any weak link in the chain can degrade the sound quite a lot!

 

[tech.pyang]

I think the one thing that really stands out with this amp for me is the resolution. When I first listened to it in my system, that was the first thing I noticed. I was shocked at the level of detail I was hearing for the money I paid. Some amps around $1k can’t even do what the T9 does. I would say that resolution is the strength of this amp and is what gives this amp its wow factor.

That said, there are some “negatives” to note.
When playing over Bluetooth (which I don’t really recommend), you lose a lot of that resolution and vocals just sound veiled in my opinion. Also, when using an external dac (through the analog inputs), the minimum volume is not “zero” output, or no volume. So if you wanted to listen to really low levels as light background music you can’t. When you try to turn the volume down down all the way it’ll switch input to Bluetooth and cut the output completely.

As far as the clicking of the relays when no music is playing, as one reviewer mentioned, I only experienced it when switched to coaxial (haven’t tried optical).

Another negative with this amp is when I used a much higher quality external dac (SMSL VMV D1SE- 6 times the cost of the amp), I noticed vocals had a lot of grain.

I haven’t listened to the optical or coaxial inputs so I can’t comment on them, but overall, the music is quite enjoyable on this unit despite the negatives. As one person put it, it’s “disposable hifi”. If it dies one day, so what. Toss it out and get another one.

I still have the opportunity to return the unit but I am confident I’ll be holding onto it. The highs and lows are good enough to really enjoy the musicality of music. I wish the mids were thicker, but I think I’d be asking for too much at this price point. Not just that, if the bass were to be thickened, I’m sure it would affect the clarity of the top end.

I’m quite happy to have this unit floating around even if it’s not going to be a main unit.

 

[DieterLumpen]

Hi folks, so i have this setup using a raspberry pi with picoreplayer, both the pi as an audio source as well as the amp are powered off by a "smart" plug. I'm wondering if you guys have some experience on the following points:

1. Is that possible with the t9?
2. Is it coming back in "on" state if i turn it off? Or do you need to turn on manually?
3. Does the source stay after external power off?
4. Will the tubes die after a couple of power offs?
5. If i would connect the usb dac and a rca in and only one is active i would need to manually select it, right?So no auto-select of the only active source

 

[Jeromeof]

Hi folks, so i have this setup using a raspberry pi with picoreplayer, both the pi as an audio source as well as the amp are powered off by a "smart" plug. I'm wondering if you guys have some experience on the following points:

1. Is that possible with the t9?
2. Is it coming back in "on" state if i turn it off? Or do you need to turn on manually?
3. Does the source stay after external power off?
4. Will the tubes die after a couple of power offs?
5. If i would connect the usb dac and a rca in and only one is active i would need to manually select it, right?So no auto-select of the only active source

1. It would be possible - I have some smart plugs turning off various gadgets in my house especially now
2. I believe it will stay off by default so won't automatically come back on - I have done some 'automations' which can switch on devices via IR e.g. I have a Harmony Hub which works great for that type of automation
3. I believe it will be back at the same source after its switched on again
4. I don't believe so - I actually think the internals of T9 switch off the tubes after maybe 10 seconds of in-activity. So maybe if it was playing something and the "smart" plug turned it off it bad for the tubes long term but just switching it off when its on but not playing anything would be fine I would think
5. Yes sadly its doesn't auto-detect - that would be a good feature but I imagine to keep costs down they couldn't include that - again clever use of something like a Harmony Hub might achieve this

 

[DieterLumpen]

Thanks for your reply! I read somewhere that there were some hardware revisions, so i ordered a T9. When the power is cut it comes back on and with the right source selected, so for this use case it's actually pretty good. (And a huge step forward from the cheap levy lp 808 thingy i had before )

 

[gnat_leader]

I think the one thing that really stands out with this amp for me is the resolution. When I first listened to it in my system, that was the first thing I noticed. I was shocked at the level of detail I was hearing for the money I paid. Some amps around $1k can’t even do what the T9 does. I would say that resolution is the strength of this amp and is what gives this amp its wow factor.

That said, there are some “negatives” to note.
When playing over Bluetooth (which I don’t really recommend), you lose a lot of that resolution and vocals just sound veiled in my opinion. Also, when using an external dac (through the analog inputs), the minimum volume is not “zero” output, or no volume. So if you wanted to listen to really low levels as light background music you can’t. When you try to turn the volume down down all the way it’ll switch input to Bluetooth and cut the output completely.

As far as the clicking of the relays when no music is playing, as one reviewer mentioned, I only experienced it when switched to coaxial (haven’t tried optical).

Another negative with this amp is when I used a much higher quality external dac (SMSL VMV D1SE- 6 times the cost of the amp), I noticed vocals had a lot of grain.

I haven’t listened to the optical or coaxial inputs so I can’t comment on them, but overall, the music is quite enjoyable on this unit despite the negatives. As one person put it, it’s “disposable hifi”. If it dies one day, so what. Toss it out and get another one.

I still have the opportunity to return the unit but I am confident I’ll be holding onto it. The highs and lows are good enough to really enjoy the musicality of music. I wish the mids were thicker, but I think I’d be asking for too much at this price point. Not just that, if the bass were to be thickened, I’m sure it would affect the clarity of the top end.

I’m quite happy to have this unit floating around even if it’s not going to be a main unit.

Hi, what speakers did you listen to it with? thx.

 

[tomkatt]

I registered just to post here in this thread. I picked up the T9 last week and bought a set of Riverstone Audio JAN 5654Ws along with it. On its own it already sounds very nice, much nicer than my old Fosi BT30D, but with the JAN 5654Ws I was kind of blown away. The soundstage opens up a good deal and you get a lot more bass out of them. The 6k4 tubes that came with it were alright and had some nice clarity, but really small soundstage and I had to crank the bass way up on the tone controls for it to sound good. I swapped back and forth a bit to compare, but the 5654Ws are staying put, the 6k4s are sitting on a shelf.

I'm loving the sound. I'm listening on Wharfedale Diamond 220s and I'm finding I don't even feel I need a subwoofer right now (may add one later anyway though anyway, since why not?). I was using a passive sub with the BT30D and with these tubes the speakers sound better than before despite removing the subwoofer from the setup. I'm very happy with the purchase. And with notchy tone controls with a range of +/- 6dB on bass and treble, you can really dial it in to your liking. It's so much better sounding than my old Fosi unit.

Heck, my only complaint is I had to apply replaygain to reduce the volume, because by default the minimum volume on this thing is more like what the Fosi was doing at 25-30% of the dial. And that's not really a complaint. It's like I'm hearing my Wharfedales for the first time all over again.

 

[Jeromeof]

I see on Aiyima Website that they have what looks like a new but similar Tube Amp the T5. https://www.aiyima.com/products/aiyima-t5

Anyone got one yet?

From a quick google, it seems like Aiyima used to have a previous model also confusingly called T5 but this new one looks like a T9 with MM Input and Headphone Jack.

Doesn't seem to be available on Amazon at the moment though.

Specs say 160Wx2 (4Ω load) so if true it would be pretty powerfully, so would love this tested as it might suit me better than the T9 as I have an old Dual Turntable that is sort of gathering dust.

 

[gnat_leader]

I registered just to post here in this thread. I picked up the T9 last week and bought a set of Riverstone Audio JAN 5654Ws along with it. On its own it already sounds very nice, much nicer than my old Fosi BT30D, but with the JAN 5654Ws I was kind of blown away. The soundstage opens up a good deal and you get a lot more bass out of them. The 6k4 tubes that came with it were alright and had some nice clarity, but really small soundstage and I had to crank the bass way up on the tone controls for it to sound good. I swapped back and forth a bit to compare, but the 5654Ws are staying put, the 6k4s are sitting on a shelf.

I'm loving the sound. I'm listening on Wharfedale Diamond 220s and I'm finding I don't even feel I need a subwoofer right now (may add one later anyway though anyway, since why not?). I was using a passive sub with the BT30D and with these tubes the speakers sound better than before despite removing the subwoofer from the setup. I'm very happy with the purchase. And with notchy tone controls with a range of +/- 6dB on bass and treble, you can really dial it in to your liking. It's so much better sounding than my old Fosi unit.

Heck, my only complaint is I had to apply replaygain to reduce the volume, because by default the minimum volume on this thing is more like what the Fosi was doing at 25-30% of the dial. And that's not really a complaint. It's like I'm hearing my Wharfedales for the first time all over again.

Interesting feedback. I wonder how this sounds with other speakers with very different signature - ie, not bass light inefficient bookshelf speakers.
I have a pair of 15" Hawthorne Audio Silver Iris (96dB/w coaxial on open baffle).
I'm also thinking about buying a pair of Lii Audio Fast-8 drivers (an 8" full range, 94db/w designed for open baffle use)
Where did you buy the 5654Ws just so we know - lots of fake tubes out there. thx.

 

[gnat_leader]

similar Tube Amp the T5. https://www.aiyima.com/products/aiyima-t5

That Aiyima T5 amp uses the ST TDA7498e power chip. The Aiyima T9 uses the TI TPA3221
How they differ in performance and sound I have no idea.

 

[gnat_leader]

I would say that resolution is the strength of this amp and is what gives this amp its wow factor.

What speakers did you use here? thx.

 

[Jeromeof]

That Aiyima T5 amp uses the ST TDA7498e power chip. The Aiyima T9 uses the TI TPA3221
How they differ in performance and sound I have no idea.

Actually looked up the chipset - it has 2x160-W @ THD = 10% so obviously will be something like 2x100W at a more reasonable THD level. It was also used previously in the Topping PA3 which didn't get a recommendation originally. So I guess it's a case of waiting for some tests and see if Aiyima have implemented the chip better than topping did originally.

 

[tomkatt]

Interesting feedback. I wonder how this sounds with other speakers with very different signature - ie, not bass light inefficient bookshelf speakers.
I have a pair of 15" Hawthorne Audio Silver Iris (96dB/w coaxial on open baffle).
I'm also thinking about buying a pair of Lii Audio Fast-8 drivers (an 8" full range, 94db/w designed for open baffle use)
Where did you buy the 5654Ws just so we know - lots of fake tubes out there. thx.

The tubes were on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BFJDTW0
Can't speak for their authenticity, but tube components look clean, and they fit snugly (the 6k4s wobbled in the sockets).

Regarding driving larger speakers, I couldn't say, the biggest set I have are a pair of Klipsch 620f towers, I don't have anything with a larger than 6.5" woofer, other than my 12" sub in the living room.
That said, the 6k4s that come with this might sound better with a set of speakers with a V curve or on the more bass heavy side, given they already had good clarity in the upper range, were just wimpy sounding. The Wharfedales have a more pronounced midrange. They're not monitors (flat), but more on the balanced side, slightly warm before any EQing.

Also, bear in mind, any tube differences won't be as dramatic as with a "real" tube amp. To my understanding the tube is just a buffer pass that colors the sound, but it isn't driving it the same way as with an actual tube amp. Still, the difference is audible and dramatic enough to me for sure.

 

[gnat_leader]

The tubes were on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BFJDTW0
Can't speak for their authenticity, but tube components look clean, and they fit snugly (the 6k4s wobbled in the sockets).

Regarding driving larger speakers, I couldn't say, the biggest set I have are a pair of Klipsch 620f towers, I don't have anything with a larger than 6.5" woofer, other than my 12" sub in the living room.
That said, the 6k4s that come with this might sound better with a set of speakers with a V curve or on the more bass heavy side, given they already had good clarity in the upper range, were just wimpy sounding. The Wharfedales have a more pronounced midrange. They're not monitors (flat), but more on the balanced side, slightly warm before any EQing.

Also, bear in mind, any tube differences won't be as dramatic as with a "real" tube amp. To my understanding the tube is just a buffer pass that colors the sound, but it isn't driving it the same way as with an actual tube amp. Still, the difference is audible and dramatic enough to me for sure.

Thanks, yeah understood. I've owned various tube amps in the past both pre and power.
The size of the speaker doesn't make it difficult to drive. A high sensitivity speaker can be driven adequately with just a few watts.
I used to have a 12 watt Tripath TA2020 based chip amp driving the Howthorne 15's (0.1% THD+N @12W 4Ω) and it sounded good.

 

[tech.pyang]

Hi, what speakers did you listen to it with? thx.

Polk R200