Arylic A100 - Streamer + ESS 9023 DAC + TPA3255 Amplifier with EQ & PEQ- User Impressions | Owner's Thread

[Guddu]

Dear FMs, ..........This is "User Impressions, Observations and Owner's Thread" for Arylic A100 Streamer Amplifier..........

In continuation with my interest in TPA3255 amplifiers, I came across Arylic A100 which uses TPA3255 with internal power supply.
It uses linear power supply than switching PSU which we see with TPA3255 amplifiers normally.
Arylic A100 is quite a package in itself - Streamer, ESS 9023P DAC, mono/stereo switchable TPA3255 amplifier with FM/Phono inputs.

While we await if and when Arylic A100 get's measured on ASR, this thread hopefully will provide details, features, internal pics, quick discussions on several aspects and user level testing, observations, issues and feedback on Arylic A100.

*** I hope other Arylic A100 users/owners feel free to sum up their feedback and learned work arounds here to help other interested people.

Product Page: Arylic A100

Here, I intend to summarize:
> what I get as a buyer or user of Arylic A100 streamer amplifier
> aspects other than measurements that you might be interested in
> testing features & functions to see if there are any issues and how could get around those, if any
> I also hope that this thread could provide some information as to "what to expect" while you are buying this product

Arylic A100 is packed with a loads of features, here is quick snapshot:
> Amplification: TPA3255 based amplifier
> Casing: Heavy metal case with front display, Black Color, size: W x L x H = 9.8 x 8.5 x 2.5 inch, weight approx 4 Kgs
> Front Panel:
- Rocker Switch to Power ON/OFF the unit
- Dsiplay: 1.5 x 2 inch OLED, Fixed brightness and color
- Volume Knob - Large volume knob for volume-control and other adjustments
- Tone Controls and EQ - Touch buttons to get in tone control menu and EQ adjustments
- USB "type A" - This Front USB input (in front) works as UDB DAC input as well as USB media playback
Note: Supports 44.1 & 48 KHz sampling, no specific USB driver needed
- 2 MIC Inputs

> Back Panel:
- Digital Inputs:
- Bluetooth (ver 5.0), supports AAC, SBC
- USB "type A" - supports direct USB media playback only
- Optical Input
- Coaxial Input
- Analog Input: Line IN: RCA in (L + R)
- Phono Input, FM, Ethernet/LAN port, WiFi
- Mono / Stereo Selection switch
- Power Input: AC IN: Select 115v/230v selectable on the botton of the case
- Line Out: RCA (L + R), can be connected to subwoofer

Current Price & Availability
Arylic Website: 239$
Amazon - probably coming soon as they have other products on Amazon

Case Look & Feel:
> Case is nice and heavy with smooth power-coat type finish, significantly bigger in size than other TPA3255 amplifiers
> Front Display is very convinient, information is easily visible from a distance
> Low profile makes things really easy for placement however speaker cable termination requires some considerations
> Case has ventilation holes/passage on both the sides

Arylic A100 Internal Pictures:

Digital Volume Control, Tone Control and EQ
> Arylic A100 uses BP1064L2, I found its a Bluetooth (v5.0) module with digital control options.
> Tone Controls worked fine, I did check with REW measurements that it does +/- 10dB variation
> Chip specifications shows HPF as well which is implemented with keyword "crossover" and could be adjusted 50Hz - 300Hz with "Go Control" app. However I haven't been able to test it yet.

Idle Power Consumption: Powered ON but no audio playing, tested with smart watt meter
> 9 watts, this is the lowest Idle consumption I have seen so far from any TPA3255 amplifier
> Even, It keeps around 10-12 watts if played arrox. up to 72-75 db SPL to about 2-3 meters

Thermal Performance
> I played it a bit loud for my likings, around 80-85 db and the case wasn't even warm to touch
> Looking inside the case, the heatsink or radiator placed on the chip reached around 101 - 102F (around 39c) with continuous loud playback
> It looked like the small heatsink might not be enough but it seems its fine, would have liked it bigger though

Frequency response - Typical for TPA3255 (without PFFB)

* provided by Arylic tech.

Power Output (approx.)
> 1% THD output power: 77W @4Ω
> 10% THD output power: 93W @4Ω
> 1% THD output power: 54W @8Ω
> 10% THD output power: 65W @8Ω
* provided by Arylic tech.

Basic Observations - Hiss/Noise - NONE at All
> Input: Line IN (RCA), USB, Optical, BT, Streaming
> NO hiss/noise on full power, nothing detected on tweeter
Note: My speakers have about 87dB sensitivity, highly sensitive speakers may show slightly different results

Basic Observations - Power ON/OFF Pop - NONE at All
> Input: Line IN (RCA), USB, Optical, BT, Streaming
> No pop on power ON/OFF or input switching

Basic Observations - Volume Control management
> A100 retains the volume (and other) settings for different inputs

Gain Control
> AUX or RCA input and Optical input has selectable gain
> Gain touch button (upper left on front screen) can be used to set 10 dB additional gain
> A100 retains gain settings for AUX or RCA and Optical input separately
> So you can have different gain for RCA vs Optical

"4Stream" App
> Require for initial setup
> Initial setup was super easy, phone detected the unit quickly on Bluetooth and rest of the settings were easily
> 4Stream app that could be used to control Arylic A100
> 4Stream app enables full streaming options allowing several apps for streaming on phone or windows

"Go Control" App
> available on App Store
> Settings like input, volume, tone controls, EQ etc. are available on the app
> This app allows playing local audio files from phone

PEQ Support
> ACPWorkbench application can be used with A100 to have several different pre, gain, EQ and PEQ adjustments.
> Arylic have his app available on their website.

My Setup, Connectivity and Pairing devices:
Room Size: 14 x 12 Feet
nVidia Shield Pro (source) >>>> TV >>>> Optical and Bluetooth >>>> Arylic A100 >>>> Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX "AND" Infinity R162 Speakers
PC (source) >>>> Stream and USB >>>> Arylic A100 >>>> Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX "AND" Infinity R162 Speakers
Phone (source) >>>> Stream and Bluetooth >>>> Arylic A100 >>>> Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX "AND" Infinity R162 Speakers
Denon AVR-x3200W >>>> AVR Front Pre-Out >>>> RCA input on Arylic A100 >>>> Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX Speakers

Subjective - Arylic A100 after continuous use of more than a week, on different inputs
Note: you might want to ignore this part as its purely based on my setup, in-room response and my likings

I replaced another well measured TPA3255 amplifier with Arylic A100 and immediately the smooth presentation gets noticed with clean sound.
Stereo separation is noticeably good, quite balanced and non-fatiguing sound as long as kept within 75% of its volume limits.

Some other considerations and notes:
> By default, Optical and Aux (RCA Line IN) inputs are set with lower gain, 10 dB needs to be enabled manually on the A100 unit
> With 10 dB gain, A100 was plenty powerful in my 14 x 12 feet room but I tried it in living room and output was a limitation
> Front display does not show song/album art
> No Remote, however apps make everything easy
> Streaming - supports Airplay, but doesn't support Chromecast or Airplay 2
> A100 cannot be turned off or standby using App
> USB DAC input is in the front, would have liked it on the back for cleaner cabling
> No option to turn off front display, it's always ON
> No auto standby features
> No balanced inputs
> It doesn't use PFFB, and has typical load dependency

This is the first internal PSU (specially linear) TPA3255 amplifier I have used. I hope the gathered information could be useful for you in any way.

 

[John.D]

Thanks @Guddu
That toroidal transformer, this thing doesn’t look cheap like other 3255.
Liked internal power connections but It could be smaller and cheaper as well with switching power module.
What did they gain with that?

 

[Guddu]

Thanks @Guddu
That toroidal transformer, this thing doesn’t look cheap like other 3255.
Liked internal power connections but It could be smaller and cheaper as well with switching power module.
What did they gain with that?

They said - It gave the best performance out of their design.

 

[Guddu]

Quick look at ACPWorkbench Tuning Tool with A100

- ACPWorkbench is a paid licensed tool, Arylic are selling it for 20$
- This tool gives access to loads of internal settings of the connected equipment, however I spent some time using it to use PEQ with Arylic A100.
- I could get 10 band PEQ settings on ACPWorkbench
- Different custom PEQ groups could be saved and changed/applied through this tool
- Connectivity was easy with USB cable

Best part of it is that you can simply apply PEQ in-time and see the effect live. You can tweak the PEW settings in real-time.
I could verify the effect with REQ.

 

[ICIETDIYEUR]

Hello Guddu, and thank you for this 'review'


Just looking at this photo ->

The main power supply is very poorly designed and poorly filtered, with the chemical capacitors near the diode bridge slowly 'frying'

The inductors for the audio output are of very poor quality, which is very clearly visible at 4 Ohms on the manufacturer's curve, which also allows us to confirm that this amp does not have a PFFB

The green Chinese capacitors used here are not exactly renowned for their quality and nowadays we have no 'hindsight' on their lifespan...

If amirm measures it, the results are likely to be rather disappointing...


Even if it had some interesting features, it's not a device that would tempt me for a possible purchase.

Have a nice day.

 

[Guddu]

Hello Guddu, and thank you for this 'review'


Just looking at this photo ->

View attachment 447695

The main power supply is very poorly designed and poorly filtered, with the chemical capacitors near the diode bridge slowly 'frying'

The inductors for the audio output are of very poor quality, which is very clearly visible at 4 Ohms on the manufacturer's curve, which also allows us to confirm that this amp does not have a PFFB

The green Chinese capacitors used here are not exactly renowned for their quality and nowadays we have no 'hindsight' on their lifespan...

If amirm measures it, the results are likely to be rather disappointing...


Even if it had some interesting features, it's not a device that would tempt me for a possible purchase.

Have a nice day.

You aren’t wrong but they aren’t advertising showing any premium grade components or something and certainly not charging any premium. I found it very reasonably priced as well.
From my (a user) point of view, it is kind of different TPA3255 amplifier than others that I have which created interest for myself i.e., internal linear psu.
For me, it is free from the basic issues like glitches, on/off pop, noise, hum, input switching pop, app connectivity issues, etc.
Product has warranty in USA, so any failures are covered.
It doesn’t get hot, runs cool.
So really, I can’t complain myself.

Someone pointed to me that audioholics is going to test bench it soon, might discover some measurements there.