This is a review and detailed measurements of the Ashly FX125.4 4-channel DSP amplifier with network control. It was kindly drop shipped by a member and costs US $999.
As you see, this is a very compact enclosure for a 4-channel amplifier. I liked the indicators in the front but wished there was a power button and a reset either on the front or back:
Both analog and digital inputs and output for the latter are provided. There is a fan internally but it only came on when I pushed it to max power.
With no buttons to control routing/inputs I connected an Ethernet cable to the unit only to find out that it is set to static IP address.
What this means is that if you want to talk to it using that wired interface you would have to set your computer to a static IP in the same class. This should have instead been DHCP so that it would land on the same network as your control computer. Fortunately there is also Wifi with AP support so I connected to it to change the settings.
Once there, the user interface on the network was rich/responsive and other than routing/gain, was rather easy to navigate.
Commercial amplifiers tend to perform worse than average than consumer ones. Will the Ashly be the same? Let's find out.
Ashly FX125.4 Amplifier Measurements
I performed all of my testing in stere using Channels 1 and 2. Let's start with RCA analog input after setting the internal gain to 25 dB:
Combination of noise and distortion as represented by SINAD is quite good for class an exceeds the average for all amplifiers tested:
We must be limited by amplifier performance with a DAC that is superior to it as S/PDIF did not improve things:
So for remaining tests, unless said otherwise, I will be using RCA input so results are comparable to other amplifiers tested. To that end, here are the results of me turning on the DSP and setting one channel speaker profile to be high passed at 80 Hz:
As you see, there is no impact on performance overall. A delay is caused however (see shifted sine wave) so you would have to accommodate this if only apply processing to one channel and not the other.
Frequency response shows almost no load dependency but with an ADC digitizing around 44.1/48 kHz:
I was hoping that digital input would provide wider bandwidth. But it did not despite me using sample rate of 192 kHz:
It does produce flatter bass response however.
Signal to noise ratio is very good for professional class amplifier:
And channel separation quite exceptional regardless of class:
Was surprised to see this in such a compact enclosure.
Multitone again shows respectable results for a Pro amp:
There is class rise in distortion with frequency which does hurt 19+20 kHz intermodulation test results:
We are able to get close to rated power (125 watts per channel):
Naturally less with 8 ohm load:
I could not run my 40 Hz or max and peak power due to that super sharp clipping. Distortion would go from 0.02% to 2 to 9% with slightest adjustment of input. My tests require 1% THD and I just could not get there. The amp is either clean or heavily distorted at the limit. There is a limited which I turned off for testing. It may have been put there for this reason.
My power sweep relative to frequency seems to imply we have a class AB amplifier here with a switching power supply:
So very well behaved.
Conclusions
I went into this review with the mindset of a commercial amp producing sub-par performance. By the time I suffered through controlling it through network connection, I was so sure the 125.4 was going to underperform. That changed in test after test showing competent and class leading performance relative to its peers. DSP and routing capabilities are extensive making this an ideal amp for driving say, two active 2-way speakers (there are even settings in there specific to each driver). The fan can be a nuisance if you push it hard in which case, you may want to go up int he model to get more power.
I am going to recommend the Ashly FX125.4. Nice to see them going above and beyond for a market which seems to only care about features, size and power rating.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
As you see, this is a very compact enclosure for a 4-channel amplifier. I liked the indicators in the front but wished there was a power button and a reset either on the front or back:
Both analog and digital inputs and output for the latter are provided. There is a fan internally but it only came on when I pushed it to max power.
With no buttons to control routing/inputs I connected an Ethernet cable to the unit only to find out that it is set to static IP address.
What this means is that if you want to talk to it using that wired interface you would have to set your computer to a static IP in the same class. This should have instead been DHCP so that it would land on the same network as your control computer. Fortunately there is also Wifi with AP support so I connected to it to change the settings.Once there, the user interface on the network was rich/responsive and other than routing/gain, was rather easy to navigate.
Commercial amplifiers tend to perform worse than average than consumer ones. Will the Ashly be the same? Let's find out.
Ashly FX125.4 Amplifier Measurements
I performed all of my testing in stere using Channels 1 and 2. Let's start with RCA analog input after setting the internal gain to 25 dB:
Combination of noise and distortion as represented by SINAD is quite good for class an exceeds the average for all amplifiers tested:
We must be limited by amplifier performance with a DAC that is superior to it as S/PDIF did not improve things:
So for remaining tests, unless said otherwise, I will be using RCA input so results are comparable to other amplifiers tested. To that end, here are the results of me turning on the DSP and setting one channel speaker profile to be high passed at 80 Hz:
As you see, there is no impact on performance overall. A delay is caused however (see shifted sine wave) so you would have to accommodate this if only apply processing to one channel and not the other.
Frequency response shows almost no load dependency but with an ADC digitizing around 44.1/48 kHz:
I was hoping that digital input would provide wider bandwidth. But it did not despite me using sample rate of 192 kHz:
It does produce flatter bass response however.
Signal to noise ratio is very good for professional class amplifier:
And channel separation quite exceptional regardless of class:
Was surprised to see this in such a compact enclosure.
Multitone again shows respectable results for a Pro amp:
There is class rise in distortion with frequency which does hurt 19+20 kHz intermodulation test results:
We are able to get close to rated power (125 watts per channel):
Naturally less with 8 ohm load:
I could not run my 40 Hz or max and peak power due to that super sharp clipping. Distortion would go from 0.02% to 2 to 9% with slightest adjustment of input. My tests require 1% THD and I just could not get there. The amp is either clean or heavily distorted at the limit. There is a limited which I turned off for testing. It may have been put there for this reason.
My power sweep relative to frequency seems to imply we have a class AB amplifier here with a switching power supply:
So very well behaved.
Conclusions
I went into this review with the mindset of a commercial amp producing sub-par performance. By the time I suffered through controlling it through network connection, I was so sure the 125.4 was going to underperform. That changed in test after test showing competent and class leading performance relative to its peers. DSP and routing capabilities are extensive making this an ideal amp for driving say, two active 2-way speakers (there are even settings in there specific to each driver). The fan can be a nuisance if you push it hard in which case, you may want to go up int he model to get more power.
I am going to recommend the Ashly FX125.4. Nice to see them going above and beyond for a market which seems to only care about features, size and power rating.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
