I think I am going to try this with my Focal Aria 948s for a while, and if it works, which I think it probably will, then run it for a few weeks like that... I wonder how much less power it will use than my class A SET 845 tube amp.
Why is digital input better than analog input? The power is quite low, the best use case is either low volume or active crossover. Can it be used as active crossover plus amp?
Guessing all signals must be converted to digital before hitting the amplifier chip, so it sounds like there might be something going wrong with the ADC that occurs with analog input.I can't understand that Toslink has better characteristics than RCA input.
golf-panther amp + headless-panther speaker = balanced audiophile setupLoxjie A30 Listening Tests
I decided to test the A30 in a typical desktop setup. So I grabbed the PSB Alpha P5 (84 dB sensitivity) and connected it to the A30. I was most impressed with power ability and lack of distortion! There was incredible bass and ability to drive the P5 hard. And loud. I could get ample loudness while staying below 50 on the volume control. Playing my deep bass tracks however caused distortion to show up above 50 (mild crackling). But really, that was quite hard and we are talking using just one speaker here.
Overall experience below limit was absolutely audiophile with no excuses to be made.
Performance using analog input isn't all that impressive. I think I am still leaning toward Emotiva A-100, although it's a bit larger and has no remote.This would make a great smaller room amp for a 2 channel setup like a dorm room, bedroom at home or small living room in an apartment where high SPL isn't needed. I would seriously consider this in a kitchen dinning room area as it is small and paired with some small speakers would still give you a nice system to cook and dine to.
Besides Amirs' points, spring terminals on a big "conventional hi-fi" Yamaha versus screw terminals on small Loxjie box.. the world is upside down!Ok.. $160.. Maybe I am not seeing this correctly - when I see:
- a DAC performance easily matched by many dongles
- a poor (useless?) headphone amp
- better Lepy-type power amp
So - for $9 we can get a better performing Apple DAC and what seems a no-worse 30mw HP amp to boot;
For $150 what most likely is a better performing bt speaker Amp:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_022RS202/Yamaha-R-S202.html
Seems an easy choice to me...
The MA12070 chip used in the A30 has an analog input.Guessing all signals must be converted to digital before hitting the amplifier chip, so it sounds like there might be something going wrong with the ADC that occurs with analog input.
In that case, the analog result is perplexing indeed.The MA12070 chip used in the A30 has an analog input.
Toslink, COAX, USB and BT are all converted from digital to analog, passed through an electronic volume and input to the MA12070 chip. Therefore, the RCA input is the purest input signal.
Interesting indeed. Unlike that setup, I have the "expensive" AES-17 filter I use for class D amps. But seems like Infineon thinks that is not enough. Their solution of adding another inductor which mimicking real life, does distort the tests though by limiting bandwidth. That may be responsible for some oddness in these measurements:This deep dive into the MA12070 is a little over my head, but this part was interesting: