Multi-channel Amp,Which one you would like to own?

[antcollinet]

When can we expect a review from Amir?

Some time after someone sends it to him.

 

[Hindsider85]

WOW! Thank you 3E Audio! I just got my

3eAudio PAM256​

from Amazon and...
ITS DEFECTIVE!
KUDOS! Seriously. How you can send a defective amplifier that was clearly not tested beforehand!?
It gives out a screeching noise, no matter if I plug something in or not. No sound coming out of A SINGLE channel on a 6ch amplifier. Mighty fine quality control you got there!
I will NEVER buy another product from you. EVER! Thank the Lord, I didnt order this from Aliexpress and I bought it from Amazon Germany.
Back it goes and you will never see another dime from me.
Buyers beware. These units are DOA. So you can think about the longevity of this product...

 

[harkpabst]

Very German.

Congrats.

 

[Hindsider85]

Very German.

Congrats.

I only ever got 2 defective devices in HiFi. One defective Fosi V3, back on Ebay couple years ago and now this 3eAudio PAM256. And a couple weeks ago, I got a Fosi V3 Mono with the wrong PSU. I will never buy this chinese garbage ever again.
Thank God, for my quality Musical Fidelity A1 and my japanese Denon X-4800H. Both work like a charm.
Henceforth I will not buy anything designed and made in China.

 

[Audionaut]

Henceforth I will not buy anything designed and made in China.

Given the numerous interconnections among global companies, this is simply hardly feasible if one were to extend this to all everyday products.

 

[3eaudio]

@Hindsider85 can you please send us more detail?

 

[blickpunkt]

I got my PAM 252 and I'm amazed. Working perfectly fine. Be aware of the Main switch - Power Button settings and switches for Trigger and Input. The only thing that's really annoying is the name print.

 

[3eaudio]

I got my PAM 252 and I'm amazed. Working perfectly fine. Be aware of the Main switch - Power Button settings and switches for Trigger and Input. The only thing that's really annoying is the name print.View attachment 527283

Should we pay for you? lol
What a nice picture.....

There are 3 methods for power on/off control. If you read the manual then you may not confuse.

1. Trigger
2. Auto
3. Manual(for some people who have nothing control from the source but just want it to work as a traditional amp)

 

[blickpunkt]

This was more to Hindsider85. Mine works, and I really like it. Airy, wonderful heights (never thought I'll say this from TPA3255 implementation) and even on low gain - power, power, power with substantial bass

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

I disagree. In this specific case, radiators arranged this way will require horizontal ventilation (i.e., forced ventilation... with a fan).

Your explanation seems completely irrational to me. I've opened hundreds of amplifiers... and I've never seen anything like it...

Indeed. 100% agreed.

It is just basic physics - vertically arranged fins provide several tens of percents better heat transfer than horizontally arranged ones because of boyancy-driven natural convection of air isn't blocked by the fins above as is the case with horizontal fins. Vertical fins allow for smooth laminar flow rather than turbulent, in which heated air gets trapped in between the fins decreasing the cooling power significantly..

There is no magic in this and I am absolutely sure the engineers at 3E know this. Lower temperature means longer life for components and I find it a bit odd that someone would say that they (3E) did everythiqng right. This is contradictory to common sense and basic physics, there are dozens and dozens of studies on this matter. I suppose the heatsinks are that way in this product because of the cost - that's the way the modules are manufactured and it would've become too expensive to manufacture ones with different heat sink fin orientation just for this kind of application.

 

[Guddu]

I only ever got 2 defective devices in HiFi. One defective Fosi V3, back on Ebay couple years ago and now this 3eAudio PAM256. And a couple weeks ago, I got a Fosi V3 Mono with the wrong PSU. I will never buy this chinese garbage ever again.
Thank God, for my quality Musical Fidelity A1 and my japanese Denon X-4800H. Both work like a charm.
Henceforth I will not buy anything designed and made in China.

Thanks for sharing what happened.
Buying from platforms like Amazon have return policies for exactly same purpose, you can always return without even a single question asked for full money.
If I were you then I would have asked Amazon to send me a replacement unit on priority, which I have actually done a few times in similar cases.

If we start thinking same way for products build in China then more than half of our market would be empty.

 

[aedagnino]

What's the wattage power of the PSU's inside the amplifiers? I'm considering the PMA254 but I'm a bit on the fence as there's no clear info on the PSU power.

 

[john61ct]

It's more than enough to drive the amps with all its slots filled, to max power at low distortion.

I believe actual numbers posted by 3e above.

 

[dualazmak]

Sorry, but at least I myself would select none of them.

I like "right-person-in-right-place" selection of amplifiers in my PC-DSP-based multichannel multi-SP-driver multi-amplifier fully active audio setup (the latest setup ref. #931, #1,009 and #1,022 on my project thread); for tweeters and super-tweeters we need no powerful amp, but we do need HiFi small-to-mid-power high S/N high SINAD amps for them.

Edit:
Japanese wording for "right-person-in-right-place" means "right person/gear/tool in the right/proper job/place".
So, I use it for "right amplifier in the right/suitable place/purpose".

Even Greg Timbers uses "reasonable and budget" Pioneer Elite A-20 for compression drivers (super tweeters) in his extraordinary expensive multichannel stereo system with JBL Everest DD67000 which he himself designed and developed (ref. #435).

I once actually have intensively tested/evaluated Yamaha MX-A5200 (class-AB) 11-Ch amp (spec etc. #164-#168, #170-#171), and decided not to use it at least in my multichannel audio setup in terms of total sound quality (ref. #175). That was the very first step in my long-months (ca. 18 moths) and intensive amplifier selection exploration (tentative/provisional summary ref. #311)...

 

[john61ct]

"right-person-in-right-place" selection

Does this just mean "listen in person" before purchase, or something more complicated?

Is that the only reason you would not use these, that returning them is inconvenient?

Or are you also implying that they have "too much" power output?

 

[dualazmak]

Does this just mean "listen in person" before purchase, or something more complicated?

Is that the only reason you would not use these, that returning them is inconvenient?

Or are you also implying that they have "too much" power output?

As you can find in my summary post #311, I actually have tested, mainly through intensive subjective assessments, all the amps thereof at my own listening room in my room acoustic environments, using the same/consistent passive configuration for single amp as well as active configuration with PC-DSP and multichannel DAC (OKTO DAC8PRO) for multi-amp setup.

I was quite lucky and fortunate for all the cooperative supports and services of amp manufacturers and dealers for their offering "free" evaluation opportunities in my own listening room, at least one week, except for a few amps stayed only one to two days, during the course of my amplifier selection exploration; that was within the period of COVID-19 pandemic.

 

[john61ct]

So that is a "Yes" to Q1 ?

How about 2 & 3 ?

I read your post to mean "these are not up to snuff"

Is that what you intended to imply?

 

[dualazmak]

So that is a "Yes" to Q1 ?

How about 2 & 3 ?

I read your post to mean "these are not up to snuff"

Is that what you intended to imply?

It is very nice knowing you have carefully read and understood my posts all the way through #175 to #311, right?

Then, your Qs and my answers;
Q1: "Does this just mean "listen in person" before purchase, ..............?"
A1: Yes, I did it in person at my listening room.

Q2: "Is that the only reason you would not use these, that returning them is inconvenient?"
A2: No, not at all. They voluntary delivered amps to my home for free, and after my evaluation they retrieved them for free.

Q3: "Or are you also implying that they have ""too much"" power output?"
A3: No. I finally selected relatively small-power High S/N high SINAD amps for tweeters and super-tweeters not intended/intentionally to have done so, but as the result they became so, just like in the system of Greg Timbers.

Of course, these below additional factors were/are seriously taken into consideration at that time and at present.
1. Balance of cost and performance; at that time, I already had Accuphase E-460 as my reference single stereo amp, but I purchased brand new Yamaha A-S3000, Sony TA-A1ES, and Yamaha A-S301; not the ones used in my free evaluations.
2. Usual free product warranty and guarantee; one-to-three years after the purchase depending on manufactures; which means free replacement if some issue(s) happened and/or discovered (proved).
3. Availability of domestic (within Japan) smooth, reliable and affordable repair and maintenance services; for not only amps but also for SPs including sub-woofers and super-tweeters.

 

[john61ct]

So the only reason you made this statement

Sorry, but at least I myself would select none of them.

is because you would only choose from options that are sent to you without you first buying them?

 

[dualazmak]

So the only reason you made this statement...
....
is because you would only choose from options that are sent to you without you first buying them?

Yes and/or No...
I carefully selected the amps to be evaluated at my listening room based on several nice discussions in domestic (within Japan) audio community as well as in ASR e.g. on Benchmark AHB2.
It is/was impossible for me, however, to ask "free delivery, free retrieval" for my personal evaluation of all the amps of my interest, as you can easily guess.

Now, I believe it is time to stop our present discussion on this direction, since we are already somewhat out of the scope from the title and OP's perspective of this thread. If you need further discussion, please PM me. I like to avoid any further discussion only for the sake of discussion.