Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

[tonycollinet]

so far my issue with pa5 is that it cuts off while playing 100% volume.

That might be thermal protection and not a fault.

 

[jevchance]

Just received notice my package was delivered in China. IN THE FUTURE. Gotta love time zones.

 

[vkvedam]

Well, finally I decided to use my brand new replacement. It is pretty good, no issues to start with. I won't be leaving it on all the time and I will not be using it with my home cinema setup. I will just use it purely for music.

 

[DMill]

Well, finally I decided to use my brand new replacement. It is pretty good, no issues to start with. I won't be leaving it on all the time and I will not be using it with my home cinema setup. I will just use it purely for music.

If you have to baby it then it’s not fixed.

 

[FuzzTone]

I have had the PA5 since early February and I listen to it everyday. I have had zero problems with it.

Me too.

 

[jevchance]

I got word from AOSHIDA that they received the package in China. What a relief. Now it’s just a waiting game.

Shipping time was 17 days and it cost $75. Yikes.

 

[vkvedam]

If you have to baby it then it’s not fixed.

Agree but no point in leaving it on when I am away working for 8-10 hours in a day. Another observation I made that it's much later serial number compared to my original one that failed.

Would it be a good idea to list the serial numbers of all the complained units? I wouldn't mind sharing my serial numbers.

 

[Sokel]

Agree but no point in leaving it on when I am away working for 8-10 hours in a day. Another observation I made that it's much later serial number compared to my original one that failed.

Would it be a good idea to list the serial numbers of all the complained units? I wouldn't mind sharing my serial numbers.

On the other hand it's maybe a good idea pushing it hard while and if you're on a return window.
Because that is power amps about,deliver no matter what.

 

[restorer-john]

Agree but no point in leaving it on when I am away working for 8-10 hours in a day.

There is absolutely no point leaving HiFi switched on when you are at work. Just a waste of energy and service life, along with risk of failure.

That said, properly designed amplifiers can and do run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for many, many decades in shopping centres, airports, cinemas, nightclubs/restaurants etc. The PA5 clearly has a design problem and/or a component problem. Enough returned products should have filtered back for them to positively determine the failure mode and cause.

 

[vkvedam]

@JohnYang1997 do we know the root cause yet please? Give us an update. Thanks!

 

[JeffGB]

A little update on my PA5 running at 32v. Still working perfectly but I had one channel cut out last week a few times. It turned out that the TRRS plug was losing contact. I unplugged it, cleaned it with deoxit and plugged it back in. No more problems, but I would advise anyone having an intermittent channel problem to clean their TRRS plugs before assuming the amp is failing. I have had it turned on 24/7 for the past few months in a hot room during a heat wave with no issues. Someday I will get a better 32v power supply but it's working perfectly with the 32v 5a Aiyima psu so I just haven't bothered yet.

 

[JeremyFife]

Further update:
"just check with the manufacture again ,they inform that Amplifier control module is broken
please know"

Doesn't mean too much to me (not power related?) but may provide a clue.

Shenzhen are generally helpful, I can only assume that it's Topping holding back details - unless it's just a cultural reticence.

@SHENZHENAUDIO @TOPPING-Service

Continuing the update:

Topping PA5 received, repaired and sounding as good as ever (it really is a brilliant little amp). Don't have much time to listen just now but I'm hopeful, if cautious. I will be monitoring.

I'm pretty happy with Shenzen Audio: Communications have been good, they refunded my postage (eventually) and they got my amp back to me quickly - in a week.

I'm less happy with Topping: I don't really know what the problem was and because of that I'm not confident that it won't reoccur. Poor communication from Topping has dented my confidence in the company.
I would still like to know what the root cause was but, for now, I have a working amplifier again and the music sounds great.

My Poll vote is still "broken" ... if there was an option I would now vote "repaired"

@SHENZHENAUDIO @TOPPING-Service

 

[delta76]

My Poll vote is still "broken" ... if there was an option I would now vote "repaired"

@SHENZHENAUDIO @TOPPING-Service

I think the point of the poll is to find out - very roughly of course - how many percent of PA5 have issues.
it's not even remotely accurate for several reasons, but it gives a sense

 

[Canuck57]

@JohnYang1997 do we know the root cause yet please? Give us an update. Thanks!

Still crickets from Topping?

 

[airbornimal]

Still crickets from Topping?

Has anyone heard anything from them about the new 2nd year warranty?

 

[nn_in]

PA 5 set at zero volume but faint music heard from both speakers.Any folks have a similar situation.
@JohnYang1997 or Topping team.Request your guidance

 

[restorer-john]

PA 5 set at zero volume but faint music heard from both speakers.Any folks have a similar situation.

Many amplifiers do that. It just means the pot they are using doesn't short the wiper to ground at the lowest attentuation or some other issue with crosstalk etc.

I wouldn't worry about that being a serious issue.

 

[Lräk]

Now I'm a little worried my PA5 (started using June 1st) has died. I had recently noticed it was getting a bit warm even when not playing any music as I was experimenting with my Aiyima A07 and switching speaker cables back and forth. Well 2 days ago, I accidently left it turned on. When I tried to use it last night, I realized I left the power switch on and it was quite warm. I'm now not getting anything out. I switched the balanced input from my E50 to the 2nd input and nothing. I switched the speakers to the Aiyima and everything works just fine.

I left it off all night and will try it again tonight, but I fear it's dead. I bought it off Amazon so I dread the return process. Maybe I'll open it up and see if I can find any bad components. Capacitors would be easy to change for me.

Y'all won't believe it........my PA5 came back alive!!! I've been procrastinating sending it to China while using my Aiyama these past 6 weeks or so.

I had mentioned in a few posts that I opened it up trying to find any obvious failed components and nothing I could see. I even measured lots of voltages that seemed correct (regulators in particular). Only the 12v to the relays I wasn't able to measure.

Well, I opened it up again today and this time I was measuring lots more voltages I hadn't seen before on capacitors and even the 12v to the relays. So I took it home and just connected it to my DAC and speakers. What do you know? IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I'm at least the 2nd 'lucky' person whose PA5 came back alive. Let's see how long this time.

 

[Ravitester]

Poll for PA5 owners to report product defects. Discussion for any solutions. I think it would be useful to get a handle on some numbers to estimate just how wide spread the issues are.

Addendum:
Here is Topping's response to the PA5 issues...

Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

Currently suffering from a similar problem, sound on the right speaker cuts out sometimes, and i get random plopping sounds on occasion, i just switched the cables.( Left/Right).. Lets see what happcheck the transport units first. Yeh definitely check cables or if streaming see if it’s router...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I have had my PA5 since March, I was really initially impressed with the sound quality, but now it has started crackling and an audible whine in the left channel. I wrote to Shenzen Audio about the issue on the 14th August, they didn't answer until the 180 day period for their 180 Days up to the Quality of the Exchange or Refund had expired!
Now they are saying return it for repair, with their unusual request to state the value at under $50.
The other thing is the address they asked me to send it back... is that the address of Shenzenaudio? Has anyone else sent a unit back for repair?
Consignee: CaiYangyang
Addr:4F 405, Building F, No.2 Shangxue Science and Technology North, Bantian Street,
Longgang District,
Shenzhen City.
Guangdong Province
P.R.China.
Zip code :518129

 

[JeremyFife]

I have had my PA5 since March, I was really initially impressed with the sound quality, but now it has started crackling and an audible whine in the left channel. I wrote to Shenzen Audio about the issue on the 14th August, they didn't answer until the 180 day period for their 180 Days up to the Quality of the Exchange or Refund had expired!
Now they are saying return it for repair, with their unusual request to state the value at under $50.
The other thing is the address they asked me to send it back... is that the address of Shenzenaudio? Has anyone else sent a unit back for repair?
Consignee: CaiYangyang
Addr:4F 405, Building F, No.2 Shangxue Science and Technology North, Bantian Street,
Longgang District,
Shenzhen City.
Guangdong Province
P.R.China.
Zip code :518129

Hi, I returned my PA5 to Shenzen at that address with no issues (other than my own choice of carrier, who took over a month! Shenzen got the amp back to me in a week).
The false valuation is up to you - I complied and felt bad about it, but there were no problems. It's bad practice

I kept up email contact with YangYang Chai, and @SHENZHENAUDIO and [email protected] and also quoted this ASR thread where they confirmed that they will cover your cost of shipping;

They then confirmed to me, by email:
From: [email protected]
Sent: 03 August 2022 14:55 To: Jeremy Subject: Re: RE: Order #SZAW26383 confirmed
" Hi there dear customer sorry for reply late how about send back to repair or send back and we send a new PA to you ?
sorry we can not refund ,but we can cover the returning ship fee"

I was happy with the customer support from Shenzen Audio, and (so far) my repaired PA5 is as good as new Good luck