Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

[MAB]

No problem at all just a service question about proper use care and so on

Weak, that's much different than the $350 we all lost in cash, some bought two and both broke... And the massive frustration dealing with the resellers who just have no idea how to deal with a real product issue. And please don't say that this is a non-issue. Topping and the resellers have all said they have a problem on their hands. They even said they would officially extend the warranty to two years. That's what they said, crickets when it matters.

Glad you got your answer on proper use care though... Keep it out of direct sunlight? Glad you went deep.

 

[DanielT]

I like Topping. I have, for example, Topping DAC E30 myself and it works perfectly, BUT this PA5 amp. It's not about throwing crap at Topping for the sake of it, it's about this:

Is the PA5 still being sold? Are the problems fixed? Would you, at this point, suggest PA5 to a potential amp buyer?

 

[VintageFlanker]

Haters gunna hate.

You're on ASR. Not on YouTube, nor whatever gaming forum frequented by teenagers. There is not supposed to be haters or fanboys here. And if you ask me, considering their lack of care for user experience, QC, and absolutely frenetic pace of new releases on the other hand, Topping deserves the backlash.

Admins should close it and issue a warning never to be repeated again

You are absolutely not in position to suggest such things...

 

[WileeCoyote]

Weak, that's much different than the $350 we all lost in cash, some bought two and both broke... And the massive frustration dealing with the resellers who just have no idea how to deal with a real product issue. And please don't say that this is a non-issue. Topping and the resellers have all said they have a problem on their hands. They even said they would officially extend the warranty to two years. That's what they said, crickets when it matters.

Glad you got your answer on proper use care though... Keep it out of direct sunlight? Glad you went deep.

And I rest my case

 

[VintageFlanker]

Why the hate?

I'm not a native English speaker by any means, but "hate" has a much stronger meaning in my book...

 

[kyyul]

I made an account today just to cast a vote that my PA5 was defective. Is there a general consensus on why these amps fail so easily? I guess if it seems too good to be true it probably is. I've reached out to Topping to see if there is a possible solution to the defect but I don't have much hope.

 

[Lräk]

I made an account today just to cast a vote that my PA5 was defective. Is there a general consensus on why these amps fail so easily? I guess if it seems too good to be true it probably is. I've reached out to Topping to see if there is a possible solution to the defect but I don't have much hope.

When did you buy it and what's the serial number? What is wrong with it? Left channel?

 

[kyyul]

@Lräk

I just bought it second hand a couple days ago. I'll have to unbox it again to see the serial number. Right channel is completely dead, and left channel is very weak.

 

[Lräk]

@Lräk

I just bought it second hand a couple days ago. I'll have to unbox it again to see the serial number. Right channel is completely dead, and left channel is very weak.

Did it work when you first got it? If not...well...you got burned.

 

[kyyul]

Did it work when you first got it? If not...well...you got burned.

Nope it never worked. I bought it in a haste after my SMSL DA-6 broke after just a couple months of owning it. I never really learn i guess. A couple years ago i had a topping D50 burn out on me too.

 

[Lräk]

Nope it never worked. I bought it in a haste after my SMSL DA-6 broke after just a couple months of owning it. I never really learn i guess. A couple years ago i had a topping D50 burn out on me too.

Do you have the ability to open it up and measure some voltages? I opened my working PA5 and pretty much know the voltages of all the nodes with solder. I might be able to tell you what I think is wrong with yours.

 

[kyyul]

Do you have the ability to open it up and measure some voltages? I opened my working PA5 and pretty much know the voltages of all the nodes with solder. I might be able to tell you what I think is wrong with yours.

I don't see what the harm is. It's not like i can break it when it's already broken. I have a multi-meter. i might have to tackle that in the upcoming weeks.

 

[iLoveCats]

When you return a defective PA5 to Apos you just get another PA5 for the shipping cost. I'm interested to see if its a brand new unit or what. There must be some confidence by the vendor that not all of these are defective. I hope I don't have to do this over and over again until they are out of PA5's.

I still think the PA5 is a great amp. The measurements are off the charts. I have an Ayima A07 in its place temporarily and there's a tiny bit of buzz when you put your ear on the speaker and a little snap when you change inputs on the D90 dac. The A07 just sounds less overall. Yesterday the Beatles Revolver dropped on Tidal and it sounded just OK to me. The Aiyima is still good, I have a couple of them but the PA5, when working, is in a different league.

 

[Canuck57]

When you return a defective PA5 to Apos you just get another PA5 for the shipping cost. I'm interested to see if its a brand new unit or what. There must be some confidence by the vendor that not all of these are defective. I hope I don't have to do this over and over again until they are out of PA5's.

I still think the PA5 is a great amp. The measurements are off the charts. I have an Ayima A07 in its place temporarily and there's a tiny bit of buzz when you put your ear on the speaker and a little snap when you change inputs on the D90 dac. The A07 just sounds less overall. Yesterday the Beatles Revolver dropped on Tidal and it sounded just OK to me. The Aiyima is still good, I have a couple of them but the PA5, when working, is in a different league.

When working is the key part of that statement, otherwise it's a doorstop!

 

[JohnnyNG]

When working is the key part of that statement, otherwise it's a doorstop!

It wouldn't be any good at that either.

 

[BoredErica]

I'm curious what percentage of people got their unit fixed or replaced but ended up having issues again, and when they returned it. It's not clear to me currently they are able to fix it.

@TOPPING-Service Clarification on what happens if replacement unit/fixed unit after paying shipping to be fixed 1 time also fails would be nice. If I could be guarenteed (somehow) that after I send it in to be fixed it will be fully fixed that will increase my confidence.

 

[JeremyFife]

I'm curious what percentage of people got their unit fixed or replaced but ended up having issues again, and when they returned it. It's not clear to me currently they are able to fix it.

@TOPPING-Service Clarification on what happens if replacement unit/fixed unit after paying shipping to be fixed 1 time also fails would be nice. If I could be guarenteed (somehow) that after I send it in to be fixed it will be fully fixed that will increase my confidence.

Fixed ... "Amplifier Control Module is 'broken' " ... I have to assume that they replaced it rather than repaired something but they didn't go into details and I lost the will to keep asking.
Works just fine now: it's a really nice Amp, although I am listening for problems too much of the time (none so far)
@TOPPING-Service

 

[mrmeng430]

Bought mine used on 10 OCT from Aoshida audio at Amazon. Only thing I have is static when I turn it on, so for now I just turn volume all the way down and put power Off on the PA5 when I'm done using to avoid static sounds when turning it back on later. I have a one year warranty from Aoshida. Fingers crossed.

 

[Sokel]

Only thing I have is static

I hate to disappoint you but that's how it starts considering the descriptions above.
If your returning window allows for free return do it now.

 

[Frank Sol]

Good advice from @Sokel