Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

[Sokel]

There's no refund. It's just a matter of returning for a "fix" now or later.

You have to consider if the fix will have a new warranty or if is only valid 2 years after buying it.
If the later it should be already fixed or refunded.

 

[xaon60]

Still no problem on my pa5 using it every day, including today with a friend at very high volume levels.

The energy sent in the Klipsch r-820f is terrifying it's physical

 

[Eldus]

I've also never had an issue with mine. Near daily use. One year in march.

 

[Laserjock]

Let’s see what speakers everyone was/is driving with this amp?
Write a reply on your own comment whether working or had issues with.

 

[Rottmannash]

working for appx one year. powering an old pair of Polk towers-the model with 2 powered 8" subs in each tower. Of course it doesn't get a lot of hours, as it's in a 2nd room.

 

[Martinvb]

My PA5 has been working without any issues for almost a year now. I use it daily for 5-8 hours, it is connected with an E50 DAC (+Pi4 streamer with Volumio 3.x) and drives 2 Kef LS50 Meta's at 50% (12h). It never gets really hot, only luke warm.

 

[Eldus]

ELAC DBR62 Working fine 10 months near daily use for at least 4 hours every day.

 

[xaxxon]

ELAC DBR62 Working fine 10 months near daily use for at least 4 hours every day.

Do you turn it off when you're not using it? Mine died having been left on at max volume for about 6 months. But that's how I treat my other amps, too. I use my dac as a volume control. And of course pa5 doesn't have a trigger.

 

[Eldus]

Do you turn it off when you're not using it? Mine died having been left on at max volume for about 6 months. But that's how I treat my other amps, too. I use my dac as a volume control. And of course pa5 doesn't have a trigger.

I use my E50 DAC as a pre-amp using TRS cables, I do turn them off when I am not using them. The PA5 is on top of the E50, it never gets very warm.

 

[gsymeoni]

Chiming in to say that my PA5 also seems to be failing. I bought it on December 2021.

The windsweep sounds from the speakers started fairly early, but I discarded this as something all amps do on powerup (it's my first setup, pretty new to all this).

Also, either R or L speakers would pop when switching the amp on, and today I collected a new symptom, a constant pulsing sound from the R speaker. It's high pitched and the oscillation is in the order of 8-10Hz+

It's very frustrating as I'm doubtful I'll get a replacement or refund, I hope that the influx of RMAs can get the vendor to be understanding.

I'm decommissioning it before it does something nasty to my 3030i's. I've sent a message over to the vendor (PlayStereo).

 

[Canuck57]

 

[Canuck57]

For those with issues message Topping-Service- don't know if it will do any good or not??? Topping and Service may be mutually exclusive.

 

[BoredErica]

That's what Shenzhen told me too.
Have you tried a strong email to them? That's what I did (after months of polite exchanges). I didn't use harsh language, but I spelled out my dissatisfaction, and pointed out that they had to accept that this sale was a loss to them, and they needed to just refund me the money... It was a pretty strongly worded email. They refunded me 80%, then I yelled at them again, and they refunded me the remining 20%. I felt like yelling a third time to get my shipping fees back, but decided to not push my luck and just chill.
I don't know if this is helpful, but it seems like you have as much pain over this as any. And they sold defective merchandise, that they know is defective and don't seem to know how to fix! It's just so incoherent.

I did. I haven't done it yet because I honestly don't want the conflict and I'm just exhausted. But I might do it anyways.

For those with issues message Topping-Service- don't know if it will do any good or not??? Topping and Service may be mutually exclusive.

View attachment 259430

Yeah. I remember when their account showed up in this thread. They talked a good talk, and the disappeared and never posted again. I'm wondering if they gave up troubleshooting pa5 and that's why it's pulled from sale now.

 

[xaxxon]

I did. I haven't done it yet because I honestly don't want the conflict and I'm just exhausted. But I might do it anyways.

Yeah. I remember when their account showed up in this thread. They talked a good talk, and the disappeared and never posted again. I'm wondering if they gave up troubleshooting pa5 and that's why it's pulled from sale now.

They recently replied to me on reddit asking for proof their dealer was telling people to lie on customs forms... I sent them the proof and never heard back from them.

@TOPPING-Service you guys there?

 

[Entropy]

That's what Shenzhen told me too.
Have you tried a strong email to them? That's what I did (after months of polite exchanges). I didn't use harsh language, but I spelled out my dissatisfaction, and pointed out that they had to accept that this sale was a loss to them, and they needed to just refund me the money... It was a pretty strongly worded email. They refunded me 80%, then I yelled at them again, and they refunded me the remining 20%. I felt like yelling a third time to get my shipping fees back, but decided to not push my luck and just chill.
I don't know if this is helpful, but it seems like you have as much pain over this as any. And they sold defective merchandise, that they know is defective and don't seem to know how to fix! It's just so incoherent.

Getting tempted to do this.. Apos audio has started to push me around. First said it was OOS and gave me a sales voucher, then said OOP and promised a black one later, now after three months they want me to settle for taking a blue unit that they can't get rid of. Screw that. I sent them an email telling them my position, and asked for a refund or E70/L70, since those at least aren't blue, out of production, and defective. If they won't do that... next time I don't think I'll be asking.

They recently replied to me on reddit asking for proof their dealer was telling people to lie on customs forms... I sent them the proof and never heard back from them.

@TOPPING-Service you guys there.

Yikes. Doesn't look like they have their stuff straight.

 

[xaxxon]

That's what Shenzhen told me too.
Have you tried a strong email to them? That's what I did (after months of polite exchanges). I didn't use harsh language, but I spelled out my dissatisfaction, and pointed out that they had to accept that this sale was a loss to them, and they needed to just refund me the money... It was a pretty strongly worded email. They refunded me 80%, then I yelled at them again, and they refunded me the remining 20%. I felt like yelling a third time to get my shipping fees back, but decided to not push my luck and just chill.
I don't know if this is helpful, but it seems like you have as much pain over this as any. And they sold defective merchandise, that they know is defective and don't seem to know how to fix! It's just so incoherent.

did you buy from shenzhen through amazon?

 

[Holmz]

That's what Shenzhen told me too.
Have you tried a strong email to them? That's what I did (after months of polite exchanges). I didn't use harsh language, but I spelled out my dissatisfaction, and pointed out that they had to accept that this sale was a loss to them, and they needed to just refund me the money... It was a pretty strongly worded email. They refunded me 80%, then I yelled at them again, and they refunded me the remining 20%. I felt like yelling a third time to get my shipping fees back, but decided to not push my luck and just chill.
I don't know if this is helpful, but it seems like you have as much pain over this as any. And they sold defective merchandise, that they know is defective and don't seem to know how to fix! It's just so incoherent.

Let’s try and not forget that it is a different culture, and some of the business dealings expose a side that is not what we are accustomed to.

 

[xaxxon]

Let’s try and not forget that it is a different culture, and some of the business dealings expose a side that is not what we are accustomed to.

If you're going to sell to western countries, you had better be ready to offer the expected customer service.

I didn't really look hard when purchasing, but I had no idea I was buying from China when I bought mine on amazon. I would have bought from apos instead if I realized that. There should be a warning on places like amazon for buying things where the location for service (including postage prices) is significantly more $$$ than a domestic package.

Most people don't consider whether you'd have to pay $80 - almost a quarter of the price of the product - for warranty service. Even more if you aren't willing to lie to customs like they require to not be charged for the warranty work.

 

[Doodski]

If you're going to sell to western countries you had better be ready to offer the expected customer service.

Yesssss! All true.

 

[Roland68]

Yesssss! All true.

But then the customers must also be willing to pay the costs for such customer service.
Manufacturers in the EU and USA calculate at least 10 - 20% of the product price for such a service, which will not be enough given the low sales prices of SMSL, topping, etc. Just look what the Schiit products cost at the official EU distributor, that's the surcharge.

I don't know how it is in the USA, but in the EU every customer has the possibility to buy these devices from dealers in the EU, with service according to EU standards. Only as examples are there Clear, HiFiStudio79, Audiophonics, Soundimports, etc., or Amazon as a seller.

If you save the last few euros and order on another continent, you simply have to assume that you save on service and bear the return costs, even in the case of a guarantee.