Review and Measurements of Topping TP60 and FX Audio FX502SPro Amps

[Ron Texas]

Sorry about t he depression. Time to take a happy pill.

 

[rajapruk]

Don't know if it's available in the US, but for us over here in Europe this Ncore amp + PS/case is reasonably priced IMHO.

I personally need more power, but this looks interesting:
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/powe...s-d-amplifier-2x500w-4-ohm-ncore-p-13344.html

But the "MP"-series of nCore is not the same level of performance as nc400, I fear. I hope @amirm tests this some day.

 

[Grave]

A bad Topping thing.

 

[pos]

I have never seen a class T amp with good specs. Noise level is always very high, and power very low...

 

[Veri]

A bad Topping thing.

Yep, that just happened!

 

[miero]

There are more modern cheap Class-D amplifier chips with betters specs than the old generation tpa3116d2:
- http://www.ti.com/lit/ml/slyb233/slyb233.pdf
- http://www.ti.com/product/tpa3245 (115W, SNR 112dB, 0.005% THD+N)
- http://www.ti.com/product/tpa3255 (315W, SNR 112dB, 0.006% THD+N)
- http://www.ti.com/tool/tpa3255evm
- https://www.360customs.de/en/2018/07/tpa3255-tpa3251-tpa3245-final/
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/TPA3255-30...igital-Power-Amplifier-Amp-Board/222585810030
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/TPA3255-30...r-amplifier-board-HIFI-DC30V-48V/273451499449

 

[RayDunzl]

At similar power levels, its distortion spec is around 0.004% or 10X better.

Here's a similar amp to mine, one step earlier in the series.

Reading the 4 Ohm line:

https://www.stereophile.com/content...350mc-monoblock-amplifier-measurements-part-2

Oh well, at least it didn't need an additional $1600 filter to be measured.

 

[wadec22]

I wonder if that topping MX3 you have boxed up is just as bad....

 

[Keltere]

Fiuu almost bought the FX502SPro...

I wonder if that topping MX3 you have boxed up is just as bad....

yup can't wait for that and smsl ad18

 

[sssn]

Sad, I kinda like the concept of those tiny digital/chip amps. I have a cheapo Sure/Wondom TAMP215E amp here and I doubt it measures any better.

 

[amirm]

I wonder if that topping MX3 you have boxed up is just as bad....

I doubt it. It is a headphone amp with completely different specs:

That is 20X better than what I measured with TP60. Even if we derate that some, it should still be far better.

I think our challenge here is to find power amplifiers that come close to headphone amps.

 

[wadec22]

I doubt it. It is a headphone amp with completely different specs:

View attachment 17027

That is 20X better than what I measured with TP60. Even if we derate that some, it should still be far better.

I think our challenge here is to find power amplifiers that come close to headphone amps.

The mx3 has speaker output/terminals as well

 

[amirm]

The mx3 has speaker output/terminals as well

Ooops. I didn't read far enough.

Sadly the spec doesn't look good there:

 

[Frank Dernie]

Hi

Topping should stick to DAC this is a BS product. now I am all interested in Class D because of AC power issues I have in my location. Class efficiency is attractive be welcome but the level of ultrasonics in their output is not reassuring ... Time to test a DeVialet Frank?

Stereophile and hifi news have tested the original.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/devialet-d-premier-da-integrated-amplifier-measurements
They have been updated with loss of hdmi input, a noisier phono input (it seems to me) and a higher current power supply.
I am completely satisfied with mine and will never buy another amp for my main system.
Mind you the case probably costs 20x more than the whole Topping assembly, in fact the remote control probably costs 10x more than the Topping to make!

 

[Frank Dernie]

I am actually not surprised by these figures.
I am pleased we are getting tests of hifi equipment which has more "real life limited" performance than DACs here. IME and IMO pretty well any non broken conventional DAC, even the weaker ones, have performance way better than power amplifiers into real speakers, and both speakers and headphones are worse still.

 

[sonci]

Isn't 5watt too much for chip amps, which can deliver only 2-3 of clean power?

 

[amirm]

Isn't 5watt too much for chip amps, which can deliver only 2-3 of clean power?

It is less than 10% of their rated power.

 

[sssn]

Is this amir's first speaker amp review? It would be nice to establish some kind of base with a modern, but more traditional home HiFi amp like the
Denon PMA 720 AE or some mainstream AV receiver. Speaking of which, the DAC performance of modern AV receivers would be interesting too.

 

[Xyrium]

NAD has a bunch of ncore-based stuff out, albeit baseline-type builds (C338 through 388). You would need to feed it via Toslink though, and then the USB vs Toslink debate would resurface. LOL

Edit: I digress, their even lower line has the ncore architecture in place as well, and USB (3020, 3045, etc).

 

[esm]

I wish I lived close enough to you to bring over my Outlaw 7700 7-channel amp, I'd love to know how my space header/amplifier does.