RIP my 125ASX2

[NoClipping1337]

howdy, long time lurker first time poster! I’m hoping to find some science-based guidance here rather than reviews that don’t mean much.

I came back from a month and a half away from home, only to find my 125ASX2 with a dead channel!

I’ve been pretty happy with the IcePower driving my Magnepan .7’s, and really liked that my particular amp had a decent Alps volume knob that allowed me to attenuate my preamp’s input, allowing for more resolution on my preamp’s knob. I can’t decide if I should just buy a new board, or replace the whole amp with something like the AIYMA A07 TPA3255, which the internet has led me to believe may be a better amp than the IcePower (and is available much sooner than a new 125ASX2 board).

In the meantime, maybe I’ll lug my NAD 218THX from the office to the living room so I can listen to the new records that came while I was away

thanks for the guidance, cheers y’all!

 

[EB1000]

Let me guess, you bought it from Ebay or Aliexpress? I never had any problem with many ICEpower amps. Just get it from a certified retailer, and you're good for life...

 

[NoClipping1337]

Yeah, I got it off eBay in a case, but it was a used unit from a guy in the US who said it was an official board. I ordered one of the eBay boards as a replacement, since I was happy with the sound and already have the case. Also ordered an AIYMA A07 TPA3255 to try out and probably put in my bedroom to replace the Dayton DTA-1 I've had for ages, unless for some reason it sounds better than the 125ASX2 (I'm curious if I'll even be able to tell a difference).

 

[bravomail]

howdy, long time lurker first time poster! I’m hoping to find some science-based guidance here rather than reviews that don’t mean much.

I came back from a month and a half away from home, only to find my 125ASX2 with a dead channel!

I’ve been pretty happy with the IcePower driving my Magnepan .7’s, and really liked that my particular amp had a decent Alps volume knob that allowed me to attenuate my preamp’s input, allowing for more resolution on my preamp’s knob. I can’t decide if I should just buy a new board, or replace the whole amp with something like the AIYMA A07 TPA3255, which the internet has led me to believe may be a better amp than the IcePower (and is available much sooner than a new 125ASX2 board).

In the meantime, maybe I’ll lug my NAD 218THX from the office to the living room so I can listen to the new records that came while I was away

thanks for the guidance, cheers y’all!

TPA32xx is bad chip for amp. Icepower will stump all over it.

 

[NoClipping1337]

TPA32xx is bad chip for amp. Icepower will stump all over it.

How bad, assuming I stay within the power limits? I live in an apartment and can't listen too loud. I like the TA2024B that I'm pretty sure is in my DTA-1, is the TPA32xx worse?

 

[JeffS7444]

Obvious advantage of IcePower is that published specs are for the module, whereas with TI, published specs are for the chip, so ultimate performance depends on how it's implemented, and the power supply you select.

https://quantasylum.com/blogs/news/ti-tpa3255-evm

 

[TimW]

TPA32xx is bad chip for amp. Icepower will stump all over it.

Not really.

Here is the ICEPower 125ASX2 THD+N vs Output Power into 4ohm in stereo mode:

And here is the 3eAudio EAUMT-0260-2-B TPA3255 THD+N vs Output Power into 4ohm:

As you can see on the low power side of the graph, the ICEpower has lower distortion. I am comparing the 1Khz plots (green for ICEpower, black for TPA3255). However the TPA3255 starts to clip at almost 200 watts whereas the ICEpower module clips at just 80 watts, and both amps have a similar amount of distortion before clipping. This shows that the TPA3255 has much more low distortion power available compared the 125ASX2 in stereo.

If we look at distortion at 5 watts, which is where Amir measures amplifiers, the TPA3255 would receive a SINAD score of about 89 and the ICEpower would receive a SINAD score of about 94. Either should be good enough for music reproduction but the TPA3255 is what I would use with power hungry speakers. Although the 125ASX2 in bridged mono would be even better.

 

[JeffS7444]

... the TPA3255 starts to clip at almost 200 watts whereas the ICEpower module clips at just 80 watts, and both amps have a similar amount of distortion before clipping. This shows that the TPA3255 has much more low distortion power available compared the 125ASX2 in stereo.

Big caveat here is that whether the Ti-based amplifier can achieve that power output is very much dependent on choice of power supply, and you'd probably want to run it at the highest recommended voltage.

 

[NoClipping1337]

I chose a 36v/4a power supply since that's what Amazon had (and I'd read something, somewhere, about higher voltages providing more power but also more distortion with this chip). This is the supply: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WNST3BG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If it ends up being terrible, I'll return it. If it ends up being good enough for me, I will see if Amir wants to measure it.

Side note: I've tried a few amps of similar form factor, but different chips, and all of them were bad enough to return. Didn't need no stinkin' objective measurements to know they sucked.

 

[andreasmaaan]

You need to look at the TPA3255's distortion vs frequency profile. It isn't any better than the 125ASX2:

It can output significantly more power, though (assuming the implementation is optimal).

 

[Matias]

NC252MP is the evolution of the 125ASX2, with lower distortion on the highs. A shame that the amp module is not sold directly...

 

[NoClipping1337]

Just got the TPA3255 hooked up, uhh, yuck. Sounds like shit. Back to Amazon it goes! What a disappointment.

The dead channel in my IcePower amp came back but not at full power, still sounds better than the TPA3255. My Dayton DTA-1 doesn't have enough power for my main speakers (Magnepan .7) but it sure sounds better on my less demanding speakers (Thiel CS1, B&W PM1, old sealed-box Monitor Audio bookshelves with a metal tweeter and without a model # on them).

Before the IcePower amp failed, I was planning on moving the IcePower to the bedroom and getting an AHB2 for the living room once I get my B&W's sold, I think I'm still going to do that since the new amp board should be here Monday.

 

[gentlejax]

so what did you decide to do?