Sabaj A5 and A8 announced

[mdsimon2]

Do you notice any SNR / hissing issues? My impression is that the icepower are not as clean as say purifi

Purifi is certainly lower noise than any ICEpower amp but the ICEpower amps are not bad in terms of noise. System noise floor is often governed by the DAC and that should be true of the 125ASX2 assuming you are using a relatively low noise modern DAC.

To me compared to Hypex / Purifi the 125ASX2 has the following drawbacks.

1) In stereo operation only accepts unbalanced inputs.
2) Higher output impedance which results in more load dependent frequency response.
3) Higher THD+N at higher frequencies.

The ICEedge based ICEpower amps like the 1200AS1/AS2, 300A1/A2 and 400A2 do much better in the areas mentioned above but still fall a bit short of Hypex / Purifi performance.

Michael

 

[mario_rouge]

Purifi is certainly lower noise than any ICEpower amp but the ICEpower amps are not bad in terms of noise. System noise floor is often governed by the DAC and that should be true of the 125ASX2 assuming you are using a relatively low noise modern DAC.

To me compared to Hypex / Purifi the 125ASX2 has the following drawbacks.

1) In stereo operation only accepts unbalanced inputs.
2) Higher output impedance which results in more load dependent frequency response.
3) Higher THD+N at higher frequencies.

The ICEedge based ICEpower amps like the 1200AS1/AS2, 300A1/A2 and 400A2 do much better in the areas mentioned above but still fall a bit short of Hypex / Purifi performance.

Michael

do your considerations on 125asx2 also apply to the use of amplifiers as monoblocks?

 

[mdsimon2]

do your considerations on 125asx2 also apply to the use of amplifiers as monoblocks?

If you use it bridged it can accept balanced inputs, the other considerations are the same (refer to the datasheet).

The other thing to worry about when using it bridged is that the gain is increased from 25 dB to 31 dB, this can cause noise issues if you have inadequate gain staging. In bridged mode the input sensitivity is only 1.1 V so if you are using a DAC with 4 V output you are throwing away ~11 dB of SNR from the DAC.

However if you have something like the RME DACs which have a lower output setting (1.2 V) that also has lower noise it would be a good fit. And of course speaker sensitivity (and your own sensitivity to hiss / ambient noise) also play a part.

Michael

 

[andrewjohn007]

I've been running three A8s in mono as my center, left and right channels since February and have been absolutely pleased with them. No issues whatsoever. They are fed by a Motu UltraLite Mk5, so gain hasn't been an issue. I highly recommend them... Of course I am anxious to see how they test once Amir gets one on the bench. I scored the UltraLite prior to Amir's review, so my instincts served me well in that instance. Now they are unobtainium.

 

[mario_rouge]

I've been running three A8s in mono as my center, left and right channels since February and have been absolutely pleased with them. No issues whatsoever. They are fed by a Motu UltraLite Mk5, so gain hasn't been an issue. I highly recommend them... Of course I am anxious to see how they test once Amir gets one on the bench. I scored the UltraLite prior to Amir's review, so my instincts served me well in that instance. Now they are unobtainium.

do you know if someone sent an a8 to amir?

 

[mario_rouge]

They are fed by a Motu UltraLite Mk5, so gain hasn't been an issue. I highly recommend them...

so they also work well with a DAC with more than 4v? the Motu has 4.7v

 

[andrewjohn007]

do you know if someone sent an a8 to amir?

I know Peter sent the new DAC to Amir and incorrectly assumed that the A8 was sent. Please disregard my previous baseless assumption...

 

[andrewjohn007]

so they also work well with a DAC with more than 4v? the Motu has 4.7v

From the Motu UtraLite Mk5 manual:

"digital gain that boosts the input level up to +20 dB in 1 dB increments, adjusted from the CueMix 5 app."

Voltage isn't addressed...

 

[mario_rouge]

I have a su9 smsl that I also use as a preamp ... could it be fine?

 

[mdsimon2]

so they also work well with a DAC with more than 4v? the Motu has 4.7v

Full output voltage on the MOTU is 8.6 V which of course will be attenuated before going in to the A8. If used in bridged mode this would result in a decrease of DAC SNR from 122 dB @ 8.6 V to 104 dB at 1.1 V.

Michael

 

[andrewjohn007]

Does t

Full output voltage on the MOTU is 8.6 V which of course will be attenuated before going in to the A8. If used in bridged mode this would result in a decrease of DAC SNR from 122 dB @ 8.6 V to 104 dB at 1.1 V.

Michael

My girlfriends would have even less of an understanding of how that translates in to real life, audio induced booty-shaking than I do... Contrary to the mission statement of ASR, I will confess that such ignorance shall be our bliss.

 

[mdsimon2]

Does t

My girlfriends would have even less of an understanding of how that translates in to real life, audio induced booty-shaking than I do... Contrary to the mission statement of ASR, I will confess that such ignorance shall be our bliss.

If you don't hear any hiss you are all good!

Michael

 

[andrewjohn007]

If you don't hear any hiss you are all good!

Michael

Perfect! I'll let the ladies know that mdsimon says keep it bouncing and everything is going to be all right...

 

[peterwen]

I have a su9 smsl that I also use as a preamp ... could it be fine?

It could be fine.

 

[raest]

anybody from the EU ordered from hifi-express from their EU warehouse?

considering getting the A8 (if i'll get a refund for the faulty PA5) to power my wife's Quad S2s in her room/office, and the A8 is significantly cheaper than on audiophonics (i'm sceptical 'cause the price stays the same whatever i choose as the warehouse). but i need it sooner rather than later

 

[Enkay25]

@peterwen

Can we expect a Topping LA90 competitor from Sabaj addressing the disappointing features of LA90?
A8 is nice……but like A20d 2022 version, if we can have more powerful A9? Or a A20a 2022 version not of merus Infineon but purifi module/hypex module?

Currently I am leaning more towards your products. The display change in A20d with larger volume font is a nice touch. This was a features much sought for in this forum, me included.

 

[Talisman]

anybody from the EU ordered from hifi-express from their EU warehouse?

considering getting the A8 (if i'll get a refund for the faulty PA5) to power my wife's Quad S2s in her room/office, and the A8 is significantly cheaper than on audiophonics (i'm sceptical 'cause the price stays the same whatever i choose as the warehouse). but i need it sooner rather than later

why don't you get it from amazon? Amazon warranty and prime shipping

 

[mario_rouge]

@peterwen

Can we expect a Topping LA90 competitor from Sabaj addressing the disappointing features of LA90?
A8 is nice……but like A20d 2022 version, if we can have more powerful A9? Or a A20a 2022 version not of merus Infineon but purifi module/hypex module?

Currently I am leaning more towards your products. The display change in A20d with larger volume font is a nice touch. This was a features much sought for in this forum, me included.

good question

 

[raest]

why don't you get it from amazon? Amazon warranty and prime shipping

gladly, but for some absurd reason most of the chinese stuff on any EU amazon website won't be delivered to my (still within the EU) country. i have no idea why. everytime i tried to message some, i got no answer

 

[Talisman]

gladly, but for some absurd reason most of the chinese stuff on any EU amazon website won't be delivered to my (still within the EU) country. i have no idea why. everytime i tried to message some, i got no answer

Ah .. Strange indeed, can I ask you what country it is?

However I also noticed that the price on audiophonics is really high for the A8, otherwise it would have been a good alternative.