Topping B100 Amplifier Review

[pjug]

Not so sure, most of the major companies usually use some short a secondary PSU for stand-by and stuff.
And the upcoming adjustment has no rules about idle, only stricter stand-by (0.2W)

Yes, you can find old school amplifiers with linear supplies that meet the current standard (e.g. NAD C316BEE). And this very B100 is an example of an amp with a SMPS that does not comply (1.5W in standby according to Amir).

Is there any indication that there is any enforcement of the EU rule anyway? If you look at the Audiophonics web site they offer plenty of Class A and Class AB stuff and I have to believe some of those don't bother with a standby mode at all.

 

[Burns]

Be serious, no one checks or enforces this. The only possibility is a block at the sales level and a penalty for the seller. Once someone buys, no one goes to the houses and checks it.

 

[Sokel]

Be serious, no one checks or enforces this. The only possibility is a block at the sales level and a penalty for the seller. Once someone buys, no one goes to the houses and checks it.

There are various sources you can read.
Here's a rough one:

Standby, networked standby and Off mode

Off mode, standby and networked standby mode. Energy efficiency of products.

energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu

Here's the legal:

Regulation - 2023/826 - EN - EUR-Lex

eur-lex.europa.eu

And here's devices that made it to Safety Gate:

Safety Gate: the EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products

ec.europa.eu

An advice though, if you have any of those non-certified don't post them around, it's the insurance companies absolute joy.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Be serious, no one checks or enforces this. The only possibility is a block at the sales level and a penalty for the seller. Once someone buys, no one goes to the houses and checks it.

The EU takes enforcement quite seriously, and this is one of the areas where things actually do work.

 

[Burns]

The EU takes enforcement quite seriously, and this is one of the areas where things actually do work.

I understand correctly that B100 is not compliant with EU standards. So I understand that no one from the EU has B100 and it is not offered by European distributors?

 

[Julf]

I understand correctly that B100 is not compliant with EU standards. So I understand that no one from the EU has B100 and it is not offered by European distributors?

It seems to be available at least from hifistudio79.nl in the Netherlands.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

I understand correctly that B100 is not compliant with EU standards. So I understand that no one from the EU has B100 and it is not offered by European distributors?

That’s quite a leap to assume it works well enough to catch 100% of all non-compliant devices -if that’s what you’re suggesting.

 

[Sokel]

I understand correctly that B100 is not compliant with EU standards. So I understand that no one from the EU has B100 and it is not offered by European distributors?

It's not the amp, the amp it's fine probably.
It's the PSU IF it consumes more than 0.5W doing nothing that don't conforms.

And it needs a very accurate official measurement to show that. Company that makes them probably builds millions of them as they are generic, they can't be fools to not conform with a quarter of the world's market.

 

[pjug]

It's not the amp, the amp it's fine probably.
It's the PSU IF it consumes more than 0.5W doing nothing that don't conforms.

And it needs a very accurate official measurement to show that. Company that makes them probably builds millions of them as they are generic, they can't be fools to not conform with a quarter of the world's market.

When I measure power on one of these bricks (32V 5A) it doesn't even register on my watt meter (0.0W, only one digit after the decimal) with the amp turned off.

 

[Esprit]

I understand correctly that B100 is not compliant with EU standards. So I understand that no one from the EU has B100 and it is not offered by European distributors?

https://www.amazon.it/Topping-B100-Amplificatore-Ingresso-Guadagno/dp/B0DF7QPDTB/ref=asc_df_B0DF7QPDTB?mcid=c50d7dc81a7531a3821fcd30913c5478&tag=googshopit-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=700981009355&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9325351357418649886&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9220737&hvtargid=pla-2365300591165&psc=1&gad_source=1

 

[Purité Audio]

The U.K. Topping distributor ‘Electromods’ list them.
Keith

 

[Burns]

my question was rhetorical, I put question marks unnecessarily. I live in the EU, I know well what is sold here

 

[Mark411]

Hi all--I'm pretty new here, so please let me know if this is the correct thread for this question and, if not, let me know a more appropriate place.

Okay, I purchased a pair of B100s a couple weeks ago. I'm using a Node Icon as the source and a pair of KEF LS50 Meta speakers. Node is connected to the amps with Blue Jeans Cable XLR cables. Two questions:

1. I cannot get decent volume from the speakers if gain switches on the amps are set to low or medium. Low is super quiet. And medium is only fine for "mellow" listening with the volume on the Node set to max. Is this a defect somewhere in my system, or just the fact that my speakers are not very sensitive and the amps not very powerful?

2. When I set the amp gain switches to high, I get lots of audible noise from both speakers, even when nothing is playing. In fact, I can clearly hear an AM radio station coming through one of the speakers (and I do not have an AM [or FM] tuner in my system). At this setting, I can get full volume out of my speakers when playing music, but the accompanying noise makes it unlistenable. My initial assumption is that the amps are clearly defective. But, I noticed in Amir's review of the B100 he mentioned having problems with ground loop. I can't remember what the symptoms of that phenomenon are, but perhaps I should ground my components (or maybe connect my Node to the amps with RCA cables to force their ground potentials to the same level)??

I'd sure appreciate anyone's thoughts and advice. Thanks! --Mark

 

[NTK]

1. I cannot get decent volume from the speakers if gain switches on the amps are set to low or medium. Low is super quiet. And medium is only fine for "mellow" listening with the volume on the Node set to max. Is this a defect somewhere in my system, or just the fact that my speakers are not very sensitive and the amps not very powerful?

Something is not right here. Amir's measurement of the Bluesound Node Icon showed its XLR will output the standard 4 Vrms at full scale digital. With the B100 medium gain of 10 dB, it will output 40 W in to 4 ohms ( = ( 4*10^(10/20) )^2 / 4 ). While not sufficient to drive the B100 to its full output of 86 W Amir measured, it is still very loud (and definitely a hell of a lot louder than mellow).

Bluesound Node Icon Streamer Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Bluesound Node Icon Streamer, DAC and Preamplifier (ADC). It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $999. I can't say I am overly impressed by the design as it kind of looks plasticky. There is a nice large display but doesn't support touch...

www.audiosciencereview.com

What source are you using? And do you have any means of using other sources to connect to the B100 for testing, for example a headphone to RCA adapter cable to connect a laptop/PC headphone output to the B100? Or better yet, a digital voltmeter?

By the way, just to make sure, do you have the source selector toggle switches at the back of the B100 set to the "BAL" (XLR) position?

 

[Mark411]

Thanks! I double checked and the input toggles on the amps are set to BAL. (I switched the toggles to RCA just in case and, as expected, no sound.) I also checked that the Node Icon (my source) does not have any output limit set. I don't have any other source with balanced outputs to try, but I will try the Node's RCA outputs tomorrow and perhaps another source also and see what that tells us.

I do have a digital multimeter. What measurements are you suggesting?

 

[NTK]

I do have a digital multimeter. What measurements are you suggesting?

Please refer to this post by @staticV3 to verify that the Node Icon XLR output is at the correct level. The level of the 60 Hz test tone in the file is digital full scale.

Sound level difference between XLR and RCA

Hi all, I made a change in my config and there is a result I didn’t expect and which I don’t understand. Maybe you have some ideas… Previous config was a Wiim Ultra feeding a Musical Fidelity pre-amp (m6s) via RCA, then feeding a Boxem Audio Arthur via XLR for a pair of speakers in my living...

www.audiosciencereview.com

[Edit] Also check the cable to verify that it is OK.

 

[pogo]

@Mark411
Check the Volume Limit setting at the Node.
See also here: Link

 

[Mark411]

Thanks, good suggestion! I did double check the volume limits and they are set to the full range.

 

[khaliss]

hi all... casual HiFi hobbyist here. I just bought a pair of B100 amps on Walmart.com for $254 each (3rd party vendor "HiFi College", looks legit... order fulfilled by Walmart, so it should arrive in 4 days). I initially ordered one of those replica "audiophile" amps from Aliexpress (after watching youtube video reviews), but decided to cancel it due to the scare of crazy tariffs and the order not arriving till May. So after researching a bit more about alternative amps I can get my hands on, I stumbled on this thread, it got me 90% convinced... but I was still holding back cuz I want a classy looking amp that is built like a tank and weighs at least 50 lbs and has a minimum output of 200 watts @8ohms, LOL!

However, my listening room is actually small (sweet spot chair distance to the front speakers is about 10ft, I'm the only audience)... and this is what my setup looks like (refer to the image below)... use this setup equally for music & watching shows/movies. It already sounds good in its current form, but I feel like the fronts could sound better when listening to music, thus the hunt for a cleaner & nicer amp. Basically, I'm going to use the B100s to drive the front L+R speakers. Mind you, I'm still relatively a newbie when it comes to the science of audio. This forum has got me educated at a certain level, but not enough for me to feel super confident about making decisions, given that I have a very modest budget for the hobby. So, what convinced me to pull the trigger on them is my conversation with Gemini AI, hahaha... here's the transcript <LINK>

 

[Old_School_Brad]

hi all... casual HiFi hobbyist here. I just bought a pair of B100 amps on Walmart.com for $254 each (3rd party vendor "HiFi College", looks legit... order fulfilled by Walmart, so it should arrive in 4 days). I initially ordered one of those replica "audiophile" amps from Aliexpress (after watching youtube video reviews), but decided to cancel it due to the scare of crazy tariffs and the order not arriving till May. So after researching a bit more about alternative amps I can get my hands on, I stumbled on this thread, it got me 90% convinced... but I was still holding back cuz I want a classy looking amp that is built like a tank and weighs at least 50 lbs and has a minimum output of 200 watts @8ohms, LOL!

However, my listening room is actually small (sweet spot chair distance to the front speakers is about 10ft, I'm the only audience)... and this is what my setup looks like (refer to the image below)... use this setup equally for music & watching shows/movies. It already sounds good in its current form, but I feel like the fronts could sound better when listening to music, thus the hunt for a cleaner & nicer amp. Basically, I'm going to use the B100s to drive the front L+R speakers. Mind you, I'm still relatively a newbie when it comes to the science of audio. This forum has got me educated at a certain level, but not enough for me to feel super confident about making decisions, given that I have a very modest budget for the hobby. So, what convinced me to pull the trigger on them is my conversation with Gemini AI, hahaha... here's the transcript <LINK>

You’re far better off letting your Marantz handle the Martin Logans than relying on the little B100.