Topping B200 Monoblock Amplifier Review

[blanc]

Topping recommends two ways of connection with B200: D90III DAC and Pre90. I suppose B200 shall be set to High with D90III, right?

 

[misterdog]

Topping recommends two ways of connection with B200: D90III DAC and Pre90. I suppose B200 shall be set to High with D90III, right?

Try both to find out. It depends on your speakers, room size and listening volume preference.

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Topping recommends two ways of connection with B200: D90III DAC and Pre90. I suppose B200 shall be set to High with D90III, right?

I have D90 III and B200 with 87dB-sensitivity speakers, sit 2 meters from my speakers, listen at about 75dB average/90dB peaks, with album-level ReplayGain enabled, but no room correction and no PEQ (so no additional negative pregain applied other than ReplayGain) and Low Gain on B200 is still loud enough for me regardless of whether I go directly to B200 from D90 III (set to pre mode) or I put Pre90 between D90 III in DAC mode and B200.

In this configuration (no Pre90), a single-digit number of tracks I play at 0dB volume such as:

But otherwise most music I listen with volume set in the -10dB to -26dB range.

 

[Sokel]

At the end of the day, it's testimony to the engineering of Topping that their devices are measuring at the limits of available testing equipment costing $ 50,000 plus.

To the defense of the expensive testing equipment, they present an ultra healthy, more than 200 kOhm input impedance (so, complete immunity, as they should) .

Plus their balanced circuits are of the standard type, not mimicking the cross - correlation method kind (we use that to measure as it lowers noise floor, but can be used at the reverse order as it seems) which some gear use so to present low noise floor but at the expense of some idiocracies.

 

[blanc]

According to this review: B200 review the LOW option on B200 is not very promising with D90III DAC. This same review also indicates B200 lacks of bass and sound stage. Can anyone confirm it?

 

[ZolaIII]

According to this review: B200 review the LOW option on B200 is not very promising with D90III DAC. This same review also indicates B200 lacks of bass and sound stage. Can anyone confirm it?

You feed the damn thing trough line out and it gives output to mesured gain, main purpose of preamp is hard limiter so you can't blow the speakers. I don't see much of other nead for serious preamp other than well serious stage equipment attached to very long balanced cables especially this day's when you are better of doing that in digital domain in the first place and much better of using such multichannel one as main point and preamp (audio interfaces with DAW's, self stand DSP processors or power amplifier integrated one's). It doesn't do low impedance loads well thanks to it's design as output is bridged (two output stages in one). Don't pair it with speakers that deep lower then 4 Ohms and it will do fine. No one will use such amp for subwoofer and most sensitive (huge) PA speakers (over 100 dB/W at 8 Ohms) will be dead silent with it.

 

[BeeKay]

This same review also indicates B200 lacks of bass and sound stage. Can anyone confirm it?

Presumably, this “report” would also have something to say about rhythm and pace, as well as about a holographic presentation. Or the lack of the former. This audiofool nonsense never ends.

 

[ZolaIII]

Presumably, this “report” would also have something to say about rhythm and pace, as well as about a holographic presentation. Or the lack of the former. This audiofool nonsense never ends.

It's possible when paird with certain speakers that drop to 3 Ohms or lower but that much would have been intentional don't under estimate voodoo outcome it's usually calculated.

 

[Mart68]

It's possible when paird with certain speakers that drop to 3 Ohms or lower but that much would have been intentional don't under estimate voodoo outcome it's usually calculated.

He tries them with Magico S3 which are 2.8 ohm minimum. EPDR is one ohm. Totally unsuitable speaker for these amps.

He also uses a small speaker, axiom m5hp but that is 10dB down at 40Hz in room so no deep bass on those anyway.

 

[blanc]

Can anyone make a comparison between B200 and Teac AP505, which is slightly more expensive?

 

[Pashchax]

Hi there,
First of all, I would like to sincerely thank Amir, as he has truly transformed my musical world. I’ve owned many different audio setups and listened to numerous amplifiers over the years. Among those that I loved and have kept to this day, I’d mention the immortal NAD 3020, the very pleasant Rega Mira 3, and the excellent Denon 1500AE. For over a year now, I’ve also owned the Topping LA90, which I purchased encouraged by Amir’s review. I use it in my office paired with KEF LS50s; I absolutely love its sound, but listening at work has its limits—I can’t really crank up the volume or fully concentrate on the music. What captivated me about it is the level of detail. It’s a remarkably clean-sounding amplifier that brings a lot of joy by allowing you to hear all the little nuances, even in dense musical arrangements.

My main home setup consists of a Cambridge Audio 851C and Monitor Audio Gold 300s. It sounded nice and clean, and I wasn't planning on any changes at all, until I stumbled upon another intriguing review by Amir describing the Topping B200.

I bought two units, added a Topping D90 III Sabre to the mix, and after more than a month of testing, I decided to thank Amir and share my impressions. I am incredibly impressed by how clean and detailed these small "bricks" sound. On albums I’ve known for over 30 years, I’ve been discovering details that previously either didn't cut through the musical background or simply didn't resonate clearly enough. Often, the better the equipment, the more albums from one's collection get discarded because poor production becomes too obvious. That is not the case here. Even weaker recordings sound enjoyable and engaging. The soundstage is vast, there’s plenty of detail, beautiful highs, and great bass. After a few trials, I settled on the high-gain setting. This configuration suits me better—it’s louder, the bass is more pronounced, and the dynamics are improved.

 

[borosilikat]

Hello all!

I'm seriously considering buying two of these and pairing them with an Okto dac8 Stereo, do I understand correctly that the optimal output voltage for the dac8 with these would be 12.5V?

 

[Panelhead]

I think that should work fine, in low gain mode. That should top out at a little above 40 volts to the speakers.

 

[Roland68]

Can anyone make a comparison between B200 and Teac AP505, which is slightly more expensive?

What exactly would you like to know?

With Teac, you get a relatively low-powered Hypex amplifier, which Teac produces under license. Its power output is roughly equivalent to a 3E Audio A5, which has a similar level of transparency. An A7 exceeds its power (in watts) by a factor of two.

For a similar price, you can get much more powerful amplifiers from both Hypex and Purifi, with the same or better specifications.

I'm a TEAC fan myself, primarily because of the quality, build quality, and design. However, with Class D amplifiers, I would get confirmation from the manufacturer and dealer regarding the minimum repair period for the Hypex amplifier after the warranty expires and the approximate costs involved, including replacements. Many manufacturers don't offer repairs after the two-year warranty period, or only for a maximum of five years. Furthermore, the repair cost can be disproportionately high if, instead of repairing the defective unit, the entire amplifier is replaced.
Some Teac dealers offer extended warranties of 5 or 6 years, sometimes even instead of a discount.

From a measurement perspective, the B200s are both more transparent and significantly more powerful. Whether you can hear this difference depends on the transparency of the rest of your audio system, as well as the music itself. If Teac's stated measurements are accurate, then at best the difference will be very small/marginal, or perhaps nonexistent.

 

[Alpharius]

I run a b200 setup off of a topping dx9 and I will say the combo is excellent. To the point where I actually prefer listening to speakers now over my headphones. I am coming from a sound bar previously though so it's a massive step up to be on a 2.0 system.

 

[-Matt-]

Can anyone clarify the way Topping implements its 12V trigger?

They have this diagram in the manual and are apparently supplied with a daisy chain cable, but I don't have this.

If you look closely you can see that Topping uses stereo 3.5mm TRS plugs. I want to plug to my AVR which uses mono 3.5mm TS plugs. So if I make my own cables (direct from two separate AVR trigger outs to two separate B200 trigger inputs) what should be done with the ring connector at the B200 end?

How does Topping wire the stereo female TRS socket in the B200?

 

[Everett T]

I'd just buy an mono adapter first or try just a mono.cable. it will probably work, not guaranteed, but probably.

 

[Alpharius]

I will double check later but I'm 99% sure I use mono plugs for mine and it works fine. I didn't read the details well enough on the web page and bought the cables while I waited for the blocks to arrive last year.

 

[Hindsider85]

Can you swap the OPAs with this device?

Asking for a friend...

 

[antcollinet]

Asking for a friend...

Treat him to some percussive education with a length of clue by four.