Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier Review

[Jose Hidalgo]

Quick question : a person that I know is trying to use a L30 as a preamp ("PRE" position) to drive a couple of amplified speakers.
He says that it works, but the sound of his speakers is way too low.
His audio chain seems to be : Vinyl turntable > L30 > Amplified speakers
What can he be doing wrong ? Any thoughts ?
Thank you.

 

[staticV3]

@Jose Hidalgo if your acquaintance is trying to use the L30 in place of a phono preamp, then that obviously will not work. A phono pre has drastically different requirements, like built-in RIAA compensation, very high gain (+40-70dB), and stuff like configurable input capacitance for optimal cartridge loading.

If instead the turntable has a phono pre built in and outputs normal line-level audio, then it has to be a simple gain mismatch.

 

[TheBatsEar]

Quick question : a person that I know is trying to use a L30 as a preamp ("PRE" position) to drive a couple of amplified speakers.
He says that it works, but the sound of his speakers is way too low.
His audio chain seems to be : Vinyl turntable > L30 > Amplified speakers
What can he be doing wrong ? Any thoughts ?
Thank you.

Some record players have a switch to use either an external phono preamp, which then would be preamplify the weak signal coming from the stylus/cartridge to line level) or use an internal preamp and put out line level.

If the record player has no such switch, your friend should buy an external phono preamp to insert between the record player and the L30.

 

[jei]

I'm looking at friend's L30 (old, bad one) + E30 combo that broke down. L30 first with a pop and a smell. Later E30 didn't start.

Visually nothing wrong inside L30. But I'm measuring AC 18,9V from the transformer (original 220-230V Topping). Is this deviation expected?

 

[JensH]

I just checked the voltage from my L30 transformer. With no load I measured 19.2 V AC, so 18.9 V sounds fine.
My guess is that the OPA1612 of the L30 has been destroyed, most likely from an ESD pulse. For the E30, I have no idea.

 

[sbronf]

hello, is it worth replacing the original power supply with a toroidal transformer with 15v/16v secondary? Thank you.

 

[Atanasi]

hello, is it worth replacing the original power supply with a toroidal transformer with 15v/16v secondary? Thank you.

Topping doesn't recommend anything else than the original transformer.

 

[TUC]

forgive my bad english.
I bought this topping L30 II amp and am satisfied with it. I would like to have the same performance even away from home. Since it's small, I thought of a 4s lithium battery to power it and use it with my philips fidelio headphones. do you think it is feasible?

 

[staticV3]

I bought this topping L30 II amp and am satisfied with it. I would like to have the same performance even away from home. Since it's small, I thought of a 4s lithium battery to power it and use it with my philips fidelio headphones. do you think it is feasible?

No. A Lithium Battery will output DC, but the L30 II needs AC:

 

[TUC]

No. A Lithium Battery will output DC, but the L30 II needs AC:
View attachment 306779

Are you joking? Requires 15v DC power supply. value that can be imitated with 4x18650 cells in series.

 

[gvl]

Are you joking? Requires 15v DC power supply. value that can be imitated with 4x18650 cells in series.

It does say VAC on the picture. That said, it might be possible to feed DC still.

 

[TUC]

AC is the energy required by the transformer which returns 15v up to 1A. Having said that, a simple connector applied to a battery like this would be enough to have 3 hours of listening.

 

[gvl]

AC is the energy required by the transformer which returns 15v up to 1A. Having said that, a simple connector applied to a battery like this would be enough to have 3 hours of listening.

Transformers output AC. If you squint you’ll see it says AC/AC adapter on the label, which is what transformers are. It also says output AC15V, I don’t think this leaves any room for interpretation.

 

[half_dog]

returns 15v up to 1A

15Vac, not DC. If you connect a DC power supply (or battery) at its power input it would feed only the positive rail because of the internal DC conditioner (diodes) - internally there is a dual power supply which converts the AC input in 2 DC power rails (+23V and -23V - I'm not sure if this the exact value for the L30 II). You would need 2 pack of batteries to connect to each rail internally.

 

[Toku]

Are you joking? Requires 15v DC power supply. value that can be imitated with 4x18650 cells in series.

Non sto scherzando. L30 ll utilizza l'alimentazione AC15V AC.
Leggere attentamente l'etichetta sull'adattatore CA incluso. Inoltre, controlla le specifiche su HP.
C'è stato un rapporto secondo cui E30 ll è stato rotto collegando DC15V in modo diverso prima.

 

[TUC]

luckily guys I asked for advice. I didn't think such equipment worked in AC. but now I understand why there is a dedicated P50 topping source to match. However, if I go to check this output it results in DC. forget it. So I ask you for something portable (headphone amplifier) to be paired with an iphone to use the fidelios. What could it do for me?

 

[gvl]

I use Topping G5 and think it’s exceptional. Works very reliably with my iPhone 12.

 

[TUC]

I use Topping G5 and think it’s exceptional. Works very reliably with my iPhone 12.

looks like a great amp is there a review? we're a hair off budget though.
evidently I'm doing something wrong in the internal search of the forum but I found with google .. inncredibile machine.

 

[gvl]

looks like a great amp is there a review? we're a hair off budget though.
evidently I'm doing something wrong in the internal search of the forum but I found with google .. inncredibile machine.

I bought mine used under $200.

 

[Vini darko]

Here you go

Topping G5 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping G5 portable, battery operated DAC, headphone amplifier with bluetooth. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $299. The G5 comes in a super stout metal enclosure. It is on the heavy side for a portable product (2 to 4 times...

www.audiosciencereview.com