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Topping L30 vs A50s

Orestes

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Considering the top-notch performance of the L30, what is the advantage of the A50s, if any?
 

technoian

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Only real advantage seems to be the balanced output and that will only be needed if you have particularly power hungry headphones to drive that take a balanced connection.
Good to see the pentaconn 4.4mm connector being used here. I hope it gets adopted by more manufacturers as the standard balanced connector.
 
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Orestes

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My Senns are using balanced cable (pentaconn 4.4mm) so the included pentaconn jack in the A50s is too good to pass as I don't need the 6.5mm male to 4.4mm female adapter unless I want to use the l30 :)
Are you saying you have both?
 

raif71

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Are you saying you have both?
I already have the l30, planning to get too the A50s. The l30 is paired with e30 while the A50s will be a nice addition to the D50s. I didn't get the previous A50 coz there was no preamp feature unlike this A50s.
 
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Orestes

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I have D50s paired with SMSL SP200. Was wondering if either the L30 or A50s would be a significant improvement.
 

Veri

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I have D50s paired with SMSL SP200. Was wondering if either the L30 or A50s would be a significant improvement.
The SMSL SP200 is already a very well performing THX amp. Is there anything you find wrong with it? If only for "sonics", I'd really doubt there would be any difference whatsoever. If for example the SP200 is too loud too fast, or you don't like its knob, or need any other feature not present on it, then maybe consider changing amp. Otherwise, why bother? :)
 
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Orestes

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You are right, I am not at all unhappy with the SP200. It is simply a desire to tweak up performance, if possible, without getting a second mortgage. Since the L30 tested so well, and the A50s uses the same technology, and both seem to offer great value, I was wondering whether any of the cognoscenti thought there would be a noticeable difference in audible performance. Apparently you don't and I thank you for your opinion/advice.
 

Veri

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You are right, I am not at all unhappy with the SP200. It is simply a desire to tweak up performance, if possible, without getting a second mortgage. Since the L30 tested so well, and the A50s uses the same technology, and both seem to offer great value, I was wondering whether any of the cognoscenti thought there would be a noticeable difference in audible performance. Apparently you don't and I thank you for your opinion/advice.
I had the Drop 789, SP200 and A90. I couldn't tell them apart to save my life. But they each have different downsides and features.
789 knob gets crackly. SP200 gain is crazy loud for sensitive headphones and IEMs. A90.. A90 is very hard to fault haha. The first batch had a weak fuse but that should be fixed :)
 

Berwhale

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I've bought the A50s because...

1. It matches my D50s
2. I have Sennheiser HD 660s with a balanced cable and pentacon plug.
3. I fancied the look of the stack with the P50 linear PSU.
4. My JDS Labs Atom is plastic, quite light and moves around too much.

I don't expect there to be any audible difference from my JDS Labs Atom and the stock PSUs.
 

Slee_Stack

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I've bought the A50s because...

1. It matches my D50s
2. I have Sennheiser HD 660s with a balanced cable and pentacon plug.
3. I fancied the look of the stack with the P50 linear PSU.
4. My JDS Labs Atom is plastic, quite light and moves around too much.

I don't expect there to be any audible difference from my JDS Labs Atom and the stock PSUs.
I ordered an A50s because:

1. My current headphone amp is a Peachtree Decco2 (which I also use for desktop speakers). Its very old and likes to 'pop' when turned off. It also has groundloop noise which I haven't been able to get rid of completely.
2. I don't know if I'll be able to tell an SQ difference, but I'm curious.
3. I have a D50. Its silver. My Decco2 is silver faced. The A50s comes in silver. I like aesthetically matching setups.
4. The A50s has balanced out. I have balanced IEM cables (no headphones though). I realize I don't need the extra power, but now I'll have an option. Will I ever have balanced headphones that would benefit?

Honestly, the Decco2 was probably 'good enough' in spite of its minor issues. I was interested in the A50, but held off. I guess I just couldn't help myself when the A50s dropped. It may end up $200 for the sake of curiosity and aesthetics. At worse, I'll end up with two usable headphone amps in the end. I've done far worse spending.
 

GeorgeWalk

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I ordered an A50s because:

1. My current headphone amp is a Peachtree Decco2 (which I also use for desktop speakers). Its very old and likes to 'pop' when turned off. It also has groundloop noise which I haven't been able to get rid of completely.
2. I don't know if I'll be able to tell an SQ difference, but I'm curious.
3. I have a D50. Its silver. My Decco2 is silver faced. The A50s comes in silver. I like aesthetically matching setups.
4. The A50s has balanced out. I have balanced IEM cables (no headphones though). I realize I don't need the extra power, but now I'll have an option. Will I ever have balanced headphones that would benefit?

Honestly, the Decco2 was probably 'good enough' in spite of its minor issues. I was interested in the A50, but held off. I guess I just couldn't help myself when the A50s dropped. It may end up $200 for the sake of curiosity and aesthetics. At worse, I'll end up with two usable headphone amps in the end. I've done far worse spending.


I also bought the A50s to match my D50s (but I have black) and to replace my Atom amp. I also have a JDS Labs O2. I will be selling both the Atom and O2; I don't have a need for them right now.

I had a Peachtree Nova 65SE. I liked it alot. I never bought the "tube buffer sound" stuff. I think Peachtree makes really beautiful stuff, I am not sure about the sound quality.
 

Matias

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120422178_3682740221736810_507168471706599073_o.jpg
 

Berwhale

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I also bought the A50s to match my D50s (but I have black) and to replace my Atom amp. I also have a JDS Labs O2. I will be selling both the Atom and O2; I don't have a need for them right now.

I had a Peachtree Nova 65SE. I liked it alot. I never bought the "tube buffer sound" stuff. I think Peachtree makes really beautiful stuff, I am not sure about the sound quality.

I suspect that the relatively low acquisition cost of the A50s and small investment in my Atom pushed the A50s into impulse buy terrritory for me (I guess that being stuck at home looking at it all day is also a factor).

I just hope that Topping doesn't release a P50s as it may be difficult for me to resist lining up all the s's :)

Here's an idea: Topping could make a RaspberryPi case that matches the 50(s) line (Pi50s?), then we could all build nice streamers that matched our stacks :)
 

raif71

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saw this before and have been meaning to ask, why for a50s the power is showing @32Ω and not @16Ω like the other 2 amps ? To derive for 16Ω, is it proper just to multiply by 2, for example the BAL power for a50s would be 7000mWx2(16Ω) ?
 

ReaderZ

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One thing to note is in amirm's test here, when fed standard voltage, nether L30 and A50s SE are able to output power close to listed spec in the tests, which I believe was fed with standard 2V input using RCA. A50s Balanced is fine. A90 is fine for both SE and Balanced.
 

Kujo

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Please let us know what you think of the a50s.
I'm currently looking at building my first stack and I'm also stuck between the E30/L30 and the D50S/A50S. Trying to learn everything, but it is still confusing for me because there isn't many direct comparisons that I have found because they are so new.
 

JohnYang1997

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Please let us know what you think of the a50s.
I'm currently looking at building my first stack and I'm also stuck between the E30/L30 and the D50S/A50S. Trying to learn everything, but it is still confusing for me because there isn't many direct comparisons that I have found because they are so new.
You can find the direct comparison on this page. Post #14
 
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