Topping LA90 Discrete Amplifier Review

[MaadScience]

I'm still confused about the power ratings. Would this be as powerful as my venerable Hafler 9300 (rated 225w RMS into 4ohms)? That amp has been driving a pair of even-more-venerable Acoustat Model 4's, which are electrostatic, big, and reputedly hard to drive. The Hafler manages fine, but don't have much headroom above normal listening volume.

Would one LA90D be enough? Would I need two? Or just stick to what I have? I have good ears but I'm lost in the tech speak. Is the LA90D a 40w amp or a 279w amp?

 

[manisandher]

View attachment 278544
In a word, wow! The amplifier simply doesn't care what frequency you throw out it!

This seems important to me. Is there any other (power) amp that is so frequency invariant?

Mani.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

There exists RCA male to balanced out cables. Construction must be done correctly; Bruno Putzeys wrote some words on the importance of this aspect which have been copied here in some obscure thread.

Edit. I found Mr Putzeys paper. It is a 13 page document in pdf format. While quite tedious reading, well, so be it.

Benchmark sells very nicely made RCA --> XLR cables that I believe follow Bruno's formula, I'm using three of them from my RZ50 to Pass Labs X5.

Benchmark RCA to XLRM Adapter Cable for Analog Audio - pin 3 to RCA shield

BENCHMARK STUDIO STAGE™ RCA TO XLRM ADAPTER CABLE CABLES ARE SOLD INDIVIDUALLY. Price is for one cable, order 2 for a stereo pair. Hand assembled in the USA with true silver solder Applications This special adapter cable connects unbalanced analog RCA outputs to balanced analog XLR inputs. Use...

benchmarkmedia.com

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Man how sad must the folks at Benchmark be knowing that their stuff, too, has dominating uneven harmonics. A tragedy really.
View attachment 278700 View attachment 278701 View attachment 278702

Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess..

Suspicion that Topping reverse engineered THX-AAA technology and implemented it without license intensifies.

 

[amirm]

Suspicion that Topping reverse engineered THX-AAA technology and implemented it without license intensifies.

THX technology is different design altogether.

 

[sarumbear]

when will Topping make a product that uses connectors that make sense (XLR, RCA) and can make up its mind as to what it is (power amp without a remote or an integrated amp with a remote)? half rhetorical question.

Look again, closely...

 

[MRC01]

Great to see a very clean amplifier competing with some of the best in some cases exceeding them yet at a much lower price point.

...
P.S. Power amplifiers are least reliable audio products (due to high currents and voltages involved). New designs sometimes need to prove themselves in this regard. So if you are risk averse, please don't be the first to purchase this amplifier.

This is good advice, though there are a few exceptions to this rule. Some power amps have sufficient design & engineering to be reliable and durable for decades despite the high currents, voltages and heat. I have in mind my Adcom 5800, which I bought new 29 years ago and use daily. Still measures and performs like new. I've adjusted bias and DC offset (<= 1 mV) every year or two and the only part I've ever replaced is the on-off switch, which fuses into the "on" position every 5 years or so. It's a $15 part and takes 20 minutes to replace it, no soldering needed.
No doubt there are a few other exceptions from reputable manufacturers.

 

[Firespeed]

I wouldn't recommend PA5 to anyone at this point, not even purchasing used although mine worked perfectly fine. But I wouldn't be too concerned with LA90D either as the previous version appears to work fine.
Topping should have handled PA5 better, I think many are quite, well, VERY disappointed with their purchases, and I do hope they do not repeat the mistake with PA7.

Hi !

And many are certainly also very happy with their PA5 which has not encountered any problems since purchase!

Finally, it is always the same, we hear a lot from those who have a problem and much less from those who are happy...

Mine works with an E50 and all is fine since December 2021 (turned on and off every day and used for TV, music and XBox...).

No hate in my words, just the need to counterbalance some remarks and some cognitive biases about the general reliability of Chinese and Topping products...we do not know everything about who, how, when, where and use-cases that led to some problems...and we can not draw any hasty lesson or generalities about entire Topping products line because of some issues about one product.

My E70 and LA90D are coming soon and I have no reason to believe that they won't be as reliable as other Asian products (I've tried Loxje, Topping, SMSL and no problems with these hardware). Even if I have a problem, there is a warranty managed by my local seller in France. After this period (if there is any problem), as it doesn't cost 3000 euros, I could always consider a new purchase...

IMHO, i would recommend PA5 or PA7 or LA90D to anyone who need quality at the right price and for same use as me (living room of 30/40m², 2.5/3m from the speakers, listening level between 75 and 85Db).

@Amir : thank you very much for your work and these measurements !

 

[Sokel]

Look again, closely...

Let's better make it visual:

 

[Marc v E]

I'm hesitating to give it a thumbs up before I see a year of sales without many reports about units failing. I do really hope they got their act together and improved testing and reliability. If so, I wish them nothing but success.

 

[xaxxon]

Suspicion that Topping reverse engineered THX-AAA technology and implemented it without license intensifies.

It's patented, so you don't have to reverse engineer it.

 

[TimW]

I agree with many that the amp is in a weird spot... make it a full integrated or a full power amp. Right now I feel its best suited as power amp but then it annoys me a bit that I will 'pay' for the multiple inputs and volume control.

Take a look at the Topping PA3s and PA5, these also have volume control and input switching with no remote control. I don't see anyone complaining about this with those models but I suppose they are considered mostly for desktop use. The LA90 is larger but still reasonably sized for many desks and with its power output limitations in stereo that's where it may be best suited. It can be bridged for mono operation and the volume control can be bypassed so that it works like a normal power amplifier. You won't accidentally change inputs on your monoblock LA90 with a remote because it is not remote controllable.

 

[PuX]

Look again, closely...

that's a professional connector, not something common on hi-fi electronics.

just compare the back of this amp vs any regular amp, NAD C298 for example.

 

[theREALdotnet]

that's a professional connector, not something common on hi-fi electronics.

just compare the back of this amp vs any regular amp, NAD C298 for example.

It’s an XLR/TRS combo jack. What more could you want? RCA??

 

[Bleib]

that's a professional connector, not something common on hi-fi electronics.

just compare the back of this amp vs any regular amp, NAD C298 for example.

Well, so. It's not really common to have this amplifier either. Cables are very cheap, on amazon one can easily find premiumcord cables cheaply. I now have 3 different sets of balanced cables.

 

[BossBunos]

Take a look at the Topping PA3s and PA5, these also have volume control and input switching with no remote control. I don't see anyone complaining about this with those models but I suppose they are considered mostly for desktop use. The LA90 is larger but still reasonably sized for many desks and with its power output limitations in stereo that's where it may be best suited. It can be bridged for mono operation and the volume control can be bypassed so that it works like a normal power amplifier. You won't accidentally change inputs on your monoblock LA90 with a remote because it is not remote controllable.

I own the pa5 and the corresponding stack. The e50 doesn't have volume control (on a usable knob at least) so it's nice to have a knob on the pa5. And yes thats a 100% desktop stack. But the 'a' stack does have volume control on the a90(d). So it's more confusing there.... Also the 'A' has a bigger form factor so I totally understand if people use it in a non-desktop environment.

 

[amirm]

I was stunned to see this disclaimer and now 3 or 4 pages into this review nobody has mentioned it.

It was actually mentioned. That aside, the disclaimer was put in there to avoid the very discussion you triggered. I have zero evidence of this amplifier having reliability issues. I pounded it hard over and over again with my new reactive load to clipping and beyond. It stood those tests completely. I put the disclaimer in there still because people like to immediately chime in the review of Topping amps to complain about reliability issues of other products from the company. With me acknowledging that, I was hoping to keep that tired argument out of every review thread. It is unfair and improper to claim every amplifier Topping makes is going to have problem.

As an aside, I have $50,000 worth of amplifiers sitting off due to failure. According to the company support, I need to ship these 120 pound amplifiers to some place in Los Angeles (?) for them to fix it. Heaven knows how much they are going to charge. Or how I am supposed to crate these back up to ship to them. I was hoping to fix them myself but I can't even figure out how to open the darn box!

So yes, amplifiers are a source of failures in an audio system. It doesn't matter who makes them. They are much more likely to fail given the heat, current and voltages they deal with.

 

[sarumbear]

that's a professional connector, not something common on hi-fi electronics.

just compare the back of this amp vs any regular amp, NAD C298 for example.

Why does it matter? It works as an XLR would. You plug a standard XLR connector straight in.

 

[F1308]

I was hoping to fix them myself but I can't even figure out how to open the darn box!

I am going to relax very much tonight.
I thought I was the only one being stupid enough not to be able to open that amplifier here to simply check if a fuse was the cause for it not powering up.
So there is a hidden trick for mere mortals to refrain fixing things...Great to know.
I am like Amir !!!!

 

[tomchris]

Stellar measurements, indeed It is understandable that Topping continues the successful LA90 product line with an identical looking substitute, given the mentioned supply chain issues of the ICs in the original LA90. In this case, Topping have surpassed themselves, and the substitute is not only reasonable, but now the new SOTA.

I am quite interested in seeing how the new amplifier differs from the old one.

Nevertheless, I hope that Topping eventually will release a monoblock amplifier. Yes, that would mean another product line altogether, but my hopes are one capable of at least 100W/8Ohm, stable down to 2 Ohm, with nicer power supplies . No need for overdesigned case, fancy volume knob or several inputs, just focus on designing the internals with easy serviceable components in mind.