Topping LA90 Review (Integrated Amplifier)

[Roland68]

Sometimes Topping is weird. Like putting the preamp section in the LA90 or having three inputs in the B200. Why?

Topping's approach with these two amplifiers is actually very far-sighted and clever, and other manufacturers could learn a thing or two from it.
The LA90 is designed as a stereo integrated amplifier that can be bridged and used as a pure power amplifier if necessary. Three inputs are enough for most people on an integrated amplifier these days, and they can upgrade if necessary.

The B200 is a very universally usable mono amplifier. Many people have more than one system at home, but of course only one pair of main speakers.
You can connect a normal stereo setup with a preamplifier, the preamplifier outputs of an AV receiver and also a tube preamplifier, and you have 3 different systems with the same main speakers and the corresponding power amplifiers.
This of course also applies to the LA90 power amplifier.

 

[Architectorus]

Hi! A have some silly-newbie questions, please help

1. What advantage will i get in sound quality(if any) If I'll add preamp (pre90 for example?)
Now my setup is: VMV d1se2(pre) + LA90D(fixed) + Dali ikon 6, Linton 85, Evo 4.4(still choosing between speakers)

2. Are there any drawbacks using high output setting with 89-91.5db sens. speakers? Are there any audible distortion, noise, compression etc? Or low mode is just for excellent measurements or hyper sensitive speakers?

3. How to understand if I need second La90d? Will sound quality improve on medium volume levels with 89db speaker in 20sq m room or it will improve only on extreme volume or in some very dynamic songs etc..?

 

[voodooless]

1. What advantage will i get in sound quality(if any) If I'll add preamp (pre90 for example?)
Now my setup is: VMV d1se2(pre) + LA90D(fixed) + Dali ikon 6, Linton 85, Evo 4.4(still choosing between speakers)

Nothing basically. The device is totally transparent, so it will not do anything to the sound.

2. Are there any drawbacks using high output setting with 89-91.5db sens. speakers? Are there any audible distortion, noise, compression etc? Or low mode is just for excellent measurements or hyper sensitive speakers?

It's all about you loud the signals come in, and how loud you want it to be at max volume. If it goes loud enough with the low setting, you should be good. Otherwise, choose high.

3. How to understand if I need second La90d? Will sound quality improve on medium volume levels with 89db speaker in 20sq m room or it will improve only on extreme volume or in some very dynamic songs etc..?

Is the single amp getting loud enough? If so, you don't need a second one. If not, the next question is if you can drive the amp to maximum power with the maximum voltage of your DAC? So let's see: DAC output is ~4.1 V, and the gain is 10 or 20 dB, which makes 13V at 10 dB, and 41V at 20 dB. The power supply seems to be 64V, so that may appear to be much more. But looking at the maximum power of just 56W and 36W (into 4R and 8R), it seems more like the limit is here the 4A power supply. So you should be fine there.

If that were not the case, a pre-amp might be of use to add some additional gain. A pre-amp also has a major difference in how it does volume control: while most DACs do this in the digital domain, a pre-amp does this in the analog domain. While this does have some differences, namely that the analog volume also scales the noise, while a digital volume control only scales the signal, it's not really of major concern. So the reasons for choosing a pre-amp or not should be found on the practical side: do you need more inputs? Do you find the volume knob more tactile (the Pre90 is still digitally controlled I think, so probably feels similar)? Do you need the extra gain? Does it have a better remote?

 

[somebodyelse]

1. What advantage will i get in sound quality(if any) If I'll add preamp (pre90 for example?)

Beyond the answer from @voodooless, the other thing some preamps will give you is EQ. This could be basic tone controls, 'loudness', Quad's slope control, all the way up to full room and speaker correction and subwoofer crossover. The full correction in particular can make a significant difference to sound quality.

 

[voodooless]

Beyond the answer from @voodooless, the other thing some preamps will give you is EQ. This could be basic tone controls, 'loudness', Quad's slope control, all the way up to full room and speaker correction and subwoofer crossover. The full correction in particular can make a significant difference to sound quality.

Then just get an AVR and be done with all the audiophile nonsense

 

[mocenigo]

Nothing basically. The device is totally transparent, so it will not do anything to the sound.

Not entirely true. It serves also as an impedance adapter. If the DAC has a high impedance, then the sound will become *more* transparent.

 

[voodooless]

Not entirely true. It serves also as an impedance adapter. If the DAC has a high impedance, then the sound will become *more* transparent.

Then don't buy broken stuff in the first place. A DAC should not have a high output impedance.

 

[mocenigo]

Then don't buy broken stuff in the first place. A DAC should not have a high output impedance.

Anyway, I was able to find the data for the SMSL D1se2: Output Impedance: XLR 207 Ohm: RCA 142 Ohm. Should be ok.
The LA90 discrete should have 20kOhm in RCA 10kOhm XLR. Half these values in mono mode? If the latter is true there mah be some advantage with a Pre, not sure if audible.

 

[antcollinet]

Not entirely true. It serves also as an impedance adapter. If the DAC has a high impedance, then the sound will become *more* transparent.

Still no difference even with a (rare) high dac output impedance - as long as the reactive impedance of the load (including interconnect) is sufficiently high not to cause frequency response variations. It would have to be a very high output impedance, and a very capacitive interconnect for that to result in audible FR changes. Even then - if you use a preamp with low output impedance, it only helps if the reactive impedance into the Preamp is higher than the amp. And if you are using the same interconnects out of the DAC, then it doesn’t help.

But yes - also as @voodooless says - don’t buy faulty gear in the first place, then there is no risk of needing to spend another £1K on fixing it.

 

[mocenigo]

Anyway, I was able to find the data for the SMSL D1se2: Output Impedance: XLR 207 Ohm: RCA 142 Ohm. Should be ok.

Still no difference even with a (rare) high dac output impedance - as long as the reactive impedance of the load (including interconnect) is sufficiently high not to cause frequency response variations.

Which is exactly what I meant.

It would have to be a very high output impedance, and a very capacitive interconnect for that to result in audible FR changes.

Sadly, "very" is not a number. A ratio of at least 10 for the impedances is recommented, but higher is not necessarily worse.

Even then - if you use a preamp with low output impedance, it only helps if the reactive impedance into the Preamp is higher than the amp. And if you are using the same interconnects out of the DAC, then it doesn’t help.

True as well. An obvious question now is what an upped limit to the cable capacitance should be.

But yes - also as @voodooless says - don’t buy faulty gear in the first place, then there is no risk of needing to spend another £1K on fixing it.

Yup. I bought the pre90 to put between the 90D and my Purifi build to be able to switch between power amp and headmp with a remote, and have transparent volume control in the analog domain, instead of the digital domain, even though I am quite sure I never heard a verifiable sound difference. And it is cool to have SotA objects. It did not cost much, I did not even purchase the extension. Way, way less than £1K.

 

[babadono]

Output Impedance: XLR 207 Ohm: RCA 142 Ohm

Strange values...just sayin'

 

[Spkrdctr]

Then just get an AVR and be done with all the audiophile nonsense

But, this is nonsense headquarters at times. Thanks for the breath of fresh air. It seems 90% of the topics end up in an engineering numbers argument. They all admit none if it is audible, especially when listening to speakers in a real room, but the arguments continue everyday all day. Then there are the people who AB an item and claim they can hear differences that the numbers say are impossible to hear! What is a regular consumer to do? Luckily ASR caters to both types. Engineers and those wanting just simple advice on setting up a decent system. ASR for the win!

 

[babadono]

What led me to trying the Topping amps was a quest for the lowest possible "no signal " noise from my very efficient horn loudspeakers. The Toppings are the hands down winners in this albeit I have not tried everything. They also sound good when outputting signal as well.

 

[Sal1950]

What led me to trying the Topping amps was a quest for the lowest possible "no signal " noise from my very efficient horn loudspeakers.

Yea that can be tricky, I dealt with the same from my Klipsch La Scalas.
I wanted to run tubes back then and went thru a number of amps before I found one acceptable.
In the end my VTL Compact monoblocks were quiet at the listening chair, but I could hear some soft hiss with my ear close to the speaker.
Also every couple years a 12AT7 input would get noisy and need replacing, and there was more.
OH the joys of running very high efficiency speakers.

 

[john11]

Then just get an AVR and be done with all the audiophile nonsense

Avr's are rubbish. Seperates rule !!!

 

[john11]

What led me to trying the Topping amps was a quest for the lowest possible "no signal " noise from my very efficient horn loudspeakers. The Toppings are the hands down winners in this albeit I have not tried everything. They also sound good when outputting signal as well.View attachment 395726View attachment 395727View attachment 395728View attachment 395729

Amazing !!!!

 

[Mike_Trueman]

The new Node icon would be a good match with the LA90 amplifier, XLR connection and a subwoofer output.

NODE ICON - Reference Music Streamer

The NODE ICON is a flagship wireless music streamer, designed for the audio obsessed. With its sleek aluminum chassis, and vibrant 5” full-color display, it sets a new benchmark for wireless music streamers.

www.bluesound.com

 

[mike70]

The new Node icon would be a good match with the LA90 amplifier, XLR connection and a subwoofer output.

NODE ICON - Reference Music Streamer

The NODE ICON is a flagship wireless music streamer, designed for the audio obsessed. With its sleek aluminum chassis, and vibrant 5” full-color display, it sets a new benchmark for wireless music streamers.

www.bluesound.com

Wiim ultra is like 3x less ... sub out, no XLR

 

[Mike_Trueman]

Wiim ultra is like 3x less ... sub out, no XLR

Yeah i know it cost more but it has more features also and look nicer to me.
I am not saying the WiiM Ultra is bad for it's price. We will see what the reviews says

• Dual-mono DAC design with 2 x ESS Sabre ES9039Q2M DAC
• THX AAA™ headphone amplifier technology with 2 x 1/4" jacks for cable management
• High-quality balanced XLR outputs
• HDMI eARC, optical, analog and USB-C inputs
• RCA, coax, optical, USB outputs
• Apple AirPlay 2 and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth*
• Dirac Live Ready*
• Beautiful 5” full-colour HD display and backlit touch panel with presets and controls

 

[Tangram]

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