Topping LA90 Review (Integrated Amplifier)

[McFly]

Does it need to be returned to the company?

Subscriber giveaway!

Excellent engineering. Congrats team. Now, how does it sound? Just kidding. I wish you luck for scaling up for more power output. And good luck putting the power supply back in the chassis to do so, unless you make an external the size of a shoebox.

 

[Ingenieur]

You are ok with just enjoying 90% of your listening? My amp behave linearly 100% of the time.

I did not say it shuts off at 20 W
It runs to 50 W
Average power draw is closer to 1 W

I don't understand the last statement.
All amps act linearly until they clip.

I doubt my amp ever exceeds 50 W

 

[restorer-john]

It's a firestorm waiting to happen testing amps to 2 Ohms. If one or more amps blows then a repair(s) is required and it might get messy.

2R testing might be somewhat useful for the autosound arena, but not for home HiFi. It's just silly.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

A great option for folks who listen at modest volumes and/or have big, high-sensitivity speakers -- but for most of us, it's just a very low-noise/distortion desktop amp with a hefty price tag. I guess it's a matter of how much one is willing to shell out for SOTA performance at what amounts to a fair-to-middling power level -- this thing goes for the same MSRP as my pair of three-way active Kali studio monitors, each of which has three channels of pretty danged quiet built-in amplification plus DSP! That said, its sky-high SINAD ought to be a wake-up call for the folks at Benchmark and Purifi not to rest on their laurels.

 

[GeekyBastard]

I won't be home until tomorrow. I can then try to test it. For now what is the application for 2 ohm load? I have not tested one speaker that goes that low.

It's interesting that so many people suddenly starts to demand topping's amp to perform extremely well at 2Ω, which is not the typical Hi-Fi system needs, or what they asked in other products, even competing manufactures started to do trash talk, really makes you think.

 

[PeteL]

I did not say it shuts off at 20 W
It runs to 50 W
Average power draw is closer to 1 W

I don't understand the last statement.
All amps act linearly until they clip.

I doubt my amp ever exceeds 50 W

Of course, This will give you 4 dB of headroom above what constitutes 90% of your listening, in your own words. Will it be enough? Maybe. Maybe not.The last statement. How do you know if an amp goes into clipping if it´s only for short transient or for loud bass where distortion is not very noticeable? I know that those are not clipped on mine, that’s what I mean.

 

[Ingenieur]

Of course, This will give you 4 dB of headroom above what constitutes 90% of your listening, in your own words. Will it be enough? Maybe. Maybe not.The last statement. How do you know if an amp goes into clipping if it´s only for short transient? I know that those are not clipped on mine, that’s what I mean.

Well if that 4 dB is above a nominal 20 W on an 86 dB speaker at an average level of 75 dBA, yes. It will put out 90 W at 1%, inaudible. No issue if the other 10% is only 4 dB higher.

And it is. My amp runs 30-50 W peak.
It's only 120 W / 8 Ohm

If you don't hear it clip does it matter?
I don't worry about that stuff. It is theoretical not practical.

 

[Ingenieur]

It's interesting that so many people suddenly starts to demand topping's amp to perform extremely well at 2Ω, which is not the typical Hi-Fi system needs, or what they asked in other products, even competing manufactures started to do trash talk, really makes you think.View attachment 202417

Lol
What mfg.?

Who says this won't drive 2 Ohm for short durations?

 

[Bruce Morgen]

I wonder how you switch sources. If the volume knob a button too?

I'm guessing that the power button doubles as a source selector -- a quick push selects and a longer one controls power.

 

[smkralik]

Can it be used with headphones and IEMs the same way some people use the latest SMSL amp or the Benchmark ABH2? Does it need to have an external preamp in order to get fine volume control? Any reason (aside from accidentally blowing your headphones) that you wouldn’t want to do this from a specifications or performance perspective?

 

[restorer-john]

Any decent amplifier will drive 2 ohm loads, but not at continuous full rated power and certainly not for very long before shutting off. The current flow is enormous, the supply rails dip significantly, the dissipation in the OPTs is huge and it really not needed.

2R is pretty darn close to a short circuit and you'd want your amplifier protected against such an event.

 

[PeteL]

Well if that 4 dB is above a nominal 20 W on an 86 dB speaker at an average level of 75 dBA, yes. It will put out 90 W at 1%, inaudible.

And it is. My amp runs 30-50 W peak.
It's only 120 W / 8 Ohm

If you don't hear it clip does it matter?
I don't worry about that stuff. It is theoretical not practical.
View attachment 202418

You may not hear it obviously clip, but you may notice peak compression. You may notice loud bass not as impactfull. Remember, it’s a quite hard hockey stick. Theoretical? well it’s not as binary and black or white. May not be the only reason but in my system a 50W amp strugle a bit to have the full dynamic. That matter.I want my amp to reproduce everything at optimal specced performance. Even the last10%. It does feel way less « Theoretical« than the benefit of a 120+ DB Sinad. That’s my only point. Sinad matter, but power matter more. That’s the first goal of an amp, deliver power, this one in the grand scheme of thingss is not that great at that.

 

[Ingenieur]

Any decent amplifier will drive 2 ohm loads, but not at continuous full rated power and certainly not for very long before shutting off. The current flow is enormous, the supply rails dip significantly, the dissipation in the OPTs is huge and it really not needed.

2R is pretty darn close to a short circuit and you'd want your amplifier protected against such an event.

It's one reason I selected mine.
500 W dynamic into 2 Ohm no clipping
Into 1 Ohm 300 W and protection trips

 

[Ingenieur]

You may not hear it obviously clip, but you may notice peak compression. You may notice loud bass not as impactfull. Remember, it’s a quite hard hockey stick. Theoretical? well it’s not as binary and black or white. May not be the only reason but in my system a 50W amp strugle a bit to have the full dynamic. That matter.I want my amp to reproduce everything at optimal specced performance. Even the last10%. It does feel way less « Theoretical« than the benefit of a 120+ DB Sinad. That’s my only point. Sinad matter, but power matter more. That’s the first goal of an amp, deliver power, this one in the grand scheme of thingss is not that great at that.

imo power is over prioritized.
For normal in home listening depending on speaker eff and room size (and obviously level) 50-100 is plenty. And 50 will satisfy most.

People set different priorities.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

imo power is over prioritized.
For normal in home listening depending on speaker eff and room size (and obviously level) 50-100 is plenty. And 50 will satisfy most.

People set different priorities.

Separate power supply from the box. Monster 50 pound power supply 10 feet from the amp should bring down SINAD down.

 

[wwenze]

Can it be used with headphones and IEMs the same way some people use the latest SMSL amp or the Benchmark ABH2? Does it need to have an external preamp in order to get fine volume control? Any reason (aside from accidentally blowing your headphones) that you wouldn’t want to do this from a specifications or performance perspective?

Depends. Remember that this SINAD is only applicable at 5W output.

An amplifier with -120dB noise @ 4.5V will give -80dB noise at 45mV.

High ohm low sensitivity headphone yes. IEM no.

 

[eriksson]

Thanks for the review Amir!
Topping keeps raising the bar. They did it with many DAC's and headphone amps, and now they have done it with this integrated amp. State of the art no less!? Judging by Topping's track record we don't have to wait too long for amps with more power and stellar performance. This trend seems so clear it's hardly exciting. Well done!

 

[pavuol]

I mean, well done

 

[Peternz]

This is taking measurement fanaticism to another level. Just because it measures nicely it must be great? Sorry, in this case, no cigar. The truth is that the amplifier is an overpriced paperweight. Why?

1. Price is too high.
2. Power too low.
3. Just look at the back of that thing. WTF??? What kind of connectors are that? Is that a pro product? No, no pro amp I know of only makes 38 Watts. Is it a consumer product? No, for that it would have to have some RCA inputs. No pro and not consumer. Who is this for then, Amir so he can gush about how well the thing measures???

Why does this thing annoy me so much? Because I know Topping can make a great amplifier. For some reason they just seem to keep messing it up.

Dear Topping. Please make a high performance power amp with single ended RCA inputs and binding posts for a pair of speakers. That is all I ask, no unusual connectors, no volume control, no this, no that. Just give me more than 200 Watts into 4 Ohms and make the price sane. I know you can do it.

 

[chych7]

imo power is over prioritized.
For normal in home listening depending on speaker eff and room size (and obviously level) 50-100 is plenty. And 50 will satisfy most.

People set different priorities.

Even 50W is way more than enough. Take a typical speaker, 85 dB/watt/1m and run it through a calculator. 50W will get you 95+ dB at a seating position 10 ft away. That's hearing damage levels after ~1 hr. I measured the level I usually listen at, and it's 70-75 dB, which felt like it was getting loud. That's like 0.1W of power, maybe 80-85 dB peaks (so 1-2 W). Amp power is WAY overrated... unless you like hearing loss (which absolutely no one should, this being an audiophile forum).