Topping LA90 Review (Integrated Amplifier)

[Billy Budapest]

But hey, if a new “SINAD champ” makes others happy, cool.

It’s called advancing the state of the art. This amplifier exhibits the lowest sum of noise and distortion within Amir’s measurement parameters. I don’t think “SINAD champ” is a very descriptive summary of the test findings. I think what you should have said is, “if an amp that has distortion and noise measurements lower than any other amplifier on the market makes a certain segment of consumers happy, cool.”

 

[Billy Budapest]

Sorry, but $800 for 56 watts

I'll stick with my Anthem, sure it cost twice as much, but

Impedance​	8Ω​	4Ω​	2Ω​
​	225 W​	400 W​	600 W​

you get the picture, enough said.

Watts are overrated.

My 26 wpc amp has served me well for 20 years.

 

[aravena562]

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.

@amirm, Can you test in bridge mode with a 4ohm load?

 

[Tks]

@JohnYang1997 finally came out with the long teased ABH2 competitor. Though this seems like a stop gap considering the meager output power everyone seems concerned with. But an integrated PSU, and getting motorized controls while upping the power output makes me wonder how much it's going to cost.

I will say, I really dig the look, but I really want to see internals. Seeing as how Amir mentions it goes into temperature protection, and I see no appreciable heatsinks protruding on the exterior.. this seems like the common typical fail as seen with most audio product thermal designs where you rarely see any over-engineering (and if there is some, it's usually accompanied by 'meh' implementations of active cooling using parts more fit for server rooms than living rooms).

@amirm Quick question, I see the supposed High Gain in the graph, but I'm not really seeming much difference with power output. Is that supposed to be this way, and if so, what's the point?

 

[PeteL]

It is not equally transparent. It cannot match this level of noise floor.

OK, it’s only equally transparent if your gain structure and speaker relative efficiency don’t let you hear the noise floor at any listening level. However, on the other side, This amp won’t be very transparent if there is peak clipping or big loud bass. I know which matter more to me and my use case. Some may find value in those anemic amps and it’s ok, not for me

 

[wwenze]

You know you're in the stupidly-low SINAD category when 0.00001% causes 1dB of difference between channels.

This is a steal considering many more dollars have been spent on much worse audiophile amps of a similar output power. Yea, I know, there are many amps below-transparency. But how many of you guys are are using soundcards at just -100dB? There is a market for people who aim for -110dB or -120dB for some reason or another, and we don't have to buy a Benchmark now, sweet.

 

[Ingenieur]

Sorry, but $800 for 56 watts

I'll stick with my Anthem, sure it cost twice as much, but

Impedance​	8Ω​	4Ω​	2Ω​
​	225 W​	400 W​	600 W​

you get the picture, enough said.

Which Anthem only costs $1600?

60 W is plenty with eff speakers at a nice listening level ~75 dBAx
600 W /channel into 2 Ohm is pointless.
@&$? Measuring
Lol

Nice review
Great engineering

 

[PeteL]

@JohnYang1997 finally came out with the long teased ABH2 competitor. Though this seems like a stop gap considering the meager output power everyone seems concerned with. But an integrated PSU, and getting motorized controls while upping the power output makes me wonder how much it's going to cost.

I will say, I really dig the look, but I really want to see internals. Seeing as how Amir mentions it goes into temperature protection, and I see no appreciable heatsinks protruding on the exterior.. this seems like the common typical fail as seen with most audio product thermal designs where you rarely see any over-engineering (and if there is some, it's usually accompanied by 'meh' implementations of active cooling using parts more fit for server rooms than living rooms).

@amirm Quick question, I see the supposed High Gain in the graph, but I'm not really seeming much difference with power output. Is that supposed to be this way, and if so, what's the point?

Higher gain should not give you more power, it just allow for lower amplitude sources to reach full power.

 

[Red@]

@JohnYang1997 could please share the input impedance on balanced inputs ?
Thank you in advance

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Now Topping, make one that's strictly a power amp, and make it 200 WPC into 8 ohms. And do it for l.t. $1000. And every bit as performant as this one.

 

[RndJeff]

View attachment 202372

Lol! Love the new look! But the PA3S is still my favourite for price and having RCA inputs #sorrynotsorry

 

[xykreinov]

Crazy. Yeah yeah, low power, sure. But, I never thought Benchmark would be dethroned in terms of its cleanliness, let alone by a good margin.

I mean, being honest, most of us couldn't hear a difference between most of the very mediocre flagship AVRs and most flagships integrated amps.

I still find the SINAD race fascinating, nonetheless, especially when it is likely to scale to other audio technologies as well.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

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.

Keep a fire extinguisher nearby.

 

[Ingenieur]

They should make a companion/slave power amp, same form factor.
Operate both the LA90 and 'slave in mono.
Without the preamp section should be a bit cheaper.
Both for $1500 and 100 W/ch

 

[dfuller]

Super low noise, super low distortion... and barely any power. I don't think I'm out of line saying I don't understand who this amplifier is for... Horn owners maybe?

 

[bahamot]

@WolfX-700 measured the temperature:

 

[Ingenieur]

90% of listening is between 0.5 and 20 W
This thing is amazing at those levels.

 

[PeteL]

Super low noise, super low distortion... and barely any power. I don't think I'm out of line saying I don't understand who this amplifier is for... Horn owners maybe?

It should be fine for desktop use.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping L90 integrated amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $800.

Does it need to be returned to the company?

 

[PeteL]

90% of listening is between 0.5 and 20 W
This thing is amazing at those levels.

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