What do you mean? The nominal impedence of the majority of bookshelves tested here, wharfedale, kef and revel included, is 8ohm. Elac are 6ohm
-
WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
Topping LA90 Review (Integrated Amplifier)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
"and just because you do need more power doesn't mean other people do or that their opinions are invalid."
But seriously, i think this amp can serve a lot of people just fine, pretty sure you can agree to that.
You want me to be honest with you? Since our host is a big fan of above average levels (albeit for a short time), I don't think he would be satisfied if he used this amp with a recently designed bookshelf speaker with below 85dB/2.83v sensitivity.
AudioSceptic
Major Contributor
Yes. This seems more like an academic exercise than a useful product, and that's ignoring the absurdly large external power supply. Double the power, lose a bit of (pointless) SINAD, put the PS where it belongs, and we would have something.
fricccolodics
Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2021
- Messages
- 28
- Likes
- 33
You tested the LS50 Meta which goes as low as 3.7 Ohms. If you figure in the phase angle, the actual load (EPDR, equivalent power dissipation resistance)the amplifier is facing is around 1.75 Ohms.
Yeah...not so sure on this one. I gave it a Fine just for the technical capabilities, but like many others this is a product that doesn't make sense in the market to me - too many compromises for the goal of best measurements, and I'm usually one who errs on the side of 'measurements matter' (I thought the whole 'why SINAD doesn't matter' thing a while ago was very misguided). External power brick, low power, questions about driving low impedance loads. But mostly the price: performance, regardless of measurements, does not align with other Topping products imo, but I suppose it is currently the 'halo' amp for them and the same perhaps applies to the A90 series versus their other products too.
Having said that, John Yang did say this is a design that predates him working for Topping. I am a bit curious why Topping chose to bring this to market, especially if a 'PA9' is in the works, but so be it.
Having said that, John Yang did say this is a design that predates him working for Topping. I am a bit curious why Topping chose to bring this to market, especially if a 'PA9' is in the works, but so be it.
A brilliant performance of course. But, IMO, I'm sick of Topping's imperative to miniaturization. What I would prefer is (a) the power supply in the same case, (b) obviously, proper XLR connections, and (c) well, dah, more power w/o the need to bridge.
OTOH, I've seen the inside of a tiny Beijing apartment, and I suppose that has something to do with those tiny cabinet sizes.
OTOH, I've seen the inside of a tiny Beijing apartment, and I suppose that has something to do with those tiny cabinet sizes.
I would never buy an amp with a large external power brick for anything but junk use. I can't imagine this type of external power design being accepted as "State of the Art"? As most of us can't hear a difference between 95 and 120 SINAD it doesn't make much sense to consider the LA90 when the Buckeye NC502MP offers 10x the power for less money.
A listening test between the NC502MP, Purifi and LA90 would be interesting. But it would take a lot for me to accept an external power brick.
A listening test between the NC502MP, Purifi and LA90 would be interesting. But it would take a lot for me to accept an external power brick.
it runs ok with 4ohm bridged.
So thats the same load as 2 ohms unbridged.
These are 'proper' XLR connectors, they are just combo jacks that also accept TRS. You can fund such connectors on a lot of professional and audiophile products. It's the best connector for them to include to ensure simple compatability with all their other balanced products using any type of balanced cable.
'Junk use' seems a bit extreme, an external power supply seems acceptable to me with very small amplifiers like PA3s/PA5-sized and they aren't exactly junk. Their volume or footprint would be much larger with internal supplies. LA90 on the other hand, I agree internal would be a lot nicer, it's aspiring for the 'high-end' rather than 'high performance budget' category and it's not exactly tiny anyway.
Depends on how long the cable between the amp and the power brick is. If it doesn't reach to the floor for example ...
"SINAD champ" hits the nail on the head. It's pretty pointless and impractical, you end up with four boxes and a $1,600 hole for very modest power and no remote control and basically SINAD bragging rights, because if the distortion is well below inaudible, then what difference do a few SINAD points make to what you hear?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.”
According to the manufacturer:" The LA90 maintains low distortion while outputting high power." Who are they kidding?
TOPPING LA90 Class AB Power Amplifier
TOPPING unveils its LA90 exceptional performance class AB power amplifier, allowing it to take advantage of outputting high power. The TOPPING LA90 can be configured in a common stereo two-channel mode, or can be configured in a high-power mono mode. In the first case, it is capable of...
For little more than the price of one of these units you can get a very nice 200w Nord nCore NC252 integrated with remote control.
I used a 93w Class AB for a couple of years, the CXA81 that Amir hated, but in reality it was designed to measure just well enough, with inaudible distortion measurements, but which packed a massive load of functionality into one box that, again, cost little more than one of these things.
There are loads of 40-60w Class AB integrated units that measure perfectly OK and have massively more features and are considerably cheaper. This is just SINAD-chasing and it's quite obvious from the manufacturer's own website.
Ironically, the manufacturer site also says: "When used as pure power amplifier, Pre90 pre-amplifier is recommended. The Pre90 brings better volume control, remote control, more inputs, and a high-power combination of 1x Pre90 + 2x LA90 can easily be achieved." So they are effectively admitting the volume control isn't very good, and to work as you would expect (i.e. with a remote) you have to spend another $850 and have another two boxes. So you're looking at $2,450 for 95w low distortion Class AB integrated amplifier.
You are correct, of course: they are "combo" connectors. Still, personally I would prefer XLR connectors. Plus I've got a drawer full of XLR <> XLR and no XLR <> TRS.
Last edited:
You’re right, I inadvertently saw a price listed for the A90 in my rush to check. Apologies. Will fix.
AudioSceptic
Major Contributor
And didn't the original Apogee ribbon speaker go down to 1Ω? About the only amp that could drive it was the Krell, which doubled its power all the way down to 1Ω.
D
Deleted member 46664
Guest
Cooling generally relies upon convection currents getting deeply into the cooler's fins... this seems rather inefficient.
I misspoke—it’s $899 at Apos Audio. I glanced quickly at the time I wrote and saw a listing for the A90 by mistake. It’s a bit in excess without more power at that price point but I stand by the tenor of my post as a whole. Apologies for the error.
Similar threads
- Poll
