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Topping LA90 Review (Integrated Amplifier)

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 35 4.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 50 6.2%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 193 24.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 524 65.3%

  • Total voters
    802

edwardgrey

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That's great!

4 v or 5 v doesn't matter, for the LS90s bridged, even 2 v is more than you need for the highest peak in music. Most of the time the Pre90 output would likely be very low depending on the contents, especially if the gain is set to high.

What was the higest volume setting so far? I bet it will be lower than -10, but I am guessing.

I've been running the gain on low so far as I don't seem to need that much volume; my seating is ~3m from the speakers and there are very few tracks that I would play louder than -20-25db (also living in an apt so cannot max).

Will measure with my phone and report back, the Focal 948 speaker sensitivity is: (2.83V / 1m) 92.5dB.
 

Gabriel1

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The la90 …… With my 92db/watt speakers the bass is as deep, tuneful, fast, tight and punchy at reasonable volumes and with my 85 db/watt speakers, well, not so much, no surprise! Still delightful sound there too, only lacking in bottom end extension and punch.

The ahb2 very similar on the 92db/watt speakers (perhaps a blacker background), on the 85 db speakers…..a different story altogether. All the bass I could expect from those speakers. That, said the la90 still sounds very listenable driving the low efficiency units too (but for bottom end punch). I had considered a second la90 and perhaps some power supply upgrades (more capacitor values) but realized that the benchmark makes more sense here.

These amps both sound excellent in their element and really very similar in terms of transparency, speed, tunefulness and quiet background. Both are musical, open sounding low fatigue offerings that excel at their price point. Yes you can get more watts for your money (I have many such explorations here too) but ….. then there’s the music!

I might add that for reference my 300b coincident Frankenstein mk11 are in many regards rivalled in “musicality“ by either of these solid state offerings.

Both are are new purchases and neither will be exchanged for the foreseeable future.

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peng

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I've been running the gain on low so far as I don't seem to need that much volume; my seating is ~3m from the speakers and there are very few tracks that I would play louder than -20-25db (also living in an apt so cannot max).

Will measure with my phone and report back, the Focal 948 speaker sensitivity is: (2.83V / 1m) 92.5dB.

Then you are in great shape. The measurements show no penalty for the high gain setting. That being the case, I would use the high gain setting for sure, but if the low setting is good enough for you then there is no need to change.
 

don'ttrustauthority

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Due to more power available now, we cross the amazing 140 dB SNR threshold. What this says is that even if you play at 140 dB, the noise level will be at or below threshold of hearing!
I thought it meant that there is no noise to be heard. Anyone try these with Buchardt s400? I'd love to get this just to have bragging rights.
 

wemist01

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Telarc did that with those cannyons ????
Or when the bells were rung ?
All the time thinking it was my system and in fact was the CD !!!!
Just compared waveforms on the SACD PCM layer and the old CD. The CD is clipped, the new one not. Surprising it ever happened, but with the original, they probably couldn't visually inspect it.
 

pma

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Due to more power available now, we cross the amazing 140 dB SNR threshold. What this says is that even if you play at 140 dB, the noise level will be at or below threshold of hearing! Of course there is not enough power there to do that but basically you know that noise is not part of the equation with LA90 as even 5 watt measurement hits below threshold of hearing.

Which makes almost no sense as there are very few recordings with usable dynamic range >60dB, for many reasons. This is a number race only, no audible benefits.
 

Billy Budapest

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Just compared waveforms on the SACD PCM layer and the old CD. The CD is clipped, the new one not. Surprising it ever happened, but with the original, they probably couldn't visually inspect it.
Telarc went back to the 1979-era 16/50 Soundstream tapes to create the DSD program on the SACD, and then used the DSD version to create the redbook program on the SACD. This was something like 20 years ago. I’m not sure if they were looking at digital waveforms at any point in time during the process.
 

F1308

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Just compared waveforms on the SACD PCM layer and the old CD. The CD is clipped, the new one not. Surprising it ever happened, but with the original, they probably couldn't visually inspect it.
Let's see what they say in 25 years time about the SACD....:):):):)
Be back in 2047, please.
 

Billy Budapest

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Which makes almost no sense as there are very few recordings with usable dynamic range >60dB, for many reasons. This is a number race only, no audible benefits.
If you are taking about reproducing content with 60dB or lower, then anything with higher capacity than a vinyl LP is a “numbers race” with no audible benefits. That might be taking your statement to the extreme, but certainly anything over redbook quality (with a theoretical maximum dynamic range of 96dB) is a “numbers race” with no audible benefits (if dynamic range is your only indication of sound quality).
 

mike70

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If you are taking about reproducing content with 60dB or lower, then anything with higher capacity than a vinyl LP is a “numbers race” with no audible benefits. That might be taking your statement to the extreme, but certainly anything over redbook quality (with a theoretical maximum dynamic range of 96dB) is a “numbers race” with no audible benefits (if dynamic range is your only indication of sound quality).

Yes ... and that's why our daily basis recordings just already sounds wonderful on vinyl.
I'm saying vinyl is better than cd? No.

I'm saying that with our recordings and speakers / room acoustics ... vinyl it's enough to produce really good sound.

It's my only physical format, in the digital world I prefer the more convenient/easy format: streaming.
 

Billy Budapest

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Yes ... and that's why our daily basis recordings just already sounds wonderful on vinyl.
I'm saying vinyl is better than cd? No.

I'm saying that with our recordings and speakers / room acoustics ... vinyl it's enough to produce really good sound.

It's my only physical format, in the digital world I prefer the more convenient/easy format: streaming.
I like vinyl as well, because for all of its shortcomings, there is something about the sound quality (a midrange “immediacy” for lack of a better word—although some people call this midrange forward sound “warmth” or even “realism”) that sounds really good. Probably some sort of distortion related to either the mechanics of the medium or the effects of RIAA equalization and subsequent re-equalization. Plus, vinyl LP poster art is the best!
 

mike70

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I like vinyl as well, because for all of its shortcomings, there is something about the sound quality (a midrange “immediacy” for lack of a better word—although some people call this midrange forward sound “warmth” or even “realism”) that sounds really good. Probably some sort of distortion related to either the mechanics of the medium or the effects of RIAA equalization and subsequent re-equalization. Plus, vinyl LP poster art is the best!

I like the experience ... taking the record out from the jacket, put it on the platter, the "tump" of the stylus ... and then sit down and relax watching the cover art and the record spinning. It's magic ... better with a scotch. Only when I have the time to do it.

For the daily music I use the plug and play streaming.

Did I find the digital way sounding superior? Not really, maybe I'm a bit deaf or whatever, but ... I don't care much about it. My goal is the contact with the music in the best way ... vinyl brings me goosebumps just as digital.
 

Talisman

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Lol...power is NOT the most important variable.
The NC 252 Sinad is 92 compared to this one at 120...not even close.
On a road where you cannot physically exceed 100km / h, does a Lamborghini Aventador or a Citroex Saxo go faster?

the limit is your ears, not the sinad.

I would really like to know who in a blind test under normal conditions (not attaching the ear to the horn loaded tweeter with 98db sensitivity) can systematically recognize an amplifier with sinad 92 from one with sinad 120

PS
Power is always the most important parameter of an amplifier together with a flat frequency response and non-variability of the load. the sinad cares almost nothing in certain uses from 60 upwards.
 

juliangst

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Are there any known reliability issues with the LA90?
I think the power should be enough for my LS50 but if the LA90 has problems after a few weeks I might be better off with a NC502MP
 

Benatalaya

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping LA90 integrated amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $800.
View attachment 202305
I must say, this is one interesting industrial design. Everything oozes style despite the diminutive package. This aspect continues in the operation of the unit with the sound of the relays solidly clicking indicating something good is going to happen. :) Here is the side view:

View attachment 202306

While quite solid, you can pick it up with one hand. The small size is aided by a massive external switching power supply:
View attachment 202307

Here are its ratings:
View attachment 202309

Back to the unit, you can see three balanced inputs. Volume control can be bypassed although I did not do so for my testing. You can also operate LA90 in bridged mono mode. There is also 12 volt trigger.

There are to gain settings. One at 10 dB and another at 20 dB (nominal).

Topping LA90 Measurements
These are non-bridged mode measurements. Bridged setup follows this section. Let's start with our dashboard of 5 watts into 4 ohm in low gain mode:


View attachment 202314

I don't need to tell you that this is a stunning level of achievement. We have a power amplifier producing almost the same SINAD as a state of the art DAC! Using this number, LA90 grabs the top spot with ease with a nice gap to boot:

View attachment 202315

Here it is zoomed:
View attachment 202319
You might be thinking that it can only do so with low gain but that is not true. Even in high gain performance is spectacular:

View attachment 202317

It would still achieve top spot in our rankings and achieve full audible transparency.

Not only is distortion vanishingly low, so is noise level:
View attachment 202320

View attachment 202321

Frequency response is flat and wide as expected:
View attachment 202323

Being class AB design, it has no load dependency.

Crosstalk is incredibly good although it loses a tiny bit relative to last champ of amplifiers:

View attachment 202324

Multitone test shows the very low distortion levels:

View attachment 202325

Let's see how much power we have:
View attachment 202326

So power is modest in non-bridged mode. But note how good the high gain mode is so I would feel just fine using that for operation of the unit if you need to. Allowing distortion to rise to 1% naturally gets us more power:

View attachment 202328

Here is 8 ohm:

View attachment 202329

Oops. "High Power" should be "High Gain."

Changing frequencies shows the same excellent performance:
View attachment 202331

Despite being pushed deep into clipping, the amplifier did not complain until I got to 20 Hz where its over temperature shut it down.

Finally, you don't need any warm up:
View attachment 202332

Topping LA90 Bridged Mode Performance
A shorting wire is provided to connect the two negative speaker bindings together allowing bridged mode from the top two posts. Here is our dashboard again:

View attachment 202333

Performance is still exceptional. Here is our SNR:
View attachment 202334

Due to more power available now, we cross the amazing 140 dB SNR threshold. What this says is that even if you play at 140 dB, the noise level will be at or below threshold of hearing! Of course there is not enough power there to do that but basically you know that noise is not part of the equation with LA90 as even 5 watt measurement hits below threshold of hearing.

We want to know the power increase though so here it is (with 8 ohm which is the minimum impedance):
View attachment 202335

Now we get good bit of power at 95 watts with almost no penalty relative to non-bridged mode. Notice the massive gap as far as noise floor relative to Purifi amplifier.

Allowing for 1% distortion we get:
View attachment 202336

Here is the super wideband spectrum of the amplifier while producing 5 watts:

View attachment 202338

Edit:
Power Tests at 2 Ohm (Stereo) and 4 Ohm (Bridged)

Requests were made to test the amplifier beyond its minimum load impedance specs. Let's start with 2 ohm load while driving one channel in stereo mode. Dashboard still shows superb performance:

View attachment 202703

Let's now sweep the power:
View attachment 202704

You don't get extra power relative to 4 ohm but the amplifier was stable and did not even go into protection.

Now let's switch to Bridged mode (both amplifiers driven in differential mono) and run our power sweep again:
View attachment 202706

Now we see the amplifier "doubling down" producing nearly 200 watts into 4 ohm. Again, the amplifier was well composed and kept driving into clipping region without complaining, or shutting down.

Again, the above tests are beyond the amplifier specifications and tests I never run as such.

Conclusions
It is clear that Topping engineers are bringing their expertise in designing ultra low noise and distortion in headphone amplification to power amplifiers. As such, they have outdone every amplifier I have measured in that regard, getting ahead to capture the #1 position with a large gap to #2 choice.

The amplifier is not for everyone though. Power level is modest as compared to competitors. And you have that large external power supply. My wish is another version of this amp with built-in power supply, motorized volume control with bridge mode standard. For now, we need to celebrate one of the most important development in delivering transparent, high fidelity amplification to audiophiles in a very attractive package.

It is my absolute pleasure to recommend the Topping LA90. History is made on this day folks!

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Resultados de traducción​


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good evening. It is my first intervention in the forum and if you are so kind, I would like you to solve a doubt for me. My music equipment is a turntable xomoone and a phono preamp with rca outputs. How could I connect it to this amplifier that only has xlr outputs? Would the characteristics of this amplifier be lost by doing so? Thank you very much
 

jjmanda

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Are there any known reliability issues with the LA90?
I think the power should be enough for my LS50 but if the LA90 has problems after a few weeks I might be better off with a NC502MP
In the 3 months I owned and used the LA90, I had not experienced any reliability issues.
It required an upgrade to firmware v1.3 when I first got it to resolve a power button issue, but after that, it was perfectly fine.
 

manisandher

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Are there any known reliability issues with the LA90?

I've had mine for a couple of months now, and have used it on average a few days per week, for around 30-60 mins per session. Reliability has been fine. The case gets warm to the touch - considerably warmer than my other AB amps, but still only a few degrees above ambient.

I've tried a whole bunch of amps with my AKG K1000 'ear speakers' over the years (SS class A, AB, D, T; valve SET and PP) and the LA90 has been by far the best-sounding to date. But the K1000s only need a handful of watts, so the LA90 isn't being driven hard at all. Haven't tried it with a pair of average- to low-sensitivity speakers.
 

Dmaumau

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PS
Power is always the most important parameter of an amplifier together with a flat frequency response and non-variability of the load. the sinad cares almost nothing in certain uses from 60 upwards.
hmmmmm... not really. The damping factor is of a huge importance also, if not greater, since there is no such thing like "non-variability of the load" in the real world, unless your are using very small (and cheap) bookshelves.
 
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