Topping MA4 Review

[Dave-Oh]

This is not one of Amir's reviews, this is made by a forum member. There's a clear photo of the back of the speaker showing power and XLR in - you can use reasonable inference here.

Personally I'm very appreciative of Nuyes work and do not understand why you feel the need to personally insult someone who has done an amazing job of compiling measurements for this new speaker. If there's some additional information you want, perhaps try asking for it respectfully.

Well I do appreciate the time and effort that people put in and I was aware that this was not one of Amir's reviews. I quite explicitly directed my comment toward "this review," not the author. I would not call him stupid: no doubt he has more technical smarts in one little toe than I will ever have. Point is, if you're going to write a review it's necessary to give at least a modicum of context about what the product is. An entire speaker review without mentioning that it's a powered speaker? Still can't get my head around it, sorry again.

 

[Curvature]

Well I do appreciate the time and effort that people put in and I was aware that this was not one of Amir's reviews. I quite explicitly directed my comment toward "this review," not the author. I would not call him stupid: no doubt he has more technical smarts in one little toe than I will ever have. Point is, if you're going to write a review it's necessary to give at least a modicum of context about what the product is. An entire speaker review without mentioning that it's a powered speaker? Still can't get my head around it, sorry again.

Doing your own research is allowed too

 

[DMill]

I suppose a decent enough showing for a first attempt at a speaker, but clearly rushed to market. Topping reminds me of McDonalds. Every now and then the fries are fresh out of the oven and the BigMac hasn’t been sitting under a heat lamp for hours and it tastes great. Or you order on a bad day and wish you’d gone to a decent restaurant and payed a few bucks more.

 

[polmuaddib]

Thanks for the review. It is important one, being the first Topping speaker.
Impressive FR for size, even with the high distortion....

But the price is just too much....

I can buy Genelecs for around that money, which is a more reliable brand.

 

[Vuki]

It's ca. $350 (for a pair?) on AliExpress.

 

[markk]

Still, though, I'm not sure this is really any better than a JBL 305 or 306. The JBL's are half the price or less, better bass, better warranty service, pretty good directivity (since the measurements aren't perfectly directly comparable). So, for $900 a pair with tariffs, hard pass on this.

I liked my Topping DAC. But, once it broke, I just tossed it. Calling support in Shenzhen wasn't really a cost effective option...

It's ca. $350 (for a pair?) on AliExpress.

Are you sure? The aliexpress page says "quantity one" and it's $448 USD for one... In the US anyway...

 

[GWolfman]

I’ve been waiting for this, thanks! Too bad on the low-end distortion and air leak though.

 

[Tovarich007]

What about the estimated in-room response chart ? that's a very useful data, though.

Once again Topping has released a well designed product which is compromised by insufficient real world testing and quality control.
Do not not seal the rear side of a speaker is simply unacceptable, even debutant DIYers can do better.
Hope this will be solved very quickly.
But now, let's go for Adam audio, Kali audio, Yamaha, JBL and other well known budget monitors.

I understand why Amir which was given an exemplary for review hasn't published it yet.

 

[yo!]

Speakers seems OK so far.

I guess shipping costs are on the high side and blows up the price to 600 € for the pair for EU customers.

 

[capslock]

The AliExpress says "1 piece" so it is a single speaker for $450, but it is an active. So $900 for an active that plays this low. Would love to see what they could do with a "big brother" version with a 6.5" woofer, maybe for l.t. $1500? Bet the distortion numbers would be much improved.

We're now seeing speaker releases from some providers like Aiyima and Topping who revolutionized pricing in high end audio electronics. I think this bodes exceedingly well for the price of highly performant bookshelf speakers over the next couple of years. I can imagine that the producers of $3-10k high end speakers have to be getting kinda nervous about now.

Nuyes, thank you for your fine review, and your many other interesting and valuable contributions.

Nuyes, thank you for the review.

At, $900 per pair, I think it is way overpriced. A KEF LSX LT brings much more value to the table at a similar price point.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Speakers seems OK so far.

I guess shipping costs are on the high side and blows up the price up to 600 € for the pair for EU customers.

Shipping is included in the higher U.S. price.

BTW, Jai Babaji.

 

[Fidji]

View attachment 468231

It's not all that bad. See the above. We know @Nuyes' technique is accurate.

It's a small speaker meant for short distances. If you add a high pass filter and a subwoofer you gain 5-10dB of distortion-free range. There aren't many small speakers with this kind of excellent directivity, which is far more important. Competing small Edifier speakers allow too many compromises. And the recent Aiyima S600 speaker (another review by @Nuyes) showed it to be just terrible, although the distortion was lower.

Yes indeed, it is speaker for short distances, which makes all the tweeter directivity less important, compared to other parameter. It is always important to understand the measurements in their complexity and not to focus on “SINAD” or “Estimated in room response” only. This speaker will sound like screetchbox - tonality falling apart at every more dynamic part of music, and badly. This is not woofer bottoming out at 80Hz on 102db, but completely wrong implementation.

And to call it “professional studio monitor” - I think Topping can do better and I think in coupe of years they will.

Neumann KH 80 Studio Monitor Review

Neumann KH 80 Studio Monitor Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

if you feel the need to have active speaker with 4 in woofer, you have better options available.

 

[respice finem]

To confirm the source, I tracked down the location of the leak and placed a thin tissue over it to visually identify the airflow.
The leak was coming from the rear switch box.

Thanks for this. Prompted me to check all my active speakers, luckily no leaks.

 

[Rmjesty]

In China, it only costs 2,000 RMB to purchase pair of these speakers. I think this is the real price. Not "900 dollars"

 

[yo!]

In China, it only costs 2,000 RMB to purchase pair of these speakers. I think this is the real price. Not "900 dollars"

This would be around 300 $ for a pair and this is the pricerange where they belong.

 

[Sokel]

Pro monitor, ultra near-field already so bright?
I hope is has some short of controls to knock this down for the ones that have no EQ to spare.

First try I guess, they will eventually learn.

 

[Rmjesty]

“RMB”是指元吗？

Yes

 

[Rmjesty]

I'm using ma4 now. In my room, They sound as good as Neumann kh80. Of course, calibration is required.

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

Sorry, but this review qualifies as stupid and is way below ASR's usual standards. Is this a powered loudspeaker? No mention. No mention of what amplification is in the box anything about the configuration etc. That's ridiculous. In fact the entire review reads as though it is a passive loudspeaker until you see the image on the videos.

Stupid review??? Baseless bashing...
Smart people don't need textual explanation whether this loudspeaker is powered or not, when there is an image of it (first picture of the video). One picture is worth a thousand words.
"No mention of what amplification is in the box"? Smart people can use internet and find the manufacturer's site https://topping.pro/cn-MA4/, and voila - there is this info:

Class D amplifiers, 50W+25W, THD=0.005%.

 

[daniboun]

Even though SMSL already made this type of speaker before Topping, we're seeing manufacturers expanding their business to broader horizons. It would be interesting if @amirm could test the SMSL Tabebuia, which are the direct competitors of the MA4.
While waiting for some measurements here:

L7Audiolab - Review of SMSL Tabebuia

年初时候知道SMSL要出一款平价的音箱，因为之前对一系列小箱子深感失望，最终逼着我自己去按照资料（以及某家那边买的单元）搞了一对3/5A。所以对于一款平价的、高完成度的箱子有着很深的期待。期间联系了几次SMSL，对方表示因为疫情原因……产品鸽了……终于……在这7月我拿到了这对箱子

www.l7audiolab.com