Topping Mini 300 Amplifier Review

[amirm]

Shouldn’t measures like Multitone and 19+20 kHz just be “good” (or bad) without any qualifier?

Do you want me to compare it to over $1,000 amplifier with discrete class D amplification?

That aside, those numbers are good even without those qualifiers.

 

[audiotron]

Very similar to the PA5 II plus . Thanks for the review. Happy new year!

 

[capslock]

It would be great if someone could post a picture without the heatsink, with the amplifier IC cleaned and the labels clearly legible.

But I don't want to encourage anyone. Only do this if you know what you're doing and can reattach the heatsink with thermal paste.

This is a teardown video of the PA5 II (if you open in youtube, you can have English audio). It seems they laser ablated the markings on the chip. Funny why they should have bothered. There's only the 3251 and 3555 that fit the bill, and out of these, only the 3251 can do the low HF distortion. Unless, that is, they have a (Chinese?) 2nd source that is actually better than the TI original. Even that should be fairly easy to find out by comparing the heat pads etc.

Based on the teardown pictures of the Mini 300, cost savings would be in the lack of potting for the preamp stage (good riddance) and in much smaller output coils (apparently no flat wire and a much smaller core). This kind of a coil should have higher resistance and/or higher distortion, as the core saturates much earlier. That they achieved the HF performance, and not only at moderate power, is truly amazing!

edit: @Roland68 has alerted me to the fact that these are Codaca coils optimized for this kind of application even if they are small. Inductance droop is 10% at about 18 A.

https://www.codaca.jp/Private/pdf/CPD1495.pdf

As for the clipping at 20 Hz, the power supply seems to be the same 4A unit supplied with the original PA5 and with the PA5 II Plus, so I don't see why it should behave worse than the PA5 ii tested with the 3.2 A supply. The buffer cap is the same 2200 µF / 50 V as in the PA5 and ii. I remember there are a few passives in the protection circuit for the TPA3251, so maybe they sized them slightly differently.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

Do you want me to compare it to over $1,000 amplifier with discrete class D amplification?

I’m not sure I understand the question. Why would you need to make the comparison, the measurements are there for anyone to compare with any other amp you’ve measured (of any Class)

That aside, those numbers are good even without those qualifiers.

Exactly, so why do we need them?
On the other hand, if the numbers were bad without the qualifiers I wouldn’t want to be told they were “good for the class”. Surely we just care about whether they are good or bad?
(Or maybe I’m missing something. Quite possibly, it happens often. Apologies if I am)

 

[capslock]

Is petrol that expensive in the Netherlands?

I payed $118 on hifigo during Black Friday week, including EU taxes and shipping. That is precisely € 100. I have payed this much for a full tank of Diesel before, but not at current prices.

 

[amirm]

I’m not sure I understand the question. Why would you need to make the comparison, the measurements are there for anyone to compare with any other amp you’ve measured (of any Class)

I routinely provide an adjective for the measurements as not everyone is fluent in them.

 

[Roland68]

This is a teardown video of the PA5 II (if you open in youtube, you can have English audio). It seems they laser ablated the markings on the chip. Funny why they should have bothered. There's only the 3251 and 3555 that fit the bill, and out of these, only the 3251 can do the low HF distortion. Unless, that is, they have a (Chinese?) 2nd source that is actually better than the TI original. Even that should be fairly easy to find out by comparing the heat pads etc.

Based on the teardown pictures of the Mini 300, cost savings would be in the lack of potting for the preamp stage (good riddance) and in much smaller output coils (apparently no flat wire and a much smaller core). This kind of a coil should have higher resistance and/or higher distortion, as the core saturates much earlier. That they achieved the HF performance, and not only at moderate power, is truly amazing!

As for the clipping at 20 Hz, the power supply seems to be the same 4A unit supplied with the original PA5 and with the PA5 II Plus, so I don't see why it should behave worse than the PA5 ii tested with the 3.2 A supply. The buffer cap is the same 2200 µF / 50 V as in the PA5 and ii. I remember there are a few passives in the protection circuit for the TPA3251, so maybe they sized them slightly differently.

You're mistaken about the coils.
I initially thought topping had used something cheap, but after a user identified the coils, I had to correct my opinion in the other Mini 300 thread. They are indeed high-quality coils optimized for such applications; a look at the datasheet is worthwhile: Codaca CPD1495-6R8. Incidentally, flat wire is included.

 

[Chr1]

So has the price of electricity. This is one of the reasons I bought the Mini 300.

It has a much lower idle draw than my other amplifiers and goes plenty loud enough for me in the space it's being used.

 

[JeremyFife]

Thank you for the review Amirm, as always.

What a cracking little amp. Not a bass monster but ideal for a whole lot of scenarios.

Torn between appreciating the locking power connector, and wondering how easy it is to replace ... but I've hardly ever had to replace one (casualty of moving house) so not a real issue.
(Edit: a few posts from members who actually checked this makes me realise that this is a non-issue. I really should look before I post)

 

[capslock]

You're mistaken about the coils.
I initially thought topping had used something cheap, but after a user identified the coils, I had to correct my opinion in the other Mini 300 thread. They are indeed high-quality coils optimized for such applications; a look at the datasheet is worthwhile: Codaca CPD1495-6R8. Incidentally, flat wire is included.

Thanks. I notice they are quite affordable, about € 2.50 at digikey. Are you aware of any tests how their distortion compares to the more expensive Würth and Coilcraft models?

 

[Audionaut]

Happy New Year 2026

Do you want me to compare it to over $1,000 amplifier with discrete class D amplification?

It is precisely this question that interests so many people in your forum, Amir.
'Is this little $139 amplifier with its 105 SINAD points just as good as a $1,000 amplifier with the same SINAD (and similar output power)?'
I think I've seen this question in various forms in almost every thread about these small chip amplifiers.

 

[Matias]

We can always go back and forth between this and say a boXem amp like this and compare the different graphs between them, and evaluate what the extra $$$ brings to the performance.

 

[peniku8]

Good luck finding a replacement for that oddball 38V power brick with the GX12 connector when it goes poof.

That is odd indeed, especially when the closest industry standard voltage (48V) is only "2dB" away. Maybe they didn't have enough space to fiddle the filter circuits into the amp itself so they decided that any random PSU might not work well with the amp and built a fully custom one.

 

[Sokel]

We can always go back and forth between this and say a boXem amp like this and compare the different graphs between them, and evaluate what the extra $$$ brings to the performance.

That's a not even fair, tons of more power identical low and high, it's a power amp after all, that's the most important metric (with all else decent of course) .
Size is also not comparable:





I suspect that even use-cases are entirely different (apart from amplifying)

 

[Jiraya369]

Happy New Year 2026


It is precisely this question that interests so many people in your forum, Amir.
'Is this little $139 amplifier with its 105 SINAD points just as good as a $1,000 amplifier with the same SINAD (and similar output power)?'
I think I've seen this question in various forms in almost every thread about these small chip amplifiers.

if the sinad is the same and everything else is worse then ofc they'll be different but if all the measurements are the same/fall under the audibility threshold then they'll be the same

his main point (i believe) was that this performance is excellent for this price class (and in general i'd say tbh) but at 1000 dollars you have higher expectations in either power or cleanliness of the power

 

[Chr1]

Have to say that I am a fan of some kind of locking plug on the power supply of small amps like this. It's far too easy for them to disconnect otherwise.

 

[Roland68]

Happy New Year 2026


It is precisely this question that interests so many people in your forum, Amir.
'Is this little $139 amplifier with its 105 SINAD points just as good as a $1,000 amplifier with the same SINAD (and similar output power)?'
I think I've seen this question in various forms in almost every thread about these small chip amplifiers.

From my experience, I can wholeheartedly agree.
I've used amplifiers like the PA5 (II), A5/7, and A30a in over 30 blind tests with multiple participants, and the competition consisted of typically expensive high-end amplifiers ranging from around €1000 to well over €5000. These amplifiers were almost always preferred, and when they weren't, the differences were marginal. It often happened that listeners present at these blind tests traded in their high-end amplifiers for one of these and still had four-figure sums left over.

A good friend once borrowed the old PA5. What I didn't know was that he took it to a renowned high-end audio store. When listening to it in comparison with various other high-end amplifiers, it attracted so much attention from the other customers that they asked him to make an appointment outside of regular business hours.

 

[Jiraya369]

We can always go back and forth between this and say a boXem amp like this and compare the different graphs between them, and evaluate what the extra $$$ brings to the performance.

far more power that is even cleaner in a beautiful little box?

i mean both subjectively and objectively that amp earns its price.

 

[dcolak]

Do you want me to compare it to over $1,000 amplifier with discrete class D amplification?

That aside, those numbers are good even without those qualifiers.

Yes, that would be good, in my opinion. I´m still not sure what would it mean to say ¨for desktop amps¨

 

[DSJR]

Getting waay off topic and political.

I'd suggest it's because we're currently a very miserable bunch on this side of the pond and for a variety of genuine reasons!


Back to topic - I know I've said this before, but lest anyone have a downer on the 15kHz distortion performance, I have to repeat that this level was usual across the band for 'good' amps in the past. The fact that at a more usual power level of 5W is so very low is remarkable imo.

This would be great as a desktop or small rig amp, or for those able to justify it, as a standby amp for when/if the main rig amp breaks down