Topping Mini 300 Amplifier Review

[Sokel]

I´m still not sure what would it mean to say ¨for desktop amps¨

The particular description makes sense, one that fits on a desk.
I can't imagine full size gear at an ordinary desk.

Agree to the rest, performance is what it is, despite price.

 

[Crook]

It's a great little amp for very little money. What's not to like, if it is reliable too?

 

[dcolak]

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.

Don't all amps sound the same, within their operating range (no distortion)?

 

[daniboun]

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:



View attachment 501288

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

It would be more appropriate to compare the Mini 300 to, perhaps, an NC252MP.

Buckeye NC252MP Stereo Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Buckeye NC252MP balanced stereo class D amplifier. It was kindly drop shipped to me by a member and costs US $575. The amp is almost the size of a loaf of bread and literally weighs nearly as much! Amazing how far amplification technology has...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Mort]

Their efficiency falls with load

Interesting. I don't think I've ever heard you say that before.

 

[Roland68]

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.

The TPA3251 is designed for a maximum operating voltage of 38 volts, which is also the voltage at which you get the best performance from the IC.

The industry standard voltage is 36 volts, which can be adjusted to 38 volts (36-40 volts) on most power supplies.
I have about 10 different power supplies from 3 manufacturers, available with power ratings between 50 and 3000 watts. So finding a high-quality replacement power supply shouldn't be a problem.

Audiophonics has carried the original power supply for quite some time and continues to reorder it. And the price is reasonable.

 

[Sokel]

Interesting. I don't think I've ever heard you say that before.

Combine those, add thermal management and...
(I have, many times!)

In general, at normal listening levels we're looking at 10-20% efficiency, about the same with decent AB's.

 

[RickS]

Closed for a bit while I cleaned up some off topic posting that got too verbose.

Carry on!

 

[wwenze]

Can't have a class D thread without oversimplification of the concept of efficiency.

 

[FTB]

So now, "mini" amplifiers are 100 W.
Awesome.

 

[Chr1]

Can someone please confirm. Is the Mini 300 design essentially an update of the PA5? Seems very similar.

Thanks.

 

[Tovarich007]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping Mini300 balanced stereo class D amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and is on sale for US $128 (normal $139).
View attachment 501252
While in the typical desktop configuration, there is a level of polish to the look and feel of the mini 300. Controls are what you need in the form of input selection, power and trigger. The amplifier gain is appropriately on the low side so I performed all of my testing at maximum volume.
View attachment 501253
It is a relief to see an external amplifier power supply that is manageable in size and weight. It is Topping branded with extensive regulatory certifications. Nicely so, it comes with a screw on, locking power connector.

Balanced inputs are provided in the form of 1/4 connectors which are quite common in pro industry. You can purchase low cost adapters to XLR or do as I did which is use a cable with 1/4 inch at one and XLR at the other.

There are generous and large vents all around and underneath which managed to keep the amplifier quite cool even after my stress tests.

Topping Mini 300 Measurements
I started with balanced inputs:
View attachment 501254
Distortion is vanishingly low and well below threshold of hearing at -122 dB. Noise sets SINAD to a very respectable 104.5 dB, comfortably landing the mini 300 in the "excellent" category of all amplifiers tested to date:
View attachment 501255

View attachment 501256

RCA input costs you a bit of dynamic range and hence SINAD as usual:
View attachment 501267

Post filter feedback seems to have been implemented resulting in almost no load dependency:
View attachment 501257

Crosstalk is better than average amplifier:
View attachment 501258

Multitone and 19+20 kHz show the typical rise in distortion with frequency although they are still excellent for the category:
View attachment 501259
View attachment 501260

Plenty of power is on top for such a small amp and small power supply:
View attachment 501261
View attachment 501262

Naturally you loose fair bit into 8 ohm but such a speaker impedance is rare:
View attachment 501263

It was difficult to measure power at 40 Hz as the amp would go into some intermediate protection mode where it would distort but not shut down. Eventually I got a single measurement:
View attachment 501264
Getting another bite at that apple, we see the response in our sweeps vs frequency:
View attachment 501265

I was pleasantly surprised to see the lowest power on/off noise I have ever measured and by a good bit:
View attachment 501266

Conclusions
The Topping Mini 300 provides a polished execution with excellent implementation of class D using chip amplifier. For the cost of a single meal at a restaurant, you have a stereo amplifier that produces plenty of power yet occupies very little space. It certainly breaks the cliche that you have to spend a lot of money to get good performance.

I am happy to recommend the Topping Mini 300 stereo amplifier. It represent the category excellently, putting a smile on my face in test after test.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

My dear Amir, a single meal in a restaurant costs usually less than 140 $ or €, even in our expensive Paris, except in a chic restaurant and buy a good alcolhic starter and then a good wine, and in the end a nice italian or french style coffee.
Come to Paris, I'll show you good adresses with better prices than this Topping

But as for this little piece of electronics, I definetely agree with you, this cheap little amp's awesome.
I wish for a slightly more expensive model at double power with the same performance.
I won't be surprised if Topping's already working on it to replace their last amp generation.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

A great starter amp. Pair this with an $80 SMSL D1 Dac and a pair of ASCI F6b's or even C6b's. and you have a great system for a smaller room for l.t. $1500. Add a $1k OLED like the B5, and you're set for years. We're truly in a golden age of audio. These are the good old days.

Great find Amir, and thank you for your great review as usual.

 

[dtaylo1066]

Topping makes hi-fi great. Again.

 

[honn]

For the cost of a single meal at a restaurant

Damn it Amir, you only go to a Michelin restaurant?! hahah

 

[daniboun]

Can someone please confirm. Is the Mini 300 design essentially an update of the PA5? Seems very similar.

Thanks.

Yes check on previous pages )

 

[daniboun]

It seems to me that the O-noorus D3 Pro has been completely forgotten... even though it probably offers better value for money than the Mini 300... ASR was supposed to test the D3 Pro but I never saw the review, which is a shame

 

[pablolie]

Wow. I have 2 reactions when I see a device like this at $200. I am like "Why on EARTH (wind & fire) don't we get such strong performance-for-the-buck with higher priced devices, diminishing returns be d-mned"? The second reaction is... are these devices somehow designed specifically to perform in benchtests, somehow hiding flaws? But the second one seems hard to defend, since the tests are pretty comprehensive (only "flaw" seems some distortion in higher frequencies... maybe...).

 

[Roland68]

Can someone please confirm. Is the Mini 300 design essentially an update of the PA5? Seems very similar.

Thanks.

I wouldn't see that as a further development, but rather as a discount on existing technology.

 

[capslock]

I tried to overlay the Power vs. Distortion graphs of the original PA5 (transparent) and the Mini 300 (solid). The horizontal scale was quite different but I think the overlay is quite ok. This seems to imply that the Mini 300 beats the PA5 by about 5 dB in 15, 10 and 5 kHz distortion!

The multitone IMD is not as revealing. When you look very carefully, you can see light blue grass sprouting behind the blue grass, again roundabout 5 dB, but this time, it is true for all frequencies. We don't have the two tone IMD for the PA5, so no comparison there.