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Topping PA3 Review (Stereo Amplifier)

Steamrolly

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From the website I am surprised to see the marking on some, A2, A5 and not on the a7, weird. Not that the marking is a proof neither but I normally assume good faith. Maybe ask them directly?

I have sent an email to AIYIMA and will post their response if I receive one...
 

Negatywny

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well... to be honest i'm surprised that it doesnt measure better, cause i've bought it with topping e30 and chario syntar 100T (floorstanders) - for my bedroom (and bedroom tv) - and it sounds... just great. Couple of years ago i've tested some 500-1000$ AB amps for my stereo and half of them had some serious issues, sloppy base or clipped heights - 0 such problems with PA3. For me it sounds linear and just correct, is dirty cheap, and fits in 30cm deep cabinet. I coulden't imagine i could buy something any better for 500$. Hypex modules will probably blow my mind :)
 

PeteL

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You gotta trust me on this re UL certification—whatever amount it will cost Topping to get, it will pay back in spades. It is extremely important to insurers—some more than others. I don’t like to go into detail about these types of things, but let’s just say that product liability is my job.
For Topping, maybe, but in general I have to disagree on this, I assume you are working for a large corporation, not a small startup. From experience, In the past, If I didn’t choose the path of going the fully certified and all kosher way, I would probably still be in business today. We are talking tens of thousands of dollars close to 6 digits, before you sell one single product unit. This ecosystem is crafted for electronic giants and a huge barrier of entry. It’s litterally impossible for smaller lowish volume, non-massively funded startups to comply to everything. Once you step foot in a certification lab, They’ll suck you dry. And that’s when you pass all the test the first try.
 
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amirm

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I wonder if we need a lighter-weight regulatory certification than UL for much less money. Without it, due to high cost and hassle of UL certification, so many companies do without. Even as a medium sized public company, we used to have hell getting UL certification. So many products were delayed and cost us a ton beyond what UL lab charged.
 

Doodski

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I wonder if we need a lighter-weight regulatory certification than UL for much less money. Without it, due to high cost and hassle of UL certification, so many companies do without. Even as a medium sized public company, we used to have hell getting UL certification. So many products were delayed and cost us a ton beyond what UL lab charged.
It's the same for CSA certification. Submit product and pay a hefty fee to have it tested to death. Not for small companies.
www_machinedesign_com_sites_machinedesign.com_files_New_UL_CSA_Marks.png
 

beagleman

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I wonder if we need a lighter-weight regulatory certification than UL for much less money. Without it, due to high cost and hassle of UL certification, so many companies do without. Even as a medium sized public company, we used to have hell getting UL certification. So many products were delayed and cost us a ton beyond what UL lab charged.

I worked for a huge electronics manufacturer years ago, and the amount of stuff we had to supply to be tested by UL was crazy. Tons of waste and destruction and it all got dumpstered after being returned back to us to inspect the failures etc.
 

Billy Budapest

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I wonder if we need a lighter-weight regulatory certification than UL for much less money. Without it, due to high cost and hassle of UL certification, so many companies do without. Even as a medium sized public company, we used to have hell getting UL certification. So many products were delayed and cost us a ton beyond what UL lab charged.
There is another mark indicating compliance with U.S. safety standards—ETL. Not sure if it is any cheaper than UL or CSA.
 

Musicfirst

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Hi Amir,
Many thanks for your unbelievable amount of equipments testing!
I was just wondering why you don’t test amplifiers wth square waves, which normally gives a lot of info about frequency response, distortion, slew rate, etc.
Can you please give me some feedback on that?
Thanks a lot and greetings from Italy.
 

jokan

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Here in Japan we have the PSE standard, many newer devices using a brick style psu do not meet the requirements and less reputable companies have used stickers to mark PSE certification. It's a standard as a result of laptop bricks burning up frequently. My contribution to this ongoing thread.
 

JWAmerica

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Hi Amir,
Many thanks for your unbelievable amount of equipments testing!
I was just wondering why you don’t test amplifiers wth square waves, which normally gives a lot of info about frequency response, distortion, slew rate, etc.
Can you please give me some feedback on that?
Thanks a lot and greetings from Italy.

He used to, but Amir doesn't think the square wave test has much value.
 

ShiZo

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Hi Amir,
Many thanks for your unbelievable amount of equipments testing!
I was just wondering why you don’t test amplifiers wth square waves, which normally gives a lot of info about frequency response, distortion, slew rate, etc.
Can you please give me some feedback on that?
Thanks a lot and greetings from Italy.
How to you interpret the square wave? They all look the same to me aside from impulse response.
 

milosz

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How to you interpret the square wave? They all look the same to me aside from impulse response.
The overshoot, ringing, "squareness" and tilt can tell you quite a bit about an amplifier's frequency response and stability.
 

Matias

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PA3s announced. Let's see how it performs. We can see already that they added balanced inputs.

242071996_4699787043365451_10597255903128278_n.jpg
 

Eneko

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PA3s announced. Let's see how it performs. We can see already that they added balanced inputs.

View attachment 153503
Hi @JohnYang1997, is this the first of the 3 ones we are expecting?
I have somewhere at the back of my memory some rumours of 3 amps, two integrated amps and one monobloc. A first one for desktop usage, another one for the living room (more power)... But I think that the expected chasis was a D90-matching one, at least for the integrated amps (with the more powerful one being "taller" than the desktop option... are these rumours still alive?
 

vkvedam

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I doubt that it would perform on par with Hypex or else we would have seen Amir's review at the time of launch/announcement. I won't keep my hopes high unless @JohnYang1997 proves me wrong :)
 
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