Topping PA3s Review (Desktop Amplifier)

[restorer-john]

I received the PA3s and have been testing it for 36 hours in a row, but I can't hear any hiss noise when I put my ears on the speakers.
SMSL AO200, DA-9, SA300, SAbaj A20a, AIYMA A07 also have a low level but can be heard clearly.

You clearly like collecting these funny little amplifiers. So that's 6 and counting?

 

[jst]

I received the PA3s and have been testing it for 36 hours in a row, but I can't hear any hiss noise when I put my ears on the speakers.
SMSL AO200, DA-9, SA300, SAbaj A20a, AIYMA A07 also have a low level but can be heard clearly.
But with PA3s, I can't really hear hiss noise no matter how many times I check it.

Wow, the last time I heard a hiss coming out from any audio source was from SoundBlaster 16 and multimedia speakers for pc. But now that you mentioned it, I put my ears on my Sony speakers and YES I HEARD A HISS (from the tweeter) using Aiyima A07, not really affecting audio coming out but it IS there.

I wonder if that's the adapter or the amp itself that's causing it, and PA3s amp is kinda low wattage that's probably an advantage to not producing a hiss ?

 

[Toku]

You clearly like collecting these funny little amplifiers. So that's 6 and counting?

I used to be a user of major products such as Pioneer, ONKYO, YAMAHA, DENON, and SONY, but after meeting TEAC's AX501 amp, I fell in love with class D amps.
I was particularly attracted to Chinese amplifier products that are cheap and have good sound quality, and I have purchased and tested more than 40 types of products so far. Right now I'm not interested in expensive products at all, and I've reported test results in various places. Of course, we also give feedback to the manufacturer. ASR's amirm provides electrical measurement data, but you have to purchase and check the actual operation status of the product yourself. In particular, DAC-related products rarely match the actual operation with the measured data.
I used to design equipment related to TV broadcasting stations at a Japanese manufacturer, so even now, due to the customs of the time, even cheap products are scrutinized.

Wow, the last time I heard a hiss coming out from any audio source was from SoundBlaster 16 and multimedia speakers for pc. But now that you mentioned it, I put my ears on my Sony speakers and YES I HEARD A HISS (from the tweeter) using Aiyima A07, not really affecting audio coming out but it IS there.

I wonder if that's the adapter or the amp itself that's causing it, and PA3s amp is kinda low wattage that's probably an advantage to not producing a hiss ?

The reason why the hiss noise of PA3s is much smaller than that of DA-9 SA300 AO200 A20a is probably related to the low amplifier gain.

 

[antcollinet]

Welcome to asr. To answer your question , no we only listen to oscilloscopes and analyzers round here.

Not strictly true. Amirm often includes a listening impression in his reviews. Not in this case though.

 

[amirm]

I like to listen to these amps but it was late at night and didn't want to disturb the family. And now have moved on to testing other gear....

 

[DSJR]

As far as I know Creek rised its prises as well, seems to me EU market is hugely uncompetitive for audio manufacturing.

I think the prices on some of the Hypex and Purifi builds are ok, BUT... these don't sell through a conventional dealer base as far as I'm aware.

UK Dealer margins on electronics have increased a bit since my day and it appears 50% is now the target now as against '30 less 5' as it was in the 70's and 80's typically (one or two brands offered better deals back then depending on volume sold, thereby all but stifling fair comparisons if said dealer had a sales target to meet. Mass market speakers almost always offered better dealer markups since the 80's but electronics took a bit longer to catch up I believe.

 

[pma]

Also, apparently the Infineon chip used in this amp (along with the SMSL SA300, DA-9 and AO200, among others) can be used without an output filter for very short speaker cable runs. I believe SMSL omits the output filter.

You are most probably right.

This is said in evaluation board manual:

 

[Vini darko]

So speakers will be seeing full power switching frequency. Great , that inspiers confidence.

 

[somebodyelse]

So speakers will be seeing full power switching frequency. Great , that inspiers confidence.

If that was the case wouldn't we see bigger peaks in the out of band switching noise plot?

 

[pma]

If that was the case wouldn't we see bigger peaks in the out of band switching noise plot?

Yes if you measured the spectrum with an instrument with BW at least 10MHz or better 100MHz and not with LF AP that ended at 1.2 MHz. Check the MA12070 datasheet which frequency appears at the output depending on mode of operation.
And AP has had no HF input filter in the path?

 

[somebodyelse]

@pma thanks for the clarification. I also see in the datasheet (and the application note it refers to) Infineon are suggesting LC output filters will likely be required to pass radiated emissions tests with anything but very short speaker cables (~60-80cm twisted.)

 

[Yaiba]

I just curious that PA3s have enough power for JBL A130 or control-x or not?

Now I used smsl DA-9 with JBL A130 and AIYIMA07 with JBL control-X.
Should I waiting for the class AB with more power that @JohnYang1997 mentioned that topping will release later?

 

[milan616]

I just curious that PA3s have enough power for JBL A130 or control-x or not?

Any amp has enough power for any speaker, just not always at the volume+distance you want. Plug in the values into the amp calculator and see if the measured output from the review meets your needs.

 

[KSTR]

And AP has had no HF input filter in the path?

That's what AP's AUX-0025 and AUX-0040 PWM Input Filters are for (hopefully they do attenuate the very high RF significantly, spec is only given to 20MHz). I sure hope @amirm is using those... with the older System Two Units they were absolutely mandatory...

 

[antcollinet]

If that was the case wouldn't we see bigger peaks in the out of band switching noise plot?

The infineon evaluation board isn't what's been measured. We are talking Topping PA3s here.

 

[somebodyelse]

The infineon evaluation board isn't what's been measured. We are talking Topping PA3s here.

What's the evaluation board got to do with it? The last plot in the review is the out of band switching noise for the PA3s. @pma has pointed out why it might not be telling the whole story.

 

[antcollinet]

What's the evaluation board got to do with it? The last plot in the review is the out of band switching noise for the PA3s. @pma has pointed out why it might not be telling the whole story.

And he quoted from the manual of the evaluation board stating that it had no output filter. You and vini darko took the bait, and asked if that was the case wouldn't we see higher peaks etc etc.

Well perhaps you would if the measurements were of an evaluation board without output filter.

 

[Vini darko]

And he quoted from the manual of the evaluation board statign that it had no output filter. You and vini darko took the bait, and asked if that was the case wouldn't we see higher peaks etc etc.

Well perhaps you would if the measuremnts were of an evaluation board without output filter.

I didn't ask a question. I made a statment.

 

[antcollinet]

Yes - that the speakers will be seeing full power switching frequency. Which again - is the case for the eval board, but this thread is about the topping amp. Now maybe you didn't intend your statement to be about the topping - but without making that clear, someone else might easily read that statement and think it applies to the topping.

So I'm making it clear.

 

[Vini darko]

Yes - that the speakers will be seeing full power switching frequency. Which again - is the case for the eval board, but this thread is about the topping amp. Now maybe you didn't intend your statement to be about the topping - but without making that clear, someone else might easily read that statement and think it applies to the topping.

So I'm making it clear.

Yeah I wasn't refering to the pa3s just the concept of no filter.