I had the PA5 amp. But after a year, one channel stopped working, and the company sent me the new model PA5 II Plus, but the problem arrived again.Now they are asking me to send the new model for fixing and ask me to pay for the fixing and the shipping back.⁹I'm looking for solution, new board ? Any one sell them? Thanks
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Topping PA5 fix - D01 Module Replacement for everyone
- Thread starter gamerpaddy
- Start date
Roland68
Master Contributor
The PA5 had a problem with the potting compound on the additional small-signal board, which was due to a combination of insufficient expertise and poor potting.
The PA5 II no longer uses this board, nor this type of potting compound, and the op-amps are mounted directly on the board.
Furthermore, the PA5 II has been on the market for 2.5 years and no problems have been reported. The problems with the PA5 appeared after only a few months.
However, a defect, as can occur with any amplifier regardless of manufacturer or price range, can never be completely ruled out.
In your PA5 II, this could be a cold solder joint, a contact problem at the input jack, a defective relay, etc., and is probably unrelated to the PA5 failures.
Have you looked into the problem in general?
Have you tried swapping the RCA/TRS cables on the PA5 II from left to right? Is the same channel dead then?
Does the problem occur on both the TRS and RCA inputs?
Have you checked that there's no short circuit in the speaker cables/connectors at the speaker terminals or the PA5 II?
That is for V1 - @safi now has problems with II
Yes or get the Mini300 instead )
The auction is for an entire PA5 Version I amp with gamerpaddy's D01 module fix.
That being said, it would be a stretch to recommend another Topping amp to someone who has already had two models break. Perhaps something from a company that doesn't have such a poor reliability track record and also good after sales service.
They had a very deep hole to dig out of, including the after sales service still leaves customers with hardship.
I'm not sure they made it to acceptable. Still seem to be odd QC issues, even on the more premium products. But agree they seem to have improved, the PA5II and other new products haven't had the large cluster of fails the original PA5 had.
Perhaps.
But this is why I'll not buy topping gear unless it is at a low enough cost that I can afford to write it off if it fails. Topping seem to think the customer should pay for toppings own failings.
OP
gamerpaddy
Active Member
- Thread Starter
- #173
potting makes no sense, it took me an hour or two to figure out the secret sauce.. with just tweezers and a hot air gun.
they still did it in the la90(d) and pa5 ii
just because they moved the opamps out doesnt mean it wont thermal cycle. it just takes longer to fail
regardless of brand
they still did it in the la90(d) and pa5 ii
just because they moved the opamps out doesnt mean it wont thermal cycle. it just takes longer to fail
regardless of brand
Roland68
Master Contributor
The problem with the potting compound affected only a few devices: the PA5, A90D, LA90, and presumably also the A70 Pro.
The potting compound didn't cause overheating, but rather led to solder joint failures and, in the long run, to leakage stresses between the components on the potted circuit boards in some devices. This caused the PA5 to experience gradual failures. Proper potting of electronic circuits does not lead to such problems, and such potted circuits often function perfectly even after 20-30 years.
The second problem with the failures is simply the inexperience of many electronics manufacturers, regardless of the sector, and the potential for cost savings on components.
Very small and inexpensive resistors and capacitors (non-electrolyte) tend to fail significantly more often and, unlike larger and/or more expensive components or through-hole components, create a short circuit. This is doubly problematic. Firstly, the short circuit can cause further damage, and secondly, such short circuits are very difficult to locate during repairs.
I've already noticed this type of defect in the +/- small-signal power supply of six different A90D units, precisely where these very small SMD components are used and have failed.
Topping could reduce its defects/failures by at least 80-90% in a relatively short time and simultaneously increase the repairability of its devices.
But in my experience, they are too resistant to advice/unwilling to see reason, lack the necessary social skills to understand how much this negatively impacts purchasing behavior for their devices, and apparently have no interest whatsoever in having defective devices repaired.
And this is where Topping's complete lack of social skills towards their customers becomes particularly apparent, because I wouldn't be surprised if this last point, whether during or after the warranty period, resulted in a 20-30% loss in revenue.
It's not surprising... in fact, you can see it by observing Topping's lack of participation on this forum....
@TOPPING , hey are you even reading this???
Roland68
Master Contributor
Yes, they are here regularly, and I think they read the posts.
But @TOPPING doesn't even begin to grasp how much damage their behavior is causing them worldwide.
I'm sure their sales could be two to three times higher, maybe even more, and they could be a much bigger competitor for other manufacturers.
But Topping doesn't understand how people work, not at all. You can see that not only in their behavior towards customers but also in their entire social media presence.
The way they communicate with their customers alone is already doing a lot of damage.
Since I often read Chinese forums as well, I know that their reputation is anything but good there, just like in Asia. So it's not just a matter of mentality, but rather an extremely significant deficit in dealing with people/customers, which has a particularly negative impact on potential buyers.
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