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Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

ogonex

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The new PA5 is packed with topping research results.
This is to prevent it from being easily copied. Such measures are natural for a company.
Somehow Accuphase does not rub the inscriptions from transistors ;-)))
I know this because I made the E-550 clone myself.


a capable colleague cloned it only from the photos of the plate in the brochure. He was only wrong about one resistor value.
then we improved it as we got the schematics
 
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Raindog123

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Depends what you are seeking for. If it is a toy which you need to change every 6 months to be "in" on the social network, then these small undersized boxes are the way to go.

@pma’s mandatory monthly attack on ”toy” amplifiers… calling for customary monthly rebuff. :)

I have a TRA3255 based amp in a “small undersized box“ - two actually - for over a year now. Heavily listen them both - nearly daily for a number of hours. Did not have to “change every 6 months” at all, and counting. Facts are a stubborn thing. :)
 
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BoredErica

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@pma’s mandatory monthly attack on ”toy amplifiers”… calling for customary monthly rebuff. :)

I have a TRA3255 based amp in a “small undersized box“ - two actually - for over a year now. Heavily listen them both - nearly daily for a number of hours. Did not have to “change every 6 months”, and counting. Facts are a stubborn thing. :)
Basically, yeah. Based on the way pma talks about amps you'd think they murdered their parents of something.

'small undersized box' lol, kay. I cannot fathom upgrading amps 'every 6 months' to be 'in' on a 'social network'. For audio?! It's one thing not to like the product, it's another thing to be so sad.
 
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mdsimon2

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In general I agree that designing for continuous (say several minutes) of full power output from a thermal perspective is probably overkill in many cases, however I do wonder about the continuous power supply capability of the PA5.

I ran in to an issue when I was bench testing a Behringer A800 amplifier where I could get the same results as Amir but after a few seconds the output would drop, it was unclear to me if this was a throttling issue with the amp or a power supply issue. Either way having an amp that can only output full power for a few seconds was not very confidence inspiring.

It would certainly be interesting to see how the PA5 does outputting full power for a longer period of time given the apparently under spec'd power supply.

Michael
 

ogonex

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In general I agree that designing for continuous (say several minutes) of full power output from a thermal perspective is probably overkill in many cases, however I do wonder about the continuous power supply capability of the PA5.

I ran in to an issue when I was bench testing a Behringer A800 amplifier where I could get the same results as Amir but after a few seconds the output would drop, it was unclear to me if this was a throttling issue with the amp or a power supply issue. Either way having an amp that can only output full power for a few seconds was not very confidence inspiring.

It would certainly be interesting to see how the PA5 does outputting full power for a longer period of time given the apparently under spec'd power supply.

Michael
And what's the problem to buy a meanwell 300-400W power supply? Probably 25-50$
 

ogonex

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You've just provided a great example of exactly why Topping has obscured the details.
somehow serious companies don't do that. Or not?:)
let them cover up :)
The fact, that they say that it is not tpa 325x like Jlester knows, is pure marketing. But as you can see, many fall for it
 
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pma

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@pma’s mandatory monthly attack on ”toy” amplifiers… calling for customary monthly rebuff. :)
... based on 4 decades of experience as an electrical engineer and electronic designer in instrumentation, power engineering, industrial automation and also in audio electronics. Yours is based on what?
 

ogonex

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... based on 4 decades of experience as an electrical engineer and electronic designer in instrumentation, power engineering, industrial automation and also in audio electronics. Yours is based on what?
:))) Greatings :)))
me too: electrical engineer since 90'
 

nagster

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Update: Chip identification went wrong, it's not what the marking on the chip seemed to indicate. The main marking has been sanded off and another marking that happened to be similar (but not exactly matching) to the TAS5613 main marking was used as a wrong clue.
Your posts are often useful to me. thank you for always.

Edit: Deleted below..
 
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Raindog123

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... based on 4 decades of experience as an electrical engineer and electronic designer in instrumentation, power engineering, industrial automation and also in audio electronics. Yours is based on what?

The size of my... hm, shoes. Of course.

Well, there is also this...

[EDIT: gone :)]
 
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ogonex

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Your posts are often useful to me. thank you for always.

There are too many detectives, so I took some pictures. It looks like a trace of 3251, but what about it?
Ask Jlester. He is an expert at TPA 325x ;-)
 

F1308

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Somehow Accuphase does not rub the inscriptions from transistors ;-)))
I know this because I made the E-550 clone myself.
Congratulations.
As for me, it would be pretty stupid to spend my hard earned time and my hard earned money buying things to connect to each other with the final result, all things being taken into account, of having spent say 10x the money.
I very much prefer buying the original thing, assuring further developments for everyone to keep doing well: researchers, investors, workers, transportation, shops...buyers...
 

ogonex

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Congratulations.
As for me, it would be pretty stupid to spend my hard earned time and my hard earned money buying things to connect to each other with the final result, all things being taken into account, of having spent say 10x the money.
I very much prefer buying the original thing, assuring further developments for everyone to keep doing well: researchers, investors, workers, transportation, shops...buyers...
I will not explain myself to you. Have you ever been young and poor?
Do you think there are any innovative topology solutions in the E-550? No.
 
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KSTR

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Your posts are often useful to me. thank you for always.

There are too many detectives, so I took some pictures. It looks like a trace of 3251, but what about it?
Thanks for these close-ups. The sanding (probably lasered) didn't get deep enough and the "3251" lettering is still pretty visible (could have been used for captcha duties ;-)
 

tmtomh

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Somehow Accuphase does not rub the inscriptions from transistors ;-)))
I know this because I made the E-550 clone myself.


a capable colleague cloned it only from the photos of the plate in the brochure. He was only wrong about one resistor value.
then we improved it as we got the schematics

Accuphase and other major manufacturers might not guard their designs as closely - but remember that it's much less feasible to copy the features, physical design, case machining, etc of an Accuphase amp than it is a PA5. The market for clones/DIY versions of inexpensive chip amps is very different than the market for clones/DIY versions of Accuphase, Levinson, or McIntosh amps.
 
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DanielT

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Accuphase and other major manufacturers might not guard their designs as closely - but remember that it's much less feasible to copy the features, physical design, case machining, etc of an Accuphase amp than it is a PA5. The market for clones/DIY versions of inexpensive chip amps is very different than the market for clones/DIY versions of Accuphase, Levinson, or McIntosh amps.
Also, it's not entirely certain that replicas /clones will be exactly the original, ... or even close to.

 

F1308

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I will not explain myself to you. Have you ever been young and poor?
Do you think there are any innovative topology solutions in the E-550? No.
Being young and poor are two great reasons not to spend 10x instead of 1x.
 
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