Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[edwardgrey]

Personal experience: I've been running the PA5 along with an E50 and their power brick P50 for my PC speakers since December last year, no issues so far.

 

[mike70]

There's people with static issues in one channel. Unfortunately the people with the problems are super loud. I don't have problems and I'm sure there are many more like me. But if I did have problems I would still buy this thing again because $350 is a good risk/reward on really good sounding audio equipment like this amp.

Do you think 50 bad products in 138 are super loud people? Mmmm
I think is like trying to hide the sun with a finger.

Vote positive in the poll, maybe numbers improve ... today these are really bad numbers.

 

[tvih]

In that price tag ... hard to tell.
People want great performance, great engineering, support, materials, blah blah ... and at 500 usd.

Almost impossible, that's why long established brands have higher price tags normally. I don't talk about boutique and jewelry brands, you understand what I mean.

Nonsense. 500 dollars is plenty of money to get all those things from something as simple as a stereo amplifier, especially these days with the Class D chips. Unless of course you would consider sufficient materials etc. to require Unobtainium, etc.

 

[mike70]

nsense. 500 dollars is plenty of money to get all those things from something as simple as a stereo amplifier, especially these days with the Class D chips. Unless of course you would consider sufficient materials etc. to require Unobtainium, etc.

We aren't in 80s economy anymore ... 500 usd doesn't mean a healthy profit in a niche market with taxes, employees, R&D, quality control, warranty expenses, delivery network, blah blah.

Surely is a good profit if you don't care that much about quality control or internal components quality... something must be left behind.

 

[tvih]

We aren't in 80s economy anymore ... 500 usd doesn't mean a healthy profit in a niche market with taxes, employees, R&D, quality control, warranty expenses, delivery network, blah blah.

Surely is a good profit if you don't care that much about quality control or internal components quality... something must be left behind.

Doesn't need to be '80s. Sure they're bigger brands - and thus with economies of scale - but said bigger brands put out vastly more complicated products like AVRs at less than 500 USD, and major reliability problems aren't exactly common. Not to even mention you can get things like full computers for less than 500 - the engineering requirements of a stereo amp like PA5 are a joke by comparison, great SINAD or not. Hell, it's not like most Topping products - even those cheaper than PA5 - are highly unreliable either, even if their support etc. aren't stellar regardless. But maybe they should focus on less product models and ensuring those that they do make are up to par in reliability as well as measurements, hmm? By comparison slightly amusingly my $80 Topping TP30 from 2010 is still going strong. Even in today's dollars that's around $100 and still has headphone out and USB-DAC in addition to being a stereo amp. Sure it doesn't measure particularly great, but then how well does a malfunctioning or dead PA5 measure exactly?

 

[ModDIY]

Doesn't need to be '80s. Sure they're bigger brands - and thus with economies of scale - but said bigger brands put out vastly more complicated products like AVRs at less than 500 USD, and major reliability problems aren't exactly common. Not to even mention you can get things like full computers for less than 500 - the engineering requirements of a stereo amp like PA5 are a joke by comparison, great SINAD or not. Hell, it's not like most Topping products - even those cheaper than PA5 - are highly unreliable either, even if their support etc. aren't stellar regardless. But maybe they should focus on less product models and ensuring those that they do make are up to par in reliability as well as measurements, hmm? By comparison slightly amusingly my $80 Topping TP30 from 2010 is still going strong. Even in today's dollars that's around $100 and still has headphone out and USB-DAC in addition to being a stereo amp. Sure it doesn't measure particularly great, but then how well does a malfunctioning or dead PA5 measure exactly?

Several buyers here have relied on the SINAD measurement. I believe that in the future they will be more careful...a reliable product and good after-sales service is worth more than the value of SINAD alone.

 

[edwardgrey]

Is the PA5 the first product that Topping has released with a higher rate of QC issues? I still remember the time Samsung had those exploding Note phones due to issues with the batteries.

Hopefully Topping will properly deal with cases, identify the batches, solve the issue and avoid it happening again; maybe spend a bit longer in QC / testing before release to the general public.

 

[somebodyelse]

Is the PA5 the first product that Topping has released with a higher rate of QC issues? I still remember the time Samsung had those exploding Note phones due to issues with the batteries.

Hopefully Topping will properly deal with cases, identify the batches, solve the issue and avoid it happening again; maybe spend a bit longer in QC / testing before release to the general public. I’m certain ASR forum members would be willing to help stress test (pre-release!)

Early batches of the L30 had issues with both the output DC protection and handling of static discharge, resulting in some blown headphones. That was handled with feedback to the thread, followed by a product recall of a serial number range after the issues were identified and fixed. In comparison the handling of the PA5 issues has been disappointing.

 

[xaxxon]

Topping is a very good name for this company. Fantastic products topping everyone else. Stand back and let it rip, Thanks Topping, regards

Not so fantastic a product

Looks like they have a massive failure rate - including mine. It's going to cost $75 to get it repaired under "warranty"... fuck.

 

[simplywyn]

My PA5 (second one) is making buzzing noises again on the right channel. Anyone from Topping here can help me? I'm tired of returning to Amazon at this point.

 

[IPunchCholla]

My PA5 (second one) is making buzzing noises again on the right channel. Anyone from Topping here can help me? I'm tired of returning to Amazon at this point.

@TOPPING-Service

 

[simplywyn]

@TOPPING-Service

Thank you. My exact issues (right channel buzzes, sounds like random noise) and sometimes right channel has no sound until I restart the device.

Also the power cable connector has somehow detached and it's loose so it's currently just free floating and only attached by the 2 wires that connect it to the circuit board.

This is my second PA5 after my first PA5 started having same problems within the week of purchase.

 

[xaxxon]

Thank you. My exact issues (right channel buzzes, sounds like random noise) and sometimes right channel has no sound until I restart the device.

Also the power cable connector has somehow detached and it's loose so it's currently just free floating and only attached by the 2 wires that connect it to the circuit board.

This is my second PA5 after my first PA5 started having same problems within the week of purchase.

I wish mine stopped working soon enough to return it. The thought of having to pay $75 to ship it to china to just have it break in 6 months again is not appealing.

 

[mike70]

stop buying until they fix it rightly

 

[xaxxon]

stop buying until they fix it rightly

Does amir ever update reviews with links to issues and such? It seems like I could have avoided this product if I'd seen the issue threads instead of just the review (I know, partly on me)

 

[mike70]

Does amir ever update reviews with links to issues and such? It seems like I could have avoided this product if I'd seen the issue threads instead of just the review (I know, partly on me)

Find a review (any) that talks about reliability.

That's a personal search ... and many times you pay more for better materials, support and internal design. Even with worst position in the sinad ranking (usually with inaudible difference).

Use your brain ... reviews are data ... you need to transform that data in information.

Something that I can trust to power on every day and works have much greater value to me that a 0.01% thd difference. Anyone can think different, obviously.

 

[TOPPING-Service]

My PA5 (second one) is making buzzing noises again on the right channel. Anyone from Topping here can help me? I'm tired of returning to Amazon at this point.

Please send me a DM with the details of your case and I will follow up.

 

[tiramisu]

Sadly Amir does not update hardware reviews with issues that come to his knowledge. This is a bit disappointing but if you do a google search you should find PA5 and "steaming pile of ....." pretty quickly. At this point, I am surprised that anyone would purchase one. Given that they have not identified nor corrected the issue.

 

[iLoveCats]

Sadly Amir does not update hardware reviews with issues that come to his knowledge. This is a bit disappointing but if you do a google search you should find PA5 and "steaming pile of ....." pretty quickly. At this point, I am surprised that anyone would purchase one. Given that they have not identified nor corrected the issue.

I would play the $350 lottery again for state of the art performance. They aren't all broken.

 

[mike70]

I would play the $350 lottery again for state of the art performance. They aren't all broken.

but then you'll be at 700 usd for SOTA performance ... very close to a Purifi implementation