What do you recommend? I value your posts. I'm willing to put up to $1500 into it.
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Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
With that budget, may as well go separate. Yamaha's integrated such as the A-S700 had good measurements and don't use "AVR chips" for volume control, unlike the A-S701 and S801. External DACs are cheap so unless you must have a one box solution, it is a better solution than those fitted in the low cost integrated amps such as Yamaha's but that's just my opinion.
A Topping preamp and a buckeye amp, Hypex or Purifi rated >200 W 8 ohms, 300 W 4 ohms should give you great audio specs.
Ricardus
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Geting that kind of performance at that price would be amazing, but I'll be doing 12 hour mixing sessions and will need the amp to survive that day after day.
@iLoveCats , I didn't realize Topping has increased the price so the following will exceed your budget by $100:
www.audiosciencereview.com
Topping preamp with extender: $849
Buckeye amp NC502MP: $749
Total: $1,598
Or $599+$549 = $1,148 if you don't need the preamp extender and are fine with the NC252MP that is still good for 150/250 W 8/4 ohms at 1% THD+N.
Buckeye Amps: New US based Hypex multichannel amplifier builder, line-up announcement!
Hypex NC502MP Power Specs (1kHz, THD = 1%): - 450w @ 2ohm (per channel, peak) - 500w @ 4ohm (per channel, peak) - 350w @ 8ohm (per channel, peak) Hypex NC252MP Power Specs (1kHz, THD = 1%): - 180w @ 2ohm (per channel, peak) - 250w @ 4ohm (per channel, peak) - 150w @ 8ohm (per channel, peak) XL...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Topping preamp with extender: $849
Buckeye amp NC502MP: $749
Total: $1,598
Or $599+$549 = $1,148 if you don't need the preamp extender and are fine with the NC252MP that is still good for 150/250 W 8/4 ohms at 1% THD+N.
anli
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I understand you. Have decided to try both (on the way).From what I am aware of the AIYAMA A-07 has been chugging away doing it's duty while the Topping breaking down stuff has made nothing short of enemies. Topping with it's breaking down models is causing issues with my usual model choices when asked for recommendations. It's a pain in the butt.
That topping pre amp is fantastic and I keep forgetting about Buckeye. Thanks.
JeremyFife
Major Contributor
Yamaha - whatever works with your budget - fit and forget
Ricardus
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Absolutely.
anli
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Hi!
Does anybody use (and/or has measured) PA5 with linear regulated PSU with output, say, 32V 3A? What is you opinion/result?
Want to understand reasons to order - or not! - such PSU. Speakers in use are rather sensitive - 96 dB.
Does anybody use (and/or has measured) PA5 with linear regulated PSU with output, say, 32V 3A? What is you opinion/result?
Want to understand reasons to order - or not! - such PSU. Speakers in use are rather sensitive - 96 dB.
Last edited:
Open Mind Audio
Active Member
Do you have the Topping Pre90 preamp? I bought one and can't operate the remote to save my life. Very likely to send it back because of that.
Why on earth would you do that when it already has inaudible noise with the stock PSU? Even if it hadn't been demonstrated here over and over again that the PSU in a not broken audio electronic design makes no difference.
I've not listened with a linear PSU, but I can tell you the result right now: No difference.
anli
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I have assumed heating reducing also.
MAB
Major Contributor
Uh… How about batteries? Three car batteries in series should be perfect!
Since I am unsure of what you wish to accomplish I thought I would make an even more absurd recommendation!
anli
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MAB
Major Contributor
Sorry, I was joking. I really think you should avoid PSU rolling, and enjoy the music with this little amp. It sounds great, and I really don’t understand why you want to change PSU type and voltage. At least the three RV batteries keeps the supply near the stock voltage!
In any case, I really recommend to not fuss with this amp’s supply and enjoy listening to music.
In any case, I really recommend to not fuss with this amp’s supply and enjoy listening to music.
Guessing you are wanting to minimise the chances of failure. But guessing the cause of the failure as being heat related is not going to be particularly useful.
Most likely the failures are manufacturing defect, design defect or component defect. If yours has a defect in, then playing around with the PSU is unlikely to help.
anli
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Exactly! Ok, thanks, I'll postpone the idea of reduced voltage.
Sorry for misunderstanding your first post.
MAB
Major Contributor
Me too!
Enjoy this amp. So you know, I bought one of the apparently defective amps. It failed after a week of use driving an 8 Ohm speaker, and it went bad while I was sleeping (I had it on at whisper volume, woke up the next morning to rain-like noise coming out of the left speaker.). While I have no idea what the failure mode was, it is exceedingly hard to imagine a thermal issue on an amp that ran ice cold, all while playing at bedtime volume.
So, you should just enjoy! My intuition tells me there is a defect that needed to be addressed, and I was one of the unlucky early PA5 deliveries.
And, again, sorry for my snarky response. I understand why you asked.
No I don't and I've found several other people that have remote problems so it's off my list.
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