Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[Talisman]

Unfortunately, sometimes I think we tend to confuse the concept of pleasantness with that of high fidelity. The same master can be equalized to make it more exciting, more pleasant, perhaps less acidic, perhaps with rounder bass. But high fidelity is not synonymous with pleasure. The speakers of a system that we want to define as high fidelity must only reproduce the music as closely as possible to how it was mastered. This can sometimes result in a duller sound, or harsher, or drier or a thousand other things, but they are the characteristics of the recording, they are not embellishments of the speaker.

 

[Walter]

so, studio monitor speakers should be also good for every purpose?

If they are ACCURATE studio monitors--which many like the old Yamahas are not--and you are using them on axis, then yes, as long as by "good" you mean they accurately reproduce the sound. If they have limited and uneven dispersion and you want to listen off axis, or in some other way are unsuitable for the room, then no.

 

[iLoveCats]

Finally got a replacement PA5 from Apos via China. Looks identical. I measured the temperature of the inside through the vent holes and it is similar to the one that quit on me. I'm leaving it on 24/7. The broken one was about 82 degrees F. The new one is 81 degrees F. The new ones temperature feels consistent all over the case when you handle it.

 

[Frank Sol]

@iLoveCats

Hopefully you'll be in the lucky 57% this time

 

[armaster]

Hi, today I found strange behaviour in left output. I noticed that left output is louder than right. I also noticed loud pop only in left output when I turn amp on. I did swap speakers, swap left and right input and disconnect input but got the same result.

Does anyone noticed the same behaviour?

Amp is les than 1 year old and I did not noticed this before.

Thanks for your hints.


Edited 1 day after.....
I forgot to mention that yesterday I became aware because left output channel was silent while right output channel was playing music.

Today It happened again: left output channel was silent while right output channel was playing music. After turn pa5 off and again on, left output channel started to play music.

Right now, while playing music (left channel still louder) I hear very loud pop in left channel and soud level is now equat as right channel. Also no loud pop when turn pa5 on.

 

[Laserjock]

Hi, today I found strange behaviour in left output. I noticed that left output is louder than right. I also noticed loud pop only in left output when I turn amp on. I did swap speakers, swap left and right input and disconnect input but got the same result.

Does anyone noticed the same behaviour?

Amp is les than 1 year old and I did not noticed this before.

Thanks for your hints.

There’s a whole thread. Guess you can vote in the affirmative about an issue also.PA5 Issues Poll thread

 

[MAB]

Hi, today I found strange behaviour in left output. I noticed that left output is louder than right. I also noticed loud pop only in left output when I turn amp on. I did swap speakers, swap left and right input and disconnect input but got the same result.

Does anyone noticed the same behaviour?

Amp is les than 1 year old and I did not noticed this before.

Thanks for your hints.

Welcome to the club. You have a bad PA5, similar to lots of other people. Topping says they extended the warranty to two years. Many members have a difficult time getting reasonable warranty service. Here is the thread on the defective PA5:

Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

Poll for PA5 owners to report product defects. Discussion for any solutions. I think it would be useful to get a handle on some numbers to estimate just how wide spread the issues are. Addendum: Here is Topping's response to the PA5 issues...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[mike70]

Why are people still buying that bomb?

 

[Laserjock]

Why are people still buying that bomb?

“Conclusions
It is abundantly clear that ton of great engineering has gone into the design of Topping PA5. It breaks all barriers as far as noise and distortion, not only in its own budget/desktop class, but way, way outside of that. If it had double the power, it would obsolete all of them and in a hurry! As it is, I would certainly use it in a desktop or secondary system. And even primary if you are not going to blast the volume with super inefficient speakers.

It is my absolute pleasure to recommend the Topping PA5. The dynamics of stereo amplifier market just changed folks!”

 

[TonyJZX]

tbf the proprieter has always said that its very hard to give any opinion on long term reliability

the tests just show a snapshot in time... which can change even due to firmware where supported

one might expect the Chinese to actually improve reliability due to early reports... i mean even Fosi do that and they are certainly nowhere near even close to being 'state of the art'

so I expect better from manufacturers who 'top the charts' here to respond and remedy 'early adopters' and clearly put out V1.1 models that fix problems so that new consumers are not affected by problems as experience here.

I would love for their reps to come out and say that 'every model now in channel should not exhibit these problems'.

However it is obvious I am wildly optimistic and frequently disappointed by the business practices shown here. But hey I hope you guys enjoyed the Chinese 11/11 festival!

Spend your money!

 

[Laserjock]

tbf the proprieter has always said that its very hard to give any opinion on long term reliability

the tests just show a snapshot in time... which can change even due to firmware where supported

one might expect the Chinese to actually improve reliability due to early reports... i mean even Fosi do that and they are certainly nowhere near even close to being 'state of the art'

so I expect better from manufacturers who 'top the charts' here to respond and remedy 'early adopters' and clearly put out V1.1 models that fix problems so that new consumers are not affected by problems as experience here.

I would love for their reps to come out and say that 'every model now in channel should not exhibit these problems'.

However it is obvious I am wildly optimistic and frequently disappointed by the business practices shown here. But hey I hope you guys enjoyed the Chinese 11/11 festival!

Spend your money!

Not saying they could predict the quality or failure of an item but an edit or some update could possibly be helpful.

 

[Alexium]

Why are people still buying that bomb?

I wanted to buy it until I've seen this discussion. Thanks for the warning!
Such an amazing performance, at this price... A pity it has reliability issues. Is this the price to be paid with class D due to the complexity?

 

[TonyJZX]

ironically class d should be much much more reliable over traditonal technology.... lower heat less parts count and potentially less fussy about lower quality components

even on this forum alone its a bit disappointing to see the RMAs needed

there's a few people here who are either quasi collectors and early adopters and its easy to see what is going on

 

[Killingbeans]

Is this the price to be paid with class D due to the complexity?

Nahh, it's just not easy to design products that are guaranteed to have a low failure rate. Often a fatal oversight only gets discovered after the product has hit the market.

Most brands that make budget audio gear have one or more "black sheep" models in their historical lineups. There's lots of Class AB amps that are notorious for doing electrical seppuku in one way or another.

 

[mike70]

Such an amazing performance, at this price..

I think you have the answer ... high performance, support, reliability, warranty, etc etc costs money.

People want sky high quality and all other facets at banana's price, but in 21 century that doesn't exists. Bad and expensive products exists? Oh yes ... and forums like this are a great tool for consumers, but please, don't believe in Santa Claus.

 

[Alexium]

high performance, support, reliability, warranty, etc etc costs money

I get your point, but high performance is already here, and warranty doesn't cost much money if your product has a failure rate of 0.01% instead of 40%.

I've come to expect that electronics made in the 80s and later just works, forever (or virtually forever) as long as you're using it properly. This includes modern cheap Chinese noname stuff which I did expect to fail - but it doesn't. It's truly shocking to see an expensive (relatively) product from a brand to do so poorly, even if it's a Chinese company.

 

[iLoveCats]

Why are people still buying that bomb?

It really is good when you have a working one. I think Topping has or will figure it out. $350 is nothing for that level of performance.

 

[andrewjohn007]

It really is good when you have a working one. I think Topping has or will figure it out. $350 is nothing for that level of performance.

But you're not paying $350 for that level of performance. You are paying $350 to roll the dice.

Personally, I was quite close to pulling the trigger on a unit, fortunately I waffled and during that period of hesitation the issues with the PA came to light. For now, Topping is a "no go" in my book. Not only for the failure rate, but also in regards to how the company handled the matter.

 

[MAB]

It really is good when you have a working one. I think Topping has or will figure it out. $350 is nothing for that level of performance.

It's been a year though, and units still are breaking, and the warranty support is horrible. I see your tag line about NAD and your bad customer service with an M10, and two things stand out... Topping and the resellers provide at least as bad as your NAD experience. And there is a thread full of people who got the same:

Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

Poll for PA5 owners to report product defects. Discussion for any solutions. I think it would be useful to get a handle on some numbers to estimate just how wide spread the issues are. Addendum: Here is Topping's response to the PA5 issues...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The only difference is the price of an M10 vs. a PA5. And that makes Topping and the resellers look cheap, given the meager cost to ship replacements. I was one of the lucky ones, I got a refund after they lost mine when they lost it after I shipped it back to them, but it took months of emails. I guess I am one of the unlucky ones since my A30Pro also went bad after 7 months. I got my money back on that one too, after learning my lesson on the runaround on the PA5.
So, I'm not confident Topping has figured anything out. And I don't think the sellers have figured out what it means to service a warranty. And, the pace of new and nearly identical kit with high performance makes me think they move on by releasing new models, not by supporting the customers on the models they sold.

 

[iLoveCats]

But you're not paying $350 for that level of performance. You are paying $350 to roll the dice.

Personally, I was quite close to pulling the trigger on a unit, fortunately I waffled and during that period of hesitation the issues with the PA came to light. For now, Topping is a "no go" in my book. Not only for the failure rate, but also in regards to how the company handled the matter.

The vendor gave me another one after the original failed. It's still $350 plus a little shipping. Like $14. I've got a $3000 pile of nothing from NAD sitting here that they won't fix. Now THATS rolling the dice!