Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[Labjr]

Dear @amirm, if you don´t return this amplifier, could you please ask Topping if you could open the châssis and show us the innards?

JP

Does anyone think they're going to see anything revelatory inside this amplifier? Probably a couple of TPA chips on a PCB. The magic is in the implementation and layout. Doubtful it would be obvious to any non-engineering person or even visible because of the solder mask.

 

[7jm]

Will RCA to TS work to connect this to an unbalanced dac?

 

[Lambda]

They look like one of a kind hand made works of art.

This is from research paper and they look like a works of art because they had them custom mad by a company specialized in casting custom Silver jewelry.
But Yes they are Available.

Toroidal inductor with a round cross section and four parallel windings. | 3D Printing Shop | i.materialise

i.materialise.com

 

[audiophileonabudget]

Really wish for a stereo amp with sub output and DSP: high pass for stereo, low pass for sub. I don't see one yet, at least from Chinese companies.

YES! But that seems more of a feature for a DAC than an amplifier? IMO it's a much needed feature for the E50/PA5 stack. Hope Topping in the future has a DAC with proper DSP.

 

[antcollinet]

Will RCA to TS work to connect this to an unbalanced dac?

Yes - but your unbalanced DAC might not output enough volts to drive the amp to full power.

 

[howard416]

Really wish for a stereo amp with sub output and DSP: high pass for stereo, low pass for sub. I don't see one yet, at least from Chinese companies.

Yep, it's a pretty nice feature to have. But, it's also a great beginning-level DIY project... an inline active xover + summing box with a basic DC power supply, proto-board, and a few opamps will do the job and is only a few hours of work if you have a soldering iron and some basic tools.

Which is not to presume that anyone is ready or willing to embark on DIY, of course.

 

[thenamelessone7]

What would happen if one tried using a power supply / adapter with a higher voltage? Say 48V and 3A?

 

[pma]

Yes - but your unbalanced DAC might not output enough volts to drive the amp to full power.

I use this to drive my UcD180HG amp with balanced input from Topping D10s. Shortest cable between D10s and the preamp. Maybe a hint for Topping or other commercial audio company.

 

[howard416]

Regarding the increase in THD from about 3 kHz on, this is like many Class AB amps or even the Neurochrome composite amps: the feedback loop begins to run out of bandwitdh.

In fact, I wonder if the composite approach was taken here, hence an external feedback loop wrapped around a chipamp. Maybe this can be done with UcD amps, too. After all, their bandwidth is not that much worse than an LM3886.

Just to keep things in perspective, at this level of performance you won't come anywhere near to being able to hear the H2 and H3 distortion products, so at worst you'd be trying to hear the H4, H5, ... which would start at 5 kHz and downward. If you're lucky and still have hearing to 20 kHz. And the 5 kHz curve shows us that HD should be inaudible overall based on the expected higher-order HD profile.

If you meant to simply observe that phenomenon, please ignore my paragraph above.

 

[sarumbear]

Yes. This thing is an integrated amplifier, so includes some basic pre-amp functions.

Most DACs these days also have integrated preamps and can be connected to power amps directly.

 

[audiophileonabudget]

Yep, it's a pretty nice feature to have. But, it's also a great beginning-level DIY project... an inline active xover + summing box with a basic DC power supply, proto-board, and a few opamps will do the job and is only a few hours of work if you have a soldering iron and some basic tools.

Which is not to presume that anyone is ready or willing to embark on DIY, of course.

This is something I thought about but the big problem is that DIYers have no way to validate if it's working properly. I mean we're all here because we rely on measurements. Would love to have an affordable commercial product that includes proper crossovers for 2.1.

 

[howard416]

This is something I thought about but the big problem is that DIYers have no way to validate if it's working properly. I mean we're all here because we rely on measurements. Would love to have an affordable commercial product that includes proper crossovers for 2.1.

If you have a signal source (e.g. PC) and a relatively accurate DMM, sure you do. Just calibrate the output voltage coming from your sound card (or equivalent interface), and read the voltage coming out of the xover box while you vary the signal frequency. With a series of measurements you can get enough data points to interpolate the transfer function.

E.g. if you play a 10 kHz sine you should expect full voltage out of the "main" output and no voltage out of the "sub" output. Conversely, at 20 Hz, you should expect the opposite, depending on your filter implementation and how low the xover frequency is.

EDIT: Now, if you were to ask for phase control, well, at that point you should really just consider discrete DSP.

 

[pma]

This is something I thought about but the big problem is that DIYers have no way to validate if it's working properly

This is not true at all. You do not need AP to “validate if it is working properly”. A good $200 soundcard and $200 digital USB scope is all you need. Plus knowledge and this cannot be shown in $. Same as Topping competes to overpriced audio, one may do enough with cheaper instrumentation than AP.

 

[howard416]

This is not true at all. You do not need AP to “validate if it is working properly”. A good $200 soundcard and $200 didital USB scope is all you need. Plus knowledge and this cannot be shown in $. Same as Topping competes to overpriced audio, one may do enough with cheaper instrumentation than AP.

Beat you to it.

 

[david123]

YES! But that seems more of a feature for a DAC than an amplifier? IMO it's a much needed feature for the E50/PA5 stack. Hope Topping in the future has a DAC with proper DSP.

Certainly could be in the DAC. Wherever it is, as long as it is good for 2.1 bass integration.

 

[audiophileonabudget]

This is not true at all. You do not need AP to “validate if it is working properly”. A good $200 soundcard and $200 digital USB scope is all you need. Plus knowledge and this cannot be shown in $. Same as Topping competes to overpriced audio, one may do enough with cheaper instrumentation than AP.

Ok, let me spend $400 +time to learn the requisite knowledge to validate a DIY project. /s People spend money on things that work out of the box so they don't have to do that, lol.

 

[howard416]

Ok, let me spend $400 +time to learn the requisite knowledge to validate a DIY project. /s People spend money on things that work out of the box so they don't have to do that, lol.

Alright, so don't do DIY then bud.

 

[david123]

This is something I thought about but the big problem is that DIYers have no way to validate if it's working properly. I mean we're all here because we rely on measurements. Would love to have an affordable commercial product that includes proper crossovers for 2.1.

Another problem is also the time invested. Busy or lazy , sometimes I just want something ready and work out of the box.

 

[pma]

Ok, let me spend $400 +time to learn the requisite knowledge to validate a DIY project. /s People spend money on things that work out of the box so they don't have to do that, lol.

I do not speak about you specifically, but about your generalization. One should speak about topics he knows something about.

 

[antcollinet]

I use this to drive my UcD180HG amp with balanced input from Topping D10s. Shortest cable between D10s and the preamp. Maybe a hint for Topping or other commercial audio company.

View attachment 168871

Another option (for those without requisite DIY skills (or time) would be to get this from AliExpress:

22.99US $ |DRV134 RCA Unbalanced To Balanced XLR Adaptor Converter DRV134 High Performance RCA to XLR Converter Preamp Audio Amplifier|Amplifier| - AliExpress

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Or similar circuit in a finished product:

98.0US $ |Finished DRV134 Single ended to balance/unbalanced to balanced RCA to XLR preamp|unbalanced to balanced|xlr preampbalanced to unbalanced - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com