Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[douede]

Yep. I have seen craters left behind when a GaN FET goes ballistic.

I can't stop laughing. Thanks a lot.

 

[Guido]

It looks modest. But so do I. Put it inside a box labeled Tiffany & Co., or one labeled Heckler & Koch GmbH, or one labeled Hermes. Soon these amps will be so small that they'll fit into the box you get when you buy a Rolex. So is the significance of this product that high audio performance per our (ASR) standards can be attained using a Class D chip that is reasonably priced and available as opposed to the current class of high performance class D amp modules (ICEpower, Hypex, Purifi) that are more expensive and are significantly larger in size? Some of the functions done on the circuit board of the Hypex and Purify modules are done in the Class D chip thereby reducing the size of the implementation. Again, I assume chips like the Texas Instrument Class D chip(s) are developed for broader market use beyond the consumer audio products.

Thanks for testing this one !

I was wondering: you test output impedance for headphones amps but not for speakers amps.
Is there a reason?

 

[Rantenti]

I have no experience in Amp matching. I wonder if the Topping PA5 have sufficient power to drive my good old Dynaudio Audience 42 well? It seems to be power hungry.

The Audience 42 has a sensitivity of 86dB, 4 ohms, 150 watts (long term power handling).

The Topping outputs 140W x 2 @ 4 ohms THD+N <10% or 140W x 2 @ 4 ohms THD+N <1%.

I am currently using an ancient Cayin 220ci, 100W+100W@ 8Ohms, no data for 4 ohms, and I am hoping to upgrade. Thanks!

 

[Toku]

I have no experience in Amp matching. I wonder if the Topping PA5 have sufficient power to drive my good old Dynaudio Audience 42 well? It seems to be power hungry.

The Audience 42 has a sensitivity of 86dB, 4 ohms, 150 watts (long term power handling).

The Topping outputs 140W x 2 @ 4 ohms THD+N <10% or 140W x 2 @ 4 ohms THD+N <1%.

I am currently using an ancient Cayin 220ci, 100W+100W@ 8Ohms, no data for 4 ohms, and I am hoping to upgrade. Thanks!

I'm also using 86dB speakers, but I don't feel any power shortage. The power you normally supply to the Audience 42 is less than 10W even at high volumes. The reason amirm measures the characteristics of an amplifier at an output of 5W is that the power we normally use is that much.

 

[xrk971]

I have no experience in Amp matching. I wonder if the Topping PA5 have sufficient power to drive my good old Dynaudio Audience 42 well? It seems to be power hungry.

The Audience 42 has a sensitivity of 86dB, 4 ohms, 150 watts (long term power handling).

The Topping outputs 140W x 2 @ 4 ohms THD+N <10% or 140W x 2 @ 4 ohms THD+N <1%.

I am currently using an ancient Cayin 220ci, 100W+100W@ 8Ohms, no data for 4 ohms, and I am hoping to upgrade. Thanks!

TPA3255 amps with rated power of 70w at 8ohms and 140w at 4ohms will have no problem driving 86dB sensitive speakers. I routinely use on 82dB speakers and it is more than enough. You need a 50w amp to be able to hit peaks at normal household listening levels. Even 10w rms is quite loud on 85dB speaker.

 

[Rantenti]

Thanks for your replies!

I once used a Denon AV integrated amp which has less power than the Cayin 220ci, and the Dynaudio Audience 42 sounded strangely lethargic and slow. The difference with the Cayin was quite obvious. I had always thought it was a power issue.

So perhaps it is other parts of the design that is causing distortion or signal loss that is causing the difference and not the output power.

For my speakers, are there any other inegrated amp/ power amps I could also consider besides the Topping? I am not looking for expensive fancy machines that "magically transform" my sound, but ones that are honest and transparent. Thanks again!

 

[KSTR]

Behringer ?

No.
@all: I won't respond to further speculations ;-)

 

[maty]

For my speakers, are there any other inegrated amp/ power amps I could also consider besides the Topping? I am not looking for expensive fancy machines that "magically transform" my sound, but ones that are honest and transparent. Thanks again!

Maybe, Yamaha A-S501 or A-S701

YAMAHA A-S701 - tear-down, thoughts about the internals & few measurements

I bought this amplifier with built-in DAC over 1 year ago from Amazon and had no issue using it several hours per day. My kid is using it daily on TV and XBOX over the SPDIF input, I'm using it couple of times per week as well and it works as expected, as in day one. It's barely warm during...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Rafaille]

For my speakers, are there any other inegrated amp/ power amps I could also consider besides the Topping? I am not looking for expensive fancy machines that "magically transform" my sound, but ones that are honest and transparent. Thanks again!

I think you are better off starting a new thread and be more specific about what you need.
Do you already have a good dac? Are sources all digital or some analog? Do you need a pre-amp/integrated? Listening room dimensions? And so on..

I am sure this way you will get a better answer.
(Not that the Yamahas above are not good recommendations)

 

[ModDIY]

I think you are better off starting a new thread and be more specific about what you need.
Do you already have a good dac? Are sources all digital or some analog? Do you need a pre-amp/integrated? Listening room dimensions? And so on..

I am sure this way you will get a better answer.
(Not that the Yamahas above are not good recommendations)

This is what I call a squatter... ;-)

Seriously, it all depends on the size of the room and the usual listening level. For my part I would not hesitate for the power of the P5A.

 

[RndJeff]

Look, for USD$349 it's grossly overpriced. That's the bottom line. But ASR members will lap it up in droves because it came 2nd in the 1kHz SINAD race.

But I hope Topping sells tons of them, because then John Yang will get carte blanche and a decent budget to design and build a bunch of real amplifiers, instead of these little dinky Class D things. That's what I am looking forward to. The last time we had no-expense spared, purely engineering-driven amplifiers, was the late 1980s early 1990s.

Genuinely curious. Accepting, the PA5 is overpriced:

What are some similar amps costing less?

What are some better amps costing the same (or less?)

I read a comment about the Yamaha's WXA-50, but it's 50% pricier than the PA5 (at least in Canada: PA5 460$, WXA-50 700$)
Other typical amps like NAD C316BEE V2 costs (550$ now 650$) and not sure how it compares.

 

[pma]

What are some similar amps costing less?

What are some better amps costing the same (or less?)

Over and over ...

Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

The PA5 thread is sizzling hot, the Topping people must be delighted.

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Trokox]

Genuinely curious. Accepting, the PA5 is overpriced:

What are some similar amps costing less?

What are some better amps costing the same (or less?)

I read a comment about the Yamaha's WXA-50, but it's 50% pricier than the PA5 (at least in Canada: PA5 460$, WXA-50 700$)
Other typical amps like NAD C316BEE V2 costs (550$ now 650$) and not sure how it compares.

Hegel h95 (2000 US $) has 63 watts of power into 4 ohms and mediocre performance as measured by Amir and the list goes on.
The fact is that a small desktop class D amplifier that is priced under $ 400 by measurements is notably superior to AB amps 6 times more expensive and some here complain about the price.

 

[Zmix]

In the distortion vs frequency plot, not the multitone one.
View attachment 170217

Thanks for the clarification..! The only distortion in the audible range is below -90 up to 30 watts, the 1st harmonic of 15kHz is 30kHz, etc, so not particularly worrisome?

 

[DanielT]

Many questions about whether the effect is sufficient in PA5. How much effect can be needed when playing music with a lot of dynamics? Here this video maybe can give some guidance:

No wonder there is usually talk of a headroom when it comes to power and amplifiers.Although it is clear if you play music that is very compressed, no peaks or valleys but more of a smooth porridge, it does not place such high demands on the amplifier. Which, incidentally, is mentioned in that video.

Does A More Powerful Amplifier Make Speakers Sound Better?

Does A More Powerful Amplifier Make Speakers Sound Better?

audiosciencereview.com

 

[AudioArchitech]

And wouldn't the amount of Filter Capacitance play a large role with dynamics as well. Can a Topping PA5 really compete with a similarly powered Hegel H95, Audiolab 6000A, NAD... I'm looking to get a PecanPi and power amplifier to replace my Integrated + Dac + PC combo. Was thinking Pa5 could do the trick for my Home system but I think I will be better off with a Hypex NC252MP with more headroom...

(speakers are 89 db, 120W, 4 ohm - Dual 6.5" + 1" Dome)

 

[Solveit]

And wouldn't the amount of Filter Capacitance play a large role with dynamics as well. Can a Topping PA5 really compete with a similarly powered Hegel H95, Audiolab 6000A, NAD... I'm looking to get a PecanPi and power amplifier to replace my Integrated + Dac + PC combo. Was thinking Pa5 could do the trick for my Home system but I think I will be better off with a Hypex NC252MP with more headroom...

(speakers are 89 db, 120W, 4 ohm - Dual 6.5" + 1" Dome)

Hegel?It's killed already and buried.

 

[DanielT]

And wouldn't the amount of Filter Capacitance play a large role with dynamics as well. Can a Topping PA5 really compete with a similarly powered Hegel H95, Audiolab 6000A, NAD... I'm looking to get a PecanPi and power amplifier to replace my Integrated + Dac + PC combo. Was thinking Pa5 could do the trick for my Home system but I think I will be better off with a Hypex NC252MP with more headroom...

(speakers are 89 db, 120W, 4 ohm - Dual 6.5" + 1" Dome)

Room size
What volume you listen to in general
Type of music you listen to, how it is recorded and mixed
Your age (hearing or not high frequencies)
Sensitivity to distortion (clipping)
Active Subwoffers (to relieve PA5)
There were a few things I came up with now you can weigh in (sensitivity, Ohm speakers you mentioned). There is certainly a lot more to consider. Just such a thing that one's own mood can affect how sensitive / picky one is. It can change from day to day.

You will probably have to try it out. You can see for yourself in the thread I linked to in my previous post how ambiguous and hovering it is and then there are still many in the thread who are very knowledgeable and experienced (not me).

Then Solveit is absolutely right in the comment above my post. Forget that Hegel

 

[xrk971]

The PA5 has only a single shared 2200uF of bulk rail capacitance between the PSU and the TPA3255 chip. The value recommended by the TI reference design is two 4700uF (one on each channel). This would dramatically increase the charge reserves for deep bass transients and also improve stereo channel separation. This is actually one area that was "skimped" probably due to the physical package limitations of making it fit into the standard box size shared with the L50 that it was meant to be used with. On my amp, I have dual 63v rated Nichicon 4700uF rail caps. I also have the +ve pin of the cap mounted only 15mm away from the Vdd power input pins of the TPA3255 using 2oz copper. Little details like this can matter, as well as using high strand count low impedance silicone "RC drone motor/battery" wire between the PSU and the amp and the amp and the binding posts.

 

[AudioArchitech]

Would this difference be noticeable if playing speakers to around 60Hz and Subwoofer handling the rest?