Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[TheWalkman]

(I can hear the first click under foot already but I will proceed with this post anyway....)

My PA 5 finally arrived Saturday after a two week journey from China. The Topping E50 had already arrived as well as some TRS cables from Amazon.

I hooked things up Saturday with the enthusiasm of a twelve year old on Christmas morning.

I've now had two days of listening and here are my thoughts.

The amp and DAC are connected to a Raspberry Pi W2 with a microUSB to USB B cable and a Sangean HD20 FM receiver with a co-ax and optical cables. (I had the cables on hand so why not. BTW, no difference in sound between the co-ax and optical that I can tell.)

The amp is connected to a pair of Elac Reference DBR62 speakers. 12g, braided, copper wire connecting the speakers.

Prior to Saturday, I was switching between an Aiyima 04 and 07 amps powered by a Mean Well 36 V, 7A power brick (GST 220A36-R78). Full disclosure, I have 1612 op amps in both the Aiyimas.

Completely subjective observations

The PA 5 sounds good. Very crisp, clean sound.

- Power: Though there has been doubt that it has enough power to drive the Elacs - quoting Amir from his Elac review, "So you better have a beefy amplifier to drive this speaker." the PA5 (and the Aiyimas) drives these speakers quite well.

- Having to deal with the TRS cables is a pain in the neck.

- When in idle mode, the case is slightly warm to the touch. (By comparison, the Aiyimas seem to be room temperature even when cranked up.)

- Sounds great

Do I like the set-up? Absolutely. Is it and end-game configuration? I haven't closed my Visa account just yet.

Recommendations

Would I recommend the Topping and DAC? I would, but only if you have the spare cash and want to know that you have a small system that specs out in the ethereal test zones of ASR reviews.

If you can't rationalize/ justify/ get the wife to let you drop three K on a Benchmark to know you have the biggest, baddest, kick-butt config there is, this isn't a bad runner-up, particularly if you're not worried about impressing the neighbors with how loud you can crank the music, or your buddies at how cool your $20K stereo set-up looks.

The Porsche GT3 factor just doesn't play with the Topping config.

However, if you're just getting into audiophilia or your budget is more modest, go with an Aiyima 04 or 07 with the Mean Well Power supply and a cheap RCA A-B-C selector switch for input. (For some reason - subjective- I like the sound of the 04 over the 07 but it's subtle (or imaginary).) Attach a Rasberry Pi streamer to your configutation and you're rocking.

Total spend on the Aiyimas: about $125. With the Topping, and cables, I'm at around $625. The Topping is a very nice system but not worth the extra $500 IMHO. If my budget were tight, I'd recommend putting the $500 into better speakers like the Elacs (which, btw, I am infatuated with) instead.

My .02.

(Let me take this opportunity to don my Nomex fire suit for some protection from the flames that will, I know, soon be coming my way!)

 

[maty]

(I can hear the first click under foot already but I will proceed with this post anyway....)

Have you tried acoustic recordings or electric instrumentation? Orchestral mass?

 

[voodooless]

"Normal music" will far less revealing. All depends on what you want to know...

I wanna know if we can hear these kinds of phase shifts in real actual music (pick something, I don't really care what). So far, only @maty seems to vehemently claim that he can, but we have to take his word for it.

If this were really so much of an issue, we should also all just stop EQ'ing our room and headphones. All those EQ's also influence the phase, and not only in the HF. Sure, a handful of people will use phase linear filters, but @maty seems to think they sound worse as well. So apparently one cannot win

 

[KSTR]

Minphase filters filters for minphase problems, simple as that. Hilbert!
Linphase PEQ is for sound effects (as they have pre-and post-ringing).

 

[DanielT]

(I can hear the first click under foot already but I will proceed with this post anyway....)

My PA 5 finally arrived Saturday after a two week journey from China. The Topping E50 had already arrived as well as some TRS cables from Amazon.

I hooked things up Saturday with the enthusiasm of a twelve year old on Christmas morning.

I've now had two days of listening and here are my thoughts.

The amp and DAC are connected to a Raspberry Pi W2 with a microUSB to USB B cable and a Sangean HD20 FM receiver with a co-ax and optical cables. (I had the cables on hand so why not. BTW, no difference in sound between the co-ax and optical that I can tell.)

The amp is connected to a pair of Elac Reference DBR62 speakers. 12g, braided, copper wire connecting the speakers.

Prior to Saturday, I was switching between an Aiyima 04 and 07 amps powered by a Mean Well 36 V, 7A power brick (GST 220A36-R78). Full disclosure, I have 1612 op amps in both the Aiyimas.

Completely subjective observations

The PA 5 sounds good. Very crisp, clean sound.

- Power: Though there has been doubt that it has enough power to drive the Elacs - quoting Amir from his Elac review, "So you better have a beefy amplifier to drive this speaker." the PA5 (and the Aiyimas) drives these speakers quite well.

- Having to deal with the TRS cables is a pain in the neck.

- Sounds great

Do I like the set-up? Absolutely. Is it and end-game configuration? I haven't closed my Visa account just yet.

Recommendations

Would I recommend the Topping and DAC? I would, but only if you have the spare cash and want to know that you have a small system that specs out in the ethereal test zones of ASR reviews.

If you can't rationalize/ justify/ get the wife to let you drop three K on a Benchmark to know you have the biggest, baddest, kick-butt config there is, this isn't a bad runner-up, particularly if you're not worried about impressing the neighbors with how loud you can crank the music, or your buddies at how cool your $20K stereo set-up looks.

The Porsche GT3 factor just doesn't play with the Topping config.

However, if you're just getting into audiophilia or your budget is more modest, go with an Aiyima 04 or 07 with the Mean Well Power supply and a cheap RCA A-B-C selector switch for input. (For some reason - subjective- I like the sound of the 04 over the 07 but it's subtle (or imaginary).) Attach a Rasberry Pi streamer to your configutation and you're rocking.

Total spend on the Aiyimas: about $125. With the Topping, and cables, I'm at around $625. The Topping is a very nice system but not worth the extra $500 IMHO. If my budget were tight, I'd recommend putting the $500 into better speakers like the Elacs (which, btw, I am infatuated with) instead.

My .02.

(Let me take this opportunity to don my Nomex fire suit for some protection from the flames that will, I know, soon be coming my way!)

It was fun to hear, but beware of writing how you think something sounds here on ASR (even if you point out that these are subjective impressions). It was those who got a little angry, in this thread, when I said that it would be fun to hear what the new PA5 owner thinks of it.

I'm not that picky. I take subjective listening impressions with a pinch of salt. Just think it's fun that people get to express their joy over new Hifi gadgets..

 

[F1308]

It was fun to hear, but beware of writing how you think something sounds here on ASR (even if you point out that these are subjective impressions). It was those who got a little angry, in this thread, when I said that it would be fun to hear what the new PA5 owner thinks of it.

I'm not that picky. I take subjective listening impressions with a pinch of salt. Just think it's fun that people get to express their joy over new Hifi gadgets..

You are lucky...
I have a message saying my PA5 is being processed.
Give me a week and I will express my feelings very willingly.
Roland Fantom 8 synthesizer>XLR output>Roland cable RCC-3-TRXF 1 m>TRS Jack>Topping PA5>Bananas>Definitive Technology Mythos ST around 1 meter away.

 

[bravomail]

Total spend on the Aiyimas: about $125. With the Topping, and cables, I'm at around $625. The Topping is a very nice system but not worth the extra $500 IMHO. If my budget were tight, I'd recommend putting the $500 into better speakers like the Elacs (which, btw, I am infatuated with) instead.

it is what I suspect. It will be hard to hear differences between A07 and PA5, depending on signal (FM receiver, really?), except for speaker hiss. Hiss will be gone. But try testing with complex FLAC file music. With multiple instruments etc.

 

[TheWalkman]

Have you tried acoustic recordings or electric instrumentation? Orchestral mass?

Good question, Maty.

On new configs. gear, etc, I often listen to late era jazz when I get things hooked up. I have been listening to some vocals, orchestral and organ pieces. No question the PA5 sounds great to my ears. You've given me an excuse to pull out some old materials to listen to.

With either the PA5 and the Aimiyas and the Elacs, the quality of sound is something I would have killed for when I got into the hobby as a teenager in the Seventies. (My first real config was a Harmon Karden Citation 11 and 12 and tuner driving JBL L65s. The weak link was always the cassette deck, tuner or turntable feeding these, though this got a lot better with my first CD player in the early Eighties. In those days, even the best, chrome tapes sound like AM radio compared to what we have today.

To my ears I'm finding these great, new systems are particularly unforgiving for recordings from the Seventies (I'll pick on old Return to Forever like Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy or even Rolling Stones) which just don't have the dynamic range and clarity that modern recordings have. Listening to these pieces just sound flat compared to recordings from the last 10 or 15 years. When these recordings were first introduced they sounded great, probably because we didn't have anything better to compare them to. Now we do.

The conclusion I'm coming to is that with inexpensive, digital technology and great engineering, we're really chasing numbers on paper in search of the audio Holy Grail of reproduction. In reality, reproduction is far beyond what our ears can discerne (or at least I can): the Achilles Heel in Audio is the care, smarts and work that goes into engineering the recordings and there's a great deal of variance in the quality of the product we listen to.

 

[TheWalkman]

it is what I suspect. It will be hard to hear differences between A07 and PA5, depending on signal (FM receiver, really?), except for speaker hiss. Hiss will be gone. But try testing with complex FLAC file music. With multiple instruments etc.

With the Pi and the HD receiver (yes I actually force the PA5 reproduce the news and even the obnoxious voice of a DJ from time to time. The travesty! I hope no one calls Social Services and demands that I give up custody of my PA5), I don't get any hiss at all with either amp.

 

[pma]

it is what I suspect. It will be hard to hear differences between A07 and PA5, depending on signal (FM receiver, really?), except for speaker hiss. Hiss will be gone. But try testing with complex FLAC file music. With multiple instruments etc.

A07 emphasizes top end. Period. Many listeners like it, especially in the beginning and beginners. It is similar as if Amir writes about speakers that emphasize top end, first impression may be an excitement.

 

[F1308]

The Porsche GT3 factor just doesn't play with the Topping config.

Which is the one to get as we go 30...?

 

[TheWalkman]

A07 emphasizes top end. Period. Many listeners like it, especially in the beginning and beginners. It is similar as if Amir writes about speakers that emphasize top end, first impression may be an excitement.

PMA,

To me, the 04 sounds subtly better than the 07 but they both sound fine with the Elacs and they drive the Elacs as loud as I need.

I really wish Amir would test the Aiyima 04 and prove me right or burst my bubble.

Though I didn't mention it earlier, I also have a Niles 2150 (I will be installing it in a home theater configuration) that I've swapped in for giggles and it sounds great too.

To my earlier conclusion: many of the electronics are getting so clean that the small differences are beyond the ears of the average listener and many of us (or at least I) are chasing technical specs not sound.

 

[Bleib]

Holy moly, just read the review. And here I am building a multichannel system..
Edit: Well, I'll skip it because of balanced and no remote.

 

[TheWalkman]

Which is the one to get as we go 30...?

Amen.

However, if you've ever driven a 911 on the autobahn, you get the religion in a hurry.

For most people, though, particularly in the US, all those ponies in the back are wasted (though it is kind of fun to watch the heads turn and thumbs go up. And yes, I've owned Porsches, and no, never a GT-3!)

These days, I bemuse myself with $75 amps, cheap speakers, good music and an occasional craft beer.

 

[TheWalkman]

Holy moly, just read the review. And here I am building a multichannel system..

Bleib,

Go for it. The PA5 sounds great and if you have the budget, by all means get the Topping.

I'm thinking, though, particularly of the 16 year old who, like me in the day, didn’t have the parents credit card, but, instead, put in the long hours cutting neighbors lawns or working at grunt jobs after school to save up for that first audio system. For those kids or people who are on a tighter budget, I say put your hard earned money into better speakers like the Elacs instead of the Topping amp.

 

[F1308]

Amen.

However, if you've ever driven a 911 on the autobahn, you get the religion in a hurry.

For most people, though, particularly in the US, all those ponies in the back are wasted (though it is kind of fun to watch the heads turn and thumbs go up. And yes, I've owned Porsches, and no, never a GT-3!)

These days, I bemuse myself with $75 amps, cheap speakers, good music and an occasional craft beer.

Not quite wasted until acceleration limits be imposed.
Or are there any already...?

 

[F1308]

These days, I bemuse myself with $75 amps, cheap speakers, good music and an occasional craft beer.

In two words: Carpe Diem.
They were so clever, and smart...?
Clever seems more than enough most of the time.

 

[BadAudioAdvice]

My thoughts on the E50 + PA5 combo, using a Pioneer DVD-V7400 to play CDs as the source (via digital coax), and powering a pair of Magnepan MMG speakers.

The MMGs are usually powered by a Yamaha CA-2010 (which heats up our living room/apartment too much in the summer - hence the reason for wanting a cool running amp like the PA5).

Also, since I am in an apartment, I need to be mindful and modest with the volume.

Knowing that Magnepans are contentious 'round these parts...I won't comment on the characteristics of the sound

I'll just say that I enjoyed how the PA5 sounds with the MMGs

I listening to jazz, then electronic, rock, and finally classical orchestral (which I find past a certain point depends more on recording rather than speakers/amps).

My observations of the PA5 with "power-hungry" speakers like the Magnepans:
1. Had to turn up the volume to half-way to get to get close to the loudest level that I would normally be comfortable with in the apartment. I was surprised at this, I'm usually used to keeping amplifier volume controls within the first 20-30%.
2. The perceived volume wasn't increasing that much as I moved closed to the half-way point on the dial.
3. The case gets warm (I don't have a way to measure the temperature). Warm, but not at all hot.
4. The power supply is cool.
5. The switches (power, and source), feel nice. Hard to read the labels though. I always seem to forget which is the source switch.
6. There is a little green light in the front that shows when it's on. The size of the light, and color doesn't seem to match the display colours and style of the E50 that the PA5 is sitting on.

The Yamaha is packed away at the moment, but I hope to hook it back up so that I can compare the two amplifiers.

I am curious about how much power the Yamaha is using to achieve the same volume levels. If my memory is correct, and the power meters on the front are accurate, I was usually hovering around 1-10W per channel. That's why I was surprised that I had to turn the volume dial up on the PA5 to the half-way point.

 

[Doodski]

Not quite wasted until acceleration limits be imposed.
Or are there any already...?

In Canada it's called stunting. Coppers dislike it. They instantly confiscate the vehicle(s) and hand out fines and points and a sentence right there roadside. Usually weeks to months of no driver's license.

 

[TheWalkman]

My thoughts on the E50 + PA5 combo, using a Pioneer DVD-V7400 to play CDs as the source (via digital coax), and powering a pair of Magnepan MMG speakers.

The MMGs are usually powered by a Yamaha CA-2010 (which heats up our living room/apartment too much in the summer - hence the reason for wanting a cool running amp like the PA5).

Also, since I am in an apartment, I need to be mindful and modest with the volume.

Knowing that Magnepans are contentious 'round these parts...I won't comment on the characteristics of the sound

I'll just say that I enjoyed how the PA5 sounds with the MMGs

I listening to jazz, then electronic, rock, and finally classical orchestral (which I find past a certain point depends more on recording rather than speakers/amps).

My observations of the PA5 with "power-hungry" speakers like the Magnepans:
1. Had to turn up the volume to half-way to get to get close to the loudest level that I would normally be comfortable with in the apartment. I was surprised at this, I'm usually used to keeping amplifier volume controls within the first 20-30%.
2. The perceived volume wasn't increasing that much as I moved closed to the half-way point on the dial.
3. The case gets warm (I don't have a way to measure the temperature). Warm, but not at all hot.
4. The power supply is cool.
5. The switches (power, and source), feel nice. Hard to read the labels though. I always seem to forget which is the source switch.
6. There is a little green light in the front that shows when it's on. The size of the light, and color doesn't seem to match the display colours and style of the E50 that the PA5 is sitting on.

The Yamaha is packed away at the moment, but I hope to hook it back up so that I can compare the two amplifiers.

I am curious about how much power the Yamaha is using to achieve the same volume levels. If my memory is correct, and the power meters on the front are accurate, I was usually hovering around 1-10W per channel. That's why I was surprised that I had to turn the volume dial up on the PA5 to the half-way point.

Bad Audio,

I hooked my Kill A Watt up and the resting draw of the PA50 and DAC is 5 - 6 Watts. Even when I had the volume up, the power draw was modest. (In other posts, people always ask how a small power brick (in the case of the Topping, 152W output) can drive big output. I believe the short answer is transient signals and big power supply capacitors but that's a separate discussion.)

I actually like how efficient these Class D amps are. Nothing wrong with listening to great music and being Green.

For giggles, I'll reset my Kill A Watt now and will check it next Monday to get an idea of how many KWHs I use in a week of average usage/ listening.