Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[pkane]

On the flip side, some people on ASR need to try more gear. Or get their ears measured. ie: too many believe all DACs sound the same..

Wait, is this the golden-ear section of ASR? I had no idea!

 

[AudioArchitech]

Don't forget the word Audio in Audiosciencereview. At the end of the day, ASR is a tool for an Audio experience. If should be acceptable to talk about the audio experience as well as the measurements.

 

[pkane]

Don't forget the word Audio in Audiosciencereview. At the end of the day, ASR is a tool for an Audio experience. If should be acceptable to talk about the audio experience as well as the measurements.

I seem to remember seeing the word Science here somewhere. Got any of that? Experience is fine, but flights of fancy and imagination unsupported by facts or science are not.

 

[BoredErica]

Don't forget the word Audio in Audiosciencereview. At the end of the day, ASR is a tool for an Audio experience. If should be acceptable to talk about the audio experience as well as the measurements.

Nowhere in ASR does it say "Audio Imagination Review'.

 

[AudioArchitech]

that’s right, it’s both audio and science

 

[pkane]

that’s right, it’s both audio and science

Yeah, glad we cleared that up. But is any of this related to PA5?

 

[AudioArchitech]

Do we need to clear that up still. Someone just mentioned their listening experience with PA5 and a Macintosh amp. It wasn’t solely an electrical signal and a measurement graph, get over it, it’s ok

 

[pkane]

Do we need to clear that up still. Someone just mentioned their listening experience with PA5 and a Macintosh amp. It wasn’t solely an electrical signal and a measurement graph, get over it, it’s ok

Huh? Did I say a word about his post?

 

[Xulonn]

On the flip side, some people on ASR need to try more gear. Or get their ears measured. ie: too many believe all DACs sound the same..

I've been a contributing member here for 3.5 years, and have never seen a post from a rational, science-minded member making that claim.

Surely you can name at least one since you claim there are many.

Trying more gear without double-blind testing doesn't prove anything. Unless listening comparisons are blind and rigorous in design, they are subject to psychoacoustic error - your brain will fool you. Knowing what DAC you are listening to prejudices humans with regards to the subjective evaluation of sound quality.

Audio science debunks many subjectivist myths.

 

[AudioArchitech]

well, if we’re going to get scientific, I said some on ASR ; )

 

[antcollinet]

On the flip side, some people on ASR need to try more gear. Or get their ears measured. ie: too many believe all DACs sound the same..

Again with the strawmen.

Some on here believe that all transparent measuring Dacs sound the same. (Flat FR, noise and distortion below audibility). They do - because what they put out is audibly exactly the same as what is put in. If that happens with two different dacs, they can't do anything other than sound the same.

If you have a DAC that measures poorly with audible noise and/or distortion - they can of course sound different. Some may even prefer the different sound, but it ain't HIFI.

 

[ogonex]

Znowu ze słomkami.

Ludzie wierzą, że wszystkie przezroczyste przetworniki pomiarowe DAC brzmią tak samo. (Płaskie FR, szumy i zniekształcenia poniżej słyszalności). Robią – ponieważ to, co wydają, jest słyszalnie dokładnie takie samo, jak to, co jest włożone. Jeśli tak się dzieje z dwoma różnymi przetwornikami, nie mogą zrobić nic innego niż brzmieć tak samo.

Jeśli masz przetwornik cyfrowo-analogowy, który słabo mierzy słyszalny szum i/lub zniekształcenia – mogą oczywiście brzmieć inaczej. Niektórzy mogą nawet preferować inny dźwięk, ale to nie jest HIFI.

heh. PCM1704

 

[gfinlays]

I finally took delivery of my PA5 today. No one in the UK has it in stock, so I ordered from Audiphonics.fr. Stacks very nicely with my E50 and L50 in my office/man cave setup. Drives a pair of (EQ'd) Emotiva B1+ on the desktop with an Emotiva SE8 taking care of the lower registers.

It replaces an old (though recently refurbished) Rotel RA-870.

I'm extremely pleased with this setup. The PA5 sounds so clean and the B1+ can take a fair amount of juice. It's tempting to really crank the volume. Even playing LOUD, there's not a hint of strain from either the amp or the speakers.

 

[AudioArchitech]

Crank it brother!

 

[pma]

It can be seen from the oscillogram that if the PA05 is connected unbalanced, it will work in a bad mode.
A through current will flow through the output keys of the TPA3251, therefore, a decrease in reliability, a decrease in output power and an increase in distortion.

The only thing visible from your scope shot is a phase reversal due to T (tip) grounded and R (ring) live. This is exactly the way how it should work. Normal is tip live and ring grounded, there will be no phase reversal then.

 

[whazzup]

Nowhere in ASR does it say "Audio Imagination Review'.

Audio Imagination Review -> AIR
Nice.... This needs to be a sister forum to ASR.

 

[AudioArchitech]

Audiosciencereview Homepage:

WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required as is 20 years of participation in forums (not all true). Come here to have fun, be ready to be teased and not take online life too seriously. We now measure and review equipment for free! Click here for details.

 

[Wirrunna]

Only issue I see with the 2X4HD is that with 2 V output you will not be able drive the PA5 to full power and it is not exactly super high powered to begin with. Although the relatively low gain of 19 dB on the PA5 would definitely help with hiss as the 2X4HD is rather noisy.

Michael

Michael, I have just hooked up a PA5 to a miniDSP 2x4HD as described here

Review and Measurements and miniDSP 2x4 HD DSP and DAC

Just FYI my 2x4HD is dead silent on 105db horns. Okay maybe a little hiss if my ear is literally right in the horn but certainly nothing from a meter or more. I keep reading about how noisy it is but it just isn't so. I have no attenuation before the compression drivers either. Don't let rumors...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[mdsimon2]

Michael, I have just hooked up a PA5 to a miniDSP 2x4HD as described here

Review and Measurements and miniDSP 2x4 HD DSP and DAC

Just FYI my 2x4HD is dead silent on 105db horns. Okay maybe a little hiss if my ear is literally right in the horn but certainly nothing from a meter or more. I keep reading about how noisy it is but it just isn't so. I have no attenuation before the compression drivers either. Don't let rumors...

audiosciencereview.com

Nice! So it looks like hiss/noise performance is acceptable without any additional mid/tweeter padding?

Running the numbers a PA5 / 2X4HD setup has predicted noise of 160 uV at the amplifier output. I my experience if that number is in the low to mid 100 uVs noise performance will be acceptable, so although that is slightly on the high end of the range it seems consistent with your experience. 19 dB gain and very low noise from the PA5 itself really help, honestly the PA5 is probably one of the best options for getting acceptable noise performance from a 2X4HD without any passive attenuation.

Michael

 

[LuisCarlosHK]

I am using Topping D70s with Rega IO.
Is it worth to change to Topping PA5?