Topping PA5 Review (Amplifier)

[Loathecliff]

Isn't that a merging of Value and Fellate... just a fancy way of saying a cheap blowjob? (Sorry... I couldn't resist the joke)

What would Georgia (Gray Lines..) O'K. do with you?

 

[mike70]

You didn't 'mike70'. Your command of the English language outstrips mine.
Embarrassingly for me, it is a word

Definition of VALVULATE

having valvules… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

I translated quickly (without real knowledge) from the spanish word "valvulado" (something like "with valves")... and it is good ... LOL

I need to go to the casino

 

[tc531]

I'm using 32v 5a power supply from an Aiyima a07. It runs cooler and has been perfect for months. I'm using it on my desktop and don't need any more power. At some point in time I will be changing to a higher quality smps of a similar voltage, but, for now, it's fine.

How did you find the pa5 compared to the a07?

 

[AudioArchitech]

I finally just sent my defective PA5 to China (from Canada) and it cost me $130 (14 days Canada Post) for shipping! Purolator, Fedex.. quoted around $350 !?!?!?! Be very careful who you buy from, you don’t want to have to pay shipping to Hifigo in China like I did.

p.s Hifigo didn’t publish my 1 star review. I only see the same 5 positive reviews. Shady

 

[TheBatsEar]

I finally just sent my defective PA5 to China (from Canada) and it cost me $130 (14 days Canada Post) for shipping! Purolator, Fedex.. quoted around $350 !?!?!?! Be very careful who you buy from, you don’t want to have to pay shipping to Hifigo in China like I did.

p.s Hifigo didn’t publish my 1 star review. I only see the same 5 positive reviews. Shady

Damn, that sucks. I feel your pain.

 

[Selkirks]

Be very careful who you buy from, you don’t want to have to pay shipping to Hifigo in China like I did.

Just a note for any future shoppers from Canada.

Aoshida Audio (purchased on Amazon) provided me with a return address in the GTA when my LA90 failed.

 

[Toku]

I'm using PA5, PA3 and AO200 now, but I'm very interested in the newly released Sabaj A20a 2022 and SMSL A300.
The chips used for both units are Infineon MA5332MS.

Sabaj Audio Official-Sabaj音频官网

Since the establishment of our company, we have been committed to an enterprise integrating audio product design, R&D, production, market operation and service.There are mainly three categories: decoder/headphone amplifier/power amplifier. Our company is composed of a group of members who love...

www.sabaj.com.cn

A300

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

 

[iLoveCats]

I'm using PA5, PA3 and AO200 now, but I'm very interested in the newly released Sabaj A20a 2022 and SMSL A300.
The chips used for both units are Infineon MA5332MS.

Sabaj Audio Official-Sabaj音频官网

Since the establishment of our company, we have been committed to an enterprise integrating audio product design, R&D, production, market operation and service.There are mainly three categories: decoder/headphone amplifier/power amplifier. Our company is composed of a group of members who love...

www.sabaj.com.cn

A300

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

These products look like something I would want also. We are really living in a great time for hi-fi.

 

[Bleib]

I'm using PA5, PA3 and AO200 now, but I'm very interested in the newly released Sabaj A20a 2022 and SMSL A300.
The chips used for both units are Infineon MA5332MS.

Sabaj Audio Official-Sabaj音频官网

Since the establishment of our company, we have been committed to an enterprise integrating audio product design, R&D, production, market operation and service.There are mainly three categories: decoder/headphone amplifier/power amplifier. Our company is composed of a group of members who love...

www.sabaj.com.cn

A300

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

I dunno, the new Sabaj has a worse SNR than their own discontinued A8

 

[JohnnyNG]

Looking for a small subwoofer amp, either could fit the bill nicely it seems.

 

[TwoEyedJack]

The amp comes with a 38V 4A power brick, how is it possible to output more than 100 Watts per channel with a 150 watt power supply?

 

[peng]

The amp comes with a 38V 4A power brick, how is it possible to output more than 100 Watts per channel with a 150 watt power supply?

It is possible if that 100 WPC is not "continuous". Manufacturers may even use the term continuous in their published specs, but they likely didn't mean literally continuous, in those cases, they could have meant based on continuous sine wave input signal.

 

[TwoEyedJack]

It is possible if that 100 WPC is not "continuous". Manufacturers may even use the term continuous in their published specs, but they likely didn't mean literally continuous, in those cases, they could have meant based on continuous sine wave input signal.

Yhea, but that's the number amirm states on his review of the amp. Don't we know his testing methodology ?

 

[chuckt62]

Perhaps:
34*4*0.707/2=107.5W RMS

 

[Vladetz]

Power supply can actually output 8A
It was confirmed by @JohnYang1997

 

[peng]

Yhea, but that's the number amirm states on his review of the amp. Don't we know his testing methodology ?

What number? If his "continuous" referred to using a continuous sine wave only, but without stating the test duration then it could be for 1 minute, 10 minutes, or shorter, or longer, we have to ask him that question.

Power supplies can output more, even much more than their specified output rating under overload conditions depending on the duration.

 

[mdsimon2]

What number? If his "continuous" referred to using a continuous sine wave only, but without stating the test duration then it could be for 1 minute, 10 minutes, or shorter, or longer, we have to ask him that question.

Power supplies can output more, even much more than their specified output rating under overload conditions depending on the duration.

I asked Amir this after I observed that my Behringer A800 dropped power output after 10 seconds of full output -> https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...lifier-with-sinad-over-120.31305/post-1151445.

Short story is the power vs THD+N sweep takes less than a minute and spends about 5-10 seconds at high power output levels.

Michael

 

[tvih]

Been reading up for endless hours about PA5 directly and related topics... with little to show for it. The considered use case for it? Well-measuring high-end speakers (Dynaudio Confidence C1, $6500 MSRP). Rated 4 ohm, with no measured dips below that. Most "conservative" audiophiles would consider it lunacy to even consider a $/€350 amp for that, just like I've gotten a lot of flak for my current amplification many, many times over the years. But given how much for more affordable high quality amplification is these days, I can't help but wonder...

My thinking is: there's more than enough wattage as I don't normally reach more than 1 Wpc peaks. Current handling seems at least reasonably good given the 72% increase in power from 8 ohm to 4 ohm (a good indicator is getting as close to 100% as possible, or so I've read). Obviously very clean measurements overall, at least for the usual ones amir does for his reviews. But can it really reasonably match up to such high-end speakers even so? With or without a subwoofer to lighten the load? Going just by measurements from what I understand I don't see why it wouldn't work for controlled, clean, neutral, detailed playback at the volumes I need. Excellent crosstalk seems to imply good stereo imaging as well, which is important to me. But these are hardly the only measurements one could make - yet even if more was available I'm certainly no electrical engineer, or particularly knowledgeable about the measurements and other super-technical considerations even from just a hobby perspective.

Subjective opinions I've found here and elsewhere are a crapshoot as usual when put together. There's such variance in opinions and so many biases in play, be it an "innate" dislike/distrust towards small devices and Class D from the "traditional/conservative" crowd, or disproportionate praise based on just the measurements without even owning it on the other end. Some users/reviewers praise it to high heavens with absolute terms, then end up saying it's nice for the price. Eh, not very helpful. Others think even cheaper products can match it, like from Aiyima and such. Some claim a lack of "power" even when not clipping - mainly referring to lower frequencies. Would not being closer to the ability to fully double the wattage at 4 vs 8 ohm really result in such, given no dips to below 4 ohm? I'm not sure what else it could be - so assuming the "lack" was real to begin with rather than the absence of some kind of coloring in the sound or something, what would even allow for comparison with other options without a live audition?

So it firstly becomes a question of whether it's a sane consideration to begin with, and then secondly how it compares to other options at various prices as well as my current Audio Analogue Puccini stereo amp ($700 MSRP), a 1997 model - whether it's a meaningful upgrade or not. While not super costly, I don't have exactly great finances these days so that I could afford "mispurchases". The core problem is not being able to audition/compare without buying. It's no wonder I jumped off the upgrade bandwagon after getting the C1s 11 years ago. Back then any upgrade path would've been even costlier than now.

 

[Slayer]

Been reading up for endless hours about PA5 directly and related topics... with little to show for it. The considered use case for it? Well-measuring high-end speakers (Dynaudio Confidence C1, $6500 MSRP). Rated 4 ohm, with no measured dips below that. Most "conservative" audiophiles would consider it lunacy to even consider a $/€350 amp for that, just like I've gotten a lot of flak for my current amplification many, many times over the years. But given how much for more affordable high quality amplification is these days, I can't help but wonder...

My thinking is: there's more than enough wattage as I don't normally reach more than 1 Wpc peaks. Current handling seems at least reasonably good given the 72% increase in power from 8 ohm to 4 ohm (a good indicator is getting as close to 100% as possible, or so I've read). Obviously very clean measurements overall, at least for the usual ones amir does for his reviews. But can it really reasonably match up to such high-end speakers even so? With or without a subwoofer to lighten the load? Going just by measurements from what I understand I don't see why it wouldn't work for controlled, clean, neutral, detailed playback at the volumes I need. Excellent crosstalk seems to imply good stereo imaging as well, which is important to me. But these are hardly the only measurements one could make - yet even if more was available I'm certainly no electrical engineer, or particularly knowledgeable about the measurements and other super-technical considerations even from just a hobby perspective.

Subjective opinions I've found here and elsewhere are a crapshoot as usual when put together. There's such variance in opinions and so many biases in play, be it an "innate" dislike/distrust towards small devices and Class D from the "traditional/conservative" crowd, or disproportionate praise based on just the measurements without even owning it on the other end. Some users/reviewers praise it to high heavens with absolute terms, then end up saying it's nice for the price. Eh, not very helpful. Others think even cheaper products can match it, like from Aiyima and such. Some claim a lack of "power" even when not clipping - mainly referring to lower frequencies. Would not being closer to the ability to fully double the wattage at 4 vs 8 ohm really result in such, given no dips to below 4 ohm? I'm not sure what else it could be - so assuming the "lack" was real to begin with rather than the absence of some kind of coloring in the sound or something, what would even allow for comparison with other options without a live audition?

So it firstly becomes a question of whether it's a sane consideration to begin with, and then secondly how it compares to other options at various prices as well as my current Audio Analogue Puccini stereo amp ($700 MSRP), a 1997 model - whether it's a meaningful upgrade or not. While not super costly, I don't have exactly great finances these days so that I could afford "mispurchases". The core problem is not being able to audition/compare without buying. It's no wonder I jumped off the upgrade bandwagon after getting the C1s 11 years ago. Back then any upgrade path would've been even costlier than now.

Lot to take in, so i'll try and be brief with my answer. First off, no need to try and equate price with performance. They rarely go hand in hand. You may first want to try your current amp with the speakers you spoke of, good chance you will be perfectly happy with what you already have.
As for never going over 1 watt as you say. I think you would be surprised, even listening at low or normal levels, it's pretty easy to exceed the 1 watt max you speak of.
Regarding the PA5, I doubt you would need to have any worries regarding power and sound quality. The only thing I would be concerned about is Quality control, warranty repair service hassles.

 

[Selkirks]

The considered use case for it? Well-measuring high-end speakers (Dynaudio Confidence C1, $6500 MSRP). Rated 4 ohm, with no measured dips below that. Most "conservative" audiophiles would consider it lunacy to even consider a $/€350 amp for that

I used the PA5 with (MSRP) $28,000 horns and $13,000 electrostatic speakers. At no point did the PA5 sound like the weak link. Lunacy is believing megabuck amps are superior because of pricing. I was guilty of the $$$ = better behavior in the past.