Topping PA7 Plus Amplifier Review

[Firespeed]

Hello to all,

Thank you Amir for this review and these measures.

I didn't see this one coming (not so soon)...

Good replacement for the PA5 even if slightly below in terms of pure performance...certainly inaudible except on some high frequencies maybe?

The gain in power will delight some who needed it in certain configurations.

I also notice that if the E50 matched perfectly the PA5, today it is the E70/E70V which will make a very good stack for this PA7.

Another well placed offer that completes the existing catalog of the brand. A choice for all budgets without too many sacrifices...that's always appreciated.

 

[delta76]

Hello to all,

Thank you Amir for this review and these measures.

I didn't see this one coming (not so soon)...

Good replacement for the PA5 even if slightly below in terms of pure performance...certainly inaudible except on some high frequencies maybe?

The gain in power will delight some who needed it in certain configurations.

I also notice that if the E50 matched perfectly the PA5, today it is the E70/E70V which will make a very good stack for this PA7.

Another well placed offer that completes the existing catalog of the brand. A choice for all budgets without too many sacrifices...that's always appreciated.

102dB vs 105dB is completely transparent

 

[oppie]

I also notice that if the E50 matched perfectly the PA5, today it is the E70/E70V which will make a very good stack for this PA7.

Thats why it exists

 

[Music1969]

Very nice.

Like everything with Topping, wait at least 6 months after release, for any design and/or manufacturing issues to be properly sorted.

And should be nice.

3 of these for 6 channels DSP speaker - bargain.

 

[bud947]

I see that PA7 and LA90/LA90D share the same connector. Would it be possible to use the PA7 power brick (52v/6.5a) with the topping LA90/LA90D ?

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Can we see dashboard with volume bypassed?

 

[okok]

some much worse than la90

 

[delta76]

some much worse than la90

so much cheaper also.

 

[Waxx]

Quiet good, but a NC252MP based amp is cheaper, better and more powerfull. So not something i would buy or recommend as best deal. And we don't know about reliability and how it gets repaired as this is made in China still, with no local support dep.

 

[vkvedam]

Wouldn't we be better off getting the LA90 or the Hypex NC252MP (Audiophonics one for us in EU) for a little more and little less respectively?

PS: Golfing panther, @amirm feeling a bit generous in the middle of the night before going to sleep

 

[AdamG]

You are a Machine @amirm. Too work this hard in retirement. I can’t imagine, what it would have been like to have worked for you back during your hard charging years.

Well, maybe I can just a little

Thank you for your never ending drive to provide us with data focused reviews. Data and information that can and will help our Members/Readers to put together a “State of the Art” audio system. At prices that are reasonable and reachable. Breaking the Mythology that you must spend mega bucks to ever achieve SOA. Additionally directing the spotlight on the “extremely expensive Kit” that just functions to fleece our pockets, and in some cases actually degrades the audio quality chain.

The value you/we/us bring to the Audio Market is immense. Winning one new member at a time and constantly chipping away at the misinformation that permeates the Audio Market/Industry. Your persistence is contagious and commendable Sir! Thank you for giving a sh_t and fighting this fight for the average person.

 

[Vini darko]

Can't manage a flat frequency response into a resistor .

 

[TNT]

That rise of THD+N at 10 and 15Khz may be hard to hear (for older ones like me) but the 5Khz where we are sensitive is very close to be audible.
Otherwise decent power.

Thanks Amir!

The 5 k distortion trace describe "the level of distortion produced by a 5k signal" i.e. the first overtone is at 10k.... - no? (Your wrote "5Khz where we are sensitive")

I also thought this but then I watched the multi-tone again. And... well, most dirt is -115 down at 10k...

//

 

[RandomEar]

I don't know, but at >500 $ for an amp, I would expect the basics to be covered. That includes a flat frequency response. This seems to surpass 0.2 dB of deviation at 7 kHz and reaches 0.5 dB around 12 kHz. Due to the fact that the deviation is this broad, I would expect it to be audible to some degree. That's... not great. Yes, you can EQ this flaw out and you can't EQ in higher SINAD scores, but still.

 

[JakeK]

Thanks for such detailed measurements. I'm wondering how the volume pot compares to the one in the Topping PA3s which according to this post is disappointing compared to the main measurements.

Topping PA3s Review (Desktop Amplifier)

Does anyone have a channel misbalance under 1/4 volume. It seems that right channel is very slow to come up to the match volume of the left channel. I worked around it by lowering the volume of the DAC but i was wondering if there is a way to fix this permanently? Another thing i noticed with...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Despite this I'm still happy with the PA3s I bought but left wondering about how to attenuate the input in an inexpensive but hi-fi way so I can use the volume pot at a higher position where it's better balanced. I would want to be sure the volume pot in an amp is better than that before spending $500.

 

[Sokel]

I also thought this but then I watched the multi-tone again.

//

Multitone is at 5W,not full power.
And it is indeed odd that it appears as 80 SINAD in single measurement and -110 at Multitone even measured with the same bandwidth.

 

[JeremyFife]

Perversely pleased that this has dropped (inaudibly) in the SINAD ratings from PA5/LA90 ... hugely impressive performance.

Hypex challenging, decent power, trigger, bypassable volume, balanced and a neat form factor. Really very quiet indeed and not expensive in the grand scheme of things. Distortion drifts with frequency (above 5 kHz) - not Hypex performance - and I'm not completely clear if this is an audible issue, looks like it might be (but minor?).
Cracking amp, looking forward to the review of the regular PA7

 

[anotherhobby]

My PA5 is still in operation, but after seeing nearly 50% of these fail in the ASR population, I'm a bit scarred by Topping reliability fear. Can't say I'd be the first on to jump on this one after seeing so many turn to paper weights. Topping has proven plenty of things with their little amps, unfortunately reliability is not yet one of them.

That said, this is indeed very impressive performance if you are willing to take your chances.

 

[pma]

Multitone is at 5W,not full power.
And it is indeed odd that it appears as 80 SINAD in single measurement and -110 at Multitone even measured with the same bandwidth.

Multitone has very low amplitudes of individual sine tones. It is constituted of 32 tones and their sum may not exceed the maximum swing. Thus it is not too difficult signal for the amplifier and especially it does not reveal large signal non-linearity at high frequencies. It does not reveal slew induced distortion, e.g. The result is strongly dependent on non-linearity profile and its frequency dependence. It is just one of the test signals and it cannot substitute 2-tone IMD testing like DIN IMD and CCIF.

 

[Lambda]

Way worse then expected. Still perfectly fine.