Topping PA7 Plus Amplifier Review

[SiamXIII]

Would it be a good idea to biamp it with LA90 on Kef R3s?

 

[NTK]

Would it be a good idea to biamp it with LA90 on Kef R3s?

It is rarely a good idea to biamp anything.

Bi-amping 101

This article provides a quick look at how bi-amplification works. The conventional scheme is to split the signal into two frequency bands before the power amplifiers that drive the speakers. The bass (LF) amp sees only LF signals and drives only the LF driver (woofer). The treble (HF) amp sees...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[delta76]

Would it be a good idea to biamp it with LA90 on Kef R3s?

no. no benefits yet you complicates your set up. better sell your LA90 and buy a more powerful amp

 

[elsonido]

Is it generally too early to gauge the reliability of the PA7 Plus? I am wondering how it is faring vs early LA90 Discrete amps.

 

[mlieber507]

It looks like your review may be showing more watts out (470 watts) than the power supply is rated for (340 watts).

 

[elsonido]

Is it generally better to leave my pa7 on most of the time? I am learning but I was not certain of the stress on caps on/off, versus limiting overall operation time of this amp. Coming from a failed la90 d and I actually like this amp better for my use case. I am ok with with the general risk of unit failure I just want to mitigate the possibility of failure if there something I can do/best practice for this design.

 

[Blink Too Fast]

It becomes too hot to touch for more than ~3 seconds, even with no music playing.
I use it only in bypass mode.
It has a shelf to itself in an open rack with no sides.

Is it normal to be this hot?

 

[mike70]

Is it generally better to leave my pa7 on most of the time? I am learning but I was not certain of the stress on caps on/off, versus limiting overall operation time of this amp. Coming from a failed la90 d and I actually like this amp better for my use case. I am ok with with the general risk of unit failure I just want to mitigate the possibility of failure if there something I can do/best practice for this design.

It becomes too hot to touch for more than ~3 seconds, even with no music playing.
I use it only in bypass mode.
It has a shelf to itself in an open rack with no sides.

Is it normal to be this hot?

I'll never understand why after all the warnings / advices sended here in ASR about these new topping amplifiers we continue to see these kind of posts.

Why leaving the amp powered on can be a source of failure?
Why the amp powered on without reproducing music can get high temperature?

We all never had / forget what a decent amplifier behaves?

 

[Blink Too Fast]

I'll never understand why after all the warnings / advices sended here in ASR about these new topping amplifiers we continue to see these kind of posts.

I see lots of posts warning about early failure.

I do not see any posts, not even one, saying they become hot even when not amplifying anything.

Is it normal for them to be untouchably hot when not being driven?

 

[Namesbuck]

I see lots of posts warning about early failure.

I do not see any posts, not even one, saying they become hot even when not amplifying anything.

Is it normal for them to be untouchably hot when not being driven?

My early release PA7 is functioning fine. It triggers on from an E70 and I keep it at 12 o'clock on the volume dial and if the e70 is at 0 db then with my speakers I can hit 86 db peaks. Which is plenty loud in my room.

Does it get hot? Yes, if played for more than a short period. It's designed that way. It uses the case as a heat sink which has been mentioned on this thread. If it's not playing music it's room temp.

 

[Blink Too Fast]

Does it get hot? Yes, if played for more than a short period. It's designed that way. It uses the case as a heat sink which has been mentioned on this thread. If it's not playing music it's room temp.

Thanks, @Namesbuck . Mine gets hot with no music, so is defective. I'll ask for an exchange.

 

[mike70]

My early release PA7 is functioning fine. It triggers on from an E70 and I keep it at 12 o'clock on the volume dial and if the e70 is at 0 db then with my speakers I can hit 86 db peaks. Which is plenty loud in my room.

Does it get hot? Yes, if played for more than a short period. It's designed that way. It uses the case as a heat sink which has been mentioned on this thread. If it's not playing music it's room temp.

I have an amplifier with case cooling (transistors are bounded to the case) and I can use it for hours at high volume without any temperature anomaly .... and it have only 70 watts at 8 ohms.

If your amplifier gets hot with normal use and you don't have 2 ohms speakers ... is not good. At all.

 

[Toku]

PA5 ll and PA7 heat up considerably over time when the power is turned on. For this reason, the case has slit holes for ventilation. Even if it is a class D amplifier, if the case is small, the heat will be trapped inside and it will feel hot.
In particular, PA5ll and PA7 generate more heat than other products using the same IC chip because the voltage of the power adapter is set to the maximum value of the amplifier chip rating in order to obtain better performance.
However, how the heat is felt varies greatly depending on the individual and the ambient temperature.
It feels extra hot especially in the summer season. In my tests so far, when the room temperature exceeds 28℃, it feels quite hot.
However, if the heat generation is about PA5 ll or PA7, there is no problem with the internal electronic circuit.
If it's a tube amp or a class A amp, it will generate enough heat to cause burns.

 

[mike70]

If it's a tube amp or a class A amp, it will generate enough heat to cause burns.

Yes, but did you see the price tag for a reliable class A amplifier with good power?
I don't see many posts about Pass Labs, Sugden, etc, failures in any forum.
Or tubes ... in decades.

Temperature is a mortal enemy of reliability/longevity ... to have high temperature and the properties mentioned ... surely price must be higher.

 

[Toku]

Yes, but did you see the price tag for a reliable class A amplifier with good power?
I don't see many posts about Pass Labs, Sugden, etc, failures in any forum.
Or tubes ... in decades.

Temperature is a mortal enemy of reliability/longevity ... to have high temperature and the properties mentioned ... surely price must be higher.

Yes, I fully understand your point. I was involved in the development of audio and video equipment that required a high degree of reliability, so I know how difficult it is. Heat generation was particularly important, and these devices were required to operate continuously for many years. Some of the older development products used vacuum tubes.
Therefore, based on my experience, I said that there is no need to worry about the heat generation of PA5 ll and PA7. But that's only if it's designed correctly.

 

[mike70]

Yes, I fully understand your point. I was involved in the development of audio and video equipment that required a high degree of reliability, so I know how difficult it is. Heat generation was particularly important, and these devices were required to operate continuously for many years. Some of the older development products used vacuum tubes.
Therefore, based on my experience, I said that there is no need to worry about the heat generation of PA5 ll and PA7. But that's only if it's designed correctly.

Ok, I agree with you.
My point is "please, wait some months to see if these amps were well designed about it"

Until now, we saw some "strange behavior" ... unless topping pa5 2 selling counts in some thousands.

 

[Blink Too Fast]

Ok, I agree with you.
My point is "please, wait some months to see if these amps were well designed about it"

Until now, we saw some "strange behavior" ... unless topping pa5 2 selling counts in some thousands

units from APOS have a 2 year warranty. We'll be fine. Would rather not have a heat generator using electricity, and then pay double to run the AC, too.

 

[LumenMedia]

I had this amplifier during few weeks, working with my passive studio monitors in treated room. It's crazy hot, even though signal is splitting between this amplifier and studio subwoofer. Is it good or bad only time will tell. Previous amplifier Topping pa5 survived this tasks without any glitches

 

[Namesbuck]

I had this amplifier during few weeks, working with my passive studio monitors in treated room. It's crazy hot, even though signal is splitting between this amplifier and studio subwoofer. Is it good or bad only time will tell. Previous amplifier Topping pa5 survived this tasks without any glitches

Did you bypass volume control meaning did you hit the switch in the back that negates the volume pot? I keep my volume at 12 and control volume with an E70 preamp/DAC.

 

[LumenMedia]

Did you bypass volume control meaning did you hit the switch in the back that negates the volume pot? I keep my volume at 12 and control volume with an E70 preamp/DAC.

Need to check it.