TP RA3 Rackmount Amplifier Review

[sarumbear]

A question to the ASR community:

Will any 2x 100W (+/-20%) amplifier that has better than 100dB SINAD be seen as a bad amplifier (not necessarily unsuitable to your needs but in general) irrespective of what it is called or look like, or cost?

 

[fpitas]

A question to the ASR community:

Will a 2x 100W (+/-20%) amplifier that has better than 100dB SINAD be seen as a bad amplifier, irrespective of what it is called or look like?

For that price? It's great.

 

[prerich]

Pro use is not related to available power. Why do you need higher than 2x 80W for background music at a bar or restaurant, for instance?

When many of us think "DJ" it's not quiet background music - when you say DJ to DJ's ...we're thinking club. I served as a DJ off duty when I was in the Navy at several commands. I've DJ'd at civilian clubs in Texas...this is what DJ's think of when you say DJ. Just giving an operational reference.

 

[morpheusX]

Any idea when this will be available on audiophonics?

 

[sarumbear]

For that price? It's great.

I didn’t mention price nor model. Any amplifier?

 

[fpitas]

I didn’t mention price nor model. Any amplifier?

Underpowered for my uses, but not bad. If I used it as a horn amp I'd object to the turn-on and turn-off thump.

 

[sarumbear]

When many of us think "DJ" it's not quiet background music - when you say DJ to DJ's ...we're thinking club. I served as a DJ off duty when I was in the Navy at several commands. I've DJ'd at civilian clubs in Texas...this is what DJ's think of when you say DJ. Just giving an operational reference.

What is the relevance of DJ or club to a restaurant I said?

 

[JeremyFife]

A question to the ASR community:

Will any 2x 100W (+/-20%) amplifier that has better than 100dB SINAD be seen as a bad amplifier (not necessarily unsuitable to your needs but in general) irrespective of what it is called or look like, or cost?

Of course not ... but that amp couldn't be assessed just on power and SINAD so there shouldn't be any view taken.
The detail from a proper review adds to those headlines and then an opinion is possible.
The TP RA3 looks pretty good by any measurement at that price (it's not for me but that is irrelevant) with understandable caveats on reliability (not in scope for review) and discussion points on design choices (form factor) and protection behaviour (I'm not qualified to comment, but I wouldn't be driving my amp into prolonged clipping anyway)

I do agree that there are too many criticisms that seem to be based on subjective, knee-jerk reactions or just (as you say) because it doesn't have some random feature.

I hope that it proves to be reliable, I wish it was a different shape!

Peace

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Strange product.
It's just a low-mid power class D amp in a Pro-looking box.
Is that worth the extra money compared to the TI-chip based low cost amps ? I'm not sure.
But the performance is good.

Who else can you buy a TI chip amp from that is actually executed well enough to offer -105db SINAD? We're within 3db (headroom wise) and less than 10db of the Benchmark HBA2, for $229.

What am I missing?

 

[TonyJZX]

well to some guys here suddenly sinad doesnt matter

it matters on some amps, doesnt matter on others... weird

tbf there's some reasonable arguments for that.... the Fosi is 88dB and it has about 50% more power but then both these things are load invariant... so let us all chase that holey grail of a load invariant sub $229 amp that has more power but also maybe we should spend twice as much... because like... are you poor or something? Hypex yo!

 

[amirm]

Any idea when this will be available on audiophonics?

Topping had indicated to me that initially at least, they would be the only ones selling it. I don't know if this is due to margins being too low to allow for a retailer, or, the retailers did not express interest in it.

 

[prerich]

What is the relevance of DJ or club to a restaurant I said?

Restaurant - like another user stated ...is really commercial (soft background music - or elevator stuff - where the music doesn't over power conversations) - DJ amplified dance parties and clubs (not soft background music). It may be a cultural thing....but back to the power amp - It could not handle the power demand required at dance party functions....I gave the amp a fine vote, and its a great amp if used for the proper application. The amp would lose it's lunch if used for a dance club DJ application, but that's not what it's built for....right?

 

[Mart68]

well to some guys here suddenly sinad doesnt matter

it matters on some amps, doesnt matter on others... weird

tbf there's some reasonable arguments for that.... the Fosi is 88dB and it has about 50% more power but then both these things are load invariant... so let us all chase that holey grail of a load invariant sub $229 amp that has more power but also maybe we should spend twice as much... because like... are you poor or something? Hypex yo!

I always vote without taking the price into account so this gets a 'not terrible' from me whether its's $230 or $230,000

if SINAD is over about 70 then I'm good.

 

[ocinn]

Who else can you buy a TI chip amp from that is actually executed well enough to offer -105db SINAD

http://www.3e-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DS_EAUMT-0xx0-x-FB_Rev1.1.pdf

-103db THD+N @4ohm, 260watts per channel
-106db THD+N @8ohm, 150watts per channel

$109 - amplifier
$35 for 48v ~10a PSU (or $75 if you want mean-well)
$13 aliexpress case (something like that)
30min and $3 of misc hookup wire.

so $160 - $200 at end-user cost for a far better amplifier. There is no reason a major manufacturer could not assemble the above amp, or similar, into a case with a good fit and finish for less than $229 considering they have access to insider pricing. I'd estimate a generous $60 BOM for that above amplifier config.

Why do you need higher than 2x 80W for background music at a bar or restaurant, for instance?

The reason this amp has no place in commercial use, has nothing to do with power and everything to do with convenience and cost. This amp, is $60/channel and takes up 2U, the topping is $115/ch and you'd need a whopping 8U for the same channel count. SINAD doesn't matter in restaurants or really any commercial background music setting as music is almost always BELOW the ambient noise level.

 

[buz]

That sounds like a good opportunity for audiophonics... Maybe too good compared to nc252mp....

 

[CedarX]

The small bump around 5-10 Watt looks actually like a rail switch. So, Class H?

Not sure…. The bump in THD starts around ~5W @ 4 Ohm vs. ~14W @ 8 Ohm. The rail switching logic would have to be non-trivial.
The THD vs. Power @ various Freq. chart only shows this bump in the 500-5000Hz band.
If the RA3 has a 2-level rail voltage PSU, the control has to be pretty sophisticated…. Possible with the on-board MCU, but is it likely?

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Wow, insane for this price

Agree, it's a feature that people pay a LOT of money for if it's coming from a traditional HiFi brand. Topping and SMSL have gotten good at making and miniaturizing this feature, my SH-9 THX AAA headphone amp has it and I love it.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

The Fosi is 88dB and it has about 50% more power.

If the Fosi had 100% more power it'd still only net you +3db, that's the point I was trying to make. People get all hung up on wattage, but what's it really getting you?

 

[sarumbear]

Who else can you buy a TI chip amp from that is actually executed well enough to offer -105db SINAD? We're within 3db (headroom wise) and less than 10db of the Benchmark HBA2, for $229.

What am I missing?

Nothing!

 

[Dougey_Jones]

http://www.3e-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DS_EAUMT-0xx0-x-FB_Rev1.1.pdf

-103db THD+N @4ohm, 260watts per channel
-106db THD+N @8ohm, 150watts per channel

$109 - amplifier
$35 for 48v ~10a PSU (or $75 if you want mean-well)
$13 aliexpress case (something like that)
30min and $3 of misc hookup wire.

Good, assemble one yourself and mail it to Amir for review.

So tired of keyboard warriors quoting specs from AliExpress that probably wouldn't hold up when run through their paces. Also, not everyone's time is worthless, I'd pay the $100 premium every time over doing what you described above.