Which amp to pair with Wharfedale 220's?

[kurisupi]

Hi all, newbie here.

My powered speakers appear to have stopped working a couple weeks back (no audio, but headphone port worked until they also didn't). They are the Mackie CR3's and apparently many have had issues with the mute pin from the amp chip, and the suggestion was to cut pin5 to remove the mute signal. Well all that did was make the speakers buzz loudly upon switching them on, so now I have a dead pair of speakers lol.

Anyway, now I have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 220's on order.
I just placed an order for the Aiyima A07 last night after making comparisons between that, the Loxjie A30 and other alternatives like the Volt+D. I guess in the end the biggest contributing factor for me came down to the budget/price. The Aiyima simply was the most cost effective solution compared to any other options, together with the ability to "upgrade" the op amps and/or power supply down the line. The one I was really interested in (the Loxjie) is a whopping $185 right now. Then I saw today's post from Amir about the Topping PA3s with the dual MA12070 design. Aesthetics are nice, opinions look good, but I looked through and did not see any listening impressions on it.

I'd hardly consider myself an audiophile at this point (really they will be general purpose audio output for my PC, with the occasional casual listening), so I'm 110% overthinking this, but that's what happens when I try to do some research on things to buy lol. That being said, could anybody recommend whether this amp would be a wait and see type of device at this time, or I would also like to hear people's opinions on which of the alternatives I mentioned would be best suited for the Wharfedales?

Much appreciated, thanks!

 

[raindance]

Just get an amplifier that works and move on.

 

[antcollinet]

Both the Aiyima and the Topping have measured well. My bet is you won't be able to hear any difference between the two. Sound quality will be dominated by the speakers.

Choose based on price/features. The Aiyimi can pump out a little more power, but might not come with a PSU.

 

[Raindog123]

For what it’s worth:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...55-review-amplifier.18984/page-52#post-913120

 

[kurisupi]

I ended up getting the A07 with the supplied 32V 5a, which apparently after some reading is not the best quality and/or potentially unsafe without the safety ratings, but that said it's unlikely i'll be needing to drive the speakers very hard in a nearfield listening position, also living in a fairly thin walled condo.

 

[kurisupi]

For what it’s worth:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...55-review-amplifier.18984/page-52#post-913120

Thanks, I did read through the review here (and around reddit and other user opinions) and many generally are happy with the A07. It's probably just my personality, but I can't ignore another option when it gets near universal high marks, even when it's more than 2x the price lol. I'm also a sucker for an aesthetically nice looking device / piece of hardware. On that front, the Topping PA3s does beat the rest in my opinion. Leaving the future open for the possible inclusion of a DAC, the complementing D10 balanced DAC looks nice as well lol.

 

[kurisupi]

hmm how about a different question then.
The room I plan to use these in (the office) also happens to be the warmest room in the home in the afternoon. Today it hit ~ 84F (rough measurement from my ecobee sensor).

Which of the amps mentioned would likely run the coolest, given the raised ambient temperature? I think since temperature is not necessarily a requirement for the number measurements for a review, I guess it'd just be based on power and efficiency and how heat dissipation is implemented. For the Loxjie A30 it looked like there was no heatsink necessary for the single MA12070 design. On the PA3s there looks to be a heatsink to cover both chipsets, so I assume this would help a lot with the heat dissipation of this already efficient chip.

For the Aiyima, I believe there was a post where somebody had used a flir camera to capture the temps of some range between 26 ~ 44C (or somewhere around there). Albeit that was with the cover off as well.
edit found it: https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...iyima-a07-tpa3255-tear-down.19020/post-626900

 

[Raindog123]

What exactly are you asking - whether they all will function at your ambient temperature or which of the three will heat your room least?

They all will work just fine at your 84F. As for which of them is the most power-efficient (ie dissipates least heat at certain sound volume)… I would guess it‘s actually about the same. Assuming the two chips - TRA3255 and MA12070 - are of the same efficiency, which they should be as they are the same [solid-state] technology. And it will not depend on whether there is a heat sink or not, as this only determines the [amp-to-room] heat exchange speed, but not the amount of heat generated. Now, for the same speakers, the amount of heat might also depend on the power-supply voltage.

 

[Chrispy]

I just can't stand that "pairing" bullshit. Unless you're talking about specific aspects of an amp and/or speakers involved, then just discuss that. It' ain't wine with colors of meat!