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Drop + THX AAA™ ONE Linear Amplifier

Drop + THX AAA™ ONE Linear Amplifier

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Product Description
We teamed up with THX to build a leaner version of our beloved 789 amplifier. With THX AAA technology, three gain stages, and a new preamp output, the Drop + THX AAA ONE has all the essentials, and nothing extra.

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Zeos
648
Apr 23, 2020
I feel like I should have some inside info to share. I have none. WHAT IS IT!
Zeos
648
May 5, 2020
Even if it sucks and is a waste of money I still gotta review it and I will still link to it AND that link will be an affiliate link. It is the way things have to get done in 2020 if I want to keep doing this. Something my fans have come to expect, honesty in my opinion, no matter the cost will be upheld. I won't lie to get 200 more clicks, 6 more buys on a product that is mediocre and I upsold. I NEED people to trust me and the best way I've found to do that is to be honest with them, even to a fault.
KnifeN247
55
May 6, 2020
ZeosI love u Z
LifelongCaboose
597
Jun 24, 2020
Price is still high IMO. $150 should have been closer to the final price. With the pre-order price being slightly lower. At $200 there is no way for it to compete with the likes of the Asgard 3 or even the ATOM which I already think both sounds better than the THX 789, and unless the THX One sound is better than its older brother (which I don't see happening) this product becomes an issue. Not to mention the almost 1 year wait time. Pay an extra $50 and get the Asgard 3 or save $50 and get an Atom or Magni 3+. Normally id say don't pre-order and see how this turns out and get it next year but then it will be $200 and I don't see it being worth it. If you could get it in like 3 months, id say this could be worth it. That $50 would get you 1 more gain stage and over double the power over a JDB Labs Atom. But it won't sound as good (at least it's unlikely). Over the new Magni, you'd get slightly more power and pre-out switch. So for many, it will be worth the extra $50. But being a budget AMP I don't understand who this product is for, what budget audio enthusiast would be expected to wait a full year for there AMP? To me it doesn't make sense. Don't get me wrong I understand the issues that there facing with getting it made, but it just seems that maybe product time and cost may kill this product because who is a $200 amp being sold at $150 with a one year wait being targeted at? Who is this for? In half that time you could have picked bottles and made enough money to buy the THX 789, so why buy this and wait a year? I just don't understand it. At $100 sure, this is just a backup AMP for someone and there willing to throw $100 away for a while and get this in later. I was very excited about this and was planning on pre-ordering it no matter what, but at $150 with a wait almost as long as the warranty, I'm actually going to pass up on pre-ordering a review unit. My advice would be to buy an Atom, Magni, Asgard 3, or any of the current thx amps and have then now. But anyone who has used it or anyone from drop, if you think I'm wrong and this does sound even better than the 789 then please let me know because maybe that will make it worth the wait. But with the info given and the current market I don't get this product. But I do hope for the sake of everyone who buys this I'm wrong and this thing is amazing sounding. But then again maybe some hype reviews and the THX name will make this sell like hotcakes. Edit: I do hope I'm wrong and I'm just way off base. Maybe there is something I just don't see.
(Edited)
racheski
248
Jun 26, 2020
Can you speak to the form-factor of the THX One? It's about the same length and width as the 789, but it still doesn't have an integrated power supply. I'm assuming it is thinner because no balanced connections, but why not make it more compact?
racheskiThe footprint of the amp is the same as the 789. Although it would be possible to shrink the amp into a smaller enclosure we purposefully went with this size since it will stack nicely with current and future products.
rottentreats
80
Jun 26, 2020
Locked
Some of you are very special humans. I understand this is a "Discussions" thread but a lot of this isn't valuable discussion a lot of you sound like spoiled/brat children who don't like what's at the menu at a restaurant... if you don't like it don't order as complaining isn't going to change the menu option/ingredients/price/delivery time for this item. (or if I want to be trendy a lot of you sound like a Karen talking to the Manager xD) I for one have already pre-ordered this and am excited to give it a listen. I'm sure it will have more than enough juice to power my SE can/IEM collection. I'm not sure if a lot of you have hearing problems (or want to) but music doesn't have to be extremely loud to be enjoyable. (yes I am taking into consideration distortion) With my 789 and 300Ω 6XXs I hardly ever go past 12 o'clock on the first gain setting and for my other lower impedance cans it's usually 9-10 o'clock. (either when using my Enog2 Pro for balanced or Airist R-2R for SE) Thank you DROP! I appreciate your efforts and am grateful you can give us options and create products that otherwise would have never existed. I apologize for my human brethren and their behavior, they just need something to complain about/overthink since they are bored or want to think their opinion matters. (even more so now in the world's situations than previously when this place was Massdrop) Oh and trolls, but they exist everywhere so we just have to ignore them. Take care of yourself everyone but seriously some of you need to think about what you are saying and try to think how others will read it and if it will make the world/this thread a better place.
(Edited)
rottentreats
80
Jul 2, 2020
This loser still posting? Oh well I found this post of his and I think everyone should just do what he says :D I know I did. Bye, Felicia!
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legaceez
90
Jul 2, 2020
And yet no one else was thinking about it nor talking about it but you ;)
alphaprime
88
Jun 24, 2020
Ship date March 2021?!?! LMFAO! Hard pass. Hey Drop, stop using your customers as interest free loans to finance your production. You’re not a little start up anymore.
alphaprimeIf they stopped that model you wouldn't have the 6XX, 789, K7XX, 58X, ESP 95/x, and so on. I'm good with that model, I don't think you understand the ramifications of changing their process.
OnePunchMan
330
Jul 22, 2020
alphaprimeTrue, with the last round of funding...
Hi All,  it’s great to see all the discussion around DACs in relation to our THX amp lineup.  We also agree these sorts of products should be in the line up and have already begun the planning for what the product(s) would be.  It would be great to hear more about what the community wants from such a product but we ask that the discussion continue over in our dedicated DAC discussion here: https://drop.com/talk/36681/drop-studio-dac-discussion?utm_source=linkshare&referer=5BMHY2 Let’s keep this thread focused on the THX ONE.  Thanks! Power Amp Comments. Currently our AAA amp lineup consists of the THX ONE and the 789.  The ONE being our entry level amp and the 789 aimed at more dedicated audiophiles wanting more power and amp with Balanced output. In addition to these two amps, we are planning a third amplifier which will take things even further, enabling use with sensitive speakers.  This third amp will be our TOTL amplifier product. There will be more to share in the coming months but we wanted to outline the DROP AAA lineup.
verifonix
1181
Jun 24, 2020
Heh
KattoJesu
136
Jun 24, 2020
T.FernandezHope that means 50w+ per channel at 8ohms
Audiopro
167
Jun 3, 2021
I have to point out that this device does not provide direct output to a set of speakers, at least not passive designs. Instead, it assumes that we are all using powered monitors, a version of speakers not yet widely accepted by the audiophile community. Powered speakers are used, more, by professionals and amateur recordists. I find the wording of this offering somewhat misleading.
catalyst360
30
Jun 5, 2021
If you know what a pre amp is, why did you complain that it can’t direct drive passive speakers? You were caught in your critique about the product description and now you run with your tail between your legs to your ‘reference listening system’. LMAO
(Edited)
JaegerD
190
Jun 11, 2021
catalyst360Something about audio people, they just seem to get pretty dense/up in arms over the smallest items
Nottagorilla
65
Oct 4, 2020
Locked
Another "drop"-ped ball from the Screwups at THX... Sure, dropping a few *mostly* unnecessary/frivolous features like XLR inputs is fine with me. Somewhat less impressed with the loss of the 4-pin XLR output. I think "drop"-ping the Pre-Out feature/section should have been done instead? I don't have any $5000 headphones with -0db/kW efficiency, & as much as I like Abyss 1266's & HiPriceMan Susvara's & HE1000's I have no intention of ever buying any. My Drop ESP95x/Koss ESP950's clobber them anyway (& at less than 1/10th the price, HAHAHAHA!). But if I did have those cans, I wouldn't be worried about saving $150 over the AAA789 amp anyway! I have 2 big problems with the performance of this model vs. the AAA789, & a single BIG problem with THX themselves... Regarding THX & Drop, I'm REALLY annoyed with this nonsense with the constant "available in 3/4/6 months, send us your money/pre-order now & hurry up & wait!" Sorry guys, this product just isn't THAT special! Maybe THX should try to make more than 1 per day so they can keep up with demand? And then there are the performance issues. Being a TechnoDweeb-driven company, the question for music lovers is: If distortion & noise are reduced to 0.00000000%, will I actually hear better sound? Spending less on a simpler model gives a more economical way to answer that question, IF YOU COULD ACTUALLY BUY ONE!!! Being a TechnoDweeb-driven company, specs are EVERYTHING, right? So whilst I'm glad that THX provides a goodly amount of them, their presentation to us here is a confused MESS. Throw a bunch of point zero zeros at us & hope all the bull**** baffles our brains? And sifting through them...expressing crosstalk in percentage, REALLY??? NOBODY does that! So, WHO CARES. -93db gets the point across better! Distortion specs are thrown at us in such confusing & confused profusion, all seemingly in the service of disguising: 1) Noticeably poorer THD specs than the AAA789, even if the numbers are still otherwise vanishingly low. But I think I'd rather pay the extra $150 for the truly mind-bending numbers of the AAA789... 2) Also noticing the amp stage is quite inferior, & not just the obvious "drop" in power output. The "drop" in power from 32Ω to 16Ω makes this amp far less suitable to driving actual speakers (which application surprised the designer of the 789 when I spoke with him in a chance encounter at my audio store), another reason to avoid this model to save a trivial amount of money...IF YOU COULD ACTUALLY GET ONE. 3) The preamp specs are all for a 600Ω load. Who the heck makes a home audio component with such a ridiculously low input impedance? Does THD "drop" much into more representative i/p Z like 10,000Ω or even 100,000Ω? 4) Here's the elephant in the room: A quoted input impedance for this mess as a shockingly inappropriate 1000Ω!!!! I hope this is a typo! Anything less than 50,000Ω will cause some increase in distortion from the source component trying to develop voltage into an amplifier. AUDIBLE distortion, techo-dweebs! I otherwise suspect that this *was* done quite on purpose: At the end of the day, yer typical dead-eared technodweeb doesn't care what they design actually sounds like. They can't hear, so they buy a $30,000 Audio Precision SYS2722 test set & go off on a pointless numbers race! To get the BULL**** 140+db S/N ratio (based here on the ratio from 10% BRUTAL HARD CLIPPING MAX OUT to a virtually shorted input impedance...ALL HIGHLY UNREALISTIC BORDERING ON FRAUDULENT!), clearly the lowest possible input impedance will lower airborne/ambient EMI & RFI noises. But this comes at the expense of introducing audible distortion from DAC's & other source components which are designed for a bare-minimum of 20kΩ input Z! Default industry standard for solid-state designs is 50kΩ...GET WITH THE PROGRAM, DWEEBS! 5) There is a fix for the ridiculous i/p Z: put a 50,000Ω in series with each channel. Hardly convenient, & unless the resistors are installed right inside the amp noise pickup susceptibility will be HUGELY increased (worse!). But even done properly, just the thermal/"Johnson" noise will knock a good 20?30?40db? off the pretty pretty bogus S/N ratio. At least by alternately quoting the S/N ratio in microvolts (0.95uV with shorted input, volume control set to minimum. Also unrealistic, but at least it's the industry standard, so useful for direct comparison at least...), we can see that the ACTUAL s/n ratio is merely good, but not "great" as is otherwise fraudulently implied. But here's the thing: The gain choices on offer here are CRAP! 12db (x4) maximum??? UTTERLY insufficient except with the most ridiculously sensitive cans fed from a REALLY hot DAC. I have a shitty wooden Grado RA-1 with the same default gain, & it won't go loud enough with my particular Sandisk MP3 player turned up to its' max output. And my other two gain choices are 0db (x1, aka "unity gain") and...wait for it...-12db (minus x4, or 75% attenuation) when I don't even have enough gain at the maximum setting??? Why even include a gain knob at all??? More savings could have been achieved! But the greatest savings here will be from me not buying into ANY of this CRAP at all. I think this amp was deliberately designed to force you to order a AAA789 instead. IF YOU COULD ACTUALLY BUY ONE.
(Edited)
LOL, no and you obviously have never seen Billy Madison.
PoachedToast
44
Nov 3, 2020
ElectronicVicesbro chill i think u killed him
3xplosiv0
62
Aug 11, 2020
ahem...magnius.
3xplosiv0
62
Aug 16, 2020
why have you responded to like 6 other posts with this exact same comment...
Note: I replaced the one I bought from from A couple months back this week, only took me 2 days to get the other MAGNI-ficently "overpriced" amp in from across the country while also returning some VERY suspect DAC5s back to ami. Not to mention big man JaSon Daddy got my verry nice black ELEment too looking waffle amp me in two dAYYYEs while those earbuds from September are stuck 8hrs away from me still. I couldve driven there to PICK them UP while listening to a two better products (COMOD-OhhnOO, goolly jee I been had. F). Good thing I got the 660s from a jungle hike, phew. At least those scray big lizzys on there didnt cost me money.
jgp1212
291
Jun 25, 2020
Nobody: I wish the jds labs atom came in a metal enclosure. I would pay x more for it. Everyone here: omfg wut a ripoff.
Interceptor69
94
Aug 14, 2020
I had a Magni (1st version, not the Heresy) and gave it away. Awful. Bought the 789 and let's just say it is flawless, both when driving sensitive IEM'S on low power and with power hungry cans. I like very loud levels and I never use the high power setting and have thoroughly enjoyed the amp. This amp will do the same. Clean, quiet power in spades.
nick_t
186
Aug 15, 2020
jgp1212Why do you need metal amp ?
WiHHi_Z3_PuX
118
Jun 24, 2020
>Estimated ship date is Mar 5, 2021 PT. lmao, so drop is basically the new kickstarter now?
Thesesuck
126
Jun 24, 2020
WiHHi_Z3_PuXNot quite...kickstarter at least puts a drop dead date where either the funds were raised completely or they are returned. In this new Drop paradigm they just hang onto your money indefinately. In March you either get an amp that by then will be old news or a nifty email saying that there's a delay in shipping. If you are lucky enough to get the latter the process just repeats with a new date. I think I'd rather pay a few extra bucks, buy the SMSL from apos. audio today, get it in a week and enjoy my balanced THX amped music while watching this train wreck commence.
WiHHi_Z3_PuX
118
Jun 24, 2020
Thesesuckyeah, I'd rather buy an Atom or 789 today. I already have the Atom and it's great if you don't mind the plastic case.
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