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Showing 1 of 21 conversations about:
Topping A90 Headphone Amplifier
SpeleoFool
675
Aug 19, 2020
The A90 is one of my most recent amp acquisitions, and it's truly excellent. I'm not a huge fan of the switches (prefer dial controls), but that's a serious nitpick.
More to the point is that this capable little amp will drive a wide range of headphones well, including Susvaras, which people have been pairing with very high-dollar headphone amps or even speaker amps. It took balanced out on high gain and volume at 1-2:00, but the A90 stays clean at this range and Susvaras are detailed and well-controlled with astoundingly good bass (quantity and quality).
Where this amp runs out of steam a little is with 600 ohm SE headphones. It drives my Beyer 880s OK and they sound decent, but with V280, for example, which puts out a maximum of well over 1W at 600 ohms, the 880s become amazingly detailed and fluid--much more than one would expect from a sub-$200 headphone. Of course, this is a pretty narrow corner case to be concerned about, and if you happen to be someone who can't live without your 600-ohm 880s, there's a cheaper solution than spending hundreds more on a beefier amp: just mod them to use a balanced cable so you can take advantage of the extra power output, which ought to be enough to get them singing.
benchan2a01
36
Aug 20, 2020
SpeleoFoolDoes it get hot after being used for a long time?
SpeleoFool
675
Aug 20, 2020
benchan2a01No, not at all. It runs quite cool.
rslatara
287
Oct 23, 2020
SpeleoFoolMatrix Audio HPA-3B, now that will run 600 Ohms. :-0
SpeleoFool
675
Oct 23, 2020
rslataraYeah, i believe you—specs suggest SE power is getting into the range where DT 880 600 ohms seem to open up. T1.2s are somewhat more sensitive than 880s and therefore somewhat easier to drive / less picky about amps. It has been really interesting to listen to these two 600 ohm headphones on a variety of sources and see where the tipping points seem to be.
Some numbers:
DT 880 “Edition” 600 ohms have a sensitivity of 96dB/mW. T1.2s have a sensitivity of 102dB/mW. Since doubling power results in +3dB gain, per the specs T 1.2s require a quarter of the power as 880s to drive, but both scale at the same rate.
Plenty of amps can drive both of these headphones loudly enough, but 880s seem to like a little more headroom to really sing. Anecdotally, the T1.2s sound like a significantly better headphone on something like the 789 (100mW @ 600 ohms, SE). 880s improve somewhat on A90 (125mW @ 600 ohms, SE). And by the time you get to V280, 880s sound amazingly refined; I like them better than T1.2s on powerful amps.
Although V280 doesn't list a convenient SE number, its maximum power output @ 600 ohms is a staggeting 1800mW. That’s no doubt for balanced out, so assume half of that for SE. And although maximum pre-gain on V280 is +12dB, I found +6dB sufficient. Take a quarter of 900mW, and V280 is still at a maximum 225mW at this range.
The spec sheet for the Matrix HP-3B says it will do 220mW @ 600 ohms, SE. That’s about the same as V280, and although I haven’t seen measurements on this amp, Matrix seems to make well-engineered products. So my expectation is that you’re right—880s should really sing on that amp. Standard disclaimers about grains of salt when trusting manufacturer specs apply, of course, but that’s about how my own listening experiences correlate with back-of-the-napkin math.
Afterthought: alternately, modding an 880 to use a balanced cable would enable it to take advantage of the higher power outputs of balanced amps. From speaking to people who have done this mod, it does seem to open up the 880s in a similar fashion to feeding it gobs of clean SE power from a beefy amp. Even 789 is rated for 400mW at 600 ohms, balanced.
(Edited)
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