AIYIMA A08 Pro Amplifier Review

[TonyJZX]

this goes back to the A07 review thread which is damn huge and a trove of info... basically guys were getting psus from printers and medical equipment (LOL!) to power the A07

btw. manual is here

https://cdn.shopifycdn.net/s/files/1/0018/5257/1723/files/B2D2910_A08_Pro.pdf?v=1659927830

assumption will be 3.5 ouitput is coupled with main volume and tone, pretty brain dead if not

 

[gfx_1]

That is one ugly amplifier, but hard to fault its performance for this price.

The Aiyima A8 has the same case but only a volume knob in the middle.

 

[darthe]

Power supply options for this amp?

Probably don't need the 48v but alittle higher according to their chart? where would I find?

 

[Lambda]

Performs not as bad as it looks (but this is easy)
Still i would not consider this amp

 

[abdo123]

It would have been nice to see what the treble and bass knobs are doing. Thanks for the review!

 

[TonyJZX]

if you google the size of psu you want... say "48v 5a" you should get a few professional electronics supply stores in your area

AFAIK cost goes up as you ask for more amps to the above PSU *should* be ok price wise

but to me this is the A07 lottery again.. you may as well get an amp with a built in psu if its about the same cost... the smsl a300 is $165 this month!

 

[phoenixdogfan]

What a nice little integrated amplifier for $140. The rising high end which is up .5db at 10k will probably not bother some of the elderly denizens of ASR. I myself have almost no hearing above 10khz and the slight bump at 10k will just make whatever highs I can still hear more audible. Good power. The design is interesting in a retro 60's kind of way. Not a bad way to go at all for desktop or even for surrounds, I think.

 

[Tangband]

A second VU meter where the volume knob is with the later in the middle where the tone controls is (scrapping them) and it would be killer looks.
Thanks Amir!

Yes !
And with no volume control at all ( ie a power amp ) for 140 dollar would be perfect .

 

[MacCali]

I never noticed that. But it'd be interesting to know if all these brands actually pay for Qualcomm's licence and royalties. I don't want to be presumptuous but it remains a fact that it's very hard to sue Chinese companies. There is nothing hard in that. "Charmingly easy" makes me giggle a bit, the only thing uneasy about AptX is on the budget. I find that totally normal that some companies to assess if it's worth it. Measurements here show mediocre performance but I am in the camp that Traditional 1K FFT may not be the right measurments to assess the benefit or uselessness of these CODECS. That said, If I was doing a BT speaker with 2 inch drivers or a very cheap pair of headphones, I'd surely skip on those, nobody would hear the difference.

I think that may not be super accurate, I think the only reason these Chinese companies aren’t making AVR’s which would blow a lot of companies out of the water is those damn licenses.

I myself, and seen so many comments, like topping make a fudging AVR and even tag the guy from topping. Who knows what it maybe, just my thoughts.

 

[MacCali]

Where does one go to find a more powerful supply for this class of amps? Amazon (at least) doesn't seem to offer a 48v 12 amp brick.

There’s a brand for DIY linear power supplies. Can’t think of the name now, it’s popular and they got everything. But you do have to do some tinkering on the unit.

Is it meanwell? Madewell? I don’t recall.

Not an audio expert here, not sure if you can even use that with this unit.

 

[Robciak]

Great review. I would like to ask about your RMS Level measurement. Why you always use a 5 watts output signal when measuring amplifiers? It is related to any standards, or it's just level which you choose to keep one measurement procedure for all amplifiers?

 

[pseudoid]

Thanks again Amir,
Was this price-worthy specimen downgraded in the comparo-chart because of upto 10dB unbalance between the L/R channel outputs (4ohm @>50W?

 

[Spitfire93]

Headphone amp builders please take notes and build amps that feature VU meters like this one.

 

[Schlippwhip68]

I have the A08 Pro and am considering this budget option as a pre amp. It seems to have a lot of satisfied ears according to the reviews.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-Preamplifier-Headphone-Amplifier-Wireless/dp/B07TQ574RX/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=39S2FDQEJ0KU6&keywords=P1+Bluetooth+5.0+GE5654+Tube+Preamplifier&qid=1667335692&sprefix=p1+bluetooth+5.0+ge5654+tube+preamplifier%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

Any thoughts?
Let me tell you this little amp does have plenty of power. Its 21.07pm here in the UK and I do not want past 9.30 on the volume dial...

 

[sarumbear]

The Aiyima A8 has the same case but only a volume knob in the middle.

And looking much better. If they used two VU meters…

 

[respice finem]

And looking much better. If they used two VU meters…

If I were them, I would try "crowd design" - let a forum like ASR propose a design the most will find appealing.
Curious what the result would look like

 

[restorer-john]

The designer had some words about the difficulties of adding VU meters to amps: difficult to source (one last factory in Taiwan or something like that), tedious to calibrate etc.

Right.

The meters are cheap and there's dozens of VU driver ICs, discrete or passive that can be used. Nothing difficult about it.

 

[PeteL]

Right.

The meters are cheap and there's dozens of VU driver ICs, discrete or passive that can be used. Nothing difficult about it.

View attachment 240645

Question is, what does it show? calibrated to what?

 

[Abstract_Painter]

This Aiyima A08 Pro and the Topping PA3s look to be about the same price… The Aiyima has double the power, Topping slightly better SINAD. Any advice which one for a set of Pioneer SP-FS52 6 ohm floorstanding speakers in an 18-14 room? Their current amp is the SMSL SA-98E (TDA7498E ST Micro chip, same as original Topping PA3)… which even though it plays plenty loud, it creates horrible static when you adjust the volume and as far as I can tell has audible distortion. I don’t play loud, but I don’t know if the distortion is from chip quality or lack of power. DAC is a DX3 Pro playing a Chromcast Audio. Any advice much appreciated.

 

[restorer-john]

Question is, what does it show? calibrated to what?

Who knows. That's Amir's job to determine when he reviews the amplifier.

Usually one would put a sine through the amplifier, wind it up until rated power and crosscheck/calibrate the 0dB point. Trouble is, the rated power is all over the shop with these things. We also have no idea what they are using to drive the meter.

It could be rectified and a padded down single channel output, could be a summed input after the volume pot, may be filtered, may have a sophisticated driver IC that responds to millisecond transients, with excellent ballistics- (highly doubt that). There's everything from useful analogue metering to completely useless moving needle displays. This, I would expect to be the latter.