Topping TP60

[Tarzan]

Evening all, has anyone used this amp in power amp mode, did it have much gain?( Have a cunning plan to maybe use it as a power amp if it does indeed have a lot of gain:)

[Ninanina]

Don't know if this helps but I did own a Topping TP30, the one with USB input as well as RCA. This amp, very surprisingly, drove my LS 3/5a speakers. It sounded pretty good to me. I sold it to a member on AoS for very little. It was quite a surprising little amp all told

That probably doesn't help at all... ah well I tried ; )

[Tarzan]

Don't know if this helps but I did own a Topping TP30, the one with USB input as well as RCA. This amp, very surprisingly, drove my LS 3/5a speakers. It sounded pretty good to me. I sold it to a member on AoS for very little. It was quite a surprising little amp all told

That probably doesn't help at all... ah well I tried ; )



Thanks mate it all helps.

[istari_knight]

Thats a TA-2022 model I think ? I had the HLLY T-90 which uses exactly the same circuit except the Topping appears to have better quality components & added speaker protection circuit... Worked very well as a power amplifier, in fact I found it was preferable that way... Could sound a little flat when just using the in line pot as a "passive pre."

YMMV :)

[Magna Audio]

I use 2 of these Topping TP-60 in my 5 way. One drives the 2 x 15" LFII drivers that are in the tapped horns (tall cabs at either edge of pics) and the other the 2 x 15 drivers that are in the mid bass (larger round horns).
They grab the bass cones better I find than my trusty KT88 push pull amp and use a fraction of the juice.

I think they are great for this sort of application. Plenty of gain for my use (mind you the tapped horns are 105dB/W and the mid bass are 110dB/W efficient.
I've not thought them lacking or needing replacement. I have changed the horns and drivers for more expensive ones though...

These amps were heard at Scalford 2012 on my 5 way horn system in the large 70+m2 room. I had to crank up the vol pot on the amp powering the tapped horns to 3/4 of the way but at no time could I discern clipping or other problems. They pressured the room with deep bass and I had requests to play things like Toccata and Fugue in D minor as well as other full range pieces like Yello's Touch album.

On the Saturday night we had very high peak dB readings:o:lol: Compression drivers on horns will do PA loud. On Sunday I kept it strictly hifi quality;)

In my 25m2 room at home the amps are just ticking over:)

I use 3 EL84 valve set amps on the upper channels as they sound sweeter / more lively / natural. As others have noted, the T-amp family can sound a little flat or grey on treble. I've compared the TP-60's and other TA offerings extensively on my very revealing and simply gorgeous sounding mid range JLB2482's and Vitavox S2 horns and they do the job to 90% of the SET amps - which is pretty good I think.

So, for the right application I think they are great.
Build quality is as mentioned very good. I took one apart to see how well they are made. 2 Nice big toroidal traffos, good quality components / vol pot.
I've had no problems at all with them.


When yo say power amp mode - what do you mean? I don't think you can bypass the volume pot.

[Ali Tait]

Steve, have you tried the Temple Audio Gold amps? they use a different chipset, and sound pretty good in the treble IMHO.

[Magna Audio]

Steve, have you tried the Temple Audio Gold amps? they use a different chipset, and sound pretty good in the treble IMHO.

That's interesting. Not heard of this one / Temple audio. I could not see a chipset mentioned for the Gold?
ah found info here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/bantam_gold_e.html

I am always interested in improved sound and lower running costs. The little class A SET's I use draw 36W each. Not a great deal but it all adds up.
If these would only sound as good I would consider swapping out over time...

Do you have one yourself?

Just read the TNT review. He started talking about upgrades and Valve stages. I suppose a valve pre was meant - hmm I am still a little sceptical to using these on some thing as delicate and responsive as new spec Vitavox S2's on 600Hz horn in the freq range 1200 - 12000Hz. Proof would be in the pudding.

[Ali Tait]

Aye, I use two to drive my OB's actively. I've used a few tripath amps in the past, but the Golds are by far the best to my ears. I've not heard the mono blocks, but have been told the integrateds have a sweeter sound. I run mine with a WD Pre 3, and find it a good combination, I agree that they sound better driven with a valve pre.

[Ali Tait]

I quite fancy trying the Hypex NC400's, but four would add up to a fair chunk of change!

Supposed to be very good though.

[walpurgis]

I've tried the Topping TP-60 and thought that although it sounds quite impressive at first, it is a little two dimensional and thick sounding. That's what I found anyway.

[John]

The Bantam works really well with the Slagle Volume controller too

[jandl100]

Thats a TA-2022 model I think ? I had the HLLY T-90 which uses exactly the same circuit except the Topping appears to have better quality components & added speaker protection circuit... Worked very well as a power amplifier, in fact I found it was preferable that way... Could sound a little flat when just using the in line pot as a "passive pre."

YMMV :)

I had a loaner of a HLLY T-90.
Not bad but it didn't have the openness and transparency of the little Amptastic TA2020 Mini-T.
It had more power and was a bit kinder to bright recordings, though.

I think you need to get the soldering iron out to bypass the pre section? -- or you may mean just use it with the volume pot on max.

But back to your original question - high sensitivity?
Errr --- dunno! The Amptastic Mini-T are low sensitivity if that has any bearing. It probably doesn't.

[Tarzan]

I had a loaner of a HLLY T-90.
Not bad but it didn't have the openness and transparency of the little Amptastic TA2020 Mini-T.
It had more power and was a bit kinder to bright recordings, though.

I think you need to get the soldering iron out to bypass the pre section? -- or you may mean just use it with the volume pot on max.

But back to your original question - high sensitivity?
Errr --- dunno! The Amptastic Mini-T are low sensitivity if that has any bearing. It probably doesn't.



Yes Jerry you are correct, pot wide open, and the Amptastic has little gain.

[wee tee cee]

the temple audio mono blocks have a variable gain via the power button with a tisbury audio passive pre they can drive a pair of spendor sp1s and my quad63s nae bother but each amp is set up fot the respective speaker.......

[Ali Tait]

Aye, the integrated has two settings for gain also, though I believe the monos have 6 settings?

[John]

The gain setting is really handy with my set up gives that extra attack I usually do not get when using passive pre