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Aiyima A07 Review

Saalor

Saalor

Active Member
I purchased an Aiyima A07 class D amplifier and wanted to post my impressions. It retails for just $79 on Amazon, including separate power supply.

I have been playing it with a Topping D30 DAC and a pair of Elac Debut B6s in my office setup. I run the speaker lines through a Polk Audio active subwoofer. The Elac speakers are 6 ohm and 87 db sensitivity. I find the A07 has way more than enough power to drive these speakers beyond any volume I would ever use, without distortion. The loudest I had it - louder than comfortable listening - was 10 o'clock on the volume control, no distortion.

The sound is very clear and precise. Highs are very crisp. Lows are full but tight. It sounds particularly good with jazz. No audible hiss or distortion. Some might say it sounds clinical as opposed to warm - if you are looking to criticize. The sound stage is not as wide as some amplifiers, but instruments are so clear they have great imaging.

The case is very similar to my Topping D30, metal case with a screwed on face plate. Takes up very little space on my desktop. No remote is a drawback. My primary criticism of the fit and finish is the volume knob rubs against the case when I turn it which is cheap. The volume pot does not have a smooth high quality feel. However for my desktop use I like to play at low volume and the channel balance is 100% consistent at the lowest volumes which I really appreciate. Also, after hours of playing the amp was not hot at all.

The amp has an auxiliary line level out which is not controlled by the volume knob. I use that to feed my Topping A30 headphone amp and that works great.

This amp is a wonder for under $100. I might try it with my vintage Pioneer sx-434 receiver (15 w) feeding it through a speaker to line level converter acting as a preamp to see if that adds some warmth to the sound - or I might try one of those chi-fi tube buffers. If anyone else has this amp I would love to hear their impressions! If you are interested check out the detailed test results for this amp at www.audiosciencereview.com.
 
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Last week I bought an Aiyima A07 and am much more than just a little impressed with it. This little amp performs way better than you would ever expect any piece of audio hardware to for $80. It's a diamond, not a diamond in the rough, a true diamond.

Currently, my system is just setup for playing CD's.
* Onkyo DX-370 - 6 disc CD transport (it's pretty old, bought it from Craiglist many years ago)
* MiniDSP 2x4HD connected to the CD transport via toslink (lossless optical)
* Aiyima A07 connected via short coaxes
* Klipsch R-12SW subwoofer (the audio world shows this sub no love at all, but I find it not lacking in any area!)
* Magnepan LRS speakers (LOVE them!)

In my listening space the Aiyima will play at levels that are truly painful, and that's with the volume knob set at about 50%. From the ASR review I know that there is a known issue with the amp (or power supply) shutting down at around 77 watts. Even at the 77W output level the measured distortion (ASR review) is quite low. Because I'm not experiencing the shutdown, I am confident that at the 50% volume knob setting, the amp is not even driving 77W... A more capable power supply is supposed to get this amp to higher power outputs without shutting down.

The Magnepan LRS's are not the most efficient speakers, at roughly 83dB @ 1W. Their impedance is just about board-flat, and right at 4 Ohms. The Aiyima A07 is very comfortable with 4 Ohm loads, where many other amps simply are not capable of handling impedances that low.

Listening at levels that are really too high for extended listening, the amp barely warmed up at all. The MiniDSP was warmer.

When listening to my one of my favorite CD's, Alice In Chains MTV Unplugged, I am now hearing details in the music that prior I never knew where there. Is this due fully to the Aiyima, or could it be I'm now using a lossless optical link to a much better DAC than I was using prior? Could it be the EQ that I have dialed into the MiniDSP is now highlighting the areas where those previously unheard detail live? I really don't know, and honestly won't try to isolate the actual reason, as I'm happy for now and am very content with simply listening to an amazing little system.
 
I concur. I have have this on a desktop system. I use the Aiyima T6 pro tube preamp in front of it, with a Schiit Modi 3 Dac. It is powering Elac unifi 2.0s and they sound great. The Elacs’ highs are now more defined and airy with this pairing than with my main system. I’m very impressed, esp. considering the low cost.
 
I just bought one of these little "diamonds" and I'm driving it with an Aiyima DAV-A2. I've sourced it with a PC, the TV and a disc player. A very clean sounding setup. Nice clear detailed sound. If you didn't know better you'd swear that the sound was coming through much more expensive gear. Plenty of power for a pair of Minimus 7's. I use the 3.5mm output to drive a powered sub. I got this to reduce my equipment footprint in the living room and it's small size is great for this. I'm dying to hook this stuff up to some of my better speakers to really give it a workout. I also have a pair of speakers with separate tweeter/woofer inputs to which it's be neat to bi-amp these with a pair of these amps.
 
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Fwiw, the Aiyima A07 is on sale at Amazon for $80.00. (For those of you that are particular about this sort of thing, I am not Jeff Bezos or any way affiliated with Amazon.)
 
I popped the hood on my Aiyima A07 and I must say I'm impressed. Inside is as nice and tidy a layout as any I've seen. Neatly installed are what look like regular electronics grade Nichicon caps and NE5532 op-amps. The circuit board is labeled with the cap values and the Op-amps are in sockets. It's almost like they intended it to be easily upgraded :idea: I wonder has anyone done an upgrade of the stock caps and Op-amps? The reviews I've seen online report the output power with the supplied 32v 5 amp power supply and it's pretty close to the included specs. The specs also list a healthy increase in output power with a stouter power supply. Trying to run this amp at the max of 48v probably isn't advisable but 36v @ 10 amps should be sustainable. As good as this little amp is I wonder if it has more to give?
 
I have had an A07 in my little bedroom system and it sounds good there.
In my main system (see signature) I've been using the A07's cousins, two Aiyima A3001 mono amps, to bi-wire my JBLs with much success.
Now it's time for change. I just ordered two of the A07s so I can vertically bi-amp the JBLs.
I agree with the other posters comments about the A07's power and clarity. Just an amazing little amplifier!

Enjoy the musics!!
Ray
 
I bought a regulated power supply that's capable of supplying up to 48v and 10 amps. Playing music this amp sounds a little more lively but I'll have to do more listening. I'll be using a disc player into the amp into a pair of speakers. I may also swap in some LM4562 Op-amps I have.
 
RickeyM said:
I bought a regulated power supply that's capable of supplying up to 48v and 10 amps. Playing music this amp sounds a little more lively but I'll have to do more listening. I'll be using a disc player into the amp into a pair of speakers. I may also swap in some LM4562 Op-amps I have.
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Can you link to the power supply you purchased? I can't seem to bring myself to settling on the right one. Nor does it make sense to pay more for a power supply than the amp itself, IMHO.
 
imral3 said:
Can you link to the power supply you purchased? I can't seem to bring myself to settling on the right one. Nor does it make sense to pay more for a power supply than the amp itself, IMHO.
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GFQZFC1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The price is about half the price of the amp. It doesn't have a power switch but you can just plug it into a power strip and switch it that way. Despite the negative reviews I haven't had a problem with mine. I only run it at 36v or as close to it as I can dial it. I figure I don't want to tax the amp or the power supply. I had to rob the power plug from the original power supply because the power jack on this one won't take a 5.5mm plug. I can rewire it with some bullet connectors if I have to.
 
@RickeyM do you notice a difference between stock and drok (see what I did there ;)) power supply, other than what you've already mentioned? Is it worth the investment (x2 for me)?
 
I'm thinking I hear a difference but you know how that goes. I'll have to do more listening with a wider range of music and pushing the amp a little harder. I actually bought a second A07 so I can switch back and fourth between the stock power supply and the higher output one. I've seen a review online where the power output pretty closely matches the specs given on this amp. Going by that it should match the specs (nearly double) given with the higher capacity power supply.
 
I've been playing with one, powered with a Connex Electronic 38v power supply. I do not know what it sounds like with the stock power supply. I have used it with a laptop power supply and it seemed like the treble was less clean.

The Connex Electronic uses 5.6 watts at idle, so I may try out a Meanwell 36v supply as they are much more efficient at idle.


This amp is a very, very good value. It has driven my Elac Uni-Fi UF51 easily. They are not an especially easy speaker to drive and are not very efficient. My room is about 25'x30'. The amp barely gets warm.

The stock 5532 sounds good, but the soundstage is a little compressed. Tone is balanced, but a little toward the bright.

With the LM4562 the amount of detail was quite startling. The soundstage is deep and wide. Vocals sounded thin, however. There is a lot to like here, but also a little hardness. I could see this one working nicely with very warm speakers.

With the LM4580 the A07 sounds balanced, with a somewhat lighter bass presentation, but very neutral overall--a cheap and pleasant surprise.

So far, I am most impressed with the OPA 2134. The treble seems a little attenuated, but the midrange is rich and bass is ample (maybe a little too ample). The soundstage is not as good as with the LM4562, but still has width and depth. The amp sounds pleasingly full.

If you plan to play with op amps, be sure to buy some dip-8 sockets unless you have good eyes.

I will go back to my NAD at some point, but I could live with this sound pretty easily if something happened to the NAD.
 
Jordac said:
I concur. I have have this on a desktop system. I use the Aiyima T6 pro tube preamp in front of it, with a Schiit Modi 3 Dac. It is powering Elac unifi 2.0s and they sound great. The Elacs’ highs are now more defined and airy with this pairing than with my main system. I’m very impressed, esp. considering the low cost.
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Can you please explain why you have the pre-amp in front of it? What effect / benefit does it offer?
 
After seeing all the YouTube excitement, I bought an Aiyima A07 amp. Plugged it into my system with Polk Reserve R20s and I was impressed. It was better sounding than my Integra D40.7 stereo receiver, which isn't great by any means, but the A07 was clearly better (although not amazingly better). Then I dropped it some OPA2604 OpAmps I had lying around. A little better than the stock opamps.

Then I took the Integra and A07 into my garage, where I have a pair of BG Radia in-wall speakers with their 20" ribbon super detailed midranges. The A07 sounded awful compared to the Integra on those. Harsh, thin, sunken.

Still impressed with the A07 with my Polks, but that amp has definite likes and dislikes with different speakers.
 
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Bedroom setup:
Aiyima AO7, preamp with Voskhod tubes, modified Panasonic SB-PM19, and Chromecast Audio.

Sounds rich and echoey. Makes one stay in bed longer than they should.
 
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