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Aiyima A07 Review

Coughed up the $60 and ordered the 07 to go along with my A04, Fosi V3 & TB10D, and SMSL A300 (x2). I've gone from being a vintage McIntosh gear addict into a cheap, small box Class D junkie:rflmao:

While the 04 provides good juice to the 8 ohm speakers I've used it with, and sounds very good doing it, I thought I'd experiment with slightly more power given the 07's ability to use 48V. Didn't get the "Pro" cause I didn't want the tone controls.
 
Mingo said:
Better with the Class D or just different?
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Not better, necessarily, but not worse either. Maybe different, but not that much.

The decades old gear that I use is wonderful, and restored, but it is not the near what sharp ear critical audiophiles would consider anywhere near the top when it comes to fidelity. I love how it sounds(and looks) but the thought always in the back of my mind is that as it gets older, the possibility of a piece breaking down becomes very real. The people who know how to work on this stuff are becoming less and less every year. So at some point, I'd like to unload while it's all in good order to be able to get top dollar. And when I do, being able to replace it all with gear that is inexpensive, sounds good, takes up little room, and can easily be replaced if needed, provides me with a lot of comfort. Plus it's easy to audition a lot of this stuff.
 
I will also add that the only other Class D component I've ever owned was a Crown XLS 2000, and find these new little amps far more enjoyable and listenable then I ever found it. Just my very subjective opinion.
 
sberger said:
Not better, necessarily, but not worse either. Maybe different, but not that much.

The decades old gear that I use is wonderful, and restored, but it is not the near what sharp ear critical audiophiles would consider anywhere near the top when it comes to fidelity. I love how it sounds(and looks) but the thought always in the back of my mind is that as it gets older, the possibility of a piece breaking down becomes very real. The people who know how to work on this stuff are becoming less and less every year. So at some point, I'd like to unload while it's all in good order to be able to get top dollar. And when I do, being able to replace it all with gear that is inexpensive, sounds good, takes up little room, and can easily be replaced if needed, provides me with a lot of comfort. Plus it's easy to audition a lot of this stuff.
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You make a pretty compelling case for trying the Aiyima. I have not had the privilege of owning any McIntosh gear and have been thinking about a MAC4100 as my next purchase. Maybe I'll shift gears and try out the Aiyima and pick up some new-to-me speakers with the savings. The entry price sure is right.
 
sberger said:
Coughed up the $60 and ordered the 07 to go along with my A04, Fosi V3 & TB10D, and SMSL A300 (x2). I've gone from being a vintage McIntosh gear addict into a cheap, small box Class D junkie:rflmao:

While the 04 provides good juice to the 8 ohm speakers I've used it with, and sounds very good doing it, I thought I'd experiment with slightly more power given the 07's ability to use 48V. Didn't get the "Pro" cause I didn't want the tone controls.
Click to expand...
@sberger do you have any thoughts regarding the Fosi V3 vs Aiyima A07? I owned the A07 previously and just picked up a V3 (with 48V/5A power supply) and am really loving it. It's good enough that I could easily see myself using it long term in my main set up.
 
DavidTT said:
@sberger do you have any thoughts regarding the Fosi V3 vs Aiyima A07? I owned the A07 previously and just picked up a V3 (with 48V/5A power supply) and am really loving it. It's good enough that I could easily see myself using it long term in my main set up.
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I like them both about equally, although the V3 has the edge when it comes to driving power hungry 4 ohm speakers like my AR3's.

That said, (and I wouldn't take this as a slight in anyway on these two amps) I've recently acquired a Crown XLS 602 and 402 to go along with a previously owned XLS 1000, and I'm presently using those amps for the 3's, my Polk RTA-12's, and KLH Model 5's. The only remaining chip amp that I continue to use is a pair of SMSL A-300's, that I'm able to bridge to mono which gives me up to 400 watts, and those I'm using with my Allison One's. I don't find the Crown's necessarily better then the V3 or 07, but frankly those speakers really like as much headroom as possible and the Crown's offer that. I don't know about Ayima, but my understanding is that Fosi will at some point make the V3, or another amp of theirs bridgeable, and I would be very interested in checking that out. I love the small footprint of these amps, and they do sound terrific, especially for their price point. About the only thing that I'm not crazy about is the speaker connections, but for $100 I can live with it.
 
Thanks for your thoughts. I'm not worried about power at this point because I'm driving a pair of 92db sensitive floor standers and with the 48V power brick and a high-gain line-stage that feeds the V3, I have more juice than I need. My next step is to play around with op amps.

I've been enjoying experimenting with amplification lately, specifically low(er) power amps and the latest ChiFi chip amps as represented by the V3. With sensitive speakers there are so many great options that can be tried. FWIW, specifically regarding the V3 and A07 before it, I see many comments online to the effect these are cute, fun little things that sound great for what they are but are only good for desktop or secondary system use. I'm not finding that to be the case at all with the V3. It's the real deal for me so far.
 
DavidTT said:
Thanks for your thoughts. I'm not worried about power at this point because I'm driving a pair of 92db sensitive floor standers and with the 48V power brick and a high-gain line-stage that feeds the V3, I have more juice than I need. My next step is to play around with op amps.

I've been enjoying experimenting with amplification lately, specifically low(er) power amps and the latest ChiFi chip amps as represented by the V3. With sensitive speakers there are so many great options that can be tried. FWIW, specifically regarding the V3 and A07 before it, I see many comments online to the effect these are cute, fun little things that sound great for what they are but are only good for desktop or secondary system use. I'm not finding that to be the case at all with the V3. It's the real deal for me so far.
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I agree with you. I had no issues with these amps in my system, and if I had to sell off all my other amps tomorrow and only have these chip amps left, I'd be just fine.
 
DavidTT said:
I see many comments online to the effect these are cute, fun little things that sound great for what they are but are only good for desktop or secondary system use. I'm not finding that to be the case at all with the V3. It's the real deal for me so far.
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That's the way I felt when I first heard one of TI's TPA EVMs 6-7 years ago.
I ended up with four of them. a 3250, two 3251s, and a 3255.
Eventually, I put together linear power supplies for all of them.....precisely because I thought they were worth taking seriously.
And I still think that.

The "real deal" indeed.
 
Has anyone paired one of the Aiyima or Fosi amps with one of the same company preamps? Since I've shown an interest in the AO7 and V3 chip amps, Amazon has been encouraging me to bundle preamp and amp.
 
I bought a Fosi V3 to use as a subwoofer amp for my ancient HSU sub but decided to try it with my Magneplanar 1.7. Pleasantly surprised. The tiny amp powers those very inefficient speakers with authority ,good bass , clear top end, decent soundstage. I normally power the 1.7's with a Conrad Johnson SS amp that is about twice as powerful (into 4 ohms) than the V3 but certainly no lack of drive with the Fosi. I found a deal at Walmart for $89 with the 48 volt power supply. Don't know if Walmart still has that deal. The Fosi is a bit brighter than the CJ which is known as a warm sounding amp and it is certainly more detailed than the CJ. BTW I used both amps with a 12SN7/6SN7 tube preamp (Mapletree) and preferred the sound that way rather than direct to the Fosi.
 
Mingo said:
Has anyone paired one of the Aiyima or Fosi amps with one of the same company preamps? Since I've shown an interest in the AO7 and V3 chip amps, Amazon has been encouraging me to bundle preamp and amp.
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I've seen plenty of discussion about pairing the A07 with the little FX Audio Tube-01 and -03 models previously, something that users seemed to like a lot.

Since I subbed the V3 into my main system, for now I'm feeding it from my Audio Research LS-1 line stage, a comical pairing for some, but hey, you use stuff you have on hand sometimes, price comparisons be damned right? I can't say I'm going to be in any hurry to change things up any time soon. Next, I'm going to try different op amps and will also try using the V3 without the LS-1.
 
Takes a month to get it. Will be interesting to see how the specs compare to the SMSL A300, which I like a lot even though it spec'd out poorly.
 
I've had my Aiyima A07 for 2 solid years of enjoyable listening and decided to build a custom minimalist case for it and replace the restored Onkyo A8017 in my daily living room rig. Frankly, the A07 can hold its own and takes up very little space.
 
xschop said:
I've had my Aiyima A07 for 2 solid years of enjoyable listening and decided to build a custom minimalist case for it and replace the restored Onkyo A8017 in my daily living room rig. Frankly, the A07 can hold its own and takes up very little space.
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We're gonna need to see pics of the custom case!
 
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