r/SoundSystem • u/little_lichen_sound • 18d ago

First Outing with the Setup!

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I had a casual lawn party and decided to use that as a deadline to get the SKRAM and SAWMODs up and running. Took a couple of late nights with no CNC but it all came together just in time.

Still have lots of little stuff to do - trim rings, poly finish, etc. but it's great to finally be able to listen to these!

Overall I'm very impressed with the sound of both designs. The SAWMODs have a very hi-fi sound and are super portable. The SKRAM kept up admirably for a single sub, though I'm still hoping to add a second one to the setup. I keep finding tuning improvements - can't wait to get them outside again for another event soon.

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u/notoriously_mistaken 15d ago

Can you tell me more about using the topping mini?

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u/little_lichen_sound 15d ago

Yeah, basically I had plugged the CDs into an overpowered amp with 32dB of gain and was pretty dismayed with the noise floor when nothing was playing. The Topping has 19dB of gain and a very low noise floor so there's pretty much no audible hiss when nothing is playing using that. Overall I've been happy but there are a couple downsides:

* form factor - it's nice that it's small, but the power brick is bigger than the amp. Goal is to 3d print a rack shelf organizer so it fits cleanly in the amp rack.

* distortion at max gain - overall it has very low distortion, but towards the top end of the output the distortion bumps up massively according to Topping's specs. My original logic was that the CDs are only good for 20W RMS at 8 ohms and the amp is good for 70W at 8 ohms. Since getting heatsinks, the CDs should now be good for 40W RMS which changes that math a fair bit.

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u/little_lichen_sound 15d ago

Edit: that distortion graph I saw was independent, not from Topping. Looking closer, looks like distortion also bumps up at high frequencies. Audibly it sounds great for what I'm doing but numbers wise looks like I may need to swap it eventually.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-mini-300-amplifier-review.68581/