Buckeye 3 Channel Purifi Amp Review

[pma]

Oh dear, the banana case issue has escalated to distortion and the subjective sound quality.

I think the “banana case” referers to this poor mechanical quality of the case? (Uneven distance of the top cover)

 

[TonyJZX]

i think this is more because its built on what is a quasi instrument case... so its bolted at the sides but nothing in the middle

you go into this knowing what you're getting

i feel like this test is slightly on the harsher side

the manufacturer says there's an issue, let the guys figure it out, it happens

let us temper our judgement until the 'fixed' unit is ready

 

[amper42]

I would be less concerned about the Buckeye exterior case and focus on measurement testing and corrective adjustments made before production and sales. Apparently, Rick's Buckeye Purifi measurement test hinted at elevated distortion as volume increased but this was not interpreted as a significant flaw by Dylan until Amir pointed it out in his review. Purifi modules should do better.

Compare the ASR measurements of the Audiophonics S400ET to the Buckeye - you see a significant difference.

Audiophonics HPA-S400ET Review (Stereo Amplifier)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audiophonics HPA-S400ET. It was sent to me by the company after member request and costs 1 490,00 € (US $1,638). I must say this is one of the best packaging of class D amplifiers (Purifi in this case) that I have seen! It is slick and has...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Now the Buckeye Purifi measurement:

I'm not sure how costly the Buckeye fix will be or if it can really match the Audiophonics measurement. But I do know this should have been caught and fixed before production. We all love Dylan and he has brought us lots of amps at great prices. But once you get to the level of Purifi modules the implementation needs to be pristine, otherwise customers should simply get a $749 NC502MP. If any other company produced this product ASR posts would have treated them closer to the Hegel review rather than the comments posted here. I hope this is a one time miss at Buckeye amps as replacing boards is not inexpensive - especially for a discount producer. This miss may also alert readers to consider delaying Buckeye purchases until an ASR review is posted? Kumbaya

 

[DSJR]

Maybe you can find a pixture of what you are telling us, on the Internet or from your archives, and show us what you are telling. I owned NAP250s and as you said had been in the NAIM factory many, many times wondering around as I wish as a friend of Julian. I have no recollection of a case issue as you describe.


That the case was ringing and you didn't notice but now you woke up from that stupor and remembered the ringing???

Oh stop it for goodness sake!

Naim fitted a plastic strip often used for holding papers together along the back edge with was pulled up to stop the ringing. of course I don't have bloody pictures to prove that I'm saying, as it was thirty odd years back, but I went with my pal to th efactory, met JV again and listened to the prottype 52 preamp (Naim's first proper high fidelity preamp which was able to reproduce reverb information properly we all felt who'd heard ot compared ot the 72 which was the previous top model). JV himself asked us if we thouight they were going on the right direction and we both said YES, not rtealising the extreme cost of the thing with supply box and the fact it'd be in the Olive cosmetic style as you pictured above.

The cast outer cases did vary and some were definitely not true and straight. I was responding to the critique of the Schiit casing having gaps. if you still want to hold a torch for your late friend's company, then nothing I can say will change that.

 

[pma]

I would be less concerned about the Buckeye exterior case and focus on measurement testing and corrective adjustments made before production and sales. Apparently, Rick's Buckeye Purifi measurement test hinted at elevated distortion as volume increased but this was not interpreted

There seems to be a systematic error and I believe that @Buckeye Amps is trying to find it. Several hints were already given. The error would be inaudible, however from engineering point it should be corrected.

 

[Multicore]

I think the “banana case” referers to this poor mechanical quality of the case? (Uneven distance of the top cover)

View attachment 252185

Clearly the problem is that the panther isn't big enough, or trying hard enough. Upgrade the panther.

 

[Sokel]

I think the “banana case” referers to this poor mechanical quality of the case? (Uneven distance of the top cover)

View attachment 252185

Couple of washers on each side in the inside of the lid would stretch it just fine,it's the upper "ears" that cause this.

 

[pma]

Couple of washers on each side in the inside of the lid would stretch it just fine,it's the upper "ears" that cause this.

Sorry, $1699. Not expecting to use washers.

 

[sarumbear]

I think the “banana case” referers to this poor mechanical quality of the case? (Uneven distance of the top cover)

I don’t think I miss understood. Here is the post where the expression is clearly referred to the NAIM case.

Forgive me here, but Naim sold rapidly increasing price amps for decades with 'banana shaped' rectangular sleeve cases with slide-in inner tray, the sleeve ringing like a bell if the damping strip at the back was dislodged...

 

[sarumbear]

Oh stop it for goodness sake!

Why should I allow your demeaning posts go unanswered?

Naim fitted a plastic strip often used for holding papers together along the back edge with was pulled up to stop the ringing. of course I don't have bloody pictures to prove that I'm saying, as it was thirty odd years back, but I went with my pal to th efactory, met JV again and listened to the prottype 52 preamp (Naim's first proper high fidelity preamp which was able to reproduce reverb information properly we all felt who'd heard ot compared ot the 72 which was the previous top model). JV himself asked us if we thouight they were going on the right direction and we both said YES, not rtealising the extreme cost of the thing with supply box and the fact it'd be in the Olive cosmetic style as you pictured above.

What has the subjective quality of a preamplifier relate to the case quality of the power amplifier? You are doing your best to distract the argument.

The cast outer cases did vary and some were definitely not true and straight. I was responding to the critique of the Schiit casing having gaps. if you still want to hold a torch for your late friend's company, then nothing I can say will change that.

Of course I will hold a torch for my friend. That’s what friends do!

Julian Vereker played an important role in Hi-Fi history. You demean his product’s quality. You even blamed him to have brainwashed you. But you can offer no proof, just words from an anonymous poster. Google finds thousands of pictures, neither shows any issues you listed.

It seems you have a grudge against NAIM and hence Julian. I hope this holiday season will allow you to reflect and get rid of any bad feeling you may be harbouring.

 

[AudioKC]

I think I could live with that rise in distortion, but could not live with such ugliness.

I hope to live to a time where audio boxes would not be considered aesthetically, and considered more like every house light switches. Just a device that works and no one cares how it looks like. Industry is moving into that direction bit by bit…

 

[Rick Sykora]

I would be less concerned about the Buckeye exterior case and focus on measurement testing and corrective adjustments made before production and sales. Apparently, Rick's Buckeye Purifi measurement test hinted at elevated distortion as volume increased but this was not interpreted as a significant flaw by Dylan until Amir pointed it out in his review. Purifi modules should do better.

While a few did notice the same issue in my testing, there were a couple of factors that kept Dylan from acting sooner. One, I built my test unit from his parts. So, this left open the possibility that I had a build issue or a bad input board. We recently tried another input board and did not change the result, so could have still been my build. More significantly, the board designer was unable to reproduce the distortion initially (using a Cosmos ADC). I tried to find issues with my build and came up short, but by then Amir had tested.

I'm not sure how costly the Buckeye fix will be or if it can really match the Audiophonics measurement. But I do know this should have been caught and fixed before production. We all love Dylan and he has brought us lots of amps at great prices. But once you get to the level of Purifi modules the implementation needs to be pristine, otherwise customers should simply get a $749 NC502MP. If any other company produced this product ASR posts would have treated them closer to the Hegel review rather than the comments posted here. I hope this is a one time miss at Buckeye amps as replacing boards is not inexpensive - especially for a discount producer. This miss may also alert readers to consider delaying Buckeye purchases until an ASR review is posted? Kumbaya

While agree that it is better to find problems earlier, does not always work out that way. Dylan had asked me to test earlier, and my initial test feedback was positive. Unfortunately, I was unaware that my QA451 was failing and only found that out afterwards. I arranged for the QA451 to be repaired but it took much longer than I hoped. I did not get around to retesting until after Dylan had started shipping.

In hindsight, there are opportunities to improve. However, even much better equipped manufacturers have defects. It really boils down to how the remediation is handled and Buckeye Amps has supported his products well beyond most.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Rick

 

[Billy Budapest]

I think the “banana case” referers to this poor mechanical quality of the case? (Uneven distance of the top cover)

View attachment 252185

I LIKE the look of the unit.

 

[Buckeye Amps]

Are these buffee boards your own design, or from a third party?

A third party that I work very closely with.

 

[TonyJZX]

I LIKE the look of the unit.

I quite like that radio shack look too... but not at $1,600 us!

i think people may want to ask themselves what competitive and perhaps mainstream 'like' products are built like at this price

 

[Rottmannash]

Don't think you'll find a 3 channel Purifi amp at this price.

 

[DSJR]

Why should I allow your demeaning posts go unanswered?


What has the subjective quality of a preamplifier relate to the case quality of the power amplifier? You are doing your best to distract the argument.


Of course I will hold a torch for my friend. That’s what friends do!

Julian Vereker played an important role in Hi-Fi history. You demean his product’s quality. You even blamed him to have brainwashed you. But you can offer no proof, just words from an anonymous poster. Google finds thousands of pictures, neither shows any issues you listed.

It seems you have a grudge against NAIM and hence Julian. I hope this holiday season will allow you to reflect and get rid of any bad feeling you may be harbouring.

How many HiFi Choice measurements would you like me to post here? SINAD in the 60's and 70's (IMD especially), interconnects between pre, supply and power amp which being unscreened (even now?) which audibly altered the perceived stereo soundfield (it didn't matter with the Linn speakers we then used), cases which set a style and brand identity but which were mostly as I describe (people genuinely aren't fussy really on things like that - I didn't notice but my OCD pal did and it bugged him after spending thousands on the stuff) and a young bods mindset which was so easily taken in by the Linn-Naim world and sold loads of it back then.

So yeah, with what I know now, I do have a bit of a grumpy grudge. JV told me in 1986 that I no longer knew what a good sound was (when I expressed a preference for the Linn amps which themselves were more like Quad, even if not as good as a Quad 44/405-2 if the 4 ohm abilities were taken away and the fact that Naim back then sounded so different to almost 'everything else' repeatedly, must tell you something if you stand back. I loved the bolt-up 250 I had and any surviving ones would 'sound' better than ever with it's caps replaced and a decent modern source and preamp. Naim is different now and the distortion is up to 20dB lower than it was in the 80's and they seem to have a handle on the offsets and so on drifting regularly. All this ties into the cases where 'They probably won't notice' ruled everything back then with so many makers in the UK at least...

Like you, I've around this industry for decades albeit on the domestic side (with pro friends) and it wasn't until the late 80's when I started hearing more intimate live music and the penny dropped as to the sub standard stuff we were selling for lots of money. It began a fresh journey of discovery and once Quad introduced the far superior (at driving speaker loads powerfully with low distortion and clarity) 606/66 and the Nakamichi CA7/PA7 came along in the UK, my future die was set as I looked to AVI and ATC's, having replaced my Linn amps for a CA7/PA5mk2, which sounded a heck of a lot less harsh toned than a 72/HiCap/135 setup (we had them all on dem) and less grainy than the late LK1/LK280.

All the best for this season and for 2023 in any case.

Whatever, it's ancient history and 'recollections may vary' after all this time. I'm retired now all bar the shouting and very few here would even know Naim Audio

 

[pseudoid]

I think the “banana case” referers to this poor mechanical quality of the case? (Uneven distance of the top cover)

Could we just put this 'banana' argument to rest? ...pretending that bowing is caused by the fact that the PinkPanther has been on that Flexitarian diet, for a year?

 

[uwotm8]

Well it looks like garage DIY and definitely not as $1.5k product should. Voted for POOR.
Peachtree amp is right next to it to compare

 

[Rottmannash]

Some of us don't place a high priority on cosmetics, but on value. I don't look at my equipment-I listen to what it produces.