Apollon Hypex NC2K Amplifier Teardown

[amirm]

Does it worth? Do this increase the music enjoyment in a double blind test?
(Honest question, thanks in advance for your answer)
My Best
Lorenzo

People are asking for the upgrade for reliability, not sound quality.

 

[Lorenzo74]

Any cap not in the signal path probably will have next-to-no impact if any on the output signal. It's more a reliability thing. Chinese caps are not known to stand up especially well under high ripple current (especially at higher frequency), high heat conditions... some American capacitors can be kinda janky too (ask any guitar amp tech about IC./Illinois electrolytics, we'll pretty much all say "they're bad").

Thanks.
I guessed that, and Apollon confirmed with proper detailed explanation.
I trust the engineers at Hypex and Apollon that know the subject (which cap and where) respect to esoteric audiophilers DIY that upgrade caps/resistors with resonating names just for the sake of aestetic praising the perfomance gain of a cables that cost more than an amplifier...and end up listening to music in small rooms without any attention to reflection or bass management.
looking at the amount of glue I believe the reliability of the power supply has been carefully addressed.
my best
L.

 

[dfuller]

Thanks.
I guessed that, and Apollon confirmed with proper detailed explanation.
I trust the engineers at Hypex and Apollon that know the subject (which cap and where) respect to esoteric audiophilers DIY that upgrade caps/resistors with resonating names just for the sake of aestetic praising the perfomance gain of a cables that cost more than an amplifier...and end up listening to music in small rooms without any attention to reflection or bass management.
looking at the amount of glue I believe the reliability of the power supply has been carefully addressed.
my best
L.

The glue is there to inhibit ringing from components (see: coil whine) and as mechanical support for larger components to remove stress on solder joints. That's an entirely different thing from individual component quality. It's likely they chose the particular value of the caps needed and let the factory make the choice of what exact caps they use - which is why we see some Hypex power supplies with Su'scon, some with Aishi, etc etc.

 

[Lorenzo74]

People are asking for the upgrade for reliability, not sound quality.

Thank you Amir, got it.
as just wrote above let’s trust into Hypex enginners... hopefully they won’t save cents compromising the lifespan of their product.
Excellent review as usual.
P.S. we leave far away otherwise I would have asked you some veggies for free testing.
nice you share the pictures at the end, a personal touch in a remote world. When you’ll post a video? I believe many would appreciate listening to you.
my Best Regards
Lorenzo

 

[Lorenzo74]

The glue is there to inhibit ringing from components (see: coil whine) and as mechanical support for larger components to remove stress on solder joints. That's an entirely different thing from individual component quality. It's likely they chose the particular value of the caps needed and let the factory make the choice of what exact caps they use - which is why we see some Hypex power supplies with Su'scon, some with Aishi, etc etc.

Thanks, I used that glue for the same reason! It is obvious.
this is an example of how, to OEM, the name on a cap capacitor is of relative importance as long as tier one meet the manufacturer requirements. This is how the industry works. a name on a cap has no value as long as specs are met and having multiple sources they can save money and retail at lower price point. Make sense?
my Best
L.

 

[amirm]

When you’ll post a video? I believe many would appreciate listening to you.
my Best Regards

Video is on my Todo list but seemingly I never get to it. Thanks anyway.

 

[restorer-john]

The caps on our linear regulator board are Nichicon MUSE.

The capacitors on the Apollon/Sparkos discrete linear regulator/Pro input buffer board, picture taken above by Amir, are Panasonic although your website picture shows Nichicon.

There are Nichicons (looks like LKG gold tunes to me) on your discrete regulator board in the photo above by Amir.

Clearly you have made the choice to use high quality components on your supporting boards. The same cannot be said however about the main components, the Hypex modules. There is zero excuse for not specifying tier one capacitors on either the SMPS or the amplifier boards. They are marketed as SOTA and TOTL modules, and yet they implement components you and I both know exhibit a poor overall life and are subject to premature failure.

Basically, they are taking their customers for fools and that does not sit well with me, considering the thousands of failed capacitors I have pulled out of relatively recent gear bearing those brand names over the years.

 

[LTig]

If I’m very honest with a cap upgrade the amp measures and sounds the same as with stock caps. The main difference is that the SAMHWA caps which are stock on most Hypex modules have a lifespan of around 5.000 hours and the Rubycon or Nichicon caps that we use have a lifespan of around 20.000 hours.

In a 24/7 configuration 5.000 hours is just 6 months and 20.000 hours less than 2 1/2 years. That would mean that it would be impossible to use class D amplifiers in an installation which is always powered on. Can this really be true?

 

[Jake71]

This is a $2k+ amplifier, I really do not understand their decision to try save $20 on capacitors when everyone would give a thumbs up if they'd just put in some Nichicon or similar Japanese brand name capacitors instead of cheap Chinese ones.

 

[sq225917]

Nice little discrete regs for the sparkos input board and a pair of hypex hxr regs in there too

 

[restorer-john]

In a 24/7 configuration 5.000 hours is just 6 months and 20.000 hours less than 2 1/2 years. That would mean that it would be impossible to use class D amplifiers in an installation which is always powered on. Can this really be true?

It's complicated.

https://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/lifetime/

And this note:

The issue is excess ripple current, high ambient temperatures and internal electrolyte heating caused by I2R losses which result in shortened life and venting failures. And, of course, just poor quality in the first place.

Attached: Kemet ripple current confusion paper. (written for chip capacitors, not electros, but contains some good info)

 

[McFly]

In a 24/7 configuration 5.000 hours is just 6 months and 20.000 hours less than 2 1/2 years. That would mean that it would be impossible to use class D amplifiers in an installation which is always powered on. Can this really be true?

That would probably be at max. or high temp no?

 

[Helicopter]

Sorry to hear about the somber development Amir. Take care.

 

[wwenze]

It's complicated.

The part where 3000-hour caps from a bad brand die faster than 2000-hour caps from a good brand?

Personally I consider the 3000 hour 105C (or whatever temp) rating as the guaranteed one that I can hold the maker accountable for. The estimated values are for reference only.

 

[Blumlein 88]

These amps with their high voltage capability would be just the ticket for big electrostats like my Soundlabs.

 

[JohnYang1997]

In a 24/7 configuration 5.000 hours is just 6 months and 20.000 hours less than 2 1/2 years. That would mean that it would be impossible to use class D amplifiers in an installation which is always powered on. Can this really be true?

Oh.... that's at rated temperature. If I'm not mistaken.

 

[Jake71]

The part where 3000-hour caps from a bad brand die faster than 2000-hour caps from a good brand?

Personally I consider the 3000 hour 105C (or whatever temp) rating as the guaranteed one that I can hold the maker accountable for. The estimated values are for reference only.

I tested some caps in a piece of hifi equipment from the mid 70s just yesterday, the caps were all nippon chemicon and I was ready to recap the whole thing, but I wanted to do some testing first and found that all the caps measured like new, seriously, the main filter cap 1000uF/25V had an ESR of just 30 milliohm @ 10kHz. Didn't find a single bad cap, even removed some of the caps and looked at the pins under a microscope, no corrosion visible.

 

[Dialectic]

I last suffered a cap failure in 2009. Since then, I've gotten in the habit of powering my gear down and, if necessary to totally power it down, disconnecting it from mains electricity.

I trust that the Hypex caps will last a long time in domestic environments. It is difficult for me to envision an application, even within a pro environment, in which high-fidelity amplifiers would need to be powered 24/7.

 

[March Audio]

Clearly you have made the choice to use high quality components on your supporting boards. The same cannot be said however about the main components, the Hypex modules. There is zero excuse for not specifying tier one capacitors on either the SMPS or the amplifier boards. They are marketed as SOTA and TOTL modules, and yet they implement components you and I both know exhibit a poor overall life and are subject to premature failure.

Basically, they are taking their customers for fools and that does not sit well with me, considering the thousands of failed capacitors I have pulled out of relatively recent gear bearing those brand names over the years.

John, before you go off on one again you need to base your statements on facts.

What evidence or information do you have of Hypex modules failing due to these caps being faulty?

 

[Dialectic]

Had a somber development earlier this morning. No amount of money is going to remedy that so not going to ask you for any donations with this review.

Hope everything is okay.