Buckeye Amps: New US based Hypex multichannel amplifier builder, line-up announcement!

[Buckeye Amps]

Current lead time is about 4wks.

Very sorry to hear about the Parasound

 

[jjmcubed]

First Craigslist buy. Caveat emptor and all that jazz. Saving up for my next Buckeye. Any information on your logo? Happy this has been successful for you. You're helping out the community, so glad people are supporting you. If I remember correctly the discount for multiple amps is 50%, right?









Teasing about the discount amount. Please don't ask him for a 50% discount.

 

[MarkWayne]

Just received my 2 Ch 502 in the Ghent case today. It's out in the garage burning in on my workbench system. Tomorrow it goes into my main kit and will be driving a pair of Tekton Lore Reference towers. I'm moving the IOTAVX SA3/PA3 stack it replaces into another room to become the foundation for a dedicated vinyl setup. I'm pretty excited!

Interested to hear your thoughts once you have it hooked up to your main system. Will you be using a preamp?

 

[Rottmannash]

Just received my 2 Ch 502 in the Ghent case today. It's out in the garage burning in on my workbench system. Tomorrow it goes into my main kit and will be driving a pair of Tekton Lore Reference towers. I'm moving the IOTAVX SA3/PA3 stack it replaces into another room to become the foundation for a dedicated vinyl setup. I'm pretty excited!

Burning in? Is that a thing in Class D amps?

 

[Buckeye Amps]

So, I have begun an initial look into Purifi offerings. But the pricing on their website doesn't seem accurate as based on the price breaks I'd not be able to compete with VTV (whereas with my Hypex offerings I am able to compete closely while still making profit). So I emailed them for further information.

That said, if I went that route it would be Stereo only using the EVAL1 boards. Is this something people would still be interested in or would they need to have third-party input buffers/OP amps?

 

[Doodski]

So, I have begun an initial look into Purifi offerings. But the pricing on their website doesn't seem accurate as based on the price breaks I'd not be able to compete with VTV (whereas with my Hypex offerings I am able to compete closely while still making profit). So I emailed them for further information.

That said, if I went that route it would be Stereo only using the EVAL1 boards. Is this something people would still be interested in or would they need to have third-party input buffers/OP amps?

Having the speaker banana jacks and XLR connectors mounted directly on the PCB creates a long term reliability issue. The solder joints or the PCB can break. It's better having them mounted on the chassis.

 

[amper42]

So, I have begun an initial look into Purifi offerings. But the pricing on their website doesn't seem accurate as based on the price breaks I'd not be able to compete with VTV (whereas with my Hypex offerings I am able to compete closely while still making profit). So I emailed them for further information.

That said, if I went that route it would be Stereo only using the EVAL1 boards. Is this something people would still be interested in or would they need to have third-party input buffers/OP amps?

EVAL1 EIGENTAKT Purifi design is preferred by most. The other optional OP amp choices raise prices while adding little if anything. In fact, in most cases they measured worse than the EVAL1 with the OPA1612 differential input buffer. If the banana jacks and XLR connectors were mounted directly to the Chassis that would offer a better built option.

 

[Rottmannash]

Having the speaker banana jacks and XLR connectors mounted directly on the PCB creates a long term reliability issue. The solder joints or the PCB can break. It's better having them mounted on the chassis.

If one never plugs<>unplugs the XLR cables and/or the speaker cables?

 

[Doodski]

If one never plugs<>unplugs the XLR cables and/or the speaker cables?

The weight alone of speaker cables and the XLRs will cause stress, cracked joints and tear the PCB traces right off the PCB and if somebody tugs or trips over a cable it's all over for that PCB.

 

[Dundas]

That said, if I went that route it would be Stereo only using the EVAL1 boards. Is this something people would still be interested in or would they need to have third-party input buffers/OP amps?

You could also make a nice 3 channel for home theater use using the EVAL 2 and SMPS3KA400 power supply.

 

[TomekNet]

So, I have begun an initial look into Purifi offerings. But the pricing on their website doesn't seem accurate as based on the price breaks I'd not be able to compete with VTV (whereas with my Hypex offerings I am able to compete closely while still making profit). So I emailed them for further information.

That said, if I went that route it would be Stereo only using the EVAL1 boards. Is this something people would still be interested in or would they need to have third-party input buffers/OP amps?

I believe there would be two reasons to go EVAL2 / 3-party buffer route:
- possibility to set custom gain / sensitivity levels (see how Audiophonics do that)
- having option to offer 3-channel amps for LCR speakers (I might even switch from C298 + MPA-M400ET setup)

 

[Billy Budapest]

So, I have begun an initial look into Purifi offerings. But the pricing on their website doesn't seem accurate as based on the price breaks I'd not be able to compete with VTV (whereas with my Hypex offerings I am able to compete closely while still making profit). So I emailed them for further information.

That said, if I went that route it would be Stereo only using the EVAL1 boards. Is this something people would still be interested in or would they need to have third-party input buffers/OP amps?

Interested.

 

[thegeton]

Burning in? Is that a thing in Class D amps?

I don't know if its a thing in Class D amps, but as an experienced engineer I consider it a best practice that I like to do with any new electronics where possible.

 

[Rottmannash]

The weight alone of speaker cables and the XLRs will cause stress, cracked joints and tear the PCB traces right off the PCB and if somebody tugs or trips over a cable it's all over for that PCB.

What if I use the SpeakOns instead?

 

[Dundas]

What if I use the SpeakOns instead?

With the EVAL boards you do not have to use the circuit board mounted banana jacks. You could use rear panel mounted speaker connectors (banana or speakon) but it would probably cost a more money as it may require soldering something Buckeye is not currently doing. Also the EVAL XLRs can be attached to the back panel.

 

[Rottmannash]

With the EVAL boards you do not have to use the circuit board mounted banana jacks. You could use rear panel mounted speaker connectors (banana or speakon) but it would probably cost a more money as it may require soldering something Buckeye is not currently doing. Also the EVAL XLRs can be attached to the back panel.

Sorry-I have the VTV Purifi Eval 1 amp and it has both speaker terminals. I was wondering if using the SpeakOn terminals would put less strain on the board.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Sorry-I have the VTV Purifi Eval 1 amp and it has both speaker terminals. I was wondering if using the SpeakOn terminals would put less strain on the board.

Yes, because the Speakon terminals are connected to the chassis, not the board.

 

[Dundas]

Sorry-I have the VTV Purifi Eval 1 amp and it has both speaker terminals. I was wondering if using the SpeakOn terminals would put less strain on the board.

I was talking about about potential Buckeye builds but I don't think you should be worried about this issue. IMHO modifying it to change to Speakons would be a waste of money.
Here is a picture of an EVAL 1 with soldered panel mount banana jacks:

 

[thegeton]

Interested to hear your thoughts once you have it hooked up to your main system. Will you be using a preamp?

So far I'm very happy with the results. The setup is a Bluesound Node 2i as the source connected via coax (S/PDIF) to a Topping DAC (D50s/P50 combo). Then RCA unbalanced out from the D50s to RCA unbalanced in on a Schiit Magnius (using this as a preamp). Then Balanced XLR output of the Magnius into Balanced input on the Buckeye. Finally the Buckeye is outputting directly into the Tekton Lore Reference pair.

It sounds quite different from the IOTAVX based system. There are some notable improvements and some other changes (upper midrange, extended treble) I'm still evaluating. Most noticeable: the bass has been massively improved from both a timbre and control perspective. Cleaner, punchier, faster - amazing.

More to come as I get more time to evaluate.

 

[Guddu]

I was talking about about potential Buckeye builds but I don't think you should be worried about this issue. IMHO modifying it to change to Speakons would be a waste of money.
Here is a picture of an EVAL 1 with soldered panel mount banana jacks:
View attachment 111559

Is it VTV Purify amp?