Buckeye Amps: 2nd Generation Purifi EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA Amplifier

[goryu]

Any updates on 9040 monoblock release date?

 

[Buckeye Amps]

Any updates on 9040 monoblock release date?

At the moment waiting on the input boards to be manufactured (likely 4wks or so) and then some final testing. So not too far off.

 

[goryu]

Thanks!

 

[davebnz]

Following with interest

More the point, has anyone used one yet ? I'm sure it sounds very good, given he previous generations did. But how about all that power ? Is this driving with ease with reserve ? An over kill ? Or yes, it really makes a difference to have that much in reserve to access in an instance ?

Enquiring minds need to know

 

[Krusty09]

Optimizing the 1ET9040BA means keeping the impedance to the speakers as low as possible to maintain its very low output impedance, which means very short speaker cables. My best-use case of a monoblock is one behind each speaker with a (potentially long) line-level interconnect (preferably balanced XLR) to each amp, and very short cable from amp to speaker. A long XLR cable, say <50~100m, will have insignificant effect on the sound (unlike a speaker cable of similar length).

Bi-amping is of benefit when you use an active crossover and the amps feed the drivers directly. Otherwise it is a waste of effort and money for the vast majority of consumers IME/IMO. With very few exceptions, all my best experiences with bi-amping have been in a professional sound reinforcement application. Overview:

Bi-amping 101

This article provides a quick look at how bi-amplification works. The conventional scheme is to split the signal into two frequency bands before the power amplifiers that drive the speakers. The bass (LF) amp sees only LF signals and drives only the LF driver (woofer). The treble (HF) amp sees...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The price of the speakers is indirectly related to their power needs at best. What matters is their sensitivity, placement, and distance to the listener. You can use an online calculator as a rough guide (note 80 dB is very loud to me, so 100 dB peaks would be my goal): http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/splcalculator.html

Dylan @Buckeye Amps is one of the few dealers willing to assess what you need vs. what you want (and vs. what other marketing will tell you).

HTH - Don

Hello.

Can you explain this a little more as to why you say this " best experience bi-amping have been in a professional sound reinforcement application"

Is it because you are using a speaker processor in the signal chain or something similar?

Thanks

 

[DonH56]

Hello.

Can you explain this a little more as to why you say this " best experience bi-amping have been in a professional sound reinforcement application"

Is it because you are using a speaker processor in the signal chain or something similar?

Thanks

Because many pro speaker systems are designed to be bi-amped using active crossovers and an appropriate set of amplifiers; they have no internal passive crossover (or minimal, e.g. just a blocking capacitor). Most consumer speakers with "bi-amp" terminals retain the internal passive crossovers, obviating a big advantage of going active, and AVRs send a full-range signal through both channels so do not include a proper crossover before the amplifier channels.

 

[Ashrum]

Optimizing the 1ET9040BA means keeping the impedance to the speakers as low as possible to maintain its very low output impedance, which means very short speaker cables. My best-use case of a monoblock is one behind each speaker with a (potentially long) line-level interconnect (preferably balanced XLR) to each amp, and very short cable from amp to speaker. A long XLR cable, say <50~100m, will have insignificant effect on the sound (unlike a speaker cable of similar length).

Bi-amping is of benefit when you use an active crossover and the amps feed the drivers directly. Otherwise it is a waste of effort and money for the vast majority of consumers IME/IMO. With very few exceptions, all my best experiences with bi-amping have been in a professional sound reinforcement application. Overview:

Bi-amping 101

This article provides a quick look at how bi-amplification works. The conventional scheme is to split the signal into two frequency bands before the power amplifiers that drive the speakers. The bass (LF) amp sees only LF signals and drives only the LF driver (woofer). The treble (HF) amp sees...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The price of the speakers is indirectly related to their power needs at best. What matters is their sensitivity, placement, and distance to the listener. You can use an online calculator as a rough guide (note 80 dB is very loud to me, so 100 dB peaks would be my goal): http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/splcalculator.html

Dylan @Buckeye Amps is one of the few dealers willing to assess what you need vs. what you want (and vs. what other marketing will tell you).

HTH - Don

I could put my front channel amp on a amp stand under my screen an use long xlr interconnects to them and do 5-7ft speaker cables or put them next to the speakers and do 3ft speakers but, i would not be able to put my aricom cooler above the amps if they were next to the speakers. Either way I am skeptical i would see an audible improvement over 26ft 10 gauge speaker wire. There shouldn't really be any high frequency roll off at that distance of 10 gauge wire.

 

[DonH56]

I could put my front channel amp on a amp stand under my screen an use long xlr interconnects to them and do 5-7ft speaker cables or put them next to the speakers and do 3ft speakers but, i would not be able to put my aricom cooler above the amps if they were next to the speakers. Either way I am skeptical i would see an audible improvement over 26ft 10 gauge speaker wire. There shouldn't really be any high frequency roll off at that distance of 10 gauge wire.

Nothing to do with bandwidth, just maintaining very low driving-point impedance (damping factor) to the speakers, to keep the crossover (input) termination as low as possible. I wouldn't think thermal coolers would be needed but do not own those amps. My old class AB amps (also Emotiva but lower-power), in a console with some space above but no fans, are doing OK and have been for about 10 years or so.

I suspect in a blind test you would find swapping amps to be inaudible, let alone changing cables, just telling you what I would do to optimize connections to high-power amplifiers.

 

[Ashrum]

Nothing to do with bandwidth, just maintaining very low driving-point impedance (damping factor) to the speakers, to keep the crossover (input) termination as low as possible. I wouldn't think thermal coolers would be needed but do not own those amps. My old class AB amps (also Emotiva but lower-power), in a console with some space above but no fans, are doing OK and have been for about 10 years or so.

I suspect in a blind test you would find swapping amps to be inaudible, let alone changing cables, just telling you what I would do to optimize connections to high-power amplifiers.

No what I do have does not run hot, it barely get warm after a movie or two, my monolith 7x gets warmer running my surround heights, not that it gets too warm either. I am not sure how warm a purify amp would get in comparison. As a computer guy that knows that what makes circuit boards susceptible to failure over time is the repeated heating and cooling of the circuits. A pc left running rather than being shut down every time its is not being used should last longer, excluding the cost of running it of course. I always aired(no pun intened) on the side of caution that cooling the amp even though it may not be nessicary might additionally help pronlg its life. Do you think it would make much difference between 3ft and 6ft that I should abandon having on an amp stand with a power conditioner and the aircom cooler?

 

[DonH56]

No what I do have does not run hot, it barely get warm after a movie or two, my monolith 7x gets warmer running my surround heights, not that it gets too warm either. I am not sure how warm a purify amp would get in comparison. As a computer guy that knows that what makes circuit boards susceptible to failure over time is the repeated heating and cooling of the circuits. A pc left running rather than being shut down every time its is not being used should last longer, excluding the cost of running it of course. I always aired(no pun intened) on the side of caution that cooling the amp even though it may not be nessicary might additionally help pronlg its life. Do you think it would make much difference between 3ft and 6ft that I should abandon having on an amp stand with a power conditioner and the aircom cooler?

I think it doesn't matter what I think. But 3' vs. 6' of speaker cable I would expect to be inaudible.

For the record, you can check various sites for MTBF/MTTF that indicate it is better to turn the PC off when not in use, but it depends upon what failure mechanism is involved. Thermal cycling tends to expose poor solder joints and other connections; continuous operation reduces semiconductor, capacitor, and other component operating lifetime. That said my career was more high-rel industry and mil-type stuff not commercial PCs.

 

[Jon L]

When driving high-sensitivity, easy-to-drive speakers, will EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA amps sound any better than 1ET400A amps?

​

 

[Julf]

When driving high-sensitivity, easy-to-drive speakers, will EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA amps sound any better than 1ET400A amps?

I am pretty sure no-one could hear a difference in a proper controlled test.

 

[Sokel]

When driving high-sensitivity, easy-to-drive speakers, will EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA amps sound any better than 1ET400A amps?

At 100+dB/2.83V/1m Blumenhofers we couldn't tell 1ET400A from AR 160M monos.
So...
Maybe with low sens speakers at far-ish listening distance and a big room 1ET9040A would make a difference.Otherwise,no.

 

[GPx86]

Will we see measurements posted before preorders open up? I'm expecting to put in an order.

 

[Buckeye Amps]

Will we see measurements posted before preorders open up? I'm expecting to put in an order.

Not from Amir but we will have measurements from our own AP to provide before taking orders, yes.

 

[Buckeye Amps]

ETA for taking orders will likely be beginning of July.

I have plenty of the 9040BA modules heading to me soon (ordered and in stock from Purifi).
The Hypex SMPS1200A180 is on back order until July.
And the Micro Audio SMPS1300w SMPS optional upgrade is currently in manufacturing, similar ETA of July as Hypex.

Everything else is ready to go (input board is measuring as expected, which is to say it is not imparting a negative effect on the performance expected).

 

[GPx86]

You probably enumerated this in conversation but I missed it. What is the value added difference in the Micro Audio PSU upgrade? Would you mind spelling this out in the original post of this thread?

 

[Buckeye Amps]

The biggest benefit is voltage. While the Hypex SMPS1200A180 nominal voltage is 46VDC, during stress loads the voltage dips a decent amount, resulting in not reaching peak output. The Micro Audio SMPS designs do not dip as much. We need to test the final product for the exact number but as an example of previous MA SMPS designs, their SMPS1k with 70VDC we use for the Purifi 1ET7040SA only dipped about 2V during load testing.

Another benefit is Active PFC for better efficiency.

 

[shion_ca]

ETA for taking orders will likely be beginning of July.

I have plenty of the 9040BA modules heading to me soon (ordered and in stock from Purifi).
The Hypex SMPS1200A180 is on back order until July.
And the Micro Audio SMPS1300w SMPS optional upgrade is currently in manufacturing, similar ETA of July as Hypex.

Everything else is ready to go (input board is measuring as expected, which is to say it is not imparting a negative effect on the performance expected).

Awesome, can you confirm what the gain options willl be? Looking for a 19 or so as I need more granularity on my preamp

 

[Buckeye Amps]

It will be interesting to see which PS measures best with the 1ET9040BA, if one offers superior energy efficiency while idle (low listening levels) and if there is a difference in heat generation. Will Buckeye offer these comparisons prior to sale? Thank you!

Will have a comparison of both before official listing. But I know there are those who want to pre order regardless as well.