Buckeye NC252MP Stereo Amplifier Review

[antcollinet]

The intrinsic Hypex response for their MP series is here.

Interesting - thanks.

 

[mskis]

Wanted to add my subjective thoughts to this. I am the very happy new owner of this amp. Real world performance is excellent. It drives my Kef R7 to extraordinarily loud levels with no audible distortion. Buckeye also offers features (auto sense!) that other companies costing quite a bit more fail to include. Id highly recommend based on my short trial period!

 

[AudioKC]

Wanted to add my subjective thoughts to this. I am the very happy new owner of this amp. Real world performance is excellent. It drives my Kef R7 to extraordinarily loud levels with no audible distortion. Buckeye also offers features (auto sense!) that other companies costing quite a bit more fail to include. Id highly recommend based on my short trial period!

Great!

I'm driving a KEF R11 from it (Dirac Live Bass Control, with active crossover). Love it, can go up to 95-100db at my listening position!

I got the version with a trigger (no auto sensing) but Topping DM-7 has a trigger line and it works perfectly well.

 

[formdissolve]

I live in a small space and can't play loud, so I'd probably max out around 25-30 watts, with usual listening around 10-15. If I'm reading this chart correctly, I'd be around peak distortion in the 15kHz and above range while at about 30 watts?

 

[David_M]

Not really, but there is hardly any music information at 15 KHz or above. A typical spectrum for a high-resolution recording displays a declining slope from the midrange on up. By 15KHz, the levels are -60dB or lower (referenced to the midrange), so the power of the 15KHz harmonic is 30W / 1,000,000 = 30 uW or lower! Now, that is almost humanly impossible to hear, let alone 10-15uW when listening at 10 - 15W levels. Now, that 10uW - 30uW signal has distortion peaks -70dB lower, making that spec ridiculous to even concerned about.

 

[formdissolve]

Not really, but there is hardly any music information at 15 KHz or above. A typical spectrum for a high-resolution recording displays a declining slope from the midrange on up. By 15KHz, the levels are -60dB or lower (referenced to the midrange), so the power of the 15KHz harmonic is 30W / 1,000,000 = 30 uW or lower! Now, that is almost humanly impossible to hear, let alone 10-15uW when listening at 10 - 15W levels. Now, that 10uW - 30uW signal has distortion peaks -70dB lower, making that spec ridiculous to even concerned about.

Thanks for the explanation! I can barely hear above 17kHz anyways, but wanted to make sure I wasn't hearing distortion in the upper midrange either. That said, I'm sure my speakers have higher distortion than anything this amp has anyways.

 

[peng]

Thanks for the explanation! I can barely hear above 17kHz anyways, but wanted to make sure I wasn't hearing distortion in the upper midrange either. That said, I'm sure my speakers have higher distortion than anything this amp has anyways.

You are super safe. To hear the harmonics distortions of 15 kHz, you have to be able to hear 30 kHz. That's for harmonic distortions, the lowest one is the 2nd harmonics, hence 30 kHz.

 

[Sokel]

Not really, but there is hardly any music information at 15 KHz or above. A typical spectrum for a high-resolution recording displays a declining slope from the midrange on up. By 15KHz, the levels are -60dB or lower (referenced to the midrange),

More like -30db (or less,depending the song,format and music genre ),but yes,still a lot lower (but not as vast as -60db compared to mid,that's silence) :



(that's hi-res I had in hand from another thread just before)

 

[AudioKC]

I live in a small space and can't play loud, so I'd probably max out around 25-30 watts, with usual listening around 10-15. If I'm reading this chart correctly, I'd be around peak distortion in the 15kHz and above range while at about 30 watts?

View attachment 368266

Check the multitone at 5 watts, it’s below audible range of distortion. This THD graph above takes into account high frequency distortion that you are not going to hear (see at the top graph, 45khz bandwidth).
In other words it’s not what you will hear.

 

[David_M]

More like -30db (or less,depending the song,format and music genre ),but yes,still a lot lower (but not as vast as -60db compared to mid,that's silence) :

View attachment 368277

(that's hi-res I had in hand from another thread just before)

That's true for a hi-rez recording with gentle sloping filters as you've shown, but at 44.1kHZ CD sampling rates, the filters are much steeper/aggressive, causing a much steeper drop from mid-reference of 50 to 60dB to meet the requirements of the 44.1k sampling filter (-96dB from reference at 22.01kHz).

 

[Sokel]

That's true for a hi-rez recording with gentle sloping filters as you've shown, but at 44.1kHZ CD sampling rates, the filters are much steeper/aggressive, causing a much steeper drop from mid-reference of 50 to 60dB to meet the requirements of the 44.1k sampling filter (-96dB from reference at 22.01kHz).

Agreed in general.
But there are strange stuff around (16/44.1Khz) :



(Pan Sonic -Connections and there's more like it in that strange album)

Is considered a torture test,try them sensibly!

 

[antcollinet]

That's true for a hi-rez recording with gentle sloping filters as you've shown, but at 44.1kHZ CD sampling rates, the filters are much steeper/aggressive, causing a much steeper drop from mid-reference of 50 to 60dB to meet the requirements of the 44.1k sampling filter (-96dB from reference at 22.01kHz).

That doesn't seem to match what we see with typical default filter characteristis in DACs measured here. EG, this one from the most recent DAC review. Essentially zero attenuation up to 20Khz (Unless I am misunderstanding what you are saying)

 

[Sokel]

That doesn't seem to match what we see with typical default filter characteristis in DACs measured here. EG, this one from the most recent DAC review. Essentially zero attenuation up to 20Khz (Unless I am misunderstanding what you are saying)

View attachment 368338

I think he's talking about the music spectrum,not the DACs.

 

[antcollinet]

I think he's talking about the music spectrum,not the DACs.

But was talking about aggressive filters at 16/44.1 - I am obviously (still) failing to understand. Or was he talking about ADC filters?

In which case are studios filtering significantly below 20KHz?

*Confused*

 

[Sokel]

Not really, but there is hardly any music information at 15 KHz or above. A typical spectrum for a high-resolution recording displays a declining slope from the midrange on up. By 15KHz, the levels are -60dB or lower (referenced to the midrange), so the power of the 15KHz harmonic is 30W / 1,000,000 = 30 uW or lower! Now, that is almost humanly impossible to hear, let alone 10-15uW when listening at 10 - 15W levels. Now, that 10uW - 30uW signal has distortion peaks -70dB lower, making that spec ridiculous to even concerned about.

But was talking about aggressive filters at 16/44.1 - I am obviously (still) failing to understand. Or was he talking about ADC filters?

In which case are studios filtering significantly below 20KHz?

*Confused*

This is the point I replied and I guessed it was about recordings.
So...

Edit:Yep,you're right about the point that the DAC will also filter,missed that.Nope.

 

[David_M]

That doesn't seem to match what we see with typical default filter characteristis in DACs measured here. EG, this one from the most recent DAC review. Essentially zero attenuation up to 20Khz (Unless I am misunderstanding what you are saying)

View attachment 368338

As others correctly pointed out, I referred to the music spectrum profile recorded on a 44.1kHz CD. Studio engineers have been diligent about blocking frequencies above 22kHz since the early CD days for fear of causing aliasing back into the music. They use steep DAC filters in their mastering chain to accomplish this.

 

[Livewire]

I wish it didn't 'pop' when it goes into power saving mode. Maybe a newer revision of the modules can fix that.

 

[Ajax]

At this price, it seems like a class AB killer.

Except for not having any headroom and its 8ohm power is not stupendous. And most of my speakers are nominally 8 ohms and my living room speakers are small but fantastic stand mount Mirage MRM-1 (not a dipole) and have pretty low sensitivity (84-86db). Seems like headroom would be desirable for such speakers in a largish room, even with a sub crossed at 60-80hz.

Or is it not an issue in practice? I have run the speakers with amps ranging from 120 watts to supposedly 300 watts (though it was a carver sunfire 2x300 and I don’t buy the power claim) but always had amps with lots of headroom and high damping.

For example, the Schiit Vidar doesn’t have appreciably more power at 8ohms—though it does have headroom , measured well but not as well as this, and is almost $200 more.

Or does one really need to go up a pricing tier or two to $1200 to $3000 range for the latest ncore and purifi based units? Such as a pair of Nord classic monoblocks?

If you are still looking for an AMP and need more power / headroom for another $150 you can get this

Buckeye Amps

Buckeye Amps utilizes the most advanced audio amplifier technologies available. Authorized seller for Hypex and Purifi Class D amplifiers. Based in the US. Free shipping and worldwide service!

www.buckeyeamp.com

 

[Ajax]

One thing I have learnt in my 50 years buying audio equipment is that there is a point whereby, as Archimago puts it when reviewing his DIY assembled Hypex MP252 several years ago, that a piece of equipment is simply "good enough" for it's intended use.

Along with the Topping and SMSL DACS I think the HYPEX AMPS fall into this category, whoever the manufacture (Buckeye, Apollon, VTV, Audiophonics etc). If you really want to itch your audio neurosis you can pay a little extra and purchase a second hand Benchmark DAC 3 with a Purifi or Ncorex based amp. Whatever you choose to do you will end up with a front end very close to SOTA for about 10% of the price of the gear recommended by audio magazines such as Absolute Sound and Stereophile.

I say this with the knowledge that the sound that we actually hear is more heavily influenced by the speakers and the room itself than the electronics (room correction aside).

I have a Buckeye 252 driving a pair of B&W AM1 all weather speakers full range supplemented by an old Velodyne sub crossed over at 70Hz. It is situated on my patio that has a vaulted ceiling and it plays very loud without a hint of distortion. There are no side walls so no reflections. It is an inexpensive system and the sound is as good as anything I have heard.

I appreciate that a lot of the comments here centre around the need for correct and transparent manufacturer's specifications, however, at the end of the day my understanding of the goals of this forum is to inform and educate others so they can confidently buy excellent gear at reasonable prices. Can we please keep that in mind when discussing gear such as this.

 

[ahofer]

Along with the Topping and SMSL DACS I think the HYPEX AMPS fall into this category, whoever the manufacture (Buckeye, Apollon, VTV, Audiophonics etc). If you really want to itch your audio neurosis you can pay a little extra and purchase a second hand Benchmark DAC 3 with a Purifi or Ncorex based amp. Whatever you choose to do you will end up with a front end very close to SOTA for about 10% of the price of the gear recommended by audio magazines such as Absolute Sound and Stereophile.

Indeed. At the moment I have one of these, which at the time cost like $900, pushing a pair of Revel F228Be speakers. A 14:1 speakers:amp ratio at today’s discounted prices.

I remember when I had that amp powering my Harbeths I posted it on the Harbeth FB group (along with my $1000 RME DAC), and immediately was mobbed for not spending enough on the electronics.