Buckeye PURIFI 1ET9040BA Amp Review

[honn]

The thoughtful answer is the one that fits your power needs based on your speaker, room size, and listening preferences. Add in something that fits your budget, features and is reliable too and the fact is the answer is actually a bit more complex. Overall, would agree that there are great values being achieved in amplifiers. However, does not mean we are even close to a one size for all (or most) amplifier imo. As with other audio products, there are still other potential other demographics that differentiate as well.

And my point can be consonant with what you said here. People have different room sizes and speakers, but there will still be averages and most things in this world follow the bell curve normal distribution. Companies like Topping and Fosi are optimizing for the middle distribution of the bell curve, serving the majority.

 

[WillBrink]

So all the upsides of class D without any of the major downsides? Has that code finally been cracked? They aint pretty but pretty costs more $ and a limited edition or signature series that was pretty and more $ would be out of stock in a day.

 

[Audio Science Pal]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Buckeye Purifi 1ET9040BA (second generation?) monoblock amplifier. It was kindly drop shipped by a company and costs US $1,295.
View attachment 501835
A single LED adorns the front indicating power on, protection or fault condition. Back panel has all that one would need for balanced operation:
View attachment 501836
Gain settings are well chosen and inclusion of trigger input for automatic turn on via the source is appreciated.

It is my pleasure to recommend the Buckeye 1ET9040BA monoblock amplifier.


------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Looks nice and is a really good deal!

 

[Mnyb]

Great product , I think Buckeye found their niche . There are others putting the same module in nicer cases already at a higher price ? And there is a market for things in even nicer boxes that are not as good as this and cost even more ? .

But nice boxes seems a lost art ? or only achievable at massive scale that does not exist anymore . We old dudes simply wonder why things don't look nice anymore without costing accuphase money ? Quite mundane amps in 1990's looked like million $ ( if not British then they had the signature " man in a shed vibe " )

I like the Buckeye formula even i'm a sucker for classic Japanese HiFi regarding look and feel .

If this works as business keep at it . Others already doing the other stuff .

The tested amp seems to be in class of its own anyway the good overall design and the choosen PSU produces something no competitor offers yet ?

I also love the lack of unnecessary options , The customer should not be confused with for example a selection of op amps for the buffer stage or different buffers , its simply an engineering task best done by the designer , a sneaky practice of upselling the customer stuff that does not do anything for the performance but are smartly sold as such. I',m very happy that Buckeye does not participate in such practices .
One good buffer design for all the amps ( with slight variations to fit the product ) seems much better for everyone .

Product variation creates problems of thier own , spare parts and service is a mess and testing all permutations becomes a monumental task .
Remember the binding post issue they had ? Imagine it times 5 or 10 if you could pick and chose from a multitude of connectors from different brands....

 

[Sokel]

Great product , I think Buckeye found their niche . There are others putting the same module in nicer cases already at a higher price ? And there is a market for things in even nicer boxes that are not as good as this and cost even more ? .

But nice boxes seems a lost art ? or only achievable at massive scale that does not exist anymore . We old dudes simply wonder why things don't look nice anymore without costing accuphase money ? Quite mundane amps in 1990's looked like million $ ( if not British then they had the signature " man in a shed vibe " )

I like the Buckeye formula even i'm a sucker for classic Japanese HiFi regarding look and feel .

If this works as business keep at it . Others already doing the other stuff .

The tested amp seems to be in class of its own anyway the good overall design and the choosen PSU produces something no competitor offers yet ?

I also love the lack of unnecessary options , The customer should not be confused with for example a selection of op amps for the buffer stage or different buffers , its simply an engineering task best done by the designer , a sneaky practice of upselling the customer stuff that does not do anything for the performance but are smartly sold as such. I',m very happy that Buckeye does not participate in such practices .
One good buffer design for all the amps ( with slight variations to fit the product ) seems much better for everyone .

Product variation creates problems of thier own , spare parts and service is a mess and testing all permutations becomes a monumental task .
Remember the binding post issue they had ? Imagine it times 5 or 10 if you could pick and chose from a multitude of connectors from different brands....

Nailed it.
If it works as a business, it works.

Mama Purifi has shown a similar way with their own Steinway-Lyngdorf cases.

Totally simple and elegant, full size though.
And cost effective too (street price at least, for power amps)

The complexity is probably the key, you're right.
If these can sell this 7 channel, 26Kg amp for 1500 euro, it's not the cost of the case that breaks the deal, for sure:

(link)


There's room for everyone out there, there's no point of defending any choice.

 

[mdunjic]

Have two of them. Love them. Run them in low gain mode


Upstream sources - Wiim Pro streaming device and Mac Mini (as Roon core) + Benchmark gear (DAC 3B, LA4 preamp) … down stream load - Neat Acoustics Motive 1 speakers

 

[mdunjic]

Wow! $2600 is a lot to pay for a pair of mono blocks these days but for a Purifi amp that can put 382 WPC into 8 ohms and be so load indifferent as to deliver 1.4kw into 2 ohms and just smile, it's worth every pfennig. If I ever break down and cash out enough of my 401k to put a pair of Blade 2 Metas in my living room, I know which amp I'll be pairing with them.

Thanks for this one, Amir.

Each can pump 40A of current as well

 

[mdunjic]

Great amp.

Buckeye makes quality products. My only nitpick is their cabinets leave a bit to be desired. For that reason, I bought the prior generation, Purifi based Audiophonics amp (S400) several years ago that does everything I could ever ask of it.

As mentioned earlier, I agree that the amp question is a solved problem. Between the various Purifi and Hypex offerings, set your budget, determine power needs and figure out what looks good in you living room.

Focus your energy on other issues like speakers, sources and more importantly, discovering great tracks to listen to rather than how to tweak down distortion by another 0.01%.

Really I find their cases industrial looking but ok. May look basic and cheap, but still sturdy, and what really matters in the end is quality of sound reproduction and it’s really stellar and exemplary.

 

[audiotron]

This is an amp!

 

[kyuu]

This is an amp!

Finally, something we can all agree on.

 

[David_M]

On the other hand, the difference between 1200 W and 1400 W is less than 0.7 dB - so insignificant.

On the surface, it might be ...but a high-transient, high-peak bass note will disagree. At 1400W, those intense cannon shots could sound awesome and very realistic, but at 1200W, they could sound a bit less so, due to clipping.

 

[RickS]

At Buckeye's prices, often tell those that ask, it is difficult to justify DIYing a Purifi amp. Even more so if you manage to land a used one. The case is very functional and makes for easy mods...

As for the front LED, covering it may be the best approach as the LED is more than just a power indicator. As the input board is intelligent, the LED is multicolor and used to indicate status as well. While tape can hide, so can a PC camera security shutter. The case design is a great one for mods. Would be easy to attach a different front panel or apply a cool vinyl wrap. As the case is aluminum, have readily replaced the LED with a front panel switch on some of mine. This is much more difficult on an amp with a thick machined front panel. The back panel on the review unit has space for a speakon and is another simple customization. Discussed with @Buckeye Amps offline and speakons are not a frequent request. They also are rather large and require more space behind the amp than alternatives. He does offer them on his rack mount cases as is where they make more sense.

Am not against pretty cases, but usually function is more important than form. If you can find Buckeye's combination of value and support elsewhere with a nicer case, go buy it and enjoy it. Otherwise, his products offer a great value prop for this market segment. If a smaller amp or chip amp product works for your needs, go for it, but let's keep the discussion here focused on objective aspects of this product.

 

[DonH56]

Awesome performance, outstanding price for the kind of power and performance you get (look at all the $50k+ amps that fare far, far worse), price/performance out of the ballpark, basic case that I'll never look at anyway. But sure let's crap on the case and yell because "we" don't need that much power.

Now I'm cogitating since my ~15 year old amps are likely to play out in the next few years (hope I didn't hurt their feelings and jinx them) and my relatively inefficient speakers need a goodly amount of power to reach reference levels (admittedly a rare thing for my ears). A pair of 84 dB/W/m speakers 12' away in a well-treated room need 850 W per speaker to reach 105 dB at the listening position, the reference peak level. Not everyone owns 100 dB/W/m horns or sits three feet away.

 

[Julf]

On the surface, it might be ...but a high-transient, high-peak bass note will disagree. At 1400W, those intense cannon shots could sound awesome and very realistic, but at 1200W, they could sound a bit less so, due to clipping.

"A bit less" as in inaudibly less. 0.7 dB is 0.7 dB, be it cannons or whispers.

 

[amirm]

On the other hand, the difference between 1200 W and 1400 W is less than 0.7 dB - so insignificant.

It is 0.7 out of just 31 dB. You make it sound like it is a tiny number against a huge one. It is a log scale so every number is rather small.

If the new supply is also more efficient due to power factor correction, then when powering two amps from a single socket, you could net out more combined power.

 

[Sokel]

"A bit less" as in inaudibly less. 0.7 dB is 0.7 dB, be it cannons or whispers.

If this 0.7dB difference is what separates it from clipping though, it's gonna be audible just fine.

 

[Julf]

If this 0.7dB difference is what separates it from clipping though, it's gonna be audible just fine.

Or you could just turn down the volume a minuscule amount...

 

[Julf]

It is 0.7 out of just 31 dB. You make it sound like it is a tiny number against a huge one. It is a log scale so every number is rather small.

Large or small, what matters is audibility. A 0.7 dB difference is not really audible.

 

[Adi777]

How do we know that all amplifiers over $50,000 perform much, much worse? Any company that makes expensive amplifiers, especially those in Class A and A/B, writes about magic, organics, and such? I don't think so.

 

[amirm]

Large or small, what matters is audibility. A 0.7 dB difference is not really audible.

Of course it is audible. We level match in controlled tests to 0.1 dB for that reason.