Buckeye PURIFI 1ET9040BA Amp Review

[Kal Rubinson]

Impressive specs, for sure. I have one niggle about the case design: why do the speaker terminals have to be so closely spaced? Are there two-prong speaker plugs that dictate a tight pitch like that? A bit more space between the terminals would make them much easier to use with spades or crimped/bare wire.

Also, a latch on the XLR connection would be appreciated and likely possible if the speaker terminals were better spaced (or replaced by a SpeakOn). All trivial, really.

 

[Cuniberti]

Also, a latch on the XLR connection would be appreciated and likely possible if the speaker terminals were better spaced (or replaced by a SpeakOn).

If you trip over your XLR input cable, it's far better for the XLR to fly out than pulling your amp to the floor.

 

[Buckeye Amps]

Also, a latch on the XLR connection would be appreciated and likely possible if the speaker terminals were better spaced (or replaced by a SpeakOn).

We specifically choose the Neutrik spring loaded connectors over the traditional latch ones for a specific reason: in the rare event that the latch fails on an XLR connector, it can be a tedious/non-straightforward task to remove the XLR cable as it can become stuck. Whereas with the spring loaded, if it ever breaks the connector can still be used without issue (the cable doesn't become stuck).

 

[Hart]

Impressive amp, but still not powerful enough, not until the speaker terminals arc.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

If you trip over your XLR input cable, it's far better for the XLR to fly out than pulling your amp to the floor.

Not a problem for me but I meant to append "Trivial" to my post. Will do so now.

 

[SKNG]

Thanks amirm for the great review,finally this Purifi 1ET9040BA monoblocks got reviewed at ASR,also thanks Buckeye Amps for sending it in for review.
Running a pair from another maker to me endgame amp.

 

[dlaloum]

@amirm how was the temperature during the testing?

 

[Miley_B]

This amplifiers performance looks like the bees knees!

why do the speaker terminals have to be so closely spaced? Are there two-prong speaker plugs that dictate a tight pitch like that?

Presumably they are 19mm spacing.
These are the Neutrik/Rean dual banana plugs that I use when appropriate, they have a spacing of 19.05mm:

NYS508 Dual Banana Plug | Gold Plated Speaker Connector

NYS508 Dual Banana Plug – Gold plated for high conductivity & durability. Ideal for speaker cables, audio systems, and professional sound applications.

www.rean-connectors.com

 

[honn]

Makes sense. But get two Topping amps minimum. One for sound. One for morale.

I have three Topping products over the years and not a single one had an issue. I think especially the last couple of years Topping quality has increased considerably into the reliable category.

 

[honn]

Not everyone has your speakers and your room...

With large tower speakers in a big room, the extra power and ability to handle lower sensitivity and/or impedances is where you would apply an amp like this. For me, I can easily run 2 of my (4 ohm) passive subwoofers from one of these monoblocks.

Correct. That's why I qualified my comment with 'most' and not 'all' cases.

 

[RickS]

Correct. That's why I qualified my comment with 'most' and not 'all' cases.

The amps you cite are not in the same market segment. You do not buy a subcompact if you need to haul a camper. Oops, did the dreaded car analogy. A UPS is not a substitute for a whole house generator (even though they both provide backup power).

Your claim of "most" is dependent on the application space. Or can you offer more than an opinion to illustrate?

 

[Short38]

Spectacular product. Superb company.

 

[amirm]

@amirm how was the temperature during the testing?

The case was just a hair above room temp. The modules inside of course will be warmer but hardly any heat had transferred to the case.

 

[dlaloum]

The case was just a hair above room temp. The modules inside of course will be warmer but hardly any heat had transferred to the case.

Hmm I'm not sure whether that is good (low temperature bodes well for long life), or bad (temperature was not transferring to case, hence might have been limited to amp board/module, resulting in hot spots and reduced lifetime)...

Excuse my looking askance at a product that measurably has exceptional performance... but these considerations will drive whether it has a long life or whether 10 years down the road the owner finds himself trying to purchase a replacement module, long discontinued... with a failed and unrepairable original module.

 

[amirm]

Hmm I'm not sure whether that is good (low temperature bodes well for long life), or bad (temperature was not transferring to case, hence might have been limited to amp board/module, resulting in hot spots and reduced lifetime)...

Excuse my looking askance at a product that measurably has exceptional performance... but these considerations will drive whether it has a long life or whether 10 years down the road the owner finds himself trying to purchase a replacement module, long discontinued... with a failed and unrepairable original module.

I can only give you the data that I have.

Keep in mind that a case that is hot to touch is not good at all. So to some extent what I stated is positive news. It is hard to imagine the modules burning up with the case hardly changing temp.

Also, this amplifier has an incredibly high rated power as evidenced by my measurements. I don't know about you but when I do want all of that power, it is for say half hour of listening. Most of the time I am using a fraction of that. In that regard, you are in very safe spot given what ratio of output power you are using.

Personally I much rather repair this amp than one with a ton of discrete parts all over the place.

 

[dlaloum]

I can only give you the data that I have.

Keep in mind that a case that is hot to touch is not good at all. So to some extent what I stated is positive news. It is hard to imagine the modules burning up with the case hardly changing temp.

Also, this amplifier has an incredibly high rated power as evidenced by my measurements. I don't know about you but when I do want all of that power, it is for say half hour of listening. Most of the time I am using a fraction of that. In that regard, you are in very safe spot given what ratio of output power you are using.

Personally I much rather repair this amp than one with a ton of discrete parts all over the place.

Not disagreeing with you!

I am perhaps being a bit of a curmudgeon about the disappearance of amp designs intentionally designed with component level repair in mind, replaced by designs that focus on module/board level replacement... Seems to me we now effectively replace the entire amp rather than repairing it.

My perspective is driven by long term exposure to eminently repairable Quad amp designs...

And having had several bad experiences with highly complex AVR's failing due to heat related issues... it tends to be a bit of a bee in my bonnet

 

[amper42]

Not disagreeing with you!

I am perhaps being a bit of a curmudgeon about the disappearance of amp designs intentionally designed with component level repair in mind, replaced by designs that focus on module/board level replacement... Seems to me we now effectively replace the entire amp rather than repairing it.

My perspective is driven by long term exposure to eminently repairable Quad amp designs...

And having had several bad experiences with highly complex AVR's failing due to heat related issues... it tends to be a bit of a bee in my bonnet

The Purifi design is amazingly efficient. They generate less heat than any other amp design which allows them to run measurably cooler. If you do have a failure it's likely repaired with a new PS or an amp module. It's nothing like the heat generated from an AVR.

 

[ROOSKIE]

For most the Topping amp is still what one needs for merely around $200 vs. close to $2,600 for the Buckeye Purifi 1ET9040BAs to run a pair of speakers.

It is true & both options are a very good value.
$200 for nice power and very nice fidelity, if you don't need huge levels of power, which is almost all general users.
$2600 for state of the art fidelity and extremely high power.

Remember power goes fast when you have to fill a very large room with higher SPL levels.
I have 400watt amps and the clipping indicators have lit up a few times, not often though...
to hit 100db peaks from 4-5meters away in large room with 87-90db sensitive speakers you could need 200-500watts per channel to cleanly hit those short peaks.
If you are going above 100db, double the power every 3db in increases.
Most users don't need that much power ever and if they do it is for subs which do not need such a clean amp for any reason.
That said if you need this much power for your mains or 2 channel then here it is in all it's glory.

 

[Guddu]

I can only give you the data that I have.

Keep in mind that a case that is hot to touch is not good at all. So to some extent what I stated is positive news. It is hard to imagine the modules burning up with the case hardly changing temp.

Also, this amplifier has an incredibly high rated power as evidenced by my measurements. I don't know about you but when I do want all of that power, it is for say half hour of listening. Most of the time I am using a fraction of that. In that regard, you are in very safe spot given what ratio of output power you are using.

Personally I much rather repair this amp than one with a ton of discrete parts all over the place.

Did you capture idle power utilization of this amplifier by any chance?
Most users might just be driving it around that 80% times!

 

[SlowJim]

I cannot imagine any scenario where I would need this much power but I'm very impressed