Buckeye Purifi Eigentakt 1ET9040BA monoblock power amplifier Stereophile Measurements

[EJ3]

Hard to compare as 8 channels vs 2. So price cannot indicate what the extra costs for extended testing are.

It's fairly simple: either you can operated the whole item at full capacity all at once or you cannot. It costs more for testing on 8 channels running and/or 220-240 volts because it involves more. More channels tested at once (for the same parameters) costs more. You want more: you pay more.
In the USA that may require you to be able to have 2 plugs in 2 separate circuits, dedicated higher amperage circuits (such as every outlet in my home is a 20 AMP or more outlet to circuit breaker on the service panel [don't know why, it was that way when I moved in] with 2 separate outlet/circuits near each other in the living room, perfect for my Tri-Amped system or perhaps a dedicated 240 circuit {yes, the US is actually on a 220 system, it just gets split up into 120 with a couple of 240's at the home}. There may be issues with 50 vs 60 cycles but 120 vs 240 (220) is not an issue that is difficult to solve. Most homes have some 220-240 circuits already for electric ranges & electric dryers for laundry already and it's not usually not that difficult to run a 220-240 circuit to another part of the house.

 

[BeeKay]

It's fairly simple: either you can operated the whole item at full capacity all at once or you cannot. It costs more for testing on 8 channels running and/or 220-240 volts because it involves more. More channels tested at once (for the same parameters) costs more. You want more: you pay more.
In the USA that may require you to be able to have 2 plugs in 2 separate circuits, dedicated higher amperage circuits (such as every outlet in my home is a 20 AMP or more outlet to circuit breaker on the service panel [don't know why, it was that way when I moved in] with 2 separate outlet/circuits near each other in the living room, perfect for my Tri-Amped system or perhaps a dedicated 240 circuit {yes, the US is actually on a 220 system, it just gets split up into 120 with a couple of 240's at the home}. There may be issues with 50 vs 60 cycles but 120 vs 240 (220) is not an issue that is difficult to solve. Most homes have some 220-240 circuits already for electric ranges & electric dryers for laundry already and it's not usually not that difficult to run a 220-240 circuit to another part of the house.

Technically that’s no a biggie. I think it would’ve been handy if we knew a 2 channel Purifi power amp, that goes through a complex QC testing. 8 channels isn’t helpful here. So we had apples and apples rather than oranges with regard to costs or price.

 

[EJ3]

Technically that’s no a biggie. I think it would’ve been handy if we knew a 2 channel Purifi power amp, that goes through a complex QC testing. 8 channels isn’t helpful here. So we had apples and apples rather than oranges with regard to costs or price.

Correct, it's not a big issue, technically.
Yes, the knowing of what was actually tested and how those tests were done (and that all manufacturers don't just rely on 'this part can do whatever" by the part manufacturer but instead their their finished product, as assembled by them, to some same standard [I'm in the USA & find the FCC time at full power part of their test to be woefully ignorant of anything that resembles a normal use case, so, in my mind, it is an irrelevant test and needs to be changed].
Maybe we can get a campaign to deluge them with information that may cause them to adjust this issue?

 

[Jimbob54]

Mod notice

Let's drop the whole woke/anti woke discussion please . It never goes anywhere good .

 

[Lars Risbo]

A trip on QC memory lane

Four of us PURIFi’ers have a past at Texas Instruments that acquired my start up called Toccata Technology back in year 2000. We developed the first chip sets consisting of a direct PCM to PWM modulator and an H bridge power stage (the TAS5XXX family). Especially the power stage design was difficult and the integrated power transistors were very different from the discrete transistors we used previously.

Our first main chip set customer was Panasonic. After a long design in phase they went to production. However, shortly after panic erupted since some of our power stages blew up. This caused a line down and angry phone calls at the CEO level. A very stressful period.

This resulted in us developing a rigorous testing regime where all power ICs were tortured systematically at every corner of temperature voltage and current. We tested short circuit protection combined with under or over voltage. We tested no load at every corner (no load stresses the over current protection). Both hard short and brown outs. These tests could take days to perform. First when we could not kill the device we released it. This resulted in extremely low failure rates and it became an important selling point over our competition for decades to come.

This methodology and experience is carried over to how we design and test our modules today prior to release. the flip side is also that the development time is very long and we have pesky delays as a result. However, our mantra is to maintain high reliability. We have extremely few returns and most are due to extreme abuse such as over voltage.

 

[Sokel]

A trip on QC memory lane

Four of us PURIFi’ers have a past at Texas Instruments that acquired my start up called Toccata Technology back in year 2000. We developed the first chip sets consisting of a direct PCM to PWM modulator and an H bridge power stage (the TAS5XXX family). Especially the power stage design was difficult and the integrated power transistors were very different from the discrete transistors we used previously.

Our first main chip set customer was Panasonic. After a long design in phase they went to production. However, shortly after panic erupted since some of our power stages blew up. This caused a line down and angry phone calls at the CEO level. A very stressful period.

This resulted in us developing a rigorous testing regime where all power ICs were tortured systematically at every corner of temperature voltage and current. We tested short circuit protection combined with under or over voltage. We tested no load at every corner (no load stresses the over current protection). Both hard short and brown outs. These tests could take days to perform. First when we could not kill the device we released it. This resulted in extremely low failure rates and it became an important selling point over our competition for decades to come.

This methodology and experience is carried over to how we design and test our modules today prior to release. the flip side is also that the development time is very long and we have pesky delays as a result. However, our mantra is to maintain high reliability. We have extremely few returns and most are due to extreme abuse such as over voltage.

I know it's not common to see Purifi amps in active speakers,but does your tests include vibrations,etc?

 

[Lars Risbo]

Vibration: I forgot to mention that my colleague Kim Madsen designed PSUs for the Ariane rockets prior to joining Toccata. After the infamous rocket blew up the remains of the electronics were retrieved from the swamps of Florida and returned to the manufacturers for failure analysis. Kim’s power supply worked to spec after they repaired a broken connector.

 

[Sokel]

designed PSUs

 

[mhardy6647]

I have a cat that does not damage anything and loves listening to music. As soon as she spots me moving to towards the HiFi. she rushes over and sits watching me. Then when the music starts, she rolls around on the floor. She doesn't like it loud and can't stand opera. Electronica is her favourite and she seems to have a soft spot for Vangelis!

I've had quite a few cats, but none have behaved like she does.

in my college days, we had a black (erstwhile) female cat whose somewhat inexplicable moniker was The Bear.
The thing about The Bear: she was preternaturally smart. Smart cats... a mixed blessing.
She loved to listen to music and would do so with me regulary - I at my desk, and she on my bed.
Except when I put on Boston's eponymous/debut album -- which, unfortunately (in those days) was not an uncommon event. Like many (though not all) Epic pressings of its era, at least the copy I have is crispy-bright sounding (not a great sounding record). She would leave, rather unceremoniously, whenever it was on the turntable.

The Bear, outside on her leash, early 1970s. The leash hung on the knob of the cellar door. She would go get it, drag it to the top of the basement stairs, and meow when she wanted to go out.

 

[thegeton]

Yes.

Then you should know that 99% of the time the people performing any investigative work (5 whys, 8D, etc.) are the contract manufacturers or their suppliers. Unless your employer is willing to send a squad of their own employees to do that work. This typically results in a biased outcome. It is in the CMs best interest for the root cause to be firmly lodged in a component from an upstream supplier, in your design, or in any of the proprietary tests, tools, jigs, or fixtures provided by your employer. Very rare for a CM to willingly point a finger at themselves.

That said, the value of such deep/wide investigations is dubious at best. We always requested them, but we tempered our review with a grain of salt.

 

[thegeton]

I have.

Those sorts of reports are carried out all the time. They belong to the manufacturer. In my experience they are never published. They are certainly never published raw - f you've ever seen one published, it will have been highly sanitised.

Totally agreed.

 

[BlackTalon]

I worked for Porsche Cars North America (the arm of Porsche that delivers the cars from the ports to the dealers) from 1984-1989. Among my duties of inspecting the underneath of the car in a pit,
came pulling it forward onto a chassis dyno and running it through the gears and in the proper gear, checking it's HP & Torque ratings against the factory ratings from when it left Stuttgart to go to the port.
This entailed between 35 & 100+ (on double shifts) cars a day. Each & every car that came to the United States was checked for these things (and many, many other things) after arriving here: how hot the heater could get, how cold the AC could go, the ABS brake system and every other operational thing that could be done on a chassis dyno (with the exception of the Non Road Legal Race cars that went to different racing teams). If the car did not meet (I never had one just meet the spec) or exceed the factory ratings, it would have been pulled for diagnostics to find out why it did not meet specs. There were other reasons that the occasional car was pulled for diagnostics but not meeting or exceeding the HP & Torque spec was never one of the reasons for that happening during my years there.

Thanks! But I would like to see the data on the AC on my '87...

 

[antcollinet]

This caused a line down and angry phone calls at the CEO level. A very stressful period.

Bin there, done that, bought the T-shirt, more than once.

 

[EJ3]

Thanks! But I would like to see the data on the AC on my '87...

Out of warranty by many years, if not mileage. The spec that we were given was that (in every model) it must cool below 45 degrees F at the stick thermometer that you stick into the vent (at each vent). This was effectively a pre-delivery inspection prior to the cars going to the dealers.
The AC in my 72 Mustang 351 Cleveland, FMX Auto trans, AC, 3.00 final gear) was working fine (I had it for about 15 years and the only things that I had to replace where the fuel tank: rust getting into the fuel lines & fuel filter and related components) when I sold it about 10 years ago with 300K+miles on it. The engine needed a rebuild (but ran well) and likely the transmission, too. (It shifted fine even under full power, so...)

 

[PJ 1]

Out of warranty by many years, if not mileage. The spec that we were given was that (in every model) it must cool below 45 degrees F at the stick thermometer that you stick into the vent (at each vent). This was effectively a pre-delivery inspection prior to the cars going to the dealers.
The AC in my 72 Mustang 351 Cleveland, FMX Auto trans, AC, 3.00 final gear) was working fine (I had it for about 15 years and the only things that I had to replace where the fuel tank: rust getting into the fuel lines & fuel filter and related components) when I sold it about 10 years ago with 300K+miles on it. The engine needed a rebuild (but ran well) and likely the transmission, too. (It shifted fine even under full power, so...)

Stand corrected. I mean if Porsche can do it on every car, certainly Dylan and his yet to be confirmed beagle can. I will bow out and say happy holidays to all!

 

[Fahzz]

That dog can smell distortion that humans can't hear. LOL

 

[MaxBuck]

Mod notice

Let's drop the whole woke/anti woke discussion please . It never goes anywhere good .

How can you hear the music if you're asleep?

J/k. This whole business is a bit much for me. Either you're kind to other people or you're not. Other labels around that are pointless.

Oh, and, yeah. Buy Buckeye. He's a good guy.

 

[Monk]

Holy cow….what an ordeal. Glad to read things have been resolved.
Happy new year!!

 

[atomek]

Holy cow….what an ordeal. Glad to read things have been resolved.
Happy new year!!

How it got resolved?

 

[Buckeye Amps]

How it got resolved?

Probably should have said "is getting resolved"

On the topic: almost done with our measurements, just tweaking the measurement rig setup a little.