Class D: Hypex/ICE/Purifi vs. Pro Amps

[jwr159]

I need to get a new amp for a pair of passive subs.

I had been using a Yamaha PX8, which is class D and rated 800 watts per channel at 8 ohms. This amp sounded great for my needs, the only drawback is the fans were slightly audible when no music is playing. Unfortunately, this amp is now dead.

“Audiophile” class D amps, whether Hypex, ICE or Purifi, likely measure better than pro type amps. But they offer much less power.

Does any one have any experience or knowledge in how the sound quality of pro amps like Crown, QSC or Yamaha compare to Hypex, ICE, Purifi?

For my application - subs that will play 180Hz and below.

I am leaning toward another pro amp. My subs, which are DYI, a minimum of 400 watts per channel and ideally lots of headroom is recommended.

My sense is most of audiophile class D amps will fall a bit short power wise. And even if audiophile class D amps do measure better, I am doubtful sound quality differences would be audible at low frequencies.

So I am seeking opinions…

Has anyone have experience with comparing pro amps with Hypex, ICE, Purifi?

Which way would you go in my situation?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Matias]

While I agree that high end amps are kind of pointless for that DIY subwoofer application, still I would not get pro amps with tons of noise and fans...

Personally I use a bridged icepower 125ASX2 per sub would be a nice all in one module with healthy power headroom (450W into 4 ohms) and not expensive (242 USD each), and still measures well in the newest Conductor revision.

 

[tineared]

I don't understand what a "pro" amp is. Do you mean a class A/B amp vs a class D?

 

[DVDdoug]

I don't understand what a "pro" amp is. Do you mean a class A/B amp vs a class D?

They are typically intended for live use - Examples

Class-D is pretty common in this category because they can be high-power and light weight. They often have a cooling fan and sometimes adjustable/programmable high-pass and low-pass filters that can be used in place of a crossover.

 

[jwr159]

Pro as in professional amps, typically used for live music events, places of worship, etc. Built to supply hi levels of power, and to be rugged. Something like these….https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/power_amps/px_series/index.html

 

[tineared]

Pro as in professional amps, typically used for live music events, places of worship, etc. Built to supply hi levels of power, and to be rugged. Something like these….https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/power_amps/px_series/index.html

Got it. I've always referred to those as PA amps

 

[Matias]

I don't understand what a "pro" amp is. Do you mean a class A/B amp vs a class D?

Examples:

Review and Measurements of Crown XLS 1502 Amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Crown XLS 1502 "PA" Power Amplifier. It is on a kind loan from a member who bought it new and drop shipped it to me. It retails for USD $349 including free Prime shipping from Amazon. At that price, it seems like an incredible value. I have...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Behringer NX3000D Pro DSP Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Behringer NX3000D Pro DSP power amplifier. It was kindly purchased new and drop shipped to me by a member. It costs US $399. As pro amplifiers go, the NX3000D is half attractive especially when on with its amber lights and LEDs: There are...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Sound Town ST-UPDM4C (4 Channel Pro Amp)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sound Town ST-UPDM4C four (4) channel professional amplifier. It was purchased new by a member and drop shipped to me. It costs US $540. As you see, there is a bit of style to this amp with the front panel. This is a straight amplifier with no...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Rockville RPA16 Review (Pro Amplifier)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Rockville RPA16 "Professional" power amplifier. It was kindly purchased new by a member and drop shipped to me. It costs US $390. The amp has a "peak" spec of 10,000 watts! No, there is no typo in there. It weights 40 pounds/18 KG so it does...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[charlielaub]

I need to get a new amp for a pair of passive subs.

I had been using a Yamaha PX8, which is class D and rated 800 watts per channel at 8 ohms. This amp sounded great for my needs, the only drawback is the fans were slightly audible when no music is playing. Unfortunately, this amp is now dead.

“Audiophile” class D amps, whether Hypex, ICE or Purifi, likely measure better than pro type amps. But they offer much less power.

Does any one have any experience or knowledge in how the sound quality of pro amps like Crown, QSC or Yamaha compare to Hypex, ICE, Purifi?

For my application - subs that will play 180Hz and below.

I am leaning toward another pro amp. My subs, which are DYI, a minimum of 400 watts per channel and ideally lots of headroom is recommended.

My sense is most of audiophile class D amps will fall a bit short power wise. And even if audiophile class D amps do measure better, I am doubtful sound quality differences would be audible at low frequencies.

So I am seeking opinions…

Has anyone have experience with comparing pro amps with Hypex, ICE, Purifi?

Which way would you go in my situation?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I have experience with a couple of the Behringer NX series amps, the NX3000 and NX6000. The former is good for about 350W/ch@4R and the latter for about 1kW@4R at LF, per channel. Power output ratings will be slightly degraded at 20Hz and below. I do a fan mod with Noctua model "NF-A8 PWM" fans and they are almost silent. The noise they produce is like a low frequency white noise which could just be the air flow through and over components, etc. When you are more than 3 feet away you don't notice it at all.

At frequencies under a couple of hundred Hertz most any amp will do and still have low enough distortion compared to your subwoofers. I would not use these Behringer amps in any other role, and definitely not without doing the fan mod.

 

[Waveform Fidelity]

I need to get a new amp for a pair of passive subs.

I had been using a Yamaha PX8, which is class D and rated 800 watts per channel at 8 ohms. This amp sounded great for my needs, the only drawback is the fans were slightly audible when no music is playing. Unfortunately, this amp is now dead.

“Audiophile” class D amps, whether Hypex, ICE or Purifi, likely measure better than pro type amps. But they offer much less power.

Does any one have any experience or knowledge in how the sound quality of pro amps like Crown, QSC or Yamaha compare to Hypex, ICE, Purifi?

For my application - subs that will play 180Hz and below.

I am leaning toward another pro amp. My subs, which are DYI, a minimum of 400 watts per channel and ideally lots of headroom is recommended.

My sense is most of audiophile class D amps will fall a bit short power wise. And even if audiophile class D amps do measure better, I am doubtful sound quality differences would be audible at low frequencies.

So I am seeking opinions…

Has anyone have experience with comparing pro amps with Hypex, ICE, Purifi?

Which way would you go in my situation?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

You Forgot Pascal amps

 

[jwr159]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Matias, the links to the multiple pro amps that have been reviewed was very helpful. I’ve decided against a pro amp.

Instead, I have ordered an ICE 1200AS2 kit from Gunters Smit/TC Rastrs. I realize ICE a is not as highly regarded as Hypex/Puifi/Pascal. But the 1200AS2 is significantly less money, offers a ton of power, and will be easy to assemble. And they will play only 170Hz and below.

 

[Sokel]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Matias, the links to the multiple pro amps that have been reviewed was very helpful. I’ve decided against a pro amp.

Instead, I have ordered an ICE 1200AS2 kit from Gunters Smit/TC Rastrs. I realize ICE a is not as highly regarded as Hypex/Puifi/Pascal. But the 1200AS2 is significantly less money, offers a ton of power, and will be easy to assemble. And they will play only 170Hz and below.

Best buy you ever did for lows, if you need any help assembling it just ping.

(fun part, you can hook some 300/400a1/2 to it and get more well measuring channels for peanuts)

 

[Matias]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Matias, the links to the multiple pro amps that have been reviewed was very helpful. I’ve decided against a pro amp.

Instead, I have ordered an ICE 1200AS2 kit from Gunters Smit/TC Rastrs. I realize ICE a is not as highly regarded as Hypex/Puifi/Pascal. But the 1200AS2 is significantly less money, offers a ton of power, and will be easy to assemble. And they will play only 170Hz and below.

Just make sure to test it as soon as it arrives if it is not humming by itself (no speakers attached) when powered, as there have been some reports of it, and return if so.

 

[Sokel]

Just make sure to test it as soon as it arrives if it not humming by itself (no speakers attached) when powered, as there have been some reports of it, and return if so.

Even if it does at start, give it couple of days, they usually settle and go dead silent after, if it doesn't yes, return.

 

[Shiva]

Worth mentioning are the Pro Crown K1 and K2 amps. Lots of power, no fans.....

 

[Deleted member 89782]

Even if it does at start, give it couple of days, they usually settle and go dead silent after, if it doesn't yes, return.

Which completely opposes the rules valid on ASR. Electronics are what they are and don‘t need a warm-up or settling-in.

 

[jwr159]

Worth mentioning are the Pro Crown K1 and K2 amps. Lots of power, no fans.....

And after checking the Crown website, K1 and K2 are now discontinued.

 

[Shiva]

And after checking the Crown website, K1 and K2 are now discontinued.

discontinued yes, but still on the used market.....

 

[jwr159]

I guess I will ask on this thread even though it is not entirely related to the original post… But I am the original poster so I will hijack my own thread.

ICE came out with the Conductor and ICC5 improvements several months ago. Anyone tested these improved modules? How do they stack up vs. the latest from Hypex, Purifi, Pascal?

I’m not up to speed on all the latest products or technologies in the world of Class D modules. It seems Gunnar’s Smits states the ICE 1200 is the best amplifier around, but after watching his videos, I think what he is really saying is the 1200 is the best value amp, meaning since it is less expensive, why bother with a better measuring amp like Hypex since the human ear is incapable of hearing the improvements.

Anyway, I use a signal processor for active crossovers and tri-amp. I am considering if an ICE Conductor module like the 125ASX2 is now a viable option for my midrange amp. Thoughts?

 

[Matias]

I have not seen 3rd party confirmation, only what Icepower themselves released back then here:

ICEpower Conductor

New tech from ICEpower announced. The prototype is already around SINAD 102 (1kHz 5W into 4 ohms) with ~300W (1% THD+N of 1kHz into 4 ohms) and no rise around the knee. And with 6.67 kHz riding along with the 1 kHz, the old limitations of HCOM seem to have been solved...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[jwr159]

Thank you Matias, that's a very informative thread. So based on ICE measurements, indeed it looks like a very viable alternative to Hypex et. al. And given the amp board includes the PS and can be purchased as a stand-alone module, it is a very attractive offering.

Does anyone know if the Conductor/ICC5 version of the 125ASX2 readily available? Or is ICE still trying to get rid of old stock?

For my midrange, I am using a 85 lb tube amp. I like it and it sounds great. But I am thinking of offloading while I can and making the switch. We'll see.