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Cymax Purifi 1ET9040BA with Weiss OP2-BP Dual-Mono Power Amplifier

Hi there. I'm new to this forum and found the discussion about Cymax few weeks ago. I then ordered one Cymax 9040b with Weiss op amp and it arrived last week. After a week of running in, I can preliminarily concluded that it doesn't sound like any older generation of class d. It has superb driving power (my speaker is YG Hailey 2.2) and excellent clarity (my DAC is MSB premier) and sound very organic and emotional engagement (my preamp is Nagra classic preamp). Super high C/P value. FYI, during my hunt for power amp, I have shortlisted Soulution 3/5/7 series, Audia Flight No. 4, Luxman M10x.
 
For those who have this amp, using its convenient gain switch, I might encourage you to make very careful subjective listening comparisons between the low and high gain settings. Adjust your preamp to match the volume, go back and forth using familiar, well-recorded material, and see if you detect any differences. Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't, but I appreciate any shared observations.
 
Ted B said:
For those who have this amp, using its convenient gain switch, I might encourage you to make very careful subjective listening comparisons between the low and high gain settings. Adjust your preamp to match the volume, go back and forth using familiar, well-recorded material, and see if you detect any differences. Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't, but I appreciate any shared observations.
Click to expand...
I played around with the gain switch to optimize the system performance. In my view, talking Cymax alone, i didn’t notice any difference, instead it gives significant flexibility to match with the upstream equipment. In my case, i tried high/low output in the MSB and 0db/12db gain in the Nagra preamp. At the end, i settled with low in MSB, 12db gain in Nagra and 25.4db gain in Cymax.

Last but not least, my Cymax sound a lot better after 20 hours of running in.
 
ustortoise said:
Hi there. I'm new to this forum and found the discussion about Cymax few weeks ago. I then ordered one Cymax 9040b with Weiss op amp and it arrived last week. After a week of running in, I can preliminarily concluded that it doesn't sound like any older generation of class d. It has superb driving power (my speaker is YG Hailey 2.2) and excellent clarity (my DAC is MSB premier) and sound very organic and emotional engagement (my preamp is Nagra classic preamp). Super high C/P value. FYI, during my hunt for power amp, I have shortlisted Soulution 3/5/7 series, Audia Flight No. 4, Luxman M10x.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing! I agree with you on what was observed on driving power, clarity and organic engagement. These attributes were also how I described to my friends why I was convinced it didn’t sound like the typical Class D and was enough to switch myself from being the die hard Class A/AB fan. You have excellent DAC, preamp and speakers!
 
Ted B said:
For those who have this amp, using its convenient gain switch, I might encourage you to make very careful subjective listening comparisons between the low and high gain settings. Adjust your preamp to match the volume, go back and forth using familiar, well-recorded material, and see if you detect any differences. Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't, but I appreciate any shared observations.
Click to expand...
IMG_4329.jpeg


IMG_4328.jpeg


I created a spreadsheet in an attempt to calculate what the gain settings meant for voltage, power and system matching. Since we need about 54V for the Purifi module to reach max power, then the input gain needs to multiply the voltage of the supplying source (pre-amp) to get the desired output voltage. But different source components may have different output spec for their RCA/XLR outputs so what is being received by the Cymax could mean making a choice of which gain to use that is a good match for 2 components (eg Pre-amp and AV Processor), or to switch gain easily since the gain control is on the front mounted rotary LCD button display. Or if you only have one source component then it’s just finding the right gain. From my spreadsheet I take the Purifi’s gain 14.4dB and add the input buffer gain (4 settings) to get 21.4, 24.4, 28.4, 31.4dB. At the bottom are some examples of how I thought about which equipment, output types and gain settings made a good starting point. Of course, listening to the settings is ultimately important because it depends on whether the source or the input buffer gain has more noise at their respective higher voltage/gain settings. So you could go low in source and high in Cymax or high in source and low in Cymax. I prefer the latter to keep SNR high.
 
vipersg said:
I was hunting around for a Purifi 1ET9040BA implementation that I really like. I found this power amplifier from Cymax and wanted to share some photos of its design, which has been very thoughtful and high in its quality of implementation and design.

It has dual XLR inputs which enables me to connect my Network Streamer and LR channel of my AV Processor to the Cymax power amp, and have the inputs and gain easily selectable from the front with its rotary dial with LCD display. I love the shielded power supplies and that it uses a linear power supply for the input op-amp boards, keeping the Hypex SMPS1200A180 to power the Purifi 1ET9040BA amp module in dual mono configuration.

Their website allows configuring for various options so I have spec several upgrades

View attachment 404817
View attachment 404816

Black shielding for Hypex SMPS1200A180 (Dual Mono)
Blue shielding for Linear Power Supply for input buffer and power management

View attachment 404814

View attachment 402318
Rotary dial features a LCD display with user selectable XLR input 1 and 2, and user selectable Gain 1 (21.4dB) and Gain 2 (28.4dB)

View attachment 402314View attachment 402317View attachment 404815
View attachment 404824

Equipped with Furutech FI-06 Rhodium NCF IEC socket.

View attachment 404812
View attachment 404818

Input 1 - Furutech XLR Rhodium socket
Input 2 - Neutrik XLR Gold socket
Output - WBT 0703 Silver

View attachment 404811

Weiss OP2-BP input buffer board fed by linear power supply. Neotech UP-OCC copper wiring, nicely implemented.

View attachment 404813
View attachment 404830

It’s running in now on Sonus Faber Amati G5 speakers. First impressions are effortless dynamics, detailed (especially instruments and voice), neutral, bass is punchy (a little less weighty than my Parasound) but seem more textured.
Click to expand...
A word of caution, with lead times you may get exposed to tariffs - this happened to me with a French retailer of the 9040 mono blocks. They subsequently had power issues and had to be returned (all a major pain and expense). Next ordered from an American company which had different power issues - faulted when powered on with nothing attached. I gave up on the 9040's at this point - 2 power related failures. I then ordered an Eversolo Amp-F10 - no issues and sounds great. Just my experience...
 
WalnutJeff said:
A word of caution, with lead times you may get exposed to tariffs - this happened to me with a French retailer of the 9040 mono blocks. They subsequently had power issues and had to be returned (all a major pain and expense). Next ordered from an American company which had different power issues - faulted when powered on with nothing attached. I gave up on the 9040's at this point - 2 power related failures. I then ordered an Eversolo Amp-F10 - no issues and sounds great. Just my experience...
Click to expand...
So far across my units and my friends units, it’s been good. The Cymax unit supports soft power on/off so I don’t get any pop or noise from the speakers. Can’t really comment on Tariffs, probably a temporary situation. The Eversolo Amp-F10 is a well designed unit. Enjoy!
 
vipersg said:
So far across my units and my friends units, it’s been good. The Cymax unit supports soft power on/off so I don’t get any pop or noise from the speakers. Can’t really comment on Tariffs, probably a temporary situation. The Eversolo Amp-F10 is a well designed unit. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Glad your experience was good! I looked at the Cymax units and really liked them hope you enjoy them - it was so weird to have 2 sets of mono blocks fail with power issues. Could be the Hypex power supplies as the Cymax uses a custom one... Cheers
 
Ted B said:
Oh, ok. I searched for that as well and came up empty.
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Hi Ted,

For Maroon Audio, there is a cult following them. hahaha. I also discovered them from Aliexpress and then had a conversation with them via WeChat. I could speak and write mandarin, so I have forged some relationship with them. They have showed me how they build their Amps, their design philosophy and etc. Very interesting small audiophile company, like Cymax, super willing to experiment with suggestions. They do not like to use long cables within their amplifier. So they tend to design their circuit boards to attach to each other like lego. Their website: https://maroonaudio.net/

Eventually, I went with Cymax 9040 as I prefer to be able to choose my source and gain options in the front panel.

For the rest:
I read in the thread that some do not believe that OpAmp and cables made any difference, I think you guys really have to try out and do some blind test. Recently, when I change a power cord from the wireworld (copper based) power cord to the SilTech 880p (silver base) power cord, my wife who doesn't really listen to my equipment asked if I have changed something? So I asked whats she meant? She said in her own layman terms "I felt the singer is in the room".

Personally, I feel materials that are used in the audio equipment all works towards the goal to present the recordings as close to as possible to what it has recorded, without adding or taking away anything.

Many choose to invest in equipment, but now I focus on interconnects, power source and etc (My cables is now more than twice the cost of my audio equipment). As these audio chain does affect the overall sound. Next I will look into room treatment. A blackhole I am entering I feel.
 
WalnutJeff said:
A word of caution, with lead times you may get exposed to tariffs - this happened to me with a French retailer of the 9040 mono blocks. They subsequently had power issues and had to be returned (all a major pain and expense). Next ordered from an American company which had different power issues - faulted when powered on with nothing attached. I gave up on the 9040's at this point - 2 power related failures. I then ordered an Eversolo Amp-F10 - no issues and sounds great. Just my experience...
Click to expand...
Wow, 2 bad luck in a row.... I have also evaluated some "USA / Europe deigned 9040" options, but their build were not as robust and well thought out as Cymax. So far after about 100hrs of listening, the amplifier is still "opening" up. It sounds better as it age.
 
ustortoise said:
I played around with the gain switch to optimize the system performance. In my view, talking Cymax alone, i didn’t notice any difference, instead it gives significant flexibility to match with the upstream equipment. In my case, i tried high/low output in the MSB and 0db/12db gain in the Nagra preamp. At the end, i settled with low in MSB, 12db gain in Nagra and 25.4db gain in Cymax.

Last but not least, my Cymax sound a lot better after 20 hours of running in.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the Cymax family. I was using the Teac 701 Power Amp before I switch to the Cymax 9040. The Amp is still getting better even after 100hrs. Some people said it should stabilised after 500hrs.
 
David_M said:

HOME - Maroonaudio

Elevate Your Listening Experience High-end power amplifiers for audiophiles, home theater enthusiasts. Experience the Maroon Audio difference Built with Experience 6 years of hands-on manufacturing in China. Now delivering high-fidelity power to global customers. ️ Premium Build Quality No...
maroonaudio.net

Though good luck finding a Purifi amp ...they seem to show Hypex NCx500 amps
Click to expand...
You talk to the designer directly. They have the 9040, they don't really update their website. Most stuff are sold via wechat. I like their design and etc. 12V trigger can be added in. But their source selection is at the rear, which is a show stopper for me. That's why I went with Cymax. No regrets with Cymax thus far.
 
vipersg said:
Thanks for sharing. The fact that you can hear the differences in these op-amps shows that blind test or not, op-amps do sound different because every design has technical strengths and tradeoffs in their engineering leading to choices to be made with regards to preference, performance and price. For those who believe every op-amp sounds the same, every kind of copper cable (OFC, OCC, Silver-plated or just red copper) sounds the same, they can certainly choose the lowest cost option. For those who have done the research and experienced it, it leads us to make more discerning choices and not assume that one parameter (eg resistance) or one measurement (eg THD at 1kHz) is sufficient to judge that one component sounds the same as another component.
Click to expand...
Agree with you. NaCl taste different from different supplier as well. Although all are NaCl but because of the way the NaCl are created/mined/purified, it gives a totally different taste. for copper although all are Cu, but they can be very different resulting in different conductivity and different sound. https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien... field of electronic information transmission.
 
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