Do I want an NC502MP or NCx252MP from audiophonics?

[girtab]

Hi everyone. For a polk R700 floorstander that has 3.5ohm minimum impedance and 4ohm avg, 88db sensitivity and rating of 50-300W, should I get the NC502MP or NCx252MP from audiophonics? (AP300 case)

Also does anyone know anything about reliability/dependability of audiophonics amps with hypex modules because Ive been severely disappointed by the reliability of some brands that get praised here... Been trying tons of amps from different companies since february with absolutely none of them functioning. Figured I'd give a company from France a try instead of trying to rely on cheap chinese vendors. Should I consider Buckeye amps instead if i want dependability? (they said it'd be 100$ shipping to europe while audiophonics has free shipping).

I would like a versatile set and forget solution and the 150 euro price difference for double the wattage seems very reasonable. Yes I know its just a 3db loudness increase. Yes I know we perceivce +10db as double loudness. But still.

here is the impedance curve of the floorstanders courtesy to erin from EAC:

As you can see its kind of alternating between 4 and 8 ohms and im not sure what to make of that when deciding for amp wattage. obviously i want to use the speakers to the absolute fullest. (without damaging them)

 

[staticV3]

If you have the R700 and any old Amp at home, then you can play some music, adjust the volume to preference, and then measure the Amp's output voltage with a basic $10 multimeter.

Armed with that knowledge you can then make an informed purchase.

 

[Matias]

Get this instead:

Apollon 1ET6525SA ST Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Apollon 1ET6525SA ST Purifi based class D stereo power amplifier. It was kindly loaned to me by a member and costs 1,190.00€ (USD $1,348). Apollon designs are unique a step up from some of its competitors. Even the power switch feels nice and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Ruediger]

Get this instead:

Apollon 1ET6525SA ST Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Apollon 1ET6525SA ST Purifi based class D stereo power amplifier. It was kindly loaned to me by a member and costs 1,190.00€ (USD $1,348). Apollon designs are unique a step up from some of its competitors. Even the power switch feels nice and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Very nice, but with taxes and shipping it can reach nearly 1500 € in the EU. Quite a different level from the audiophonics Hypex MP offers.

Audiophonics offers that Purifi based amp too, 1280-1480 € depending on the case.

 

[girtab]

I was gonna say 1090 (listed on their website) seemed too good to be true for an amp of this caliber. 1500 euro is more than I paid for the polks haha

Is the audiophonics amp not really a good choice then? I don’t even care about perfect measurements I just really value reliability

 

[Ropeburn]

252 is plenty for your needs, unless your room is humongous. Pump 2x200W into those speakers and they'll start giving up, or at least your ears will. Neighbourhood party level. No need for 500W lol

 

[girtab]

252 is plenty for your needs, unless your room is humongous. Pump 2x200W into those speakers and they'll start giving up, or at least your ears will. Neighbourhood party level. No need for 500W lol

But isn’t that assuming the music always reaches 0dBFS? What if dynamic range is super high

 

[Ruediger]

I was gonna say 1090 (listed on their website) seemed too good to be true for an amp of this caliber. 1500 euro is more than I paid for the polks haha

Is the audiophonics amp not really a good choice then? I don’t even care about perfect measurements I just really value reliability

I was going to add, that's the price of one speaker.. maybe feeling a bit off for you.

The model I would chose from audiophonics for those speakers: AP300-S250NCX

 

[Redacted]

" should I get the NC502MP or NCx252MP from audiophonics? (AP300 case)"

Both will be great. No need to overspend. Buy local.

 

[Ruediger]

But isn’t that assuming the music always reaches 0dBFS? What if dynamic range is super high

Then it's a good advice to do that measurement as suggested above. And see if you want the amp to have that much or even a lot more headroom.

 

[staticV3]

But isn’t that assuming the music always reaches 0dBFS? What if dynamic range is super high

If music isn't reaching (or coming close to) 0dBFS, then the mastering engineer is doing something wrong and you should use replay gain to fix it.

This has nothing to do with dynamic range btw.

 

[girtab]

then it seems like the NCx252MP would be the better fit

I currently don’t have a multimeter and the only amp out of the broken stash than actually pumps out any voltage is one whose defect is just being severely underpowered so that is also not possible

 

[Redacted]

But isn’t that assuming the music always reaches 0dBFS? What if dynamic range is super high

Unlikely that any CD or streamed music gets to 0dBFS.
All these amps have massive headroom with crazy transient current capability.
You're being anxious about problems that won't exist.

 

[girtab]

If music isn't reaching (or coming close to) 0dBFS, then the mastering engineer is doing something wrong and you should use replay gain to fix it.

This has nothing to do with dynamic range

I tried replay gain and it might’ve been set up wrong or something because it made bass cancel out other frequencies so I just never touched it again

What I meant by dynamic range is that in case I want to adjust loudness for a quiet section of a song that I have enough headroom

 

[Ropeburn]

But isn’t that assuming the music always reaches 0dBFS? What if dynamic range is super high

Dynamic range only means the difference between loud and silent parts. What's of interest here is the loud parts: how loud do you need it? How much can your ears and speakers handle?

Let's estimate:

Peak SPL Calculator

That's a conservative calculation. I put 87 there (in case 88 is slightly exaggerated as usual) and 3m listening distance. 107dB peaks is LOUD, man. And you definitely don't want to pump 500W into those. Hehe.

You can of course get the 500W version, the only thing it would hurt is your wallet. But you won't ever use that power.

 

[girtab]

Thanks guys! I’ll get the 250W version then

 

[Redacted]

Thanks guys! I’ll get the 250W version then

Plenty. We're posting ear defenders to your all your neighbours.

 

[girtab]

We're posting ear defenders to your all your neighbours

I live in an apartment btw

 

[Redacted]

I live in an apartment btw

In which case, we'll post them a shotgun each.

 

[Ropeburn]

@girtab this'll be you lol