Hypex NCx500 Class D Amplifier Review

[Julf]

No, it isn't. The standard definition of music incorporates the word "sounds".

OK, how about the whole genre of musique concrète?

 

[Acerun]

There is a new version available for 240 Euro cheaper, but basically identical internals:

AUDIOPHONICS LPA-S600NCX Power Amplifier Class D NCore NCx500 2x600W 4 Ohm - Audiophonics

We are proud to present the Audiophonics LPA-S600NCX, a Class D stereo power amplifier based on two NCore NCx500 modules.

www.audiophonics.fr

Besides the shape, the lack of heatsinks and the lack of 12V trigger, shorter cable paths, I don't see any differences. I ordered the older model already, the one measured by Amir. It arrives tomorrow but I'm not sure if it's worth keeping it. I have the space for both. Do you think the older one is a better design? For 20 Euros I can add that missing 12V trigger.

Hi. Can you help me understand how you add that missing 12v trigger? I'm really surprised this unit doesn't have it as the 252's do.

 

[soerenssen]

Hi. Can you help me understand how you add that missing 12v trigger? I'm really surprised this unit doesn't have it as the 252's do.

AUDIOPHONICS Trigger 12V 230V Slave Power Supply Device - Audiophonics

The Audiophonics Trigger 12V is the simple and effective solution for turning on and off any appliance connected to 230V AC mains with an IEC female mains input

www.audiophonics.fr

 

[Acerun]

Tough Crowd!


We are being spoiled with a shower of excellent products ..

I don't know if I would hear a difference from a good AVR but a pair of these + RME ADI-2 FS + a Pair of Revel 328 Be + some (2 , 3?) serious subs from the usual suspects (Monoprice, Rythmik, SVS, etc...) ...

Heaven!

Peace.

How would you handle room EQ in that setup?

 

[zorox]

I purchased two mono blocks from VTV here in the states. Performance of the amps in combination with ADI Dac -2 and Arendal 1723 towers is impressive, indeed. My only objection is the somewhat flimsy power cord connections. Fully inserted, they can still be wiggled. A bit disconcerting.

 

[john11]

Why would someone buy this expensive hypex if asr members say it sounds no better than the topping pa5 II, which is a lot cheaper, are there any pros and cons to be taken into consideration ?

 

[Everett T]

Why would someone buy this expensive hypex if asr members say it sounds no better than the topping pa5 II, which is a lot cheaper, are there any pros and cons to be taken into consideration ?

Power...

 

[Killingbeans]

Why would someone buy this expensive hypex if asr members say it sounds no better than the topping pa5 II, which is a lot cheaper, are there any pros and cons to be taken into consideration ?

 

[john11]

What if you were happy with the current power output of the pa5 II, would the hypex give any benefits IE more detail, better anything

And what is the difference with the PA5 II plus version, does the plus just have a bigger psu only

 

[Killingbeans]

would the hypex give any benefits IE more detail, better anything

Doubt it. Personally I wouldn't want the Topping because of the reliability issues of the first version. Possibly just a psychological hurdle.

 

[wavetrade]

What if you were happy with the current power output of the pa5 II, would the hypex give any benefits IE more detail, better anything

And what is the difference with the PA5 II plus version, does the plus just have a bigger psu only

I have both and think they sound the same. Only benefit is the extra power, way nicer binding posts and customer service that you can count on. Bonus that the Audiophonics case matches the ADI-2 like they were made to go together.

 

[soerenssen]

Is there a reactive load test available for the mono version of this amp?

 

[Meridius]

Hi all. Been looking at power amps as I am new to all this. I bought a Yamaha a6a and bought a set of Kef r5 meta and r3 metas and r2metas and wondering what power amp I should pair with them all as looking at a 5 channel

would a power amp open the Kef,s up and make them sing over the Yamaha internal amp. I have been told a apollon would be a great choice but not sure on the type to get

Any help would be great. I listen to music and a lot of home theatre use as I have a bk monolith sub attached also I listen to low and high volumes and the kefs are 4ohms that can go down to 3.2ohms.

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Hi all. Been looking at power amps as I am new to all this. I bought a Yamaha a6a and bought a set of Kef r5 meta and r3 metas and r2metas and wondering what power amp I should pair with them all as looking at a 5 channel

would a power amp open the Kef,s up and make them sing over the Yamaha internal amp. I have been told a apollon would be a great choice but not sure on the type to get

Any help would be great. I listen to music and a lot of home theatre use as I have a bk monolith sub attached also I listen to low and high volumes and the kefs are 4ohms that can go down to 3.2ohms.

Thanks

The Yamaha should be fine for your Kefs. You would probably not have anything to gain from dedicating a power amp to them. Especially when you have the subwoofer taking care of the lowest frequencies. The Yamaha has some quite high power capacity to it-->

Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K AV Receiver Bench Test Results!

We bench tested the Yamaha RX-A6A 9.2CH 8K 150watt/ch Atmos/DTS:X Receiver to gauge power output and uncover performance issues we discovered. We discuss the proper settings for best power delivery.

www.audioholics.com

 

[Matias]

Hi all. Been looking at power amps as I am new to all this. I bought a Yamaha a6a and bought a set of Kef r5 meta and r3 metas and r2metas and wondering what power amp I should pair with them all as looking at a 5 channel

would a power amp open the Kef,s up and make them sing over the Yamaha internal amp. I have been told a apollon would be a great choice but not sure on the type to get

Any help would be great. I listen to music and a lot of home theatre use as I have a bk monolith sub attached also I listen to low and high volumes and the kefs are 4ohms that can go down to 3.2ohms.

Thanks

This.

One moment, please...

 

[sweetchaos]

Hi all. Been looking at power amps as I am new to all this. I bought a Yamaha a6a and bought a set of Kef r5 meta and r3 metas and r2metas and wondering what power amp I should pair with them all as looking at a 5 channel

would a power amp open the Kef,s up and make them sing over the Yamaha internal amp. I have been told a apollon would be a great choice but not sure on the type to get

Any help would be great. I listen to music and a lot of home theatre use as I have a bk monolith sub attached also I listen to low and high volumes and the kefs are 4ohms that can go down to 3.2ohms.

Thanks

1. There is no audible sound difference between the Purifi and NCx500.

2. My recommendation is to only consider Purifi/NCx500 for LCR. For any speakers beyond that, it’s overkill and NCxxxMP will suffice.
The reason is there would not be any audible difference coming from the surrounds (or even height channels) between NCxxxMP and Purifi/NCx500.
The movie mastering/mixing engineers already mix surround speakers at 3db lower than L-R speakers, and height speakers 3db lower than surrounds. So if it's not a priority for movie engineers, then don't bother spending money here.

3. If you have 2-4ohm nominal speakers, the NCx500 would be slightly better suited for power/current vs the Purifi.

4. However, having all that said, when all speakers are playing at once in a multi-channel system, you might not actually hear the difference between NCxxxMP or NCx500 or Purifi. Human perception isn't that accurate in multi-channel system. It's the same principle as why Amir does mono speaker testing. It's easier to pick up on the faults with a single speaker. When sound starts flying at you from all angles, humans tend to focus on the story, and less on the appreciation of sound, like you would, in a stereo or LCR setup. In other words, sound quality becomes less important, so the difference between amps will start to disappear. That's my 2 cents.

 

[Meridius]

A few people have pointed me to the ncx500 Apollon.
I have not tried the speakers yet on the amp as there’re is a 3 week backlog and waiting for them to be delivered as I am upgrading from iq90,iq30,iq65c to the meta r5,r3 and r2c. I did point out the a6a says it only drives 8 to 6ohms on the front centre and rears only and mains 8 to 4 ohms. but other helpful people said it would be fine with the 4ohm Kef metas.

Just wondering jf the amp will get hot driving these. So was advised if I wanted to go down that road to just get the Apollon ncx500 3 channel.

The thing is would u not notice a different sound sig from the Yamaha rears driving to the mains driven by the power amp.

I will try out the amp first and I might be happy but if not just wanted to get ready if I needed an external amp.

Another question is what are the extra option on Apollon web site when you look to add to the basket as it says.

Core 3 opa 1656 standard price
Core 3 sonic imagery 944 extra £300
Core 3 sparks labs ss2590 pro extra £600

Not to sure what that means, also I thought power amps help out a lot with getting more out of you. Sound as everyone I see review says they open up the sound and you hear more and all that.

Anyone heard of emotive what they like just out of interest.

I will take on board that the a6a Yamaha might not need the power amp but just wanted to keep options open if needed.

 

[Meridius]

@Holdt. He also says

Even with the nannies turned off, Yamaha has built in protection to limit power with multiple channels driven as you can see the distortion rise to 10% (hard clipping) with 4 channels driven. I’ve seen this type of behavior before on other Yamaha receivers we’ve tested.

And

With 7CH driven, the RX-A6A limits power to 52 watts. This is not surprising as Yamaha has always set their limiters very conservatively. It’s unlikely you would trip this limiter with real program material, however.

Does that not mean the amp would struggle a little with a 5.1 ? Sorry trying to understand. Thanks

 

[Deleted member 48726]

@Holdt. He also says

Even with the nannies turned off, Yamaha has built in protection to limit power with multiple channels driven as you can see the distortion rise to 10% (hard clipping) with 4 channels driven. I’ve seen this type of behavior before on other Yamaha receivers we’ve tested.

And

With 7CH driven, the RX-A6A limits power to 52 watts. This is not surprising as Yamaha has always set their limiters very conservatively. It’s unlikely you would trip this limiter with real program material, however.

Does that not mean the amp would struggle a little with a 5.1 ? Sorry trying to understand. Thanks

But isn't this only when he tries to drive multiple channels at full power though? I can't imagine much power is going to other channels than L+R and sub in real world scenarios and then the power output would be more akin to the result with two channels driven.

 

[goryu]

This.

One moment, please...

Using three NCx500 modules with one 3K smps is not recommended by Hypex therefore I don't think the Apollon 3 or 5 channel NCx500 is a good choice due to the supply pumping that will result. I would stay away from the 3 or 5 channel Apollon.

My inquiry to Hypex:

Subject:	power supply for 3 channel NCX500
Department:	Technical support
Details:	Hello- Can you tell me if it is possible to use your 3K smps with a three channel NCx500 module amp? I understand there are issues with using the 3K supply with half bridge (NCx500) amps below 100Hz due to supply pumping but have read that one simply puts one module out of phase to solve the issue. Would using 3 modules, one wired out of phase, work or would it create an imbalance and not be advised? Thank you.

Hypex answer:
That would only work when two amps used for frequencies below 100Hz are getting more or less the same signal and the third amp is used for frequencies above 100Hz.