Hypex NCx500 Class D Amplifier Review

[ZZM]

Not everyone obviously is going to use this amp in a LCR configuration nor obviously are all consumers aware of the supply pumping issue. Again, I would listed to Hypex who recommend against using this supply in odd module full range configurations.

Hi !

I also contacted Hypex few months ago about this SMPS3k story and they told me this :

"Originally design for our full bridge amplifiers UcD2k and NC2k, the SMPS3k is not synchronically rectified, meaning it can run into power supply pumping with half bridge amplifiers connected running high power in low frequencies. Which then causing the voltage to rise and eventually will activate the over voltage protection of the amplifiers. But one SMPS3k does more then enough power for 3 channels NCx500 and with indeed one channel running out of phase, so for both the input signal and loudspeaker output (so in the end the signal is in phase again) this will work perfectly fine."

 

[goryu]

Hi !

I also contacted Hypex few months ago about this SMPS3k story and they told me this :

"Originally design for our full bridge amplifiers UcD2k and NC2k, the SMPS3k is not synchronically rectified, meaning it can run into power supply pumping with half bridge amplifiers connected running high power in low frequencies. Which then causing the voltage to rise and eventually will activate the over voltage protection of the amplifiers. But one SMPS3k does more then enough power for 3 channels NCx500 and with indeed one channel running out of phase, so for both the input signal and loudspeaker output (so in the end the signal is in phase again) this will work perfectly fine."

I suppose this is the difference between theory and practice. It's not quite what they told me but perhaps they investigated further.

 

[Pritaudio]

I don't know, but Tibor has plenty of experience building top amplifiers for years now and has an APx555 in house for testing at will. @Apollon Audio would you clarify this for us please?

How is apollon ncx500 and March audio speakers going?
i see that you still have the nc502mp amp too.
have you compared the two. What are your experiences?
Does the speakers make use of the low distortion, otherwise it is wasted.
are you using any dsp on this setup?
do you think it is the equivalent of a Neumann active setup at the same price?

 

[Matias]

How is apollon ncx500 and March audio speakers going?
i see that you still have the nc502mp amp too.
have you compared the two. What are your experiences?
Does the speakers make use of the low distortion, otherwise it is wasted.
are you using any dsp on this setup?
do you think it is the equivalent of a Neumann active setup at the same price?

1. Doing fine, I love my system.

2. To be honest I have been too lazy to disconnect all 5 channels from the HT and bring the multichannel NCoreMP based amp to the dedicated listening room and compare to the NCx500 stereo amp. Work, kids and social events are taking too much of my time. When I have a few hours left I just enjoy listening lately. But yes, one day I intend to compare them. I expect very, very small differences.

3. The speakers, any speakers, always have orders of magnitudes more distortion than the electronics, this is nothing new. Having said that, mine are among the lowest distortion speakers I know of, see here.

4. Only a single PEQ band to cut down a nasty room mode at 41 Hz that otherwise would overpower my room. The woofer benefits from not having to play it, so even better.

5. I don't know. A Neumann KH 150 would be comparable in size and measurements I guess, check them at Spinorama.org here, but my system has better amps while the Neumann has digital crossover and dedicated amps.

 

[cavedriver]

Was it already discussed- there's no option to bridge 2 of these together for more power like the 502MP card can be?

 

[voodooless]

Was it already discussed- there's no option to bridge 2 of these together for more power like the 502MP card can be?

That is what NC1200 is for.

 

[cavedriver]

That is what NC1200 is for.

I appreciate the answer - I was overlooking that unit, but for 8 ohm loads a bridged 502MP is in a completely different league than a 1200. The 1200 is only 400 W into 8 ohm, vs 1.2 kW for the 502MP. It seems the ideal solution is the NC2000, which puts out 1.6 kW into an 8 ohm load - nice! I don't remember seeing either of these measured by Amir, but I assume they are of the same generation as the other NC non-X amplifiers and not the current lower noise x-series, or are they even older?

Edit - a loot at the datasheets indicates the 1200/2000 go back to 2012 but were updated in 2019 for some reason. Not sure what changed but SNR looks to be at least as good as 502MP, so really nothing I need to care about.

 

[Julf]

I appreciate the answer - I was overlooking that unit, but for 8 ohm loads a bridged 502MP is in a completely different league than a 1200. The 1200 is only 400 W into 8 ohm, vs 1.2 kW for the 502MP. It seems the ideal solution is the NC2000, which puts out 1.6 kW into an 8 ohm load - nice! I don't remember seeing either of these measured by Amir, but I assume they are of the same generation as the other NC non-X amplifiers and not the current lower noise x-series, or are they even older?

Edit - a loot at the datasheets indicates the 1200/2000 go back to 2012 but were updated in 2019 for some reason. Not sure what changed but SNR looks to be at least as good as 502MP, so really nothing I need to care about.

What 8 ohm speakers can take 400 W without burning a voice coil?

 

[cavedriver]

What 8 ohm speakers can take 400 W without burning a voice coil?

It's for multi-amping speakers with active crossovers, just the woofers would be on this amp. There are lots of 15" and 18" woofers for the commercial sound reproduction market that handle these power levels. Here's the 15NW100 from B&C with a 1000 W continuous power rating. But I don't need 1000W, just more than 400.

B&C 15NW100 is a lightweight very high power 15" woofer for speaker subwoofer systems. B&C 15NW100 Speakers - B&C 15" 15NW100 high power speaker for speaker subwoofer systems. B&C 15NW100 high power speakers available now.

B&C 15NW100 lightweight high power woofer for subwoofer speaker replacement or upgrade. The B&C 15NW100 is a very high power 15 inch speaker with 2,000 watts program power handling and utilizes a lightweight neodymium magnet. A complete line of B&C speakers for DJ’s, Bands, and Sound...

www.usspeaker.com

 

[Julf]

It's for multi-amping speakers with active crossovers, just the woofers would be on this amp. There are lots of 15" and 18" woofers for the commercial sound reproduction market that handle these power levels. Here's the 15NW100 from B&C with a 1000 W continuous power rating. But I don't 1000W, just more than 400.

B&C 15NW100 is a lightweight very high power 15" woofer for speaker subwoofer systems. B&C 15NW100 Speakers - B&C 15" 15NW100 high power speaker for speaker subwoofer systems. B&C 15NW100 high power speakers available now.

B&C 15NW100 lightweight high power woofer for subwoofer speaker replacement or upgrade. The B&C 15NW100 is a very high power 15 inch speaker with 2,000 watts program power handling and utilizes a lightweight neodymium magnet. A complete line of B&C speakers for DJ’s, Bands, and Sound...

www.usspeaker.com

Commercial sound reproduction, as in PA, yes, but not hifi or domestic.

 

[Gambertuni]

Hi there, sorry if this has already been asked in this thread.
I am looking for a power amp and found an NCore NC500 at Audiophonics for 850€.
My first idea was to buy their purifi amp, but the 500 is considerably cheaper and was wondering is the difference between them is audible at all and if the 500 has also plenty of headroom.
Thank you so much in advance

 

[Doodski]

Hi there, sorry if this has already been asked in this thread.
I am looking for a power amp and found an NCore NC500 at Audiophonics for 850€.
My first idea was to buy their purifi amp, but the 500 is considerably cheaper and was wondering is the difference between them is audible at all and if the 500 has also plenty of headroom.
Thank you so much in advance

What speakers are you going to be using with the power amp<?>

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Hi there, sorry if this has already been asked in this thread.
I am looking for a power amp and found an NCore NC500 at Audiophonics for 850€.
My first idea was to buy their purifi amp, but the 500 is considerably cheaper and was wondering is the difference between them is audible at all and if the 500 has also plenty of headroom.
Thank you so much in advance

There are measurements that demonstrate a benefit, but it's questionable whether you can hear them. The biggest potential benefit is with complex loads. One of the designers (Bruno Putzeys) wanted to change loop structure to improve load tolerance : Bruno on differences between NCore and Purifi

 

[Gambertuni]

What speakers are you going to be using with the power amp<?>

At this moment I have Wharfedale Lintons 6 Ohms / 90 db speakers (though measurements in Erins Audio Corner show lower sensitivity than that) But honestly I would like the amp to be able to drive more difficult speakers as well (thinking on the long run, I'll probably get new speakers in a couple years)

 

[Gambertuni]

There are measurements that demonstrate a benefit, but it's questionable whether you can hear them. The biggest potential benefit is with complex loads. One of the designers (Bruno Putzeys) wanted to change loop structure to improve load tolerance : Bruno on differences between NCore and Purifi

Thanks a lot for the quick response

 

[Matias]

@Gambertuni IME it depends on the level of your system. Do you already own excellent speakers, great room treatment, top DAC? Then sure, that would be a cherry on the cake. Otherwise I would prioritize those instead.

 

[Doodski]

At this moment I have Wharfedale Lintons 6 Ohms / 90 db speakers (though measurements in Erins Audio Corner show lower sensitivity than that) But honestly I would like the amp to be able to drive more difficult speakers as well (thinking on the long run, I'll probably get new speakers in a couple years)

The Purifi is considered the better amp @ low Z drive.
Keeping in mind that the newer Hypex design class D amps have excellent low Z drive too with better thermal clamping on the PCB for the FETs cooling contact to the heatsink plate.
If you can afford it get either the Purifi or the newer version of the Hypex amps with the better cooling ability and improved low Z drive.
The Hypex NC500 is a older model and it has the previous generation PCB design that has been improved considerably in the new models.

Review and Measurements of Nord One NC500 Amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Nord One Hypex NC500 class-D module based power (speaker) amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member who recently purchased it. Nord is a British company so lists the cost of the Nord One as £ 979 or US $1,250 as of this writing. For that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Gambertuni]

The Purifi is considered the better amp @ low Z drive.
Keeping in mind that the newer Hypex design class D amps have excellent low Z drive too with better thermal clamping on the PCB for the FETs cooling contact to the heatsink plate.
If you can afford it get either the Purifi or the newer version of the Hypex amps with the better cooling ability and improved low Z drive.
The Hypex NC500 is a older model and it has the previous generation PCB design that has been improved considerably in the new models.

Review and Measurements of Nord One NC500 Amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Nord One Hypex NC500 class-D module based power (speaker) amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member who recently purchased it. Nord is a British company so lists the cost of the Nord One as £ 979 or US $1,250 as of this writing. For that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The Purifi is considered the better amp @ low Z drive.
Keeping in mind that the newer Hypex design class D amps have excellent low Z drive too with better thermal clamping on the PCB for the FETs cooling contact to the heatsink plate.
If you can afford it get either the Purifi or the newer version of the Hypex amps with the better cooling ability and improved low Z drive.
The Hypex NC500 is a older model and it has the previous generation PCB design that has been improved considerably in the new models.

Review and Measurements of Nord One NC500 Amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Nord One Hypex NC500 class-D module based power (speaker) amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member who recently purchased it. Nord is a British company so lists the cost of the Nord One as £ 979 or US $1,250 as of this writing. For that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Thank you!

 

[Doodski]

Thank you!

You are welcome.

 

[bigpilot]

What brand class-D chip are they using? Does anyone know?

Looking at the specs this must be one of the best amplifiers ever made!