Hypex Nilai 500 DIY Stereo Amp Kit Review

[AndreaT]

Hi I hear the 2nd harmonic distortion can be pleasant? Like add warm to a sound?

Like wearing tinted glasses to watch a Leonardo Da Vinci painting. It does commit the sin of addition to the music generated by the instrument. A no-no in my book.

 

[Julf]

Like wearing tinted glasses to watch a Leonardo Da Vinci painting.

Or adding salt and ketchup to everything - even in a michelin-star restaurant.

 

[carmol]

I bought this, and thanks to amirm and asr to let me know about this jewel. I came from MF m6si, wich has a good reputation, but the nilai blow it away I never heard such clarity and cleanliness on all frequencies, driving without efforts my speakers. Stage is wide and deep. On some music I hear details that I never heard before. Great job, hypex!

 

[Julf]

I bought this, and thanks to amirm and asr to let me know about this jewel. I came from MF m6si, wich has a good reputation, but the nilai blow it away I never heard such clarity and cleanliness on all frequencies, driving without efforts my speakers. Stage is wide and deep. On some music I hear details that I never heard before. Great job, hypex!

Your personal, subjective and unverified perception has been noted.

 

[carmol]

Your personal, subjective and unverified perception has been noted.

sure, they are only my opinions, but they matches objective measures; it was not the same with other amps, like MF m6si

 

[Sonyman]

This amp is Amazing. Best value 4 money. I use it with a Khozmo preamp and the sound is very good. No problems driving my tdl studio 3 .

 

[AcousticTheory]

sure, they are only my opinions, but they matches objective measures; it was not the same with other amps, like MF m6si

Your enjoyment or non-enjoyment of the amplifier is immaterial. In fact, don't buy it; it is more perfect without you.

Some people, you just lol and move on, because it's impossible to tell if they are being serious. In case you were wondering what joyless corner of the internet you bumbled into, this one is from Kafka.

I woke up, listened to music, and had a moment of fleeting enjoyment that alarmed me so thoroughly, it was nearly lunchtime before I could move on.

 

[carmol]

Your enjoyment or non-enjoyment of the amplifier is immaterial. In fact, don't buy it; it is more perfect without you.

Some people, you just lol and move on, because it's impossible to tell if they are being serious. In case you were wondering what joyless corner of the internet you bumbled into, this one is from Kafka.

I woke up, listened to music, and had a moment of fleeting enjoyment that alarmed me so thoroughly, it was nearly lunchtime before I could move on.

It could be; I think differently, but if it is as you say, the same can be applied to your post.

 

[terryforsythe]

It could be; I think differently, but if it is as you say, the same can be applied to your post.

 

[maxchau]

I bought this amp and then loose all my belief in measurements. The timing is so off that it felt like that the musicians weren't playing together. Very strange. Probably OK for movies, but certainly not for music. It leads me to read about how negative feedback kills the musicality. Maybe it's not something that can be measured, but it sure can be heard. I know it won't be a popular opinion here, but it's just what it is.
Here's the opinion of SOULNOTE Chief Designer about this:

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

www.soulnote.co.jp

Your notes got me thinking. And I tend to agree with you. Compared to the my trusted Yamaha M2, the musical "layering" is different from my Icepower 1200as2 monos and 3e Audio 480-1-29a monos. In this case, for someone used to listen to Class A, A/B amps can get a little of that "the musicians weren't playing together" feel. I feel M2's performance is more fluid than the above mentioned class d amps which can feel too clean at times.

 

[Julf]

Your notes got me thinking. And I tend to agree with you. Compared to the my trusted Yamaha M2, the musical "layering" is different from my Icepower 1200as2 monos and 3e Audio 480-1-29a monos. In this case, for someone used to listen to Class A, A/B amps can get a little of that "the musicians weren't playing together" feel. I feel M2's performance is more fluid than the above mentioned class d amps which can feel too clean at times.

There is always TAP TubeWarmth if you want to add more "fluidity". Personally i prefer a good Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

 

[DavidM1]

Your notes got me thinking. And I tend to agree with you. Compared to the my trusted Yamaha M2, the musical "layering" is different from my Icepower 1200as2 monos and 3e Audio 480-1-29a monos. In this case, for someone used to listen to Class A, A/B amps can get a little of that "the musicians weren't playing together" feel. I feel M2's performance is more fluid than the above mentioned class d amps which can feel too clean at times.

Curious. Questions spring to mind. Are you a musician and are you familiar with the sound of musicians not playing well together? Does it also happen while listening with headphones to the same music or does that fix it? What do you believe has happened to the signal to create this effect?

 

[Endibol]

It leads me to read about how negative feedback kills the musicality.

On the contrary: negative feedback ensures the audio signal is preserved with the highest level of fidelity.
You may of course hear a difference between this device and the one you are used to. But chances are high that your current unit is somehow “distorting” the signal and that you simply learned to like that. That’s how are brains work.

 

[Julf]

It leads me to read about how negative feedback kills the musicality.

I suggest you read this: The F-word or, why there is no such thing as too much feedback.

 

[IamJF]

Your notes got me thinking. And I tend to agree with you. Compared to the my trusted Yamaha M2, the musical "layering" is different from my Icepower 1200as2 monos and 3e Audio 480-1-29a monos. In this case, for someone used to listen to Class A, A/B amps can get a little of that "the musicians weren't playing together" feel. I feel M2's performance is more fluid than the above mentioned class d amps which can feel too clean at times.

I the studio world we use the term "glue" between instruments. When you get too much of separation and the song sounds like there are just different instruments in a space, not a band playing together. Can happen when you build your project with clean recordings of single instruments and programming artificial instruments.
The solution is easy - add a channel strip plugin or some outboard gear and add DISTORTION. Sometimes more, sometimes less - just "smear" the "holes" between the instruments and make everything less separated. In older times this happend on the way of analog processing anyways (these gorgeous SSL mixers ... there are A LOT of OP amps and even worse parts in the compressor your nice separated signals went through). Nowadays you can choose how much you want to add.

Purifi/Hypex does show you this effect. Older amplifiers have higher noise and distortion and will maybe "iron out" the fine details and "add some glue".

I still prefer to hear what's on the source, not how my old AB amp is sounding.

 

[maxchau]

I have been playing Class D amps for 3 years. I said what I heard. Now it is your turn to find out the differences. If not, so be it.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

I said what I heard

you said what you think you heard. and if there's anything I've learned here on ASR it's that unless we isolate our hearing from other factors, we cannot trust our hearing at all; sighted listening is inevitably shaped by unconscious biases.

 

[Julf]

I have been playing Class D amps for 3 years. I said what I heard. Now it is your turn to find out the differences. If not, so be it.

Actually, how about you finding out if the differences you hear are real? Best done by a proper double-blind ABX listening test...

 

[livinon2wheels]

Hi.
I have made 3 DIY amplifiers of this 'format' myself and none of them ever made a noise when turning on or off, that's why I didn't put 'golfing panther'.
It is a very nice realization although the price is a little too high in my opinion.

Yes agreed. When you can buy a ready assembled 500 wpc Hypex amp of similar specs for about 700 per stereo box, 1500 for an amp I have to assemble and is of significantly less power is a non-starter for me.

 

[A Cute Earring]

you can buy a ready assembled 500 wpc Hypex amp of similar specs for about 700 per stereo box

…for example?