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Hypex Nilai 500 DIY Stereo Amp Kit Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
The switching components (the heaty stuff) on the PSU are connected to the heatsink on the top side of the board, unlike, say, the other modules (like the amp board) where they are underside.
The former more conventional approach means bolting the PCB to the chassis is unnecessary. This helps prevent physical damage to the switching components, and usually also means the cooling would be sufficient regardless of the bottom chassis. Also gives me a piece of mind knowing the 400V transistors and consequently painful death is not being separated from me by just one thermal pad or a paper-thin silver mica.
The former more conventional approach means bolting the PCB to the chassis is unnecessary. This helps prevent physical damage to the switching components, and usually also means the cooling would be sufficient regardless of the bottom chassis. Also gives me a piece of mind knowing the 400V transistors and consequently painful death is not being separated from me by just one thermal pad or a paper-thin silver mica.
Consider this one:
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/power-amplifiers/audiophonics-hpa-dm500nil-p-19233.html (dual psu, dual mono amp in one case)
Yes, the 15kHz distortion is lower on other amps... but then this here is also lower than the distortion at much lower frequencies of yet other amps. Haha!
It's a purely academic issue anyway. Yet again we're complaining about lack of total technological perfection that has exactly zero consequence in practical use. The 2nd harmonic of 15 is 30, nobody can hear that except Manbat.
This is a great option if you want true state of the art performance for more than okay money, squeaky clean big power, and a bit of building fun on the side.
It's a purely academic issue anyway. Yet again we're complaining about lack of total technological perfection that has exactly zero consequence in practical use. The 2nd harmonic of 15 is 30, nobody can hear that except Manbat.
This is a great option if you want true state of the art performance for more than okay money, squeaky clean big power, and a bit of building fun on the side.
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Unfortunately for my long suffering bank account, I tend to define “want” and “need” interchangeably.
Excellent review Amir!
I haven’t checked prices, but I’m still a Buckeye fan though. I’ve really enjoyed watching their business mature, and at some point I “want/need” to jump into the class D fray.
terryforsythe
Major Contributor
I also converted mine to be dual mono. With the second power supply, it does run warmer than stock. For mine, it was fine with both power supplies as long as I kept my cabinet door open, but it ran warmer than I wanted with the cabinet door closed (but still cooler than my old Adcom amp). Nonetheless, I added Noctua low noise/low rpm fans to the cabinet, and used the included low noise adapters (simple resistors that plugin in series with the fans). Now all of my amps run cool with the cabinet door closed, and I cannot hear the fans. The only time I can hear the fans is if the cabinet door is open and I am standing right next to the cabinet.
In hindsight, had I known that I was going to upgrade it, I just would have started off by buying two mono versions of the amplifier.
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terryforsythe
Major Contributor
In stock form, I think long term reliability will be fine. I never noticed mine getting too warm, even with my cabinet door closed, until I modified it by adding a second power supply.
terryforsythe
Major Contributor
As with many things in audio, it depends. But, generally speaking, class D amps do run cooler.
totti1965
Addicted to Fun and Learning
It's truly remarkable how Bruno Putzeys consistently delivers. The man is a living legend!
Life on the Edge - A Personal Perspective on the Past, Present, and Future of Class D Audio Amplifiers - HomeTheaterHifi.com
The past quarter century of class D developments look strikingly different when seen through the eyes of the audio consumer and through...
hometheaterhifi.com
And he's also a fantastic explainer of technical concepts:
totti1965
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Great amp but a bit expensive...
Will take a look at the Purifi 1et9040ba first, checkout APx555 measurements here :
Fresh From the Bench: Purifi 1ET9040BA Balanced Class-D Amplifier Module
The Purifi 1ET9040BA balanced Class-D amplifier module, a Bridge-tied-load (BTL) output stage, is the second product in the company's Eigentakt range. Following a conversation with members of Purifi about the amplifier's audio performance being hard to measure even with the best available test...audioxpress.com
The French can be proud of their Audiophonics.fr
And the 1ET6525SA module is able to deliver us also some exceptional clean Watts (even as an integrated and completely build amp):
AUDIOPHONICS HPA-INT450ET Amplificateur Intégré
Audiophonics est fiers de vous présenter le HPAINT-S450ET. Cet amplificateur intégré de Class D repose sur une paire de modules d’amplification Purifi 1ET6525SA
www.audiophonics.fr
without Preamp:
AUDIOPHONICS HPA-S450ET Amplificateur de Puissance Purifi 1ET6525SA
L'amplificateur de puissance Audiophonics HPA-S450ET se base sur une architecture classe D, utilisant deux modules Purifi 1ET6525SA, une alimentation Hypex SMPS1200A400 et un étage buffer custom Audiophonics pour des performances d'exception...
www.audiophonics.fr
terryforsythe
Major Contributor
It's truly remarkable how Bruno Putzeys consistently delivers. The man is a living legend!
Life on the Edge - A Personal Perspective on the Past, Present, and Future of Class D Audio Amplifiers - HomeTheaterHifi.com
The past quarter century of class D developments look strikingly different when seen through the eyes of the audio consumer and through...
And he's also a fantastic explainer of technical concepts:
He is brilliant!
He left Hypex 11 years ago. The man is brilliant but I have some doubts on his capacity to do electronics development for companies he doesn't work for.It's truly remarkable how Bruno Putzeys consistently delivers. The man is a living legend!
Life on the Edge - A Personal Perspective on the Past, Present, and Future of Class D Audio Amplifiers - HomeTheaterHifi.com
The past quarter century of class D developments look strikingly different when seen through the eyes of the audio consumer and through...
And he's also a fantastic explainer of technical concepts:
phoenixdogfan
Major Contributor
That case is from Ghent in Hong Kong. I used the same case to build my Purifi Eigentact Eval 1. When I bought it, I originally intended to use it to assemble the Hypex SMPS and a pair of their NC 400 modules to make a Stereo Hypex amp, but the Eval 1 came out at that time to exemplary reviews so I installed an Eval 1 module in it instead after having a metalworking/laser cutting fabricator make a custom back for me. My Putifi Amp has been trouble free in that case for five years. It's on around 14 hours a day and not a single hiccup, nor does it run excessively hot. I think the case's heat sink properties are OK.
It's a very nice case: It goes together very well, the parts fit together smoothly, all the screw holes are in the proper place, making it a breeze to put together. And it has plenty of room for the components. It stands in marked contrast to the Nord NC-252 build Amir reviewed last week which looked like everything was shoehorned into a tiny box. So it should be a very easy DIY with Hypex on call if trouble occurs.
As for the Nilai-500, it very closely resembles the performance of the Eigentacts and should provide years of trouble free performance. If you want an amp you can keep for a very long while which will just drive everything and not call attention to itself ever, this looks like a great choice. And the price is fair for what you're getting (internal power supply, nice case, quality modules, a single company for customer service). Great review, Amir. Thank you.
It's a very nice case: It goes together very well, the parts fit together smoothly, all the screw holes are in the proper place, making it a breeze to put together. And it has plenty of room for the components. It stands in marked contrast to the Nord NC-252 build Amir reviewed last week which looked like everything was shoehorned into a tiny box. So it should be a very easy DIY with Hypex on call if trouble occurs.
As for the Nilai-500, it very closely resembles the performance of the Eigentacts and should provide years of trouble free performance. If you want an amp you can keep for a very long while which will just drive everything and not call attention to itself ever, this looks like a great choice. And the price is fair for what you're getting (internal power supply, nice case, quality modules, a single company for customer service). Great review, Amir. Thank you.
perceptionist
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Nilai was once the king of class D before 1ET6525SA came out.The French can be proud of their Audiophonics.fr
And the 1ET6525SA module is able to deliver us also some exceptional clean Watts (even as an integrated and completely build amp):
AUDIOPHONICS HPA-INT450ET Amplificateur Intégré
Audiophonics est fiers de vous présenter le HPAINT-S450ET. Cet amplificateur intégré de Class D repose sur une paire de modules d’amplification Purifi 1ET6525SA
without Preamp:
AUDIOPHONICS HPA-S450ET Amplificateur de Puissance Purifi 1ET6525SA
L'amplificateur de puissance Audiophonics HPA-S450ET se base sur une architecture classe D, utilisant deux modules Purifi 1ET6525SA, une alimentation Hypex SMPS1200A400 et un étage buffer custom Audiophonics pour des performances d'exception...
terryforsythe
Major Contributor
I'm not sure where you are going here. Just because he left Hypex doesn't mean he is not still contributing great designs to the audio industry. Indeed, the Purifi Eigentakt class D amplifiers and Kii speakers are extremely well engineering products.
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terryforsythe
Major Contributor
They are both fantastic products.
Depends on how much cooling each has. My desktop CPU runs cooler than a typical phone.
Just replying to a person thinking that this product was designed by BP while it was not. I do not see what the problem is.
It's Purifi with a i, not a y.
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