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Hypex Nilai500DIY Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 4 1.1%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 13 3.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 74 19.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 281 75.5%

  • Total voters
    372

simplywyn

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What's the difference between these Mono 500W and a 500W nCore? I have Buckeye's 500W amp, is it worth upgrading to these?
 

da Choge

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I imagine compatible faceplates will become available at some point.
I would hope so, because the more affordable Hypex Nilai DIY amps will become highly competitive with the Purifi OEM amp offerings, and it would behoove Hypex to make the most desirable options available to the DIY crowd. Hypex's current horrendous?!? (kiddin', just a little) DIY faceplate is the only thing that is holding me back from ordering one of these now :oops: (besides being out-of-stock ;))
 
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JSmith

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JSmith
 

delta76

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Very comparable to Audiophonics fully assembled 400wpc purifi. I think I would chose laziness at that point
this has both higher sinad and wpc. Shipping from audiophinics is not free even if you are in France.
yes the difference in sinad and wpc probably do not matter in real use, but you know the last mile is always the most expensive to achieve
 

Killingbeans

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Awesome. Is there somewhere a description or discussion for this?
(I don't want to take over this thread)

Yes. But besides the explanation of gain adjustment, it's full of voodoo. So beware:
 

Docmoggy

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Thanks for this review Amir. I really like the idea of having a collegiate of DIY power amp builders! Who hasn't built their own computer and nearly smashed up the bits only to find a loose connection? Think I'm going to give this a go just to see if it is as simple and good as my AHB2. If they are they will represent incredible value for money - with a 5 year warranty! (potentially, two mono units for half the price of one Benchmark unit - with near same performance) What is missing are the dimensions of the unit. Anybody know?
 

RandomEar

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Found the source of noise around 10 kHz. I had the lid open during most of the tests to allow easy switching of the gain jumper. Alas, that caused some noise pick up that was especially accentuated at 28 dB gain. I repeated the key measurements using the lid closed and there were some improvements. See the review. I also ran the pop and wide bandwidth FFT spectrum. Also included in the review.

Thanks for looking into that and measuring again!

I think it's insane how that (presumably external and super, duper tiny) signal/noise was clearly visible in the original measurements. Maybe all of this trouble could have been avoided by using a "cable lifter"? ;)
 

Cappy

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Hypex's current horrendous?!? (kiddin', just a little) DIY faceplate is the only thing that is holding me back from ordering one of these now.

I've got the monoblocks in my living room and they look good to me and my live-in audio control subject Miranda. The "DIY/CLASSD" lettering looks quite faint and is not really noticeable. They match well with my Holo May and Serene components.
 
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Cappy

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If they are they will represent incredible value for money - with a 5 year warranty! (potentially, two mono units for half the price of one Benchmark unit - with near same performance) What is missing are the dimensions of the unit. Anybody know?

The monoblocks are quite compact: 205 * 300 * 80 mm (8.07" * 11.80" * 3.15"). Even with the small dimensions, the inputs and outputs on the rear don't seem crowded at all.
 

Rick Sykora

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As with
Looks like a fantastic iteration.
Can you also adjust gains with the Hypex NC400?

As with mods to Nilai, even for a simple mod, would suggest you wait until warranty expires.

AFAIK, the NC400 mod gain is not Hypex approved.
 

Rick Sykora

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Btw, was asked recently about the Nilia and I do not have any personally. I only received units from Hypex to build for Amir. I did listen to it and liked how quiet it was. Not a fan of the (momentary!) standby switch as I power my system from an intelligent surge protector. Would I upgrade to Nilai if I had a newer Hypex Ncore or Purifi? Only if I needed the additional power...

Aside from what I already mentioned, one oddity is the gain levels. They do not match exactly to any other Hypex unit I have used.

Hope this helps!
 
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mppix

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Yes. But besides the explanation of gain adjustment, it's full of voodoo. So beware:
many thanks
 

PeteL

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Interestingly or not. I have the older NC500 in monoblocks config. Have my enclosure tops taken out for a good while for a reason I don’t even remember. Guess I’ll try to find these screws and close these things, wouldn’t want these nasty distorted 10ks to creep in… Kidding I am quite certain that I won’t hear one bit of difference.
 

Mnyb

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Btw, was asked recently about the Nilia and I do not have any personally. I only received units from Hypex to build for Amir. I did listen to it and liked how quiet it was. Not a fan of the standby switch as I power my system from an intelligent surge protector. Would I upgrade to Nilai if I had a newer Hypex Ncore or Purifi? Only if I needed the additional power...

Aside from what I already mentioned, one oddity is the gain levels. They do not match exactly to any other Hypex unit I have used.

Hope this helps!
I like quiet :) about the SINAD measure , maybe the distortion is way inaudible already at much higher levels than this amp represents, but amp hiss can be audible depending on gain structure and how close your speakers are and how sensitive they are .For people dabbling in DIY active stuff that does not have the typical passive padding in treble and mid it can be even better.
 

Waxx

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Btw, was asked recently about the Nilia and I do not have any personally. I only received units from Hypex to build for Amir. I did listen to it and liked how quiet it was. Not a fan of the standby switch as I power my system from an intelligent surge protector. Would I upgrade to Nilai if I had a newer Hypex Ncore or Purifi? Only if I needed the additional power...

Aside from what I already mentioned, one oddity is the gain levels. They do not match exactly to any other Hypex unit I have used.

Hope this helps!
I agree, i got the NC122MP based amp from auidiophonic (NCore first gen) and did put it next to a Purifi HPA-S400ET amp also build by audiophonics i ordered for someone, and you can't hear the difference (but in power). Both are already on a level that it does not matter anymore in reality. The Nila and the NCx amps may measure better than the old NCore amps, but it won't matter anymore in a real world setup. They are neutral and so low in distortion that they are transparent, even for people who used not to like class D like me.

The only innovation that is really needed now is making them cheaper so they can be fit for the mass market who won't pay the prices they go for now. If we could have this kind of quality in the cheap amps that are sold in masses to the general crowd, the amp tech is established tech like dac's are now.
 

MCH

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The only circumstance I see myself building a diy amp would be if I need a multichannel one and I don’t find one that fits my needs. The maths are favourable as the price of the box vs the modules gets better, and the fact that hypex diy modules are mono is also favorable, as you can chose the exact number of channels that you need.

What is not that favorable is the size and form factor. 10x10 cm for one channel without power supply the heatsink being the bottom plate? Feels that you need a football stadium to accommodate, say, 6 channels… I see that other hypex diy boards tend to be relatively big compared to their OEM and stereo boards if I am not mistaken.

This is a personal opinion that for sure does not apply to many of the customers for these modules, but I am sure I am not the only one thinking the same, just wanted to bring it up in case hypex reads it
 

antcollinet

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The only circumstance I see myself building a diy amp would be if I need a multichannel one and I don’t find one that fits my needs. The maths are favourable as the price of the box vs the modules gets better, and the fact that hypex diy modules are mono is also favorable, as you can chose the exact number of channels that you need.

What is not that favorable is the size and form factor. 10x10 cm for one channel without power supply the heatsink being the bottom plate? Feels that you need a football stadium to accommodate, say, 6 channels… I see that other hypex diy boards tend to be relatively big compared to their OEM and stereo boards if I am not mistaken.

This is a personal opinion that for sure does not apply to many of the customers for these modules, but I am sure I am not the only one thinking the same, just wanted to bring it up in case hypex reads it
For multi channel id suggest a better layout would be to get a case with internal height of >10cm and put the modules vertical with an individual heatsink per module. This is how nad lays out their multichannel amps.
 
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