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Hypex Nilai500DIY Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 5 1.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 18 4.3%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 77 18.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 321 76.2%

  • Total voters
    421
I think dlaloum was talking about the speaker drivers generating subharmonics when driven with the 10s of kHz harmonics from the Nilai.
I'd challenge someone to find those as well.
 
I wouldn't be concerned much with subharmonics, but maybe somewhat with intermodulation distortion. That nonlinearity will make two tones, e.g. 15 + 16 kHz intermodulate and generate a 1 kHz tone that might be audible.

On the other hand, most conventional class AB amps also have less loop gain and more distortion at 15 kHz than they have at 1 kHz
Agreed. IMD by its very nature, can be more noticeable than regular, lower order, harmonic distortion. Most quality class D amps can return excellent IMD performance and the multitone test suggests that this amp should also be very good.
 
We don't have the 18+ 19 kHz two-tone IMD test for this review. Based on the multitone IMD, which does not exhibit rising grass towards higher frequencies, I'd tend to agree. On the other hand, I have compiled a cheat cheat from Amir's review of a few other high performance amps and found that the 15 kHz THD and two-tone and multitone-IMD do not always correlate.
 
We don't have the 18+ 19 kHz two-tone IMD test for this review. Based on the multitone IMD, which does not exhibit rising grass towards higher frequencies, I'd tend to agree. On the other hand, I have compiled a cheat cheat from Amir's review of a few other high performance amps and found that the 15 kHz THD and two-tone and multitone-IMD do not always correlate.
My point is that unwanted (and inaudible due to low level) distortions could potentially create audible distortions within the speaker drivers - NOT WITHIN THE AMP.

ie: from a system perspective, driving the speakers cleanly may be critical to getting low distortion output from the system (not from the amp)

I make no claim to knowing what the magnitude of these might be - and I would expect it to differ massively based on speaker designs, materials etc...
 
My point is that unwanted (and inaudible due to low level) distortions could potentially create audible distortions within the speaker drivers - NOT WITHIN THE AMP.

ie: from a system perspective, driving the speakers cleanly may be critical to getting low distortion output from the system (not from the amp)

I make no claim to knowing what the magnitude of these might be - and I would expect it to differ massively based on speaker designs, materials etc...
Distortion products though - even in a speaker - are going to be lower (usually much more so) than the products they are distorting.

So if the distortion products from the amp are below audibility, then so are the distortions of those distortions. As well as being masked by the music itself , and the much bigger distortion products of the actual frequencies in the music.
 
My two kits arrived yesterday from KJF Audio. Following some discussion regarding the warranty (apparently it only really applies to the SMPS and Amp module), KJF gave me the OK to drill the case to accept Neutrik Speakon panel connectors.

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The Neutrik panel connectors are a very tight fit and I had to rotate them 90° from the normally accepted orientation to fit them in above the binding posts and have the fixings clear the top panel.

I'm really pleased with the fit and finish of these kits. The manufacturing tolerances in the casework are really impressive.

Assembly was pretty straight forward, though I made a couple of mistakes along the way. Had to take the rear panel off again as I'd missed the step of connecting the front panel control cable. You can't connect it once the rear panel is on! Really pays to follow the instructions step by step!

The fiddliest bit is installing the wave washers on the rear panel. Wiring the Neutriks was a pain as well. The bared cables from the Amp module plus a jumper made from an offcut of Canare 4S11 (14 AWG) is right on the limit of what you can squeeze into the NLM4-ST Neutrik screw terminals.
 
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Following some discussion regarding the warranty..

I asked Hypex if modifying the cable kits would void any warranty, and they said it doesn't. I cut wire 11 and 12 on the SMPS User IO cable and soldered them together. This way, the amp turns on automatically when mains power is present.
 
My two kits arrived yesterday from KJF Audio. Following some discussion regarding the warranty (apparently it only really applies to the SMPS and Amp module), KJF gave me the OK to drill the case to accept Neutrik Speakon panel connectors.

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The Neutrik panel connectors are a very tight fit and I had to rotate them 90° from the normally accepted orientation to fit them in above the binding posts and have the fixings clear the top panel.

I'm really pleased with the fit and finish of these kits. The manufacturing tolerances in the casework are really impressive.

Assembly was pretty straight forward, though I made a couple of mistakes along the way. Had to take the rear panel off again as I'd missed the step of connecting the front panel control cable. You can't connect it once the rear panel is on! Really pays to follow the instructions step by step!

The fiddliest bit is installing the wave washers on the rear panel. Wiring the Neutriks was a pain as well. The bared cables from the Amp module plus a jumper made from an offcut of Canare 4S11 (14 AWG) is right on the limit of what you can squeeze into the NLM4-ST Neutrik screw terminals.
I bought my Nilai mono blocks from KJF Audio too about six months ago. I’m so pleased I bought them.
 
How do you like the WiiM/Nilai combo?

Have a WiiM ultra and am thinking about upgrading my XTZ Edge A2-300 with a newer class D power amp.

I don't hear any pops when my Nilai turns on. It is turned on by the remote trigger and turns on automatically when my WiiM turns on.
 
Just thought I would chime in here. I have absolutely no noise whatsoever from my anps at turn on or off. The only thing I can hear from the Hypex amps (or my AHB2s for that matter) is the click of the relays.

Having no means of triggering them since selling my DAC3 HGC and HPA4, I got one of these:


I feed it with the TOSLINK output of my Motu Ultralite Mk5 and it works a treat.
 
What about shielding of this amp?
audiophonics-hpa-dm500nil.jpg

Dual Mono version of the stereo Audiophonics Nilai amp
 
What are the advantages of the Nilai modules over the Purifi 1ET9040BA modules, apart from the power ratings?

Other than output power capability, probably nothing audible. Both are state of the art.

From a measurement perspective, the Nilai has the edge with SINAD in comparison to the 1ET9040A, but I don't think Amir has reviewed the 1ET9040BA - I don't know what is the difference between the 1ET9040A and 1ET9040BA other than the 1ET9040BA has a gain of 14.4dB. Below is a comparison between the Nilai and the 1ET9040A:

Module - Gain - SINAD

Nilai - 12dB - 113dB
Nilai - 22dB - 109dB
Nilai - 28dB - 104dB

1ET9040A - 0dB - 108dB
1ET9040A - 13dB - 104dB

Note: the gain stage is included in the Nilai and controlled via a jumper, whereas the gain stage is an external unit for the 1ET9040A and the 1ET9040BA has 14.4dB gain.

Also, I find the higher gain of the Nilai useful for matching driver output level in an all active setup. You probably could order the 1ET9040BA with higher gain than 14.4dB, but the SINAD will be negatively affected, though probably still inaudible.
 
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… which you will never hear as a difference. Artificially created cult.
 
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