NCORE MP Build using Ghentaudio Kit.

[pos]

No worries. I asked you if you know what the compromise is between the Ncore amps and the Fusion. Because the plate amps are cheaper while having DSP posibilities as well.

Yes I started responding to that one but could not find anything relevant to say, really

 

[Biblob]

Yes I started responding to that one but could not find anything relevant to say, really

Haha, fair enough! I do wonder though what they have done to make them cheaper. For now it looks like buying a Fusion plate and making a case around it, seems a good idea.

 

[pos]

Yes, if you are OK with going through the digital harness of the plateamp, either ADC+DAC or ASRC+DAC.
There might be a trick to go directly to the analog path though, but better check the diyaudio thread for this.

Of course if you need the DSP then the decision is obvious.

 

[maty]

And...

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...io-class-d-amp-build-quality.9895/post-267521

[ Nobody mentioned the aluminum cooling bar?

This cooling bar lowers the temperature on the NC500's coils by 15 degrees celsius.

Heat is transported away from the output coils and into the massive cabinet through the cable channel. Some heat is also transported down to the bottom lid through the alumunum spring that keeps this cooling bar securly in place. This arrangement gives us probably the coolest running NC500's in the market. At least NC500's capable of the same or near the same power output... ]

 

[JimB]

Thats' exactly what I did, thank you:

Hi. Just curious, did you not use the ground wires from the mains socket (a two wire lead)?

 

[decoRyder]

Hi. Just curious, did you not use the ground wires from the mains socket (a two wire lead)?

No I did not, for details please see the attached image in my second post in this thread - "Figure 4: Unbalanced input with hard-bonded RCA's and no mains earth".

 

[GentleEars]

Can someone help me choose between NC122MP and NC252MP?

My present set of speakers are a pair of B&W 685 S1, which is specified:
- Nominal impedance 8Ω (minimum 3.7Ω)
- Crossover frequency 4kHz
- Recommended amplifier power 25 - 100W into 7Ω on unclipped programme

For source, I'm planning to use TOPPING DX7 Pro, which has a precise digital volume built into the ESS9038 Pro chip.

By specs, it seems I should go with NC122MP. But when I was considering Class AB amplifiers, I was advised to choose a somewhat overspecified amplifier for improvement in SQ. Also, I may replace the speakers with moderately sized floor standers in the future. Should I go for NC252MP? Or would I risk blowing out my speakers?

-GentleEars

 

[dkinric]

I had a similar decision to make.
First off, it is unlikely you would damage your speakers even with the more powerful module. Most speakers get "blown" when sending distortion to the speakers and most speakers can handle fairly large transients of a clean signal. In other words, even though the amp is capable of much more power than your speakers are rated for, you would probably only damage them by turning it up so ridiculously loud it would sound awful.

The sensitivity of your B&Ws is 88dB, which is about average. More power is almost always better for headroom reasons - reason being amps work best when not pushed hard into distortion (ie the knee on Amir's graphs). However, here we have measurements and these amps can go pretty far into their power output before any distotion occurs, so if you always listen at moderate levels the 122 would be fine as you know you can get 75 watts (ish) without distortion.
Conventional wisdom is to get more power to cover all future scenarios - the times you want to play really loud, or the option to get less sensitive speakers in the future. As the 252 is not that much more $, that's probably the best choice in most cases.

For me, I made a conscious, considered choice for the 122 and less power - which goes against nearly everything I have ever thought about building a system.
My reasons:
- My system has two powered subs, so I find I don't listen as loud as I used to, as the full sonic spectrum - including full bass impact - is present, even at lower volume levels
- My current amp is only rated at 60 watts/ch and I never turn it up past 10:00 now
- My listening room is narrow, so listening position is only about 7 ft from the speakers
- At the time, I as considering the SMSL ML500, which XLR outputs were measured as "hot" by Amir (well above 4v standard). Since decided on Topping DX7PRO though

So, considering all of the above, I concluded that the 122 was more than enough power for me, and I wanted more "play" in the volume dial to make more precise volume adjustments.
In summary, it's almost always a good idea to choose more power, and only in specific situations (like mine) does it make sense to choose less power.

 

[decoRyder]

Can someone help me choose between NC122MP and NC252MP?
-GentleEars

Unless you absolutely do not want to spend the money, I would suggest that you get the 252MP, which will give you a much better upgrade-path than the 122MP.

 

[Matias]

+1 for 252MP, more power does not hurt.

 

[GentleEars]

- My current amp is only rated at 60 watts/ch and I never turn it up past 10:00 now
- My listening room is narrow, so listening position is only about 7 ft from the speakers
.....
So, considering all of the above, I concluded that the 122 was more than enough power for me, and I wanted more "play" in the volume dial to make more precise volume adjustments.

Thanks. I have the same concern you did about having the "play" in my volume dial. I understand DX7 Pro has 99 levels in its volume control. Where do you find yourself tuning your volume at?

I also don't play loud. My room is not big and my listening distance is about 10 feet, or slightly less than 3 meters. My concern is sound quality and control at low volume, not playing loud.

 

[dkinric]

System still on order, so tbd. Where I put the volume control at has very little to do with your situation - different room acoustics, definition of loud, etc. I do use a SPL Meter app, and I listen at about 80-90 db (C weighted) with critical listening. I believe there are some formulas that derive SPL from your given amplification and distance numbers.
There is not a wrong answer. The 122 is probably plenty of power in your situation, yet there is very little, if any, downside of having the additional power of the 252.
PS - Part of my reasoning is that if/when I relocate to a bigger room and want more power, it's an excuse to upgrade the amp. It's very likely that in a few years, even better amp modules will be more plentiful and even less expensive.

 

[dkinric]

Just wanted to check in here as I just completed my build of the same Hypex module and Ghent Audio kit. Agreed the Ghent kit is well made and had everything I needed, except instructions. As a novice builder, I had to figure it out myself - most of the connections were obvious, but exactly HOW to make those connections wasn't necessarily apparent. Using the pictures posted here from decoRyder and Google, I eventually figured it out. Turned it on the first time and it didn't start smoking nor blow up!
It sounds amazing running with the Topping DX7PRO as a DAC/preamp. Plenty of power for me with the 122 board (75 watts/ch into 8 ohms). Turning it up loud sounds awesome - 0 audible distortion.

Thanks, @decoRyder for posting and giving me the idea. Highly recommended.

 

[Matias]

@dkinric pictures?

 

[dkinric]

Sure! Was so excited to get it done didn’t take any after wiring was completed. It was like a puzzle that needed solving. Even the final piece, the front panel, stumped me at first until I discovered 2 tiny offset screw holes in the bottom.
After more extended listening, I like it even more.

 

[GentleEars]

Sure! Was so excited to get it done didn’t take any after wiring was completed. It was like a puzzle that needed solving. Even the final piece, the front panel, stumped me at first until I discovered 2 tiny offset screw holes in the bottom.
After more extended listening, I like it even more.

Congratulations on putting this together. I have been meaning to order either of the NC122MP or the NC252MP boards, but have lost sight of any source on eBay to order them from. Can you please share how you got yours?

Also, where did you end up putting your volume dial on DX7 Pro for normal listening with NC122MP?

-Taro

 

[dkinric]

Congratulations on putting this together. I have been meaning to order either of the NC122MP or the NC252MP boards, but have lost sight of any source on eBay to order them from. Can you please share how you got yours?

Also, where did you end up putting your volume dial on DX7 Pro for normal listening with NC122MP?

-Taro

I got mine from the seller wpc1896 on ebay, but they appear to have sold through. Just search for Hypex and you get many hits, but currently I don't see any of these boards.

Regarding volume setting, it ranges from -99 (lowest) to 0 (highest). Somewhere in the -20s db is about as loud as I go, reaching almost 90db of loudness at the listening position. So, plenty of power with headroom in my current situation. I did need to turn up the levels of my subs to match vs my older setup. I imagine this is due to not only the slightly increased power of the amp, but sending a 4v signal for the mains and only a 2v (via the rcas) to the powered subs. So, opting for the lesser powered board was the right call in my situation.

The volume is raised in 0.5 db increments, so there is quite a bit of "play" in the volume dial. Unless you have specific reasons not to, most would be better off paying the small price increase for double the power. There are so many steps to the volume dial on the DX7PRO, I don't believe having it too sensitive to make small adjustments would ever be an issue.
Cheers!

 

[GentleEars]

I got mine from the seller wpc1896 on ebay, but they appear to have sold through. Just search for Hypex and you get many hits, but currently I don't see any of these boards.

Regarding volume setting, it ranges from -99 (lowest) to 0 (highest). Somewhere in the -20s db is about as loud as I go, reaching almost 90db of loudness at the listening position. So, plenty of power with headroom in my current situation. I did need to turn up the levels of my subs to match vs my older setup. I imagine this is due to not only the slightly increased power of the amp, but sending a 4v signal for the mains and only a 2v (via the rcas) to the powered subs. So, opting for the lesser powered board was the right call in my situation.

The volume is raised in 0.5 db increments, so there is quite a bit of "play" in the volume dial. Unless you have specific reasons not to, most would be better off paying the small price increase for double the power. There are so many steps to the volume dial on the DX7PRO, I don't believe having it too sensitive to make small adjustments would ever be an issue.
Cheers!

Thanks for the reassuring info. I have already purchased DX7 Pro, so yes, I understand fully what you mean about the levels of adjustment.

 

[MenloBob]

I built a NC122MP amp this past weekend in a case I had lying around from building some IcePower 125asx2 amps this spring. One thing I would caution is go ahead and get the Ghent wiring harness. This came with the Hypex eval cable set, which has very short leads and the signal cable is a ribbon because it's intended to plug into their eval board that has breakout solder connections. Made the wiring a pain and not as clean as I'd like. I've order's Ghent's harness in the meantime, but so far it's been on 4 days solid and very clean sounding on my 110db HF horns.

 

[Neddy]

Nice work!!
Tip on ribbon cable 'break-outs':
https://www.amazon.com/Greenlee-1113-Stripax-Stripper-Cutter/dp/B0006BHCFO
I used to do that stuff daily - snick snick twist twist heat shrink solder done.