New Hypex Nilai500DIY modules )

[Deleted member 48726]

Pretty sure nobody wants less reliable products, but thanks for clarifying your position.

Along with the original quote you referenced, the implication is that a longer warranty implies longer longevity. If that were accurate, the Nilai warranty is more than 2 times longer than most comparably priced products. Just made me wonder if you had found something with better warranty or had some proof that Hypex DIY products had short longevity? Their main offering to date has been the NC400 and most owners (am not one) seem very pleased.

I commented on a user who seemed tho think that five years life was ok. I don't really care that much on the warranty longevity. Most warranties are limited anyway and two years of that. I don't imply that Hypex has short longevity and I don't imply that a short warranty is the same as a poor product either.

 

[Rick Sykora]

"We don't know what is going wrong. Perhaps because you live in a humid climate?".

I am at Trivandrum, India. Humidity => 78%

Hypex could not test these because it is too expensive to ship them back!

If humidity is the problem, the Mac Air that I am using to write this message should have died long ago .

I live in a lot less humidity but get the shipping cost can be a challenge...

Conditions matter though and your Mac Air has cooling to keep it running. It may even throttle back to deal with high heat/humidity. I gather you have some amplifiers that are working in your climate currently?

 

[GPx86]

Please remind yourself of the price on the products in question. It is not a budget low tier product. I don't demand warranty periods of a decade. But I expect the life of the product (I.E. an amplifier costing 1200 USD) to be.

A Bryston 4b3 has a 20 year warranty and costs $7,500. Today's market provides options, but it costs money to sustainably guarantee a product and maintain its support. It also costs money to engineer, validate, manufacture, maintain supply chains, maintain customer service, maintain employees, provide benefits, maintain standards compliance, innovate, and numerous other steps required to be successful in manufacturing. State of the art performance is hard enough to do. If we expect to go to the moon to provide all the other things it becomes unsustainable. Every engineering problem requires a compromised solution. It seems to me Hypex has applied reasonable methods to deliver a state of the art product at a justifiable price.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

A Bryston 4b3 has a 20 year warranty and costs $7,500. Today's market provides options, but it costs money to sustainably guarantee a product and maintain its support. It also costs money to engineer, validate, manufacture, maintain supply chains, maintain customer service, maintain employees, provide benefits, maintain standards compliance, innovate, and numerous other steps required to be successful in manufacturing. State of the art performance is hard enough to do. If we expect to go to the moon to provide all the other things it becomes unsustainable. Every engineering problem requires a compromised solution. It seems to me Hypex has applied reasonable methods to deliver a state of the art product at a justifiable price.

Again: I expect the product to last a certain time no matter the warranty. I don't care about the warranty but we should set the expected product life higher than five years for a 1200 USD amplifier, as my original comment was about. I am not okay with getting five years out of an amplifier. That's just obscene.

 

[GPx86]

Is there a widespread issue with failures of Class D amp modules from Hypex or others? I would be interested to hear more detailed accounts of issues that exist. Admittedly I have not looked myself. My stance on manufacturing and quality comes from my time spent as an Applications and Quality Engineer for a major European automotive manufacturer. I am pretty enamored with the current state of Class D and I am definitely planning to try one very soon. But, I wouldn't mind putting my QE hat back on and reviewing some failure cases to understand what I may be in for.

Also worth noting that a warranty does not fully represent a company's expectations for how long the product will last, but is definitely a statement for what they can afford to lose.

 

[Rick Sykora]

I wasn't even mentioning warranty but in general, spending that kind of money on an amplifier, five years of life is absolutely unacceptable. -For me.

Even if the manufacturer ab standard only offers two years of limited warranty I would still consider it a shit product if it lasts three. Especially when speaking of amplifiers, tv's, and general home appliances of mid or higher price brackets.

My apologies, I thought the context here was warranty as the original post started with:

"...will there be an extended warranty plan..."

I read past the:

"...so that a sizeable investment will not poof itself after merely 3 or 12 month?
5 years would be acceptable..."

I glossed over the poof as some questionable english. I see now he apparently meant 5 years of longevity. My mistake.

 

[Ra1zel]

The out of touch demands of some folks on this forum are pretty unbelievable. Demands for constant cost reduction or impossibly low price points, infallible reliability, all of the features and functions without error, support for DIY repairs, and on top of it decades long warranty coverage from a manufacturer.

Please manage your expectations with a review of what it takes to be a modern manufacturing company, folks.

Someone even wanted FIR filtering on a plate amp lol

 

[restorer-john]

Warranties used to be statements as to the faith that companies placed in their products. Koss offered a no-questions asked, unconditional lifetime warranty on their headphones. Even if your dog chewed them up.

The major Japanese HiFi companies pushed long warranties in the late 80s, early 90s, with Yamaha having 5 years, Sony ES having 3 years and Pioneer having 3 years. All major speaker manufacturers had 5 years, pretty much across the board.

And that was with a complete (I mean to component level, including every single part) available either in the country or available ex-Japan. Some obscure parts may have taken 4-6 weeks, but I could get anything I wanted, and the costs were extremely low in real terms. Parts would be air-freighted from Japan FIS.

Since the widespread adoption of SMPS supplies over traditional transformers, the overall life of all types of consumer electronics has shortened. Couple that with the rapid pace of obsolescence and a generation or two is used to buying what I call Landfill HiFi.

Properly manufactured high fidelity equipment is a consumer durable. It should be expected to last many decades. Charge accordingly, offer the warranties, the parts backup, the service centres and reap the benefits. Your customers will buy infrequently, but more profit will be made from each sale and those customers will be customers for life.

You can bet the Bryston customers rarely buy other brand amplifiers and will mostly be unpaid brand ambassadors for the company.

These modules from Hypex are expensive. No two ways about it. But they are DIY (if you call buying a pre-populated and fully assembled module DIY...). Not that classifying something DIY means they can escape warranty or parts backup.

Their warranties no doubt will be in line with what is required in the countries they are sold in and the consumer laws in place to protect customers. I would reasonably expect my amplifiers to be working in 10 years. And I would expect parts and schematics to be freely available for around 7 years or so. Service information should be available. If that is not the case, don't buy them and steer clear, would be my advice.

 

[ManFromKerala]

I live in a lot less humidity but get the shipping cost can be a challenge...

Conditions matter though and your Mac Air has cooling to keep it running. It may even throttle back to deal with high heat/humidity. I gather you have some amplifiers that are working in your climate currently?

AN Old NAD C320BEE bought from US 20 years ago, still runs perfectly!
Actually, except Hypex, I don't have a single case of electronics going bad!

edit- fixed typo

 

[Deleted member 48726]

AN Old NAD C320BEE bought from US 20 years ago, still runs perfectly!
Actually, except Hypex, I don't have a single case of electronics going bad!

edit- fixed typo

Hot and humid should not be a problem for any amplifier of reasonable quality. As long as the temperature is above dew point there is no moisture condensing anywhere so any problems are only related to a lack of heat dissipation which is related to poor design.

 

[valerianf]

I have only 1 class D amplifier (WMA-50) and I rely on Yamaha for the warranty.
The problem with class D amps is of 2 orders:
1) Many are using cheap Chinese electrolytic capacitors that will fail first.
2) As this technology is exotic nobody has the knowledge to repair them.
Every repair shop change the faulty module.
For a $2 faulty capacitor that failed after 3.5 years the repair bill will include a $250 module + the time passed by the technician+chipping.
With the covid lock down in China it is not sure that the class D module will be available before several months.
This is not a good plan.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Hot and humid should not be a problem for any amplifier of reasonable quality. As long as the temperature is above dew point there is no moisture condensing anywhere so any problems are only related to a lack of heat dissipation which is related to poor design.

Would expect that thermal protection would kick in and save the amp. However does not mean it will operate when it gets to its thermal threshold.

For @ManFromKerala situation still not much to go on and since nothing was shipped back to Hypex, pretty much speculation at this stage. Who supplied the amps and what the build quality might have been are still unknowns. Am not saying Hypex is perfect, but here we make decisions based on facts and we do not have all the facts in this case.

 

[Feyire]

Couple that with the rapid pace of obsolescence and a generation or two is used to buying what I call Landfill HiFi.

A very sad state of affairs, almost perverse . We need better right to repair laws.

 

[Doodski]

Since the widespread adoption of SMPS supplies over traditional transformers, the overall life of all types of consumer electronics has shortened. Couple that with the rapid pace of obsolescence and a generation or two is used to buying what I call Landfill HiFi.

I serviced SMPS/PWM for some years and they where pretty reliable for the most part. They where toroidal transformers and a mix of Darlington and FETs. Designed to run into a ~2 Ohms load they where pretty tough car amps. Now if I want a bad ass SMPS I buy a bad ass desktop PC power supply...lol.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Would expect that thermal protection would kick in and save the amp. However does not mean it will operate when it gets to its thermal threshold.

For @ManFromKerala situation still not much to go on and since nothing was shipped back to Hypex, pretty much speculation at this stage. Who supplied the amps and what the build quality might have been are still unknowns. Am not saying Hypex is perfect, but here we make decisions based on facts and we do not have all the facts in this case.

No we don't. But hot and humid should not be an issue either way.

 

[AndreaT]

Anyone, has anyone built and tested the new hypex diy Nilai amplifier, either the mono or the stereo kit? It is sold-out currently, with delivery expected after March 31st, 2023.

DIYClassD Nilai500DIY 500W mono power amplifier kit

The DIYClassD Nilai500DIY 500W Mono power amplifer kit is easy to assemble and enables you to build a high-end mono amplifier at a fraction of the costs

www.diyclassd.com

 

[AndreaT]

My index finger is twitching to click "buy"...what a temptation to endure!

DIYClassD Nilai500DIY 500W mono power amplifier kit

The DIYClassD Nilai500DIY 500W Mono power amplifer kit is easy to assemble and enables you to build a high-end mono amplifier at a fraction of the costs

www.diyclassd.com

 

[Livewire]

Pretty tempting, hoping for some reviews / measurements soon.

 

[SSassen]

I wouldn't touch/buy their products with a barge pole until they do what they are required to do, and provide adequate service manuals, schematics and reasonably priced parts.

I told myself I wouldn't bite, but here we are, with a fresh new ASR account created and my keyboard dusted off as some people clearly need to be educated on why this will never happen and for good reasons, so lets grab the bull by the horns shall we?

1) Hypex offers some of the best customer service you'll find in this industry. You send your defective module in, even if you horribly botched it yourself, and they make sure they get it shipped back to you in a matter of days in perfect working order, usually at their cost. So that takes care of the 'what do I do when my module stops working'.

2) As for service manuals, schematics etc. it is abundantly clear you've not given this much (any?) thought, as the Chinese copycats would be all over that like flies over a big steaming turd loaf. Do you really think Hypex is going to publish schematics so that some Joe Ignoranus with a 150W soldering iron can lift some more pads on the PCB after he's tried to fit 'better' capacitors and resistors his audiofool buddies told him 'sound better'. What's the incentive here considering 1)?

3) As for EU legislation etc. let me be perfectly clear; the EU is the epitome of clusterf*cks when it comes to rules and regulations, at any level, about any subject, they keep shooting themselves in the foot whereas the people in the EU parliament are like the Roman upper-class of late, and we all know what happened to the Roman empire circa 500 AD right?

Anything I missed? No? Alright, time for my morning coffee, let me grab a cuppa.

 

[restorer-john]

I told myself I wouldn't bite, but here we are, with a fresh new ASR account created and my keyboard dusted off as some people clearly need to be educated on why this will never happen and for good reasons, so lets grab the bull by the horns shall we?

1) Hypex offers some of the best customer service you'll find in this industry. You send your defective module in, even if you horribly botched it yourself, and they make sure they get it shipped back to you in a matter of days in perfect working order, usually at their cost. So that takes care of the 'what do I do when my module stops working'.

2) As for service manuals, schematics etc. it is abundantly clear you've not given this much (any?) thought, as the Chinese copycats would be all over that like flies over a big steaming turd loaf. Do you really think Hypex is going to publish schematics so that some Joe Ignoranus with a 150W soldering iron can lift some more pads on the PCB after he's tried to fit 'better' capacitors and resistors his audiofool buddies told him 'sound better'. What's the incentive here considering 1)?

3) As for EU legislation etc. let me be perfectly clear; the EU is the epitome of clusterf*cks when it comes to rules and regulations, at any level, about any subject, they keep shooting themselves in the foot whereas the people in the EU parliament are like the Roman upper-class of late, and we all know what happened to the Roman empire circa 500 AD right?

Anything I missed? No? Alright, time for my morning coffee, let me grab a cuppa.

LOL. Welcome to ASR.

Try posting something partially useful for your next post.