So here's the truth on the actual long term capability of the amplifier setup Amir tested (2xNC400+1xSMPS600) according to Hypex themselves:
At least they are honest enough to say their PSU can't deliver its rated power continuously. That's a first.
Note these are 1KHz results too, not 20-20KHz.
So, we have a
continuous 75Watt per channel amplifier @1KHz with a THD <1% that has a decent headroom to be able to deliver peaks in excess of 220W (THD 1%) for a minute and a half. Whoopee.
That's hardly groundbreaking, exceptional, or even remotely exciting, especially at the prices of those little modules.
In
1977, (yes,
41 years ago) we had the Sony TAN-88, a
PWM (Class D) power amplifier that delivered 160W per channel
continuously, both channels driven from 20-20KHz at <0.5%THD (at full power!), driven by a SMPS supply all housed in an 80mm high, 11kg box.
If you wanted ball-tearing dynamic headroom, the Proton D-1200 showed that in spades in
1986 (yes,
32 years ago) at a low $599.
"
The D1200's output clipped at 155 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 175 watts into 4 ohms, and 350 watts into 2 ohms. We measured the dynamic power response of the amplifier with bursts of 20, 100, and 200 milliseconds repeated twice per second. The 8-ohm output with a 20-millisecond burst was 593 watts, for a dynamic-headroom measurement of 7.73 dB. The power increased to 1,187 and 1,800 watts into impedances of 4 and 2 ohms, respectively. During the longer bursts the available power was lower, of course, but even at 200 milliseconds the 8-, 4-, and 2-ohm power readings were 478, 700, and 1,055 watts.
It appeared that only after the signal duration exceeded 1 or 2 seconds did the power output fall to its steady-state value.
The 1,000-Hz harmonic distortion was between 0.0025 and 0.005 percent from 1 to 130 watts into 8 ohms. The 2- and 4-ohm readings were in the range of 0.008 to 0.003 percent from 1 watt to their clipping levels. With both channels driving 8-ohm loads, the distortion was typically about 0.003 percent from 50 to 2,000 Hz at power outputs from 10 to 100 watts, and the maximum reading was 0.024 percent at 20,000 Hz and 100 watts."
It seems that the Emperor has no new clothes, just a really ugly shirt.