Except the Purifi outperforms the NC400 in all areas but SINAD at 1KHz/5W/4Ohms.
By what margin? And source? I checked the reviews of both modules back and forth on ASR but could see minimal difference.
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VTV Purifi Amplifier With SIL 994EnH-Ticha Pro Buffer Review
- Thread starter amirm
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By what margin? And source? I checked the reviews of both modules back and forth on ASR but could see minimal difference.
The NC400s are not delivered enough power in the unit received by Amir, they should be powered by SMPS1200A400 not SMPS600A400.
If you do that all 3 amplifiers (Purifi, Benchmark, NC400) have similar performance except Amir measured the Benchmark at very low gain for no apparent reason.
For power amps, I wish companies would add protection circuits or something to stop the amp before it goes into clipping (we have seen some that do), so that customers don’t risk damaging their speakers.
Like for this amp, how much voltage to get 140W:
Also, @amirm, do you stop the test once it reaches high distortion? Meaning would this amp go into even higher distortion if pushed?
Like for this amp, how much voltage to get 140W:
Also, @amirm, do you stop the test once it reaches high distortion? Meaning would this amp go into even higher distortion if pushed?
KxDx
Senior Member
...wins the race.
The problem that Purifi, and really Hypex, already provide for commercial builders solutions that are that the cheapest implementations using their modules and are more than good enough for any purpose. They are already well into bragging rights rather than any useful actual fidelity.
This amp exemplifies the problem. It isn't quite as good objectively as an amp built using the reference modules, which already use OPA1612 buffers and a reasonably sophisticated regulator circuit. This amp seems to add two custom PCBs with power supply that take a selection of discrete op-amps. Without op-amps that adds $300. But since the market demands and rewards magic sauce, you get to add an additional $300 odd to get discrete op-amps that do nothing to improve over an OPA1612. Other than the secret sauce that comes with a discrete op-amp with a 20 year old design heritage. There is a near 2:1 price ratio from no-buffer at all to fully blinged out version with eye-watering speaker connection options. Realistically the amp is actually good value for money, if you avoid the bling options. The price is lineball with buying the bits from Purifi, Hypex and Sonic Image Labs. Indeed once you add the cost of the case and hardware it is hard to compete.
One has to have some sympathy. Purifi and Hypex leave almost nothing useful for OEMs to add in terms of value, and differentiating themselves in the market is going to be desperately hard. Not everyone is going to be happy buying the bits and assembling an amp themselves, so there is a clear demand for assembled amps. The sellers of this amp are probably only making money on the back of bulk pricing, their own PCB for the buffer and praying that customers opt for some of the high margin bling options. Adding the WBT speaker connectors probably doubles their margin on the sale. Nobody is getting rich here. So much so that I wonder how sustainable the model is.
This amp exemplifies the problem. It isn't quite as good objectively as an amp built using the reference modules, which already use OPA1612 buffers and a reasonably sophisticated regulator circuit. This amp seems to add two custom PCBs with power supply that take a selection of discrete op-amps. Without op-amps that adds $300. But since the market demands and rewards magic sauce, you get to add an additional $300 odd to get discrete op-amps that do nothing to improve over an OPA1612. Other than the secret sauce that comes with a discrete op-amp with a 20 year old design heritage. There is a near 2:1 price ratio from no-buffer at all to fully blinged out version with eye-watering speaker connection options. Realistically the amp is actually good value for money, if you avoid the bling options. The price is lineball with buying the bits from Purifi, Hypex and Sonic Image Labs. Indeed once you add the cost of the case and hardware it is hard to compete.
One has to have some sympathy. Purifi and Hypex leave almost nothing useful for OEMs to add in terms of value, and differentiating themselves in the market is going to be desperately hard. Not everyone is going to be happy buying the bits and assembling an amp themselves, so there is a clear demand for assembled amps. The sellers of this amp are probably only making money on the back of bulk pricing, their own PCB for the buffer and praying that customers opt for some of the high margin bling options. Adding the WBT speaker connectors probably doubles their margin on the sale. Nobody is getting rich here. So much so that I wonder how sustainable the model is.
That looks exactly like a SMPS1200 series PS to me.
True, Hypex fusion plate amps literally destroys the entire industry bang for the buck. DSP, DAC, Amplifier all-in-one with ridiculous noise and wattage for the price.
of coz not, I don't even want to buy a 2 grand AMP! that's why I opted for active speakers... with the altough much worse measuring chip amp inside, I love the overall outcome
back to the amp, somehow I accepted that in the HiFi industry, what you buy is something good enough to be not noticeable/audible, and then the whole package design makes you happy
Oops, sorry, I misunderstood which amp you were referring to.
Yep, no different than a good $1000 DAC - what incremental improvements does another $5,000 get you besides an extra 25 lbs. of billet aluminum construction and solid copper plates every where? Short of adding Dirac DSP, it appears many DAC makers are haphazardly throwing in random filters, tubes and ladders in the hopes that magic happens.
Except now VTV makes a copy of the Purifi Eigentact for l.t. $1000 that uses the exact same setup as the prototype Amir reviewed 2 years ago, and it costs less than the Hypex. Moreover it costs less than the components (Ghent case, Hypex Smps, Purifi Eval 1) needed to assemble this as a diy.Fair point, and I imagine you'd have a hard time hearing much difference between any of the Hypex and Purifi amps clustered at the top of the list. However, I think the NC400 is significantly cheaper than the Purfi modules, which would make it the best value for money - possibly.
That's the one to buy IMHO. Moreover, it can be hot-rodded to bypass the input buffer which increases Sinad to 108db--second only to the Benchmark, so why anyone would want a custom buffer at extra cost that any number of reviews show degrades performance, is a mystery to me.
At the time I decided to buy mine, Ghent did not have a dedicated case, so I bought the 300 mm wide case which he designated for the Hypex NC 400 stereo build, and had a custom case back fabricated for it at a local metalwork shop. And then I had problems with getting the Hypex Smps working. And there were covid related parts stock outs b/c my project was started in May 2020. All in all it took me longer than expected and it cost me more than expected b/c of the need to send components back to Hypex and another person for Smps repair.
In the end I got a great amp, but my advice to anyone looking to go the Purifi route is just buy the one from VTV that uses Purifi's input module and get the best performer for the lowest cost.
Helicopter
Major Contributor
I vote for:
Silver (or champagne
) case with big analog VU meters orBlack case with orange LED or VFD specrtum analyzer.
I would pay $300-500 extra for that, depending on the quality of the implementation.
The stereo amps that can be run in bridged mono are not too bad, but a real stereo amp with real power that needs no bridging is way better. If you go with the former, like Aegir, Vidar, or AHB2 then I just want one meter or analyzer per case since I would want two of them.
Oh, and I definitely want XLR and SpeakOn.
I would say keep it under $1400 for two powerful channels if you want to beat Vidars and Hypex/Purifi, maybe $2k if it looks super cool, or charge more and position it like a pair of AHB2s.
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I believe you are testing the dual mono version (two SMPS1200 PS) and with 994Enh-Ticha (not 990)? What about with the Weiss OP2-BP buffers?
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I vote for:
Silver (or champagne
Black case with orange LED or VFD specrtum analyzer.
I would pay $300-500 extra for that, depending on the quality of the implementation.
The stereo amps that can be run in bridged mono are not too bad, but a real stereo amp with real power that needs no bridging is way better. If you go with the former, like Aegir, Vidar, or AHB2 then I just want one meter or analyzer per case since I would want two of them.
Oh, and I definitely want XLR and SpeakOn.
I would say keep it under $1400 for two powerful channels if you want to beat Vidars and Hypex/Purifi, maybe $2k if it looks super cool, or charge more and position it like a pair of AHB2s.
Maybe have a look on BoXem products. Standby, clipping led, bridgeable (last point to be verified, I think I remember it from a reading on a French forum).
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