"Tight" is the word....
Here a really tight build I did once, ICEpower 125ASX2 module in a very small 1U box.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I wish I had the amp building knowledge you guy's have, but I suppose there is only one way to learn.
David
This should be good for a laugh. Four 20 volt laptop SMPS supplies to make a +/-40 volt 360 watt PS for two Hypex ucd180 modules in a single rack space. I'll wire it up tonight (this is temporary but I couldn't reisist trying):
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Wonderful!!!
Better mount the modules using screws instead of rubber bands though....
Actually those are the rubber bands that they use to hold the anti-static shield on the bottom. Will use screws and heatsink compound to mount the modules to the chassis and double face tape
to mount the SMPS and the filter caps. This will be driving 8 ohm speakers only, so 100 watts per channel is the max possible output. At 90% efficiency the PS would need to supply about 220 watts max. I have no idea whether each SMPS can actually output 90 watts each continuously as they are rated but I think the amp should put out a decent amount of power. The big question is how will it sound. I'll put my scope on the power rails and crank it up to see if they sag and post the results if anyone is interested.
BTW, the SMPS were $10 each shipped to my door (cheap Chinese ebay stuff).
WOW!
This was supposed to be for chuckles, but I'm listening to it right now and it sounds great! I hear the faintest hiss with my ear on the speaker - no hum, no buzz.
There is one strange problem with the SMPS. They apparently don't like large capacitive loads (13,600uf per rail). I had to put resistors across the outputs to draw some idle current to keep them from pumping. I might try removing the caps but I used the leads as a connention bus so that's easier said than done.
It barely gets warm and it's LOUD with a very neutral sound. It looks bad in the photo but the top fits on the rack and it's extremely compact for a 180 watt/channel amp. I'm seriously thinking of not taking this apart.
This was supposed to be for chuckles, but I'm listening to it right now and it sounds great! I hear the faintest hiss with my ear on the speaker - no hum, no buzz.
There is one strange problem with the SMPS. They apparently don't like large capacitive loads (13,600uf per rail). I had to put resistors across the outputs to draw some idle current to keep them from pumping. I might try removing the caps but I used the leads as a connention bus so that's easier said than done.
It barely gets warm and it's LOUD with a very neutral sound. It looks bad in the photo but the top fits on the rack and it's extremely compact for a 180 watt/channel amp. I'm seriously thinking of not taking this apart.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Its hard to see in your pix - but its certainly the well thought (and optimally applied !!!) star grounding trick that lets your sound quality sky rock.
Yes, all my amps are star grounded. Actually this one has a completely floating chassis and PS. The speakers and the inputs are also isolated from the chassis and the inputs are being driven by a balanced source. The signal ground of the amp assumes the ground potential of the source - no chance for loops whatsoever that I can see and it has no buzz or hum.
I'll ground the case when I get a chance. I used a 3 wire cord so I have a ground that I can tie to the case.
I'm blown away by how powerful and "clean" this amp sounds. Not to mention quiet.
A Winner!!!
I have several hours of critical listening under my belt now and to put it bluntly I'm blown away.
Clean, dynamic, ultra detailed, transparent, super QUIET. Add to that the thing barely gets warm, and it's not even well heat sinked. I spend a lot of bucks on tube amps which sound pretty good, but I know what I'll be listening to this summer when it's over 100 degrees outside.
I'm hearing details that I don't notice with my other amps. I can do A/B comparisons with my reference amp and I hear a difference in favor of the class D Hypex. My reference amp BTW is a MOSFET output amp with the following specs:
150 watts RMS @ 8 ohms @ 0.01%THD+N
Slew Rate 55V/us
Damping Factor @1kHz @ 8 ohms >500 (not a misprint)
SNR 103dB
20-20kHz +/-0.5dB
5Hz-80kHz -3dB
My ears are used to high quality amplification. My MOSFET amp compares favorably against just about any amp I've heard, including my tube amps and the Hypex, but the cost and weight of the Hypex are in a different league. The cost/performance ratio of the Hypex is extremely high IMHO.
I've got my SACD player as a source and the level of detail on the instruments is stunning. I hate long winded reviews about the "imaging" being this or that or the "soundstage" having this or that characteristic. If you like clean, powerful, effortless sounding amplification that has balls yet reproduces even the finest details you'll like these modules. I can't extend that conclusion to any other class D amps at this point. There are surely some bad sounding class D amps, but this isn't one of them.
Detail, detail and more detail is what I hear. Not the faintest hint of distortion or graininess whatsoever, and with more power than needed for even inefficient speakers, and with an erie quiet between songs with the SACD as a source. Those songs with prerecorded distortion sound worse - there's nothing to hide it. But those that are well recorded sound pristine.
I'm sold. Ordering more tomorrow.
Has anyone used these?:
http://cgi.ebay.com/600W-X-1-300W-X...011?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5375a8c3
The price is right and the specs are pretty good, except they say Frequency Response: ±0.5 dB 100 W / 8 Ω, unclipped but don't say what the frequency response is.
I have several hours of critical listening under my belt now and to put it bluntly I'm blown away.
Clean, dynamic, ultra detailed, transparent, super QUIET. Add to that the thing barely gets warm, and it's not even well heat sinked. I spend a lot of bucks on tube amps which sound pretty good, but I know what I'll be listening to this summer when it's over 100 degrees outside.
I'm hearing details that I don't notice with my other amps. I can do A/B comparisons with my reference amp and I hear a difference in favor of the class D Hypex. My reference amp BTW is a MOSFET output amp with the following specs:
150 watts RMS @ 8 ohms @ 0.01%THD+N
Slew Rate 55V/us
Damping Factor @1kHz @ 8 ohms >500 (not a misprint)
SNR 103dB
20-20kHz +/-0.5dB
5Hz-80kHz -3dB
My ears are used to high quality amplification. My MOSFET amp compares favorably against just about any amp I've heard, including my tube amps and the Hypex, but the cost and weight of the Hypex are in a different league. The cost/performance ratio of the Hypex is extremely high IMHO.
I've got my SACD player as a source and the level of detail on the instruments is stunning. I hate long winded reviews about the "imaging" being this or that or the "soundstage" having this or that characteristic. If you like clean, powerful, effortless sounding amplification that has balls yet reproduces even the finest details you'll like these modules. I can't extend that conclusion to any other class D amps at this point. There are surely some bad sounding class D amps, but this isn't one of them.
Detail, detail and more detail is what I hear. Not the faintest hint of distortion or graininess whatsoever, and with more power than needed for even inefficient speakers, and with an erie quiet between songs with the SACD as a source. Those songs with prerecorded distortion sound worse - there's nothing to hide it. But those that are well recorded sound pristine.
I'm sold. Ordering more tomorrow.
Has anyone used these?:
http://cgi.ebay.com/600W-X-1-300W-X...011?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5375a8c3
The price is right and the specs are pretty good, except they say Frequency Response: ±0.5 dB 100 W / 8 Ω, unclipped but don't say what the frequency response is.
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