Are you able to read my mind because that's exactly what I have been thinking about!
Bruno,
No doubt the speakons are probably a much better design, but what do we do with our mega-buck speaker cables that are terminated with spades. Until the cable manufacturers get on board, building amps with only speakons is going to greatly restrict the potential market for the speakon-only amps, IMHO. If an enclosure only had speakons, I would either have to pass on the enclosure or retrofit the enclosure for Cardas Patent Pending binding posts (my current preference).
No doubt the speakons are probably a much better design, but what do we do with our mega-buck speaker cables that are terminated with spades. Until the cable manufacturers get on board, building amps with only speakons is going to greatly restrict the potential market for the speakon-only amps, IMHO. If an enclosure only had speakons, I would either have to pass on the enclosure or retrofit the enclosure for Cardas Patent Pending binding posts (my current preference).
As this thread is getting quite long, I would suggest creating a "sticky" at the top of this thread with nCore "Best Practices" where we store, well, best practices for this amp. I have no idea whether this is possible and who should maintain it, but it would be a nice idea.
Think including a FAQ (input buffer Q's and such), wiring links/options (biwire).
couple of Q's:
@all: would a mains filter do any good or is the smps not very sensitive to mains pollution? I have some issues with humming transformers & lamps at my house (DC on the line at times, never been able to figure out where it comes from).
@RichardK: I remember this amp benefits from biwiring, so maybe, when designing a case you could include pre-drilled holes for biwiring connections?
@Bruno: Apart from being the de-facto standard in PA/studio environments and its ruggedness, what are the advantages of speakon connectors? I have a feeling, this being a DIY community, most of the "users" here will use either binding posts or spade/lug type connectors.
@Bruno (offtopic): Any idea where we can source Grimm TPR interconnect cable in NL ? If I'm going the nCore route, a re-cable of my system would be a good thing too, why not make it a hypex/grimm system you being the linking pin
Think including a FAQ (input buffer Q's and such), wiring links/options (biwire).
couple of Q's:
@all: would a mains filter do any good or is the smps not very sensitive to mains pollution? I have some issues with humming transformers & lamps at my house (DC on the line at times, never been able to figure out where it comes from).
@RichardK: I remember this amp benefits from biwiring, so maybe, when designing a case you could include pre-drilled holes for biwiring connections?
@Bruno: Apart from being the de-facto standard in PA/studio environments and its ruggedness, what are the advantages of speakon connectors? I have a feeling, this being a DIY community, most of the "users" here will use either binding posts or spade/lug type connectors.
@Bruno (offtopic): Any idea where we can source Grimm TPR interconnect cable in NL ? If I'm going the nCore route, a re-cable of my system would be a good thing too, why not make it a hypex/grimm system you being the linking pin
@Bruno (offtopic): Any idea where we can source Grimm TPR interconnect cable in NL ? If I'm going the nCore route, a re-cable of my system would be a good thing too, why not make it a hypex/grimm system you being the linking pin
We have these already in our webshop, check this link; https://www.hypexshop.com/shop/shop.jsp?groupID=127
@slowlearner: That's why I said "included", not "substituted". That's the only way you can get people on board. Humans are capable of refusing a 2-week cruise round the seychelles if you try to force them up the gang plank. You have to invite them up and then they'll come running.
@matjans: The speakons are just bloody practical. Especially for DIY people who swap cables and amps all the time. Once you have them you just can't imagine how you did without them all these years. Plus: even the smallest size can be had with 4 pins. Biwiring with just one connector that always fits instead of four fork lugs that you have to screw down and that aren't even standardised. Or bananas with a fastening screw. We're really talking stone age vs iphone here.
Re TPR: Helios. Hypex has a higher end variety as well straight from the web shop.
@matjans: The speakons are just bloody practical. Especially for DIY people who swap cables and amps all the time. Once you have them you just can't imagine how you did without them all these years. Plus: even the smallest size can be had with 4 pins. Biwiring with just one connector that always fits instead of four fork lugs that you have to screw down and that aren't even standardised. Or bananas with a fastening screw. We're really talking stone age vs iphone here.
Re TPR: Helios. Hypex has a higher end variety as well straight from the web shop.
Forgot about the 4 pins, so take out the remark from my other post regarding double holes in the case.
Bombproof samsung stone age e2370 3-4 week standby vs. my max 1 day standby iphone (ok, 3g oldie that is)
THanks for Helios, only audio import popped up in google. Maybe because I'm behind a german proxy.
(ps like your style. eloquent.)
(in hushed tones) "Matjans is behind a German proxy..."
Sounds really sinister
T-Systems is really just like Apple. Lock-in
Jailbreak possible, but not recommended, and the legal/compliancy status is "vague" to say the least . When working via VPN all traffic is routed via German VPN concentrators.Back ontopic!
Yes, but...
Any idea of contact resistance of speakon plug+socket when compared to heavy duty banana plugs or binding posts?
Another issue I have is that a speakon is multi-wire. It is hard to find good high-current, low resistance twisted pair (or multiple twisted pairs) cable that still has a round exterior shape (as required by the speakon plug).
Last edited:
I have a question about low impedance loads and Ncore vs UcD.
My woofer system has got eight woofers with "8ohm" impedance, and I want to run them in parallell. Dcr of the drivers is 5.3 ohms, and the lowest impedance point in the operating range is approx 6 ohm. Frequency range is 20 - 200 Hz. I rarely go above 1W input as the efficiency is very high.
I see two possibilities
1. Parallell two and two woofers, 3 ohms impedance, drive them with four UcD
2. Parallell four and four woofers, 1.5 ohms impedance, drive them with two Ncore
Any thoughts on this ?
My woofer system has got eight woofers with "8ohm" impedance, and I want to run them in parallell. Dcr of the drivers is 5.3 ohms, and the lowest impedance point in the operating range is approx 6 ohm. Frequency range is 20 - 200 Hz. I rarely go above 1W input as the efficiency is very high.
I see two possibilities
1. Parallell two and two woofers, 3 ohms impedance, drive them with four UcD
2. Parallell four and four woofers, 1.5 ohms impedance, drive them with two Ncore
Any thoughts on this ?
Regardless the case design that will be chosen the problem of the connectors type/number/make will not be easily solved.
Maybe it would be wiser to be a separate removable aluminum surface on the back in order to be able to give two choices:
1) with no pre-drilled holes, the DIYer arranges and drills on his own whatever suits him
2) pre-drilled with a specific arrangement of pre-set connectors that fit the needs of the majority
This way the manufacturer's overhead will be minimum (just the option of less drilling on one surface),
and even the more peculiar needs may be fulfilled.
Maybe it would be wiser to be a separate removable aluminum surface on the back in order to be able to give two choices:
1) with no pre-drilled holes, the DIYer arranges and drills on his own whatever suits him
2) pre-drilled with a specific arrangement of pre-set connectors that fit the needs of the majority
This way the manufacturer's overhead will be minimum (just the option of less drilling on one surface),
and even the more peculiar needs may be fulfilled.
OK, answering my own question - it appears it really doesn't make much difference, as the resistance of the cable itself will be significantly higher for any realistic length of cable.
Still leaves the issue of finding multipole twisted pair cable with high enough current rating / low enough resistance.
Another issue is that combining the independent speaker cables of a multi-amped speaker into one speakon doesn't allow for soloing a single channel.
I'm aware that anything which is de rigueur in professional circles is automatically frowned upon by audiophiles. If pros use it, it can't be good, that kind of thing
Because of this I would prefer not to get drawn into an argument about connectors, which is why I proposed to have a speakon in addition to whatever wonderfully audiophile might be the other option.
Neutrik guarantees a contact resistance of less than 2 milliohms after 5000 mate/unmate cycles. Other connection systems have no guaranteed contact resistance whatsoever, since there is no standardisation and everyone just connects with anyone else's products. Realistically you can expect worse (and unreliable) results with banana and better (but not necessarily reliable) results with fork lugs.
@StigErik,
Both of your options are sensible. Number 2 will have lower distortion of course.
Because of this I would prefer not to get drawn into an argument about connectors, which is why I proposed to have a speakon in addition to whatever wonderfully audiophile might be the other option.
Neutrik guarantees a contact resistance of less than 2 milliohms after 5000 mate/unmate cycles. Other connection systems have no guaranteed contact resistance whatsoever, since there is no standardisation and everyone just connects with anyone else's products. Realistically you can expect worse (and unreliable) results with banana and better (but not necessarily reliable) results with fork lugs.
@StigErik,
Both of your options are sensible. Number 2 will have lower distortion of course.
Last edited:
If you add an explicit piece of insulating material underneath the SMPS600 you can use 5mm spacers instead of the 10mm ones that it ships with.
I'm aware that anything which is de rigueur in professional circles is automatically frowned upon by audiophiles. If pros use it, it can't be good, that kind of thing
Absolutely - and I am totally in your camp on this one - I hate RCA plugs, and go for XLRs whenever possible, and have worked with a fair bit of pro equipment in my days.
I would love to use speakons, but my main concern is finding multi-core, low-resistance, high-current round cables. And for my specific application, it would be nice to be able to easily solo the individual channels. I guess I could go for 6 separate 2-pole speakons per speaker box...
- Status
- Not open for further replies.