hypex ncore

[mr_push_pull]

Bruno, this may hurry you up with releasing the NC: until I get my hands on it I'm forced to use my DIY Pass F4 amplifier (no voltage gain and no feedback!). I can post pictures to prove the torture my speakers are forced to endure. I need to lower distortion at least 100000 times, please don't let this abomination go on for too long...

now on a more serious note (although all the above is true), I'm really planning to build a no-compromise but cost-conscious amplifier based on the NC. although this may have been discussed before, which setup would you recommend for best results? dual PS? linear or switching? (I'm talking about the Hypex SMPS, of course)

[judderod]

Originally Posted by Bruno Putzeys

I think the above should make it clear that people who need more than 25W are not doing anything wrong. The only reason why you can say that more than a few 100W is overdoing it, is because at such levels the occasional clipping event isn't going to spoil the fun.

I'm glad Bruno set the record straight. I own 7W, 50W, 100W and 200W amps. The 7W amps sound better than all of them (no prizes for guessing what they are). However 1-2% of the time I listen to them, they are not powerful enough. Classical, especially organ music, cannot be reproduced anywhere near properly by 7W in my opinion, even at low levels.

Dare I say it, in a home theatre system, movies require a LOT more power. Although I realise most people here probably won't use their amps for home cinema; it's still nice to have an amp that can, rather than one that can't, assuming there are no other compromises.

AFAIK producing a 1Khz sine wave (for RMS WPC testing purposes) is a lot easier for an amp than reproducing an explosion, at the same time as speech, at the same time as a soundtrack.

[Bruno Putzeys]

@mrpp, ROFLMAO. I see my efforts to hide my opinions have failed miserably
We're making an SMPS specially for the NC400 but it'll work more that competently on an ordinary SMPS400.

[Julf]

I am definitely a latecomer to this discussion (and the whole board), but just spent some time reading up on this whole thread. I am planning to convert my Linn Isobariks from the original "Domestic Monitor System" configuration to active. The "Professional" version from Linn had the wires from the speaker pairs (2 KEF 139B's in Isobaric configuration, 2 KEF 110's as mids and 2 ScanSpeak/Hiquphon tweeters per box) brought out separately, with the filter network placed externally under the box, so that it was possible to use a separate active filter box with a second order 200 Hz filter between bass and middle, 2700 Hz fourth order between mid and high, and a special bass compensation/boost in the 20-50 Hz region driving 3 Naim NAP200/250's.

What I want is to make a modern version of the active version, using the Hypex DLCP feeding 4 channels of amplification per speaker - one each for the two woofers, and one each for the mid and tweeter. Until now my plan was to use 2 UcD400HGs driving the bass elements, an additional UcD400HG driving the 2 KEF 110 mids, and either a UcD400HG or a UcD180HG driving the 2 dome tweeters.

Now, with the Ncore on the horizon (and pretty much in the same time frame as the DLCP) I am of course tempted to use the NC instead - probably won't make much of a difference for the woofers, but considering how hard the B139's are to drive, the current drive capability of the NC might be useful. But is a dedicated NC driving the tweeters too much of an overkill?

Cheers,

Julf

[fb]

Originally Posted by Bruno Putzeys

The main issue with "frugal Ncore"

.....

I think the above should make it clear that people who need more than 25W are not doing anything wrong. The only reason why you can say that more than a few 100W is overdoing it, is because at such levels the occasional clipping event isn't going to spoil the fun.

Bruno,

Would you feel comfortable using the NC400 to power a compression driver in the home? Even with proper attenuation prior to the amp I'd be concerned about blowing up my ears (or the drivers) if the amp malfunctioned (or popped at on/off).

Thanks

[RockLeeEV]

Will there be any chance of Canadian (or North American) redistrubution of NC400 modules? It's always seemed really convoluted to me to order from Europe, but I'd love to give it a go.

[Jan-Peter]

Originally Posted by RockLeeEV

Will there be any chance of Canadian (or North American) redistrubution of NC400 modules? It's always seemed really convoluted to me to order from Europe, but I'd love to give it a go.

As this is our best technology level we have now we will only sell the NCORE(R) modules direct. We are selling our products world wide direct from our webshop (easy to find), we have many customers in North America who buys direct.

Jan-Peter

[thune]

Which "VARs" will show ncore based amps at RMAF this upcoming weekend, if any?

[Bruno Putzeys]

None for the moment, they're all still in the design stage.

[Bruno Putzeys]

@julf The improvement that is most immediately obvious when changing to Ncore is precisely the highs. My guess would be that if I could change only one amp in an active system it'd be the tweeter amp.
@fb We don't see too many popping amps, so I shouldn't worry. In the rare case it does there's the DC fault protection to limit the damage. Note your PSU must have some means of shutting down in response to the fault signal. I'm not entirely sure if it's fast enough to protect a HF driver because it shouldn't trigger falsely on bass heavy material. As for your ears, the noise made by a blown amp is a single step function which doesn't make a lot of noise. Your ears are quite safe.