After much consideration, I have decided to use the Hypex Nilai platform for my new Class D amp. I was wondering if it’s possible to bypass the internal input buffer or if this is even a good Idea. I believe that they use a type of differential circuit, I probably don't want to mess with this. I will be using a Silver Rock passive TVC preamp and will most likely need more than the 29dB of gain that is offered on the board.
My idea is to use a tube (or discrete op-amp) buffer and gain which will allow for over 30dB of total gain. Is this a good approach? having 2 buffers does not seem to be the simplest solution but bypassing the internal buffer may not be possible or recommended. Any ideas?
Thank you, community!
G
My idea is to use a tube (or discrete op-amp) buffer and gain which will allow for over 30dB of total gain. Is this a good approach? having 2 buffers does not seem to be the simplest solution but bypassing the internal buffer may not be possible or recommended. Any ideas?
Thank you, community!
G
I have had my Nilai DIY500 Monoblocks for about a year now. These are very nice amps for DIY and are rated very highly. I have read many posts on the net about input buffer stage changes in other Class D amps. I ran my Nilai stock for a couple of months to get a good idea of what I liked and didn't. First off, no amp is perfect. There are trade offs but you can customize it to your liking.
After the 2 months, I changed out the Speaker Binding post for way better quality. This by itself raise the SQ. I then changed my Interconnects to better connectors and wire, another improvement in SQ. So those 2 changes made a big difference. My next two moves will be the XLR input connector and AC Input Power switch/IEC connector. After that I should be fine.
Another big improvement is what Preamp you are using, I first ran my Transcendent Sound MasterPiece 300B tube preamp with these Nilai when it was in stock form and was really nice sounding. I developed some issues with the TS Masterpiece so I purchased a 6010D "cLone" preamp to hold me over. This simple change made the Nilai Sound different from the TS Masterpiece, cant say if better just different and I still liked what I was hearing.
I then upgraded all the IC's and all the filter in the 6010D preamp to better/higher quality. This really improved the 6010D preamp SQ along with how now the amps worked with the preamp.
So here is where I stopped. If my TS Masterpiece wouldn't have developed an issue, I would have just most likely stopped at those first 2 changes on Nilai and called it a day. But the 6010D mods opened my eyes up to how good a IC driven Preamp can sound with good components in the circuits.
One thing to remember and I also confirmed this when I was going through mods and preamp changes, the Nilai will pass what is put into it, better input source, better output. I hear all the differences in source inputs from Turntable, CD, Streaming, and Tuner. All sound good to very good and can sound bad also depending on the recording and quality of the source.
If I may suggest is IF you decide to get the Nilai, listen to it for a month or two stock form before doing any changes. You may like it in stock condition. The Input buffer that's in the Nilai is pretty good already and I think you may be surprised with a simple preamp and or connector changes if you want to try that. I'm picky so that's why I did the minor change of the Nilai. I wouldn't recommend messing with the Buffer as I too was wondering after seeing much covered on different or Changing input Buffers.
Hope this helps! Enjoy!
After the 2 months, I changed out the Speaker Binding post for way better quality. This by itself raise the SQ. I then changed my Interconnects to better connectors and wire, another improvement in SQ. So those 2 changes made a big difference. My next two moves will be the XLR input connector and AC Input Power switch/IEC connector. After that I should be fine.
Another big improvement is what Preamp you are using, I first ran my Transcendent Sound MasterPiece 300B tube preamp with these Nilai when it was in stock form and was really nice sounding. I developed some issues with the TS Masterpiece so I purchased a 6010D "cLone" preamp to hold me over. This simple change made the Nilai Sound different from the TS Masterpiece, cant say if better just different and I still liked what I was hearing.
I then upgraded all the IC's and all the filter in the 6010D preamp to better/higher quality. This really improved the 6010D preamp SQ along with how now the amps worked with the preamp.
So here is where I stopped. If my TS Masterpiece wouldn't have developed an issue, I would have just most likely stopped at those first 2 changes on Nilai and called it a day. But the 6010D mods opened my eyes up to how good a IC driven Preamp can sound with good components in the circuits.
One thing to remember and I also confirmed this when I was going through mods and preamp changes, the Nilai will pass what is put into it, better input source, better output. I hear all the differences in source inputs from Turntable, CD, Streaming, and Tuner. All sound good to very good and can sound bad also depending on the recording and quality of the source.
If I may suggest is IF you decide to get the Nilai, listen to it for a month or two stock form before doing any changes. You may like it in stock condition. The Input buffer that's in the Nilai is pretty good already and I think you may be surprised with a simple preamp and or connector changes if you want to try that. I'm picky so that's why I did the minor change of the Nilai. I wouldn't recommend messing with the Buffer as I too was wondering after seeing much covered on different or Changing input Buffers.
Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your input ( pun intended). I will be using a silver rock, silver wound passive transformer Volume control (TVC) I'm sure that many have their opinions about TVCs but in 30 years of audio , this preamp was the most significant upgrade I ( and a friend who also got one) have ever made , the entire quality of the musical presentation was changed in a delightful way, still blows me away. I can give details if anyone is interested. With that said, 29 DB of gain that the amp allows may not be enough to drive the amp, we will see. A good friend designs amazing tube amps he is willing to do a gain stage / buffer for me, so we will see how things turn out . I think I'm going with the Apollon version which is a dual mono stereo amp, build quality looks really nice .
Thank again for sharing your experience with this amp.
G.
Thank again for sharing your experience with this amp.
G.