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View Full Version : Hypex, new class D and others.



Puffin
06-06-2009, 09:05
We all have to learn somewhere. Have a go at building a Gainclone. Brilliant sound for very little money. My new avatar is a TDA 2030 chip amp, designed primarily for headphone use. The boards are a fiver from RS and the chips a couple of quid from Maplin,plus some resistors and a couple of 0.1 Wima caps. All the values reqiuired are printed on the board. You would have to build a dual rail PS for it (18-0-18). Worth doing as a starter project. Then you can progress to a point to point construction (i.e no printed PCB). These boards made a very good sounding 15w per channel amp, positively muscle powered compared with ClassD!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i239/saxonsex/HPhone003.jpg

It uses the Panasonic pot you sent me

:lol:

leo
06-06-2009, 10:09
If you like the Gainclone based amps, hardwiring one using a LM3875 would make a nice cheap project, a little harder without a pcb but should be a learning experience and doesn't need too many components.
They are hard to beat for the price , I built one for a second small system

Covenant
06-06-2009, 14:39
The trouble is I have been reading a bit about Hypex amps and how good they sound. Many people think they are as good as a top notch valve amp.
Have a look at the Hypex website http://www.hypex.nl/. Everything is pre-built so you just need the amp, transformer, soft start, switch and your away.

They do seem a bit expensive but the end result would be a pair of mono-blocks worth 2-3 times the face value. I was going to wait for the pound to improve against the euro anyway.

Clive
06-06-2009, 14:48
Class D in general seems to have had some recent dissing, especially from Martin Colloms (he wrote a paper about what's technically wrong with current implementations). There seems to be a lot of scope to get things wrong although certainly many like Class D, the love affair with the expensive gear doesn't always last. Definitely YMMV.

Covenant
06-06-2009, 14:59
I did read that paper Clive or rather the presentation/summary. I felt it was written by someone who had an axe to grind and was looking for faults. For some time I have been thinking about trying valves but have decided they are not for me, well not at the moment. One reason is power consumption but another is the fact that they take time to warm up. I tend to listen to music in half to one hour bursts in the evening and cant be bothered with switching the amp on before.

Clive
06-06-2009, 15:07
Yes, it was from a presentation given at the 2008 Munich show, some info here for others:
http://www.audioxpress.com/magsdirx/ax/addenda/media/didden_munich.pdf

Valve amps can take 10 mins or so to warm up but I find that many speakers also take at least that to come on song too. As for digital kit, well it's best left on. Is your power consumption issue cost or environmental?

leo
06-06-2009, 16:40
The trouble is I have been reading a bit about Hypex amps and how good they sound. Many people think they are as good as a top notch valve amp.
Have a look at the Hypex website http://www.hypex.nl/. Everything is pre-built so you just need the amp, transformer, soft start, switch and your away.

They do seem a bit expensive but the end result would be a pair of mono-blocks worth 2-3 times the face value. I was going to wait for the pound to improve against the euro anyway.

Yep, I've tried a lot of amps including the Hypex UCD's, their actually very good, a lot of classD do stink but the UCD's sound and also measure well

I had the UCD ST version which I modified to latest spec

Replaced input op-amp to LM4562, changed the smd resistors in the critical bits to minimelf, cap upgrades, upgraded the onboard simple regulation for the input op-amp along with CRD's etc

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1293/4634025/12749957/196864997.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1293/4634025/12749957/271121423.jpg

Covenant
06-06-2009, 17:29
Yes, it was from a presentation given at the 2008 Munich show, some info here for others:
http://www.audioxpress.com/magsdirx/ax/addenda/media/didden_munich.pdf

Valve amps can take 10 mins or so to warm up but I find that many speakers also take at least that to come on song too. As for digital kit, well it's best left on. Is your power consumption issue cost or environmental?

Well my job is a commercial energy assessor so I do tend to get a guilty pang or two about carbon emissions. That and £175 a month energy bills!

Covenant
06-06-2009, 17:35
Wow Leo, you really are a circuit junkie! Would you agree that Hypex UCD are up there with a good valve amp if implemented properly?
What amp do you use now?

leo
06-06-2009, 18:54
Wow Leo, you really are a circuit junkie! Would you agree that Hypex UCD are up there with a good valve amp if implemented properly?
What amp do you use now?

I like to try as much as I can:eyebrows:

I'm not sure regarding up there with good valve amps mate, totally different topology
They are more efficient than valve amps, will tend to drive awkward loads better than valve amps but can also be considered as too clean sounding lacking colour of say valve based amps and the bright HF you get with a lot of class A/B amps
Valve amps will usually have more colour if thats what you want , they also sound louder than what their rating suggests.
So imo UCD sounds different to valve amps, the main thing is finding which matches your needs best, things like price, type of speakers, what sound your looking for etc is important
Also if diy it needs to be a project your comfortable with

BTW don't be put off by all classD from this stuff you read in mags etc.
Theres bad valve amps, classA/B and also classD designs, it don't mean all are bad;)

I currently use a range of stuff depending on mood, I'm actually wanting to try something new soon , just not sure what yet:confused:
At this moment in time I'm using a modified low powered classA solid state amp

Maybe we should start a new thread and move these last few posts over there:)

Covenant
06-06-2009, 23:29
Ok getting a bit more specific would you say that if you didn't want to go down the valve route that Hypex was the best alternative?

leo
07-06-2009, 12:38
Ok getting a bit more specific would you say that if you didn't want to go down the valve route that Hypex was the best alternative?

For a classD amp I like Hypex the best so far but there may be alternative topology amps which are better or as good for cheaper
If you got the money to burn then certainly give the Hypex a try, you have to remember the Hypex units require good quality PSU too which can cost as much or more than the actual modules

What Tripath amp you currently using?

As an example here http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=141588 I've not tried these yet but do intend on giving them a go and performing some mods, its confusing because those modules are not actually classD but the company who makes them are called Class-D:scratch:

That company is about 10 minutes away from where I live

Covenant
07-06-2009, 13:01
Bah! Just when I have a clear route in my head you go and throw a spanner in the works Leo. That amp module looks excellent value-are they single channel or dual?

(Sigh) My amp....Started life as a Trends TA101. I bought the Audiomagus tweak-kit and buggered it. Our very own Puffin fixed it by replacing the entire board and adding the Audiomagus capacitors and other bits. It sounds lovely through efficient speakers like my Vandies.

Covenant
07-06-2009, 13:10
Stick the reply under the new thread I have started Leo if you dont mind.
Mods if you want to move any of the last couple of pages thats fine.

Covenant
08-06-2009, 07:50
Leo you have duplicated this thread it needs merging.

leo
08-06-2009, 11:31
Don't ask:lol: I tried moving this from Stans thread to the Hypex,new classD and others thread but it went as post 1 so I moved it here until we get to page 2 if that makes sense, its not so bad if they go to the top of page 2, I can then transfer the other off topic on the 7520 over too

Covenant
08-06-2009, 14:08
No problem.
On another website I noticed someone who had a valve amp asking for advice about solid state gear. When asked why he said "I'm fed up with it going tits-up every year"
Are they unreliable?

leo
08-06-2009, 15:49
No problem.
On another website I noticed someone who had a valve amp asking for advice about solid state gear. When asked why he said "I'm fed up with it going tits-up every year"
Are they unreliable?

Not so much unreliable but they will require valve replacements every so often, they tend to go noisy etc , some may last a year, others may last years.
Its easy to replace the valves but it can be expensive depending on the type, also some valves are becoming harder to source too.

leo
08-06-2009, 15:57
One piece of advice I'll give you mate (others may not agree) if your wanting a amp which is going to be cheap to either buy or build and cheap to run I'd seriously give valves a miss tbh
I've nothing against valve amps, I have one myself I sometimes use and I've heard some very nice valve amps belonging to friends