[Patzig]

I don't post here much so I guess that makes me a "lurker". I do alot of reading/following/learning through this forum, so I wanted to give a special thanks to the following guys who have supplied the DIY community with a magnitude of information and helped guide me personally: LTD02, lilmike, tuxedocivic, notnyt, BassThatHz, Erich H, diy speaker guy, Mfusick and of course many more. You guys make this hobby alot of fun and accessible without asking for anything in return. Thanks

Well, about a year ago, I started looking into purchasing new amps for my home theater speakers. I've been using an Onkyo TX-NR818. Great receiver, but not quite enough power to get 7 speakers to references levels cleanly. In the past year, I've rotated in and out the following speakers: Curt's Sealed AviaTrix, Dayton Audio RS722, Clearwave Dynamic 4T SE and DIYSG Fusion Pure 10's. All great speakers, but the Pure 10's were real eye openers, especially for getting to movie reference levels with little to no distortion. So the current plan is to run 3 x DIYSG 1899(will be purchasing the kits once they're available) up front for LCR, and 4 x Pure 10's for surrounds.

At first I was settled on running iNuke6000DSP's for the mains and surrounds, but turns out they aren't so great for full range. Then I was going to buy Sanway LG clones, but they might not produce the best noise floor, especially on CD's/Waveguides. I eventually landed on Hypex amps. The new ncore amps would have been nice to try, but they were out of my price range. I started looking into the UcD amps and consistently found great reviews. Class D, efficient, clean, low noise floor and plenty of power on tap for 99dB sensitive speakers. Soooo I decided to put an amp together using 7 x Hypex's UcD400HG amps and 2 x SMPS1200 power supplies. This is my first attempt at building an amp, but with the Hypex boards, it should be pretty straight forward and "plug n play". Lucky for me, dad is an EE, so I'll have him look things over before I fire this thing up.

If anyone has any experience with these amps/power supplies or helpful tips in general, I'd be grateful to hear them. Through the build, hopefully this thread can put some good info out there on the interwebs too.

EDIT 8-11-15: Amp is complete. Final pics posted in post 2.

 

[Patzig]

BOM and final pics

 

[Patzig]

Got some of the back panel done today. I considered getting a CNC shop to drill my holes, but it would have added to the total cost, and I enjoy doing it by hand anyway. I printed out some simple grid lines and used a punch to mark my holes. I used a 15/16" paddle bit (definitely not the right bit for drilling aluminum, but it got the job done) for the XLR connectors. The paddle bit traveled a little bit, but there's enough slack that I can still get the XLR connectors pretty square and straight. The 1/4" drilling for the binding posts all tracked really well.

 

[More is Better]

I don't have enough knowledge about what you're doing to be able to add anything useful, but good luck and I'm interested to see how it turns out.

 

[gpmbc]

Forum member hypez604 has built some of the hypex amps. Maybe he could help if you get stuck. You're gonna have an awesome set up. I am looking forward to impressions of the 1899s.

 

[yelnatsch517]

From what I read, Hypex modules run quite hot. You sure you'll be okay without larger fans in such a small case?

Anyway, we need more builds like these on AVS. I look forward to your build!

 

[LTD02]

cool project...and props for documenting it.

 

[More is Better]

Patzig, is there any chance that you would be willing to send this amp to @notnyt to get it tested and benchmarked after you are done building it? Also, you will know exactly how much power you are getting out of it, and detailed distortion information.

Here is the amp testing thread, If you haven't read it already:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/1780914-measuring-amplifiers.html

 

[JackNC]

It looks like a lot of work but from the specs I've read it should be worth it, if for no other reason than the lack of fan noise. It makes good sense to use high efficiency speakers so these modules have all the power you will ever need, except for subs.

The secret to success on any project but especially one with complex wiring is to wire it right the first time - because mistakes can be expensive and debugging a wiring mistake can be difficult. There is a reason the first power on of an electronic prototype is called a smoke test.

Back in the day when I was a young EE wiring up boards with tens of digital ICs, I would draw a schematic diagram and then highlight each wire on the schematic as I put it in place. (Does anyone else remember wire wrapping?)

The schematic is a symbolic picture of what your are building. Ideally you would also have a mechanical drawing that shows the physical connections. Then, when wiring, highlight each connection on both schematic and mechanical drawing as you put it in place. Watch polarity and be sure you count pin numbers on the connectors correctly.

Here, I would build and test as I went. Wire up a power supply and verify that it works. Wire up an amp and verify that it works. Wire up the rest of the amp modules the same way.

I don't need to tell you this. You've got an EE father for that. (ask him about single point grounding)

Yeah, aluminum is a paint to work with. Steel is worse. Your panel looks great and that may be the hardest part so I'm sure it will come out well.

 

[Nate Hansen]

Cool project! I have a 4 channel uCd180hg amp I buiit which I modded to lower the gain and I love it. My only concern is keeping the modules cool. I'm not seeing any vents on your chasssis, but it looks like you have heatsinks? Do you have a drawing of how you're going to lay everything out? The chassis I used is well vented top and bottom, and I mounted the modules on end to 1/4" think pieces of aluminum for a heatsink. It's been in use for over a year now with zero problems. I had a few issues when I was putting it together but fortunately I didn't damage anything.

Maybe AVS needs a DIY Electronics section?

 

[Nate Hansen]

Oh yeah, make sure you check out the white paper on proper grounding on the Hypex website.

 

[Patzig]

I don't have enough knowledge about what you're doing to be able to add anything useful, but good luck and I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Thanks More. I've been following your sub build for a while, cool stuff.

Forum member hypez604 has built some of the hypex amps. Maybe he could help if you get stuck. You're gonna have an awesome set up. I am looking forward to impressions of the 1899s.

Cool thanks. Yeah, I might do a build thread for the 1899 too. I've been bugging Erich for a while on when I can get my hands on the kits lol. I'm pretty excited to build those.

From what I read, Hypex modules run quite hot. You sure you'll be okay without larger fans in such a small case?

Man, this is why I posted. From what I read, the UcD boards run pretty cool unless you really push them. Now you've got me worried lol. I can't imagine that the boards will ever see more than 200 watts each, even on peaks. So I hoped I wouldn't have too much trouble with heat. I've also seen several builds where most guys run passive cooling, heatsinks only. The 2U case is definitely going to be a squeeze, but I'll be able to run plenty of air through there if I need to.

cool project...and props for documenting it.

Thanks LTD. Yeah, documenting is the toughest part for sure. But there's nothing more cool than opening up pictures and notes a few years down the road and reminiscing a fun build.

Patzig, is there any chance that you would be willing to send this amp to @notnyt to get it tested and benchmarked after you are done building it? Also, you will know exactly how much power you are getting out of it, and detailed distortion information.

I did consider this, but I didn't know if the general community would care too much about seeing results on these DIY amp boards and power supplies. It would be cool to put them to the test though, I'd be down to send the amp to notnyt.

Here, I would build and test as I went. Wire up a power supply and verify that it works. Wire up an amp and verify that it works. Wire up the rest of the amp modules the same way.

Good advice. I do plan giving each amp a mini test, to make sure they're all good to go and that I've got my wiring correct.

Cool project! I have a 4 channel uCd180hg amp I buiit which I modded to lower the gain and I love it. My only concern is keeping the modules cool. I'm not seeing any vents on your chasssis, but it looks like you have heatsinks? Do you have a drawing of how you're going to lay everything out?

Thanks Nate. I don't remember where, but I read a few of your posts a while back. I almost PM'ed you about modding the boards to lower the gain. It'll be a long time before I have all of the DIYSG speakers built, but I likely will want to play with the gain on the boards eventually, in order to get the noise floor as low as possible.

Yeah so, there are currently no vents in the chassis. I will have to drill my own holes for the 80mm fans. The current plan was to mount as many as 4 fans on the front panel (the only other item that will be placed on the front panel is the power switch), and then possibly drill several 1/4" holes, creating "arrays", in the back panel. I'll be able to push or pull air from front to back or vice versa. The coolest thing about this case is all the panels and sides separate very easily. I can get new front/back panels from Mouser for only $13, if I screw anything up, or if the air flow doesn't work out like I thought it would. Pretty easy to swap stuff out.

I didn't do a drawing, but I've laid all the components out within the case. It'll all fit pretty easily, but I know it'll get crowded once I get all of the wiring in there. The amp boards will be on 1/2" standoffs, so I can even run cabling underneath them if need be.

Oh yeah, make sure you check out the white paper on proper grounding on the Hypex website.

Thanks, I'm going to read through that document tomorrow. I may be wrong here, but if I understand correctly, I do NOT want to bring ground in from the wall, AC hot and cold only. As for the amp boards, I was planning on just following the wiring diagrams as depicted in the included Hypex documentation. I hadn't considered needing to ground anything to the chassis.

 

[michaelddd]

These are my favorite types of threads!!! Detailed build thread with lots of solid text describing the build, the process, reasons behind each decision. Big props for documenting and sharing with the community. I know...it takes time and it's a PITA to remember to snap a pic after every step.

You are going to have one heck of a 7-channel awesome amp when this is done. Good luck!

 

[Nate Hansen]

The way I wired mine (and I believe this is correct) is AC ground to chassis, the smps has it's own chassis ground, and pin 1 of the XLR goes to the chassis. In my case I took pin 1 right from the xlr to one of the screws that fasten the connector to the chassis for each xlr. No issues.

The one mistake I made, and it was painfully obvious once I saw it, was that I wired the signal sense wire to each output. This had the effect of tying output pairs together. It's a wonder it didn't go up in smoke!

The gain mod is simple on paper, but pretty nerve racking in practice. I googled how to remove SMD and went to work with a magnifying glass that I mounted on a set up helping hands I use when I'm building cables.

 

[cookieattk]

heres a amp i built A long time ago as for the wiring this is absolutely not what u want it to look like

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7775/img9063pl.jpg

 

[gpmbc]

heres a amp i built A long time ago as for the wiring this is absolutely not what u want it to look like

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7775/img9063pl.jpg

Man that looks like it took awhile.

 

[More is Better]

Thanks More. I've been following your sub build for a while, cool stuff.

Man, this is why I posted. From what I read, the UcD boards run pretty cool unless you really push them. Now you've got me worried lol. I can't imagine that the boards will ever see more than 200 watts each, even on peaks. So I hoped I wouldn't have too much trouble with heat. I've also seen several builds where most guys run passive cooling, heatsinks only. The 2U case is definitely going to be a squeeze, but I'll be able to run plenty of air through there if I need to.

Thanks, glad I could give you some interesting/entertaining reading.

Just a couple general thoughts:

As you can tell from the spleen thread, I like bulletproof overkill. I would design the cooling to be able to handle running continuous 400W sine waves on all 7 channels without overheating so you never have a worry about something running hot . In reality you will end up running way cooler than specs all the time. You ARE putting this together yourself, you can build it however you want. Spend a little extra $ on aluminum plate, heatsinks, noctua fans...Whatever the right solution to meet your goals is.

And a specific one:
Check out arctic silver paste to put under any heatsinks you use. I have used it for computer heatsinks for over a decade. It works great and holds up for years, probably decades. You want the thinnest solid layer that you can get. I use a razor blade to spread it nearly paper thin with no air bubbles, you only want enough to fill in the surface imperfections. Sanding the bottom of the heatsink surface to a nearly mirror finish helps with heat transfer too. I do this for special projects, max overclocked builds and my personal computers, and go up to 2000 grit sandpaper using a piece of glass to lay the paper on and swirl the heatsink on it. As much pressure between the heatsink and the heat generating part as possible helps a lot with heat transfer too. Not sure if any of this will apply to your build, but I'm sure someone will find it useful.

Are you wanting to run a passive cooling system?
Does fan noise matter in your install?

 

[cookieattk]

Thanks, glad I could give you some interesting/entertaining reading.

Just a couple general thoughts:

As you can tell from the spleen thread, I like bulletproof overkill. I would design the cooling to be able to handle running continuous 400W sine waves on all 7 channels without overheating so you never have a worry about something running hot . In reality you will end up running way cooler than specs all the time. You ARE putting this together yourself, you can build it however you want. Spend a little extra $ on aluminum plate, heatsinks, noctua fans...Whatever the right solution to meet your goals is.

And a specific one:
Check out arctic silver paste to put under any heatsinks you use. I have used it for computer heatsinks for over a decade. It works great and holds up for years, probably decades. You want the thinnest solid layer that you can get. I use a razor blade to spread it nearly paper thin with no air bubbles, you only want enough to fill in the surface imperfections. Sanding the bottom of the heatsink surface to a nearly mirror finish helps with heat transfer too. I do this for special projects, max overclocked builds and my personal computers, and go up to 2000 grit sandpaper using a piece of glass to lay the paper on and swirl the heatsink on it. As much pressure between the heatsink and the heat generating part as possible helps a lot with heat transfer too. Not sure if any of this will apply to your build, but I'm sure someone will find it useful.

Are you wanting to run a passive cooling system?
Does fan noise matter in your install?

u should use anything conductive in a amp.

 

[More is Better]

u should use anything conductive in a amp.

I thought you shouldn't use conductive stuff near exposed high voltage electric leads.

Since I just wrote the last post from memory, sometimes you find something that works so good you don't need to remember the specifics:

Made With 99.9% Pure Silver:
Arctic Silver 5 uses three unique shapes and sizes of pure silver particles to maximize particle-to-particle contact area and thermal transfer.

High-Density:
Arctic Silver 5 contains over 88% thermally conductive filler by weight. In addition to micronized silver, Arctic Silver 5 also contains sub-micron zinc oxide, aluminum oxide and boron nitride particles. These thermally-enhanced ceramic particles improve the compound's performance and long-term stability

Controlled Triple-Phase Viscosity:
Arctic Silver 5 does not contain any silicone. The suspension fluid is a proprietary mixture of advanced polysynthetic oils that work together to provide three distinctive functional phases. As it comes from the syringe, Arctic Silver 5's consistency is engineered for easy application. During the CPU's initial use, the compound thins out to enhance the filling of the microscopic valleys and ensure the best physical contact between the heatsink and the CPU core. Then the compound thickens slightly over the next 50 to 200 hours of use to its final consistency designed for long-term stability. (This should not be confused with conventional phase change pads that are pre-attached to many heatsinks. Those pads melt each time they get hot then re-solidify when they cool. The viscosity changes that Arctic Silver 5 goes through are much more subtle and ultimately much more effective.)

Not Electrically Conductive:
Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity.
(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)

Absolute Stability:
Arctic Silver 5 will not separate, run, migrate, or bleed.

Compliancy: RoHS Compliant.


Specifications:

Average Particle Size:

 

[cookieattk]

yeah i typed that in a rush ment to say should not use anything conductive and i wouldnt take anything apart in a hypex module will void warranty