[GizzeGutten]

Got to give it to you. Hands down super impressed by your excellent board layout and attention to detail.

Looking forward to your listening impressions. Going to be getting two channels of NC400 myself in the not so distant future. Maybe the Euro will tank further due to Greece's troubled economy, let's hope so, haha. JK, haha.

 

[JohnDean]

Got to give it to you. Hands down super impressed by your excellent board layout and attention to detail.

Looking forward to your listening impressions. Going to be getting two channels of NC400 myself in the not so distant future. Maybe the Euro will tank further due to Greece's troubled economy, let's hope so, haha. JK, haha.

No kidding. That's kinda why I've been waiting to buy my boards.

Lookin forward to the wiring. Super clean work so far.

 

[Patzig]

Got to give it to you. Hands down super impressed by your excellent board layout and attention to detail.

Looking forward to your listening impressions. Going to be getting two channels of NC400 myself in the not so distant future. Maybe the Euro will tank further due to Greece's troubled economy, let's hope so, haha. JK, haha.

Thanks for the kind words Gizze.

No kidding. That's kinda why I've been waiting to buy my boards.

Lookin forward to the wiring. Super clean work so far.

Thanks John.

 

[JackNC]

I like what I see. I tempted but still resisting.
Friendly question: what makes you think that the power supplies, unlike the amp modules, don't need heatsinks?

 

[cookieattk]

I like what I see. I tempted but still resisting.
Friendly question: what makes you think that the power supplies, unlike the amp modules, don't need heatsinks?

they dont the amps them selfs didnt really need it either

 

[JackNC]

You are probably correct. My point was if one needs a heatsink then so does the other. Heat sinks aren't absolutely necessary but the better you cool any heat generating electronic device, the longer it will last.

 

[Patzig]

I like what I see. I tempted but still resisting.
Friendly question: what makes you think that the power supplies, unlike the amp modules, don't need heatsinks?

The SMPS documentation states that they do not need additional cooling (other than the stock aluminum plate it's installed on I assume). With the PS's mounted to the side panel like that, they'll still get plenty of active cooling, much more than needed. From what Hypex says and what I've heard from other DIY projects, the power supplies barely even get warm when pushed hard. The amps on the other hand can put off quite a bit of heat if pushed hard. Most guys will mount the amps on large heatsinks and rely on passive cooling, and vents below/above the heatsinks. I know my active cooling will be much more effective than those guys who run passive cooling, and I've never heard of any of them overheating or blowing something up, so I assume I'm ok.

EDIT: I keep referring to these "other DIY projects". I'm talking about builds over at the diyaudio forums. Lots of good info over there.

 

[JackNC]

Yeah, I just read the same paragraphs in the specs.

I see both the 1200W power supply and the 400W amp modules are typically 92% efficient at full load. I note with some amusement that the same spec that says you don't need a heat sink also says the maximum permissible heatsink temperature is 95 degreesC. If no heatsink means that you will actually see this high a temperature, than I would add one for reliability's sake. I think with all the fans you have and the crest factor of music, that is highly unlikely.

 

[JackNC]

I was just thinking that a couple of busbars running down the row between the amp modules would really clean up the power supply wiring

http://www.lfsmarineoutdoor.com/blue-sea-5-x-8-32-common-100a-mini-busbar-p-n-2314.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwn86sBRDroPiR0LrSzNYBEiQAzOaSYIabpWl9jBAn4MsrAJ0sllEMIRUyb1Z-W69Qxrua64waAmWI8P8HAQ

 

[Patzig]

I see both the 1200W power supply and the 400W amp modules are typically 92% efficient at full load. I note with some amusement that the same spec that says you don't need a heat sink also says the maximum permissible heatsink temperature is 95 degreesC. If no heatsink means that you will actually see this high a temperature, than I would add one for reliability's sake. I think with all the fans you have and the crest factor of music, that is highly unlikely.

Yeah cool, I think I'll be alright. I've got a cheapo infrared thermometer I'll use to see how hot things get once the amp is done.

I was just thinking that a couple of busbars running down the row between the amp modules would really clean up the power supply wiring

http://www.lfsmarineoutdoor.com/blue-sea-5-x-8-32-common-100a-mini-busbar-p-n-2314.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwn86sBRDroPiR0LrSzNYBEiQAzOaSYIabpWl9jBAn4MsrAJ0sllEMIRUyb1Z-W69Qxrua64waAmWI8P8HAQ

Looks clean. I've got those PE cable clamps I'll try to use for most of the cable management. For the power lines coming off the SMPS's, if I can't find a clean way to get 3/4 wires soldered at the connector, this busbar could be a good solution.

 

[steste1122]

I was just wondering, what does the HxR mod add/improve over the standard model. I am considering 7x ucd180's and would prefer to go the less expensive route.

 

[JackNC]

Hypex claims sound quality is better with them but don't tell you how much. It makes sense to me that they would. The regulators clean up the supply for the input stage and a cleaner supply means a cleaner output.
You could buy one to two with and the rest without. Compare and add the rest of the regulators later if you thought it was worth it.

 

[rhodesj]

Use the more expensive ones for LCR, and cheaper for surrounds?

 

[Patzig]

Got a little bit more done.

Wiring: Got the PS wiring, switch and fans wiring complete. I tore down one of the aux cables from Hypex so that I could solder up wires for the fans. Each PS has aux +/- 12v regulated. Works great for the fans.

I'm not a huge fan of crimps, so I removed the plastic housing and soldered directly to them. Then heatshrink on top, to fully cover/protect any exposed metal.

Wiring Routing: I installed 3 x 1/2" aluminum angle pieces, running front to back up top. This is going to help alot in cable management and keeping signal away from power.

Bottom Panel: When I would pick up the amp, the bottom panel would sag a bit from the weight of the components so I installed 1 x 1/2" aluminum angle piece near the middle. Little bit more rigid now.

Getting close...

 

[michaelddd]

Looking great! Your attention to detail will pay off in the end. But you know this already and that's why you're scrutinizing all the details. Keep up the great work.

 

[Patzig]

Looking great! Your attention to detail will pay off in the end. But you know this already and that's why you're scrutinizing all the details. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Michael. Yeah, it's taken me much longer than I thought it would, but I'm enjoying the build.

 

[Girmic]

Any build updates?

 

[Patzig]

Sorry, been busy lately. Trying to finish up grad school, only 2 more weeks!!!

I did get the amp finished up. Here's a few pics from the final wiring.

 

[Patzig]

And the final pics. Fans came out purple on the SLR, but they're still blue . I couldn't get the wiring as clean as I had hoped, but I'm pretty happy with it.

That's a Focusrite 18i20 in the picture. It's going to be my "AVR replacement". 99% of my content comes from my HTPC, so I see no need in using an AVR anymore, especially now that I have the amp. Plus there's tons of great tools (JRiver, Dirac) that can be used on the PC for EQ, room correction, etc.

Gain Mod: So with the amps unmodified and no input plugged into them (no signal), I did get more hiss/noise floor than I had hoped from the CD/Waveguide on my Pure 10's. One of the main reasons I went with these Hypex amps was because there was a documented method to lower the gain (and potentially the noise floor as well), so I went ahead and removed the r3 resistor on one of the boards to compare. I found that removing the r3 resistor lowered the noise floor quite a bit, whether I had no input signal or the 18i20 connected and turned on. I meant to take some measurements with my umik-1, to visually show how much less hiss was produced between a modded and unmodded board, but of course I forgot. I also found that with the gain reduction, I still has PLENTY of headroom with the voltage coming out of the 18i20. So I went ahead and modded all boards. Going from HTPC -> Focusrite -> Hypex amp, in a very quite room (projector turned off, and no appliances running in the house...pretty dang quite) I had to be within 3 feet of the Pure 10's to hear any hiss. I tried really hard to identify hiss from my listening position (7-8 feet) but I was unable to. Sooo I'm very pleased in this regard. The gain mod was the correct move for my purposes.

Performance: I know there's guys wanting to know how the amp ended up sounding, but I think it's nearly 100% subjective, as is most audio related items. I just spent $2k and like 50-60 man hours building this thing, I'm pretty sure my brain wants this thing to sound amazing lol. So as unbiased as I can be, I think it sounds great. As mentioned above, I was able to get the noise floor down well into my acceptable range. As for power, I seriously doubt I have or will ever be able to pull 400 watts out of any of the boards, especially with any of the DIYSG speakers. So on the Pure 10's, Parts Express RS722 and Clearwave 4TSE speakers, it sounds great. Great lows, punchy mids, crisp highs, all the good words I guess. It just sounds very neutral and "reference" to me, which it should.

Final thoughts: There's alot more I wanted to post, and I've got alot more notes/helpful tips for anyone else thinking about building an amp with Hypex components. If anybody had questions, I'd be happy to answer them the best I could. Anyway, I think that's it. Although it took much longer than I thought it would, it might be one of my favorite DIY projects yet. Hopefully we'll see the 1899 in stock soon, then I can really test the amp .

 

[HFGuy]

Turned out great, minus those LEDs Whats the cause of the poor noise floor ?