Mark's Hypex NC400 Build

[klinemj]

Thanks bootman...on the supply, I just went the easy route and chose the ones that were reco'd by the maker. That said...over time...I might "play" a bit as I learn more.

Mark

[klinemj]

Update: 2nd chassis built...ready to start cutting the wood face in the next couple days. Got the glass on order - should be ready this week. And the power inlet/cord & binding posts are now on the way also.

Mark

[rclark]

oh wow, already got a thread started! It's too bad you have to wait so long. Hypex must be making these like crazy.

Did you know that when they first became available a few months ago, they were sold out completely in mere hours and people had to wait like a month or so before they could place an order?

I really believe this is a historical event in audio, this amp.

[wizardofoz]

im wondering if the slatted base (al strips) will hinder heatsinking. Angle and strap pieces does make for a flexible diy design.

[klinemj]

I thought about that, but I can assure your that anything remotely in contact with that aluminum will transfer the heat well. I can testify as to needing to wear my welding gloves when cutting it...HOT POTATO!!! I almost left ~1/4-1/2" gaps between the slats to aid cooling, but I decided against that - opting for more area of case aluminum to be in direct contact with the aluminum base of the amp itself.

There will also be bars of aluminum running across the strips with ~1/2 of the strips being connected to the bars. These will serve as standoffs to mount the units to the wall, keep the cases ~1/2" away from the wall (for airflow between wall and amp), and also stabilize the strips a little. And, there will be thermally conductive paste between the amp modules and chassis's. So, cooling should be quite adequate. The combo of angled and flat stock aluminum indeed made a flexible DIY design. The only downside is needing to drill a lot more holes and cut/deburr a lot of pieces! I have about 6-8 hours total time into the cutting, de-burring, initial polishing, drilling, and assembly for the 2 cases. Luckily, we had mild weather when I did so standing in the barn at my saw and drill press was comfortable!

And rclark...yes...too bad I will have to wait. I was worried I would have a longer wait - knowing what you said and seeing they were sold out right now and not shipping again until 9/2. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see Neils' e-mail saying they would ship "half September". On the upside, that gives me plenty of time to get the Maggies broken in & set up for my room, get an XSP-1 and get it set up, and then be ready for the final build!

Mark

[wizardofoz]

I wonder how one of the amps would fare as a sub plate replacement.

[Deleted]

Hypex makes dedicated plate amps from 120w to 800w...

-RW-

[rclark]

There are guys running Ncores as sub amps, yes. Quite an expensive sub amp though, but it must be pretty awesome.

[rclark]

One thing to keep in mind is that the new (not sure if they're available yet) UCD line is something like 80% of the Ncore technology and will be much cheaper. Those would be my choice for sub amps if I were to go passive sub/external amp route.

[klinemj]

Progress update: the aluminum structures for both cases are built, and now I am on to woodwork.

In the photo below, to the right, you see a cardboard "prototype" of what the overall size and plan view will actually be. On the left, you see a piece of poplar cut to length/width sitting on top of one of the cases. In the middle is a piece of poplar showing the edge rounded and routed (1/2" rounded cut) as it will be for the faces (This is from me testing to fine-tune my router to the right depth). FYI, the face is sized such that when the cables are plugged into the bottom, you won't see the connectors - only the wires hanging down.





I need to stop and get some new smooth-cut jigsaw blades and some sandpaper to get the basic rounded edges done well - then I will round corners and router both faces. And, my smoked glass should be ready this week also. With that, the faces will be ready to finish. Then, I'll begin working on the plate that the inputs/outputs go to!

Mark

[bootman]

Aug 21, 2012 5:20:16 GMT -5 klinemj said:

... And, there will be thermally conductive paste between the amp modules and chassis's.

Careful with thermal paste. I know you are thinking like a CPU build, but unless there is a plate under the module (I haven't seen a pic of the underside yet) that paste could prove disastrous against a circuit board.

[bootman]

I found some pics of other builds like this.
I assume your layout will be similar to this:

[bootman]

This is a pretty easy build.
You will have fun.

Here is another pic of how easy Hypex makes the wiring for DIY.

[garbulky]

This is my only worry with the hypex amps. Look how tiny they are and the wires even more so. However, specs are specs, I guess and people with really high end amps are reccomending it. This may be what I switch to someday.

[rclark]

The power supply is just as state of the art as the amp. They were designed to work together. If you want a real education, go.read the diyaudio thread I linked earlier.

The smps is so advanced it effectively makes power conditioning useless.

[rclark]

Aug 21, 2012 23:25:48 GMT -5 garbulky said:

This is my only worry with the hypex amps. Look how tiny they are and the wires even more so. However, specs are specs, I guess and people with really high end amps are reccomending it. This may be what I switch to someday.

This is precisely why Bruno Puzteys is a super genius. That amp module is a mere 2.5 inches across but can pump 600 watts into 1 ohm. AND the specs are monstrous. This is world class power, not pretty good, not "a good value", .. World class.

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2012 23:25:48 GMT -5 garbulky said:

This is my only worry with the hypex amps. Look how tiny they are and the wires even more so. However, specs are specs, I guess and people with really high end amps are reccomending it. This may be what I switch to someday.

Internal wires of an amp can be very small since the run is very short. You can use 20AWG wire or smaller without problems.

I do this all the time.

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2012 23:33:30 GMT -5 rclark said:

Aug 21, 2012 23:25:48 GMT -5 garbulky said:

This is my only worry with the hypex amps. Look how tiny they are and the wires even more so. However, specs are specs, I guess and people with really high end amps are reccomending it. This may be what I switch to someday.

This is precisely why Bruno Puzteys is a super genius. That amp module is a mere 2.5 inches across but can pump 600 watts into 1 ohm. AND the specs are monstrous. This is world class power, not pretty good, not "a good value", .. World class.

The power supply is crazy good. It can switch off and on so fast. Like stupid fast. Any voltage the amp needs gets pulled instantaneously

[rclark]

Yeah it's amazing, go read that thread. It's mostly over my head but if you slow down and wiki along the way you can mostly keep up.

The first 90 pages or so are pretty cool, the amp hadn't come out yet and another amp designer (feeling jealous, looked like) debated Bruno furiously. Actually a great read. And then finally the reviews hit a few hundred pages in.. And they are pretty staggering considering the amps compared.

I'm such a nerd.

[klinemj]

Go listen to his speech at the launch also, and read the white paper. He really has a great sense of humor in addition to far more knowledge on circuits than I could ever hope to know. He also is quite aware of the flaws of prior class D's.

And bootman...there is an aluminum plate under the circuitry on the amp module, so the thermal paste will be fine. Other builders have reported using it also. And yes - the wiring is so simple...seeing pix like those as I made my decision really enabled me to decide to do it. I was envisioning building an amp to mean soldering all the little parts on the board...which my eyes are no longer capable of! But, with the simple connections to make and a couple grounds - easy enough! In my case, the building of the cases is the hard part (but for the unique design will be worth it to me!).

My layout will be similar, but my power supply will be rotated 90 degrees which puts it further away from the amp and allows more distance between the wires, which is advised.

A link to the speech follows...go to the link, then it's the 2nd speech in the list:

www.highendsociety.de/index.php/en_high_end_2012_high_end_facts_high_end_2011_lectures.html

And here's a link to a page that links to the white paper:
www.hypex.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89

It also has some funny bits...read the references at the bottom of the page...#3 is quite funny.

Mark