Hypex Ncore NC1200 Amps at NY Audio Show in April

It will be interesting to see how the stock modules in a box, $12K Merrill Monos compare to the $4K PS Audio Hypex amp to be released this summer.

According to Mr.McGowan:

"Basically regardless of which core we use, the 700 UCD or the Ncore, the sound quality is almost all found in the input stage. By that I mean if we were to use the Ncore and put on a lesser input stage, the sound would not be as good as the UCD with an exceptional stage. Pretty much everything you are hearing with this amp, in terms of pacing, transparency, frequency extremes, control and dynamics are all controlled by the input stage design. Both of these Hypex modules are off the chart in terms of quietness, control and linearity - we just ran a bunch of sweeps, Vin vs. Vout, IM and THD and very high levels and it's as if the Hypex stage is not even there - it mirrors almost identically the input stage performance."

Although my experience with class D amplifiers is with modules that some might consider inferior to the Hypex Ncore modules, Mr. McGowan's statements appear very accurate to me. According to most listening impressions, including my own, Class D technology's main overriding sonic characteristic seems to be that it sounds like nothing. In other words, class D's main sound character is a total lack of a sound character.

I think it is this character, or lack of it, that makes class D so impressive. It has achieved what most amp designers have been striving for since amp design work began: "a straight wire with gain". The amp designers' self-stated goal was a device that accepted an input signal at low voltage, amplified it with no additions or subtractions and outputted a signal that was sufficiently amplified to drive any transducer/speaker regardless of that tranducer's/speaker's impedance.

All other current and past amplifier types have failed to attain this goal, mainly due to either altering the inputted signal or failing to drive speakers of very low impedance. Class D's success in achieving this goal, imho, is a landmark achievement in the history of amplifier design and the main reason that those of the opinion that class D is just the 'latest fad' can be disregarded.

Class D designs will obviously become the wave of the foreseeable future, at least until the next major achievement in amp design.

Mr. McGowan's comments about the importance of the, or his, input stage in the performance of a class D amp's performance is completely consistent with the concept of class D having no sonic signature. His input stage, and anything else preceding the class D amp modules (preamp, dac, source or anything else), will be the major factors determining the sound quality of a system. The final factor influencing the sound quality will, of course, be the speakers selected/matched.

I wish the best to PS Audio and any other amp designers working to maximize the performance of this exciting new technology.

Just my 2 cents,
Tim

Noble100: I totally agree with your statement.

This is fascinating info Kana.... Could you post the url of the McGowan citation?

McGowan confirms my own conjecture that, while Ncore constitutes in itself an excellent premise for implementing a high quality power amplifier, designers need not limit themselves to the inherent properties of the part, but should be able to create advanced circuits that may exceed the base properties of the underlying power conversion module in ways that are consistent with their own sonic philosophy. I suspect that designing unique input stages may be only the beginning of what one may be able to implement around an Ncore or UCD module, depending on market targeting and designer preferences.

I am confident that things will get exciting over the next couple of years.

G.

" According to most listening impressions, including my own, Class D technology's main overriding sonic characteristic seems to be that it sounds like nothing. In other words, class D's main sound character is a total lack of a sound character."

Is it because of divinde intervantion?... or we already finished development of power amp and anybody including Mr. McGowen can buy mass production module instert it into his own design chassis with his own colors and logo (with his or other input stage) and Oh-La-La, we arrived in Paradise (without 72 virgins)?