Stay tuned for the new Rowland Class-D integrated, the Continuum Series 2, using the new Pasquale Class-D power modules. Rowland dropped B&O ICE for Pasquale. Rowland is the first to use this new Class-D design. 400 watts into 8 ohms and 800 watts into 4 ohms. Hits the stores in April.
Unit weighs 35 lbs. Priced at $ 9500.00. DAC and phono cards optional. |
Give me a break Guido..I started a thread several weeks ago to focus on D-Sonic/Abletec Class D amps only. Within the first five replys you and Wilsynet changed the subject to Hypex Ncore, shifting the direction of my thread. Any thing goes... |
HYPEX..HYPEX..HYPEX..Seems to be a swooning love affair with Bruno Putzeys and one needs to get beyond putting him on a demigod pedestal..Hypex/Ncore is owned by Philips which of course has more than enough R&D funds for Bruno to tap into. However, the biggest flaw with all class D amps is that they are wall dependent, using the a.c. outlet as the capacitor bank rather than having a large power supply and large transformers built in to make them far less wall dependent. The one company in the States that has addressed the flaws in Class D more than any other, and currently makes the worlds finest Class D amplifier, is Audio Research. The Marten M amps from Sweden are right behind AR. Each Audio Research DS450M Class D mono amp has a power reserve of 1368 joules of energy, way beyond the power reserve in the Merrill Veritas or the new upcoming M1 amps from Hypex coming out in June. The DS450M has over 176,000 microfards of capacitor storage. The large block transformer, choke regulator, and the Class D switching device in each DS450M amp are in house custom designs exclusive only to Audio Research. The amps are far more powerful than Merrill or Hypex, run cool, and are meant to left on at all times. A pair is only $10K. |
Take it easy Cisco...I'm referring to the original Ncore designs that Bruno developed..I was referring to Ncore only in my correction..not Hypex. Philips does own the patents on the original Ncore power modules and the Ncore trademark. Bruno can update and vary his designs under Hypex and can use the original Ncore platforms as long as he pays the licensing fees every year which also applies to the Ncore trade name. I read this info on a bio background on Bruno/Ncore. None of this is made up. Move on Dude... |
Hifial..the article I read out of Europe was inaccurate portraying Hypex/Ncore being owned by Philips.
Upon further investigation, heres the accurate truth. When Bruno worked for Philips before working for Hypex in 1996, he designed for Philips the Ncore UcD power modules, in which the patents and the Ncore trademark are owned by Philips outright which they have on file in Geneva which covers all the European countries. Bruno today pays Philips an annual licensing rights fee to use the design and the Ncore name in Europe which he originally developed. Bruno beat Philips filing the Ncore patents in the patent office in Washington, D.C. to corner the U.S. market. Bruno's designs are still pulse width modulation. Hypex/Ncore uses a feedback application that Bruno took from John Ulrick of Spectron that was used in the first Spectron amp back in 1974. What Ulrick designed that Bruno utilize's, is an application putting the feedback in the circuit after the output filter rather than before, which eliminates phase shifting in the upper frequencies. Patrik Bostrom, currently the most advanced Class D engineer in Europe and CTO Of Abletec, went beyond Bruno's capability with further advanced Class D engineering and developed recently, a linear loop technology known as AMS, (Adaptive modulation Servo), which is phase shift modulation, eliminating all feedback in the circuits, rather than pulse width modulation, which has been around for forty years. D-Sonic uses power modules from Abletec. The new in house switching module designed by Audio Research, achieves the same results as Abletec. |
A little sterile?..eat some chocolate. I'll wait fo the new Class D products to come out first this spring. Such as the new Bel Canto's with no switching module, the new Rowland's with the Pasquale amps, and the new M1's from Hypex, which I think will be a hard sell for $15K a pair given for whats on the Class D horizon in 2013. The one Class D amp I would like to hear over any other is the Marten M amp. Weigh 100 lbs each and cost $40K a pair with Patrik Bostrom's technology. |
Dan92075...you are incorrect and did not read cleary regarding the topology with the Abletec amps. His name is Patrik Bostrom, not Brostrom. On the Abletec website it decribes the ALC1000 amplifier using phase shift modulation, not pulse width modulation. Even though it still is a class D switching amp, pulse width modulation is not used at all in the amp or the other newly designed Abletec amps that have been out since 2010. |
Regarding bio info I mentioned earlier on the history of Hypex/Ncore which I extracted from sites such as HiFi+ and Test Seek, which turned out to be inaccurate. The best source for this info is the in depth interview with Bruno Putzeys and Jean Peter in the February 2012 issue of 6Moons. Just Goolge Hypex/6moons and it will give the link to the article. Jean Peter started Hypex in his attic in 1996 and first met Bruno in 2001 while he was working for Philips Digital Systems, at which time he developed the Ncore power module. Read the article. Very informative. |
You are wrong Guido..Quote from the 6Moons article.." Bruno
came in contact with Jean Peter in 2001. "Bruno by then was working on a new Class D design," (The Ncore for Phillips). Ncore as I mentioned earlier, was and still is a Philips trademark in Europe, while Bruno was working for Philips Digital Systems in 2001. Jean Peter, who started Hypex in his attic in 1996 building a 750 watt mono amp for active subwoofers, was so impressed with Bruno Putzeys prototype in 2001, that he struck a deal with Philips to use the Ncore technology with the Hypex name and by 2004 the Hypex UcD 180ST power module was marketed and used in Hypex subwoofers...regardless which newer Class D power modules were designed beyond 2005 at Hypex, their very first Class D power module, the UcD 180ST, was developed and built during 2003/2004 for the Hypex subwoofer... |
Guido.. one of the articles I read during the past month on the history of Ncore/Hypex, appears to have conflicting accuracies. One article I read states tha the UcD power module that Bruno built in 2001 while working for Philips Digital Systems, states the main circuit in the amp is referred to as the "Ncore circuit" which is where the name originally came from, which would make the term "Ncore" an intellectual property of Philips. Jean Peter mentions he holds the U.S. trademark on Ncore but never mentions in any interview that he owns the trademark in Europe which is filed in Geneva and the deal he cut with Philips back in 2004/2005 was to pay them a annual license fee to use the Ncore name and UcD power module patents that were part of Philips Digital Systems in 2001. I am moving on and spending no more time on this issue. If you explore and dig deep enough on the net, you will run into the same info whether accurate or not. |
Guido..I back tracked and found one article regarding Hypex
and Bruno paying Philips licensing fees to use the UcD technology he developed for Philips back in 2001 in which they own. Its a site that focuses on DIY readers. The site is enjoythemusic.com..the article is from October 2012 written by Jeff Poth. I'll dig up the other two articles I read and post them as well. I'm on standby regarding Hypex, anticipating the new Pasquale Class D amps used in the about to be released Rowland Continuum 2 integrated and the new Bel Canto Ice amp with the switching module removed, which will be a D.C. power supply fed directly to the Ice amp with no pulse width modulation whatsoever, a first of its kind which has been in the works for the past two years. |
Guido..regarding corrected spellings, the name Pasquale was spelt to me by a Rowland dealer in California who attended the private demo at CES of the Continuum 2 integrated. I'm sure hes not aware of the correct spelling. Also, you continue to use the word "Phylips" which is incorrect. The correct spelling is Philips. One of the two articles I'm trying to dig up refers to the "Ncore circuit" in the UcD power module that Bruno developed for Philips in 2001. |
Guido..thanks for mentioning Pascal. I checked out their website and Google images of their power modules. Very impressive work. It appears after looking at the photo's, that their amps look like identical twins to the amps being used by D-Sonic in Texas, even though Abletec offices in New Jersey mentioned D-Sonic is using Abletec. Could be D-Sonic is using Abletec in a certain model but their top amps are definitely Pascal judging by the photos. |
