Hypex Ncore NC1200 Amps at NY Audio Show in April

Dob, stridency is not helpful. G.

"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)?"
Dob (Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)
Dob,

My short answer is perhaps. However, I must admit I've been consistently highly skeptical of the existence of a divine power since my college days.

For argument's sake let's assume a divine power exists, as many well meaning humans believe. Wouldn't you suspect this god would bestow a few positive things to mankind, along with his many dark side gifts such as those 10 depressing sins, huge floods, fire, brimstone and those nasty and pesky massive insect swarms? Isn't it possibles, in one of his lighter and more benevolent moments, he declared "it will be so" and bestowed a ss ("that shalt be called class D") amplifier that behaved like a "straight wire with gain" upon his flock to try to balance the ledger? If god is an audiophile, I would wager he has one hell of a system. Definitely Valhala cables with top of the line class D amps.

As to your other point about designers utilizing these new and relatively inexpensive amp modules to start rolling out new amp creations with their own unique surrounding engineering technologies ( capitalizing on high profit margins to make large profits), I wholeheartedly agree with you that this is a possibility. This is already an issue with some current higher priced amps such as the Mola-Mola, Merrill Audio and Mark Levinson offerings.

I don't think this is a big issue since some of the wealthier audiophiles among us are likely to be more than willing to pay the premium prices for such an attractive and simple solution to their amplifier needs(wants).

It will probably just be a matter of time before a smart entrepreneur realizes that a lower priced, and lower profit margin, amp would also be highly profitable if sold in high enough numbers. A company like Tom Ross's ClassD Audio is well positioned to capitalize on some lower priced Ncore based amps.

Also, if there is a divine power, I hope he turns his attention to affordable room treatments next.

Just thinking out loud,
Tim

Those are good points, Noble100.

I few days ago I was playing Janos Starker Bach Solo Cello Suits on vinyl. My wife walks into the room and we had this conversation:

W: why are you playing this particular record?
Me: because I wanted to know how it sounds with the new speaker cables.
W: oh.
Me: how does it sound?
W: it sounds like he's in the room!

Class D is here to stay. A well designed amp, and any other piece of audio gear in the chain, should just disappear and let the music through.

Judging from the success of companies using OEM class D modules, it seems that the ones that gained the most acceptance design their own input stage, along with other modifications to the amp architecture, perhaps to compensate or correct what they consider deficiencies in the OEM amp topology.

Good points ESanchez... I tend to think of class D power conversion modules as basic electronic parts, around which a designer implements a particular circuit design, exactly like a KT88 or 6550 tube. Such a design can be quite minimalist, in which case the inherent characteristics of the part yield the most noticeable character to the amplifier, good or bad as it may be. Other designers prefer to create around such parts more sofphisticated topologies, that harness the underlying potential of the part into a whole that instantiates the amplifier's creator philosophy more than any idiosyncratic behavior of the module.

G.

Kana813: Well this has been done before with Hypex UCD.

An example is the Genesis Reference Amplifier.

Link. http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com/grefamps.html

And done very well.

I am also very curious to see how well the PS Audio amps turn out.