Mytek slams Hypex in Stereophile Amp Review
The tweak is possible with Pascal, not possible with Hypex (Being a closed design) and that is why companies like Mytek take Pascal, make (slight?) modifications and brag about nonexistent supremacies. Was about to say this isn't true, but I just checked the nCore 400 spec sheet and you are right. I do know that ICEpower does offer low impedance inputs which bypasses their own input stage, allowing manufacturers to offer their own. |
I’d like to share a contrasting viewpoint to Helomech’s. I’ve had several amps driving my Magnepan 1.6s/1.7s over the years. Of course, these speakers demand lots of current from an amp. I had never given much attention to Class D amps, as most that I had previously heard sounded somewhat sterile to my ear. Then I dropped a Rogue Sphinx into my system and my jaw dropped. It was not only musical, but had excellent dynamics and power. This was especially true in the bass. It was difficult for me to believe that such a budget amp could mate so well with the Maggies. I attribute some of the musical nature of this amp to the tube preamp section. Some of the dynamic power may be due to its hefty linear (as opposed to switching) power supply. In any case, it’s an amp worth auditioning even if your budget can afford more. BTW - I also tried the Pharaoh in my system and found it wanting. There’s something special about the Sphinx, at least in my system’s configuration. It’s certainly not lacking power, including in the bass region. The folks at Rogue are great to deal with as well. Hi Michael, The Yamaha amp in question is the A-S500. I’m not too surprised by your experience with the Maggies as their bass pretty much drops like a cliff below 40Hz. I was referring mostly to the lowest octaves. Still, on the whole, my A-S500 sounded more powerful and brawny than either the Sphinx or Pharaoh, even with the Epos Epics which also lack the lowest bass octave. The Yamaha measured as a fairly high current, low-impedence-stable amp in independent lab measurements. http://i.nextmedia.com.au/avhub/australian-hifi_reviews_2014_2014-02_yamaha_as500_amplifier_review_and_test_lores.pdf The Sphinx, in Stereophile’s test, clipped at 155 watts into 4 ohms. It’s not a 200 watt amp as claimed. I do agree that the Sphinx is the better of the Rogue hybrids, and IME, it actually sounded more powerful than the Pharaoh. |
Mytek’s chief designer, Michal Jurewicz, told me. "Hypex [class-D modules] cannot drive it, the amps collapseThat’s the pot calling the kettle black Though Mytek ultimately chose an amplifier module from the Danish company PascalPascal use tweaked $100 Sanway subwoofer modules and also supply them to Rowland for their $10k Continuum 2 amps and Red Dragon also use, but only charge $1k for. Rowland Contiuum 2 $10k https://ibb.co/RcVqXGt Sanway $100 subwoofer plate amp module. https://ibb.co/5YvR1dG https://ibb.co/vHhF64r https://ibb.co/yQxbq3v Red Dragon $1k mono amps https://ibb.co/RTGJg0X Six Moons Moral to this? can’t trust any boutique $$$$ Class-D manufacturers their all in it for the massive mark up $$$$$, maybe Red Dragon as they haven’t jacked up the price too much, and are continually sold out because of it, you get a lot of bang for your buck with them If you really want high end Class-D and have to pay for it, go with the more advanced technology that addresses the problems to a much greater extent of all class-D’s, and that’s the Technics SE-R1 Cheers George |
