Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing

He did state that he likes Purifi and Hypex, and that they also have published specs and graphs.
So I do not think it is out of line to ask for the graphs.

Being a fanboi of those brand does not automatically exclude one from liking, for instance, Atmasphere or Benchmark. It seemed more like “he has no objective proof that he should like them,” which if that is really what he means, then I cannot find a cogent argument to oppose that view. And I like them without an objective and rational reason to do so.

Hypex, Orchard, and Purifi are some of the current state of the art performance wise. The publish detailed measurements that give a great deal of insight into the abilities of the designer, the behavior of the product, and how the amp will play with other components. Additionally, they outline and highlight the performance envelope for users. Clearly these companies believe there is some value added by documenting the performance of their products and I for one agree. All properly engineered commercial amps are rigorously tested and measured by their designers so this is not asking for anything they haven't already done. I fail to see any legitimate reason to not share such data. Not everyone can or does find value in such information but that is no reason to piss and moan about those who do. I happen to appreciate products with state of the art performance and elegant engineering, both of which often go hand in hand with transparency from the manufacturer.

 

@kuribo The cost has to do with how the equipment is marketed. We use a dealer network and have worldwide distribution. That requires that we have it priced accordingly. Dealers can be quite valuable because they can provide support!! FWIW if we were to use a Purifi or Hypex module, the amp would actually be more expensive than it is now due to the markup we would have to pay on the module. The cost of the chassis, built extra rugged so it will survive abuse in UPS while being built in limited quantities, is a big reason the amp is more expensive. The funny thing here for me is for decades we were always docked on cosmetics. I was always resisting installing a 1/2" thick front panel on our stuff since it would have raised the cost so much, but that is what our competition has been doing all this time. And we still don't have the 1/2" panels!

So we found a way to limit that cost a bit, but the simple fact is that if you do this stuff in the way that we are (the chassis is formed of 3/16" aluminum for example, to prevent deformation with the weight of the power transformer) its simply more expensive. Now if we were to use a SMPS it would allow the chassis to be cheaper, but our research has shown that if you really want the amp to perform the way it should, the SMPS will be custom built for the job. Otherwise it will current limit or other such nonsense and we certainly experienced that!

So we didn't skimp on the power supply or the chassis. We just built it to proper engineering standards without cutting corners. IMO one of the reasons you see such variable comments about how Hypex and Purifi amps sound is because of how they are executed.

So we didn’t skimp on the power supply or the chassis. We just built it to proper engineering standards without cutting corners. IMO one of the reasons you see such variable comments about how Hypex and Purifi amps sound is because of how they are executed.

Thanks for the insight. Indeed, those marketing Hypex, Purifi, and several other class d amps using the modules of others can "tune" the sound through the input buffer op amp choices. I suppose it is a clever marketing technique to appeal to different tastes, rather than offering any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black. Of course most of them degrade the performance of the amp modules to some extent, but as we can see here, there are those who aren’t concerned with high fidelity to the input signal. Other such differences, like type and style of case, input mains filters, mounting configurations, etc., surely do vary widely, from head scratching to immaculate. No doubt these differences play some role in the final result as well-how much, I do not know.

No doubt with the weight of the transformer you would need a stout case. I suppose that can certainly add to the costs, though it is hard as a consumer driven by performance to justify spending 3-4 times as much as a competing product for things like a dealer network and a stouter case, neither of which in my opinion makes it "go faster". You might consider using a smps, a lighter, cheaper case, and offer your amp for half or 1/3 the price. Surely there is a sizeable market at the lower price point.

Again, appreciate the reply.

This really is rich.  First we have ricevs telling Ralph how to redesign his amps, and now kuribo has a go.

Meanwhile, Ralph is model of restraint and superhuman patience.

@twoleftears