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The Hypex nCore build thread

Julf said:
They definitely run much cooler than an A/B amp of the same power, but there is still some power to dissipate - so a small, totally closed box would not be ideal. I don't think your ambient temperature matters that much, it is really temperatures of 50-70C inside the enclosure we worry about, and ensuring some air circulation takes care of that.
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The Ghent case has a few slats at the bottom near the front directly underneath the power supply, and some holes on top:

eBay photo - base
eBay photo - top

You think those should be OK?
 
I would say listen to Julf.

Heres mine running at -2dB with a small 80mm diameter top vent.

nCore-02dB_zpse9bfd9e1.png


It now has the lid lifted by 5mm rather than the hole in the top as I could not get the hole to look right and I did play around with lots of methods.

IMG_1863_zpsa6a9adaf.jpg


IMG_1871_zps4b56886d.jpg
 
I hope this is not thread crapping but has anybody in PF land experience of using Hypex modules successfully with simple non-balanced inputs.
I get the impression (perhaps wrongly) that people who are pleased with results are are feeding the amps from DACs with balanced outputs.
 
I wouldn't worry about balanced too much, lots of other areas to pay attention to first. Unless you have a source thats chucking a huge amount of common mode noise the gain is minimalistic. It is a gain nevertheless in my experience. I ran single ended for some time.
 
And, once again - you get most of the benefits of balanced simply by having a properly differential, full-floating input (as the nc400 has) without needing to have a balanced source. Just use a balanced connecting cable with an unbalanced input connector.

Check out figure 3 on page 12 of the nc400 data sheet.
 
I have my single nc400 in a Silicone Ray case, it has no holes or vents at all and I'm a bit worried about it. I don't want to attempt to drill the holes myself as I think it will look a mess. Any ideas?
 
Nick1881 said:
I have my single nc400 in a Silicone Ray case, it has no holes or vents at all and I'm a bit worried about it. I don't want to attempt to drill the holes myself as I think it will look a mess. Any ideas?
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If you want to be 100% sure, you need to use a temperature logger like the one Bemused linked to, or some other way of measuring internal temperature.

Does the enclosure feel warm to the touch after several hours of listening?
 
Even a 15 quid multimeter often has a thermocouple bundled with it. In which case your data logger is a pencil and paper.
Just measure it and be sure.
 
Out of interest, if the temperature inside did get too hot..... what would happen? Long-term I could see increased degradation of components etc, but presumably short-term there is some kind of thermal shutoff to prevent actual damage... is there?
 
occamsrazor said:
presumably short-term there is some kind of thermal shutoff to prevent actual damage... is there?
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Yes, both in the nc400 and the smps600. The latter is specified with an operating range of up to +50C ambient and +95C at the heat sink, and will close down if the +95 C limit is reached.
 
Often heard of the smps failures were you get click click click at power on, these failures, and it's purly a guess are overheat problems. Hypex always seemd to have honoured the warranty with these faults. But as Julf points out 50 degrees is quite low, probably not causing catastrophic component failure but degradation of one of the smps electrolytic s, heat dramatically reduces electrolytic life time.
 
The lid of my case is warm to touch even at idle, similar to the top of the MDAC itself, both stay on 24/7. I switch off if I'm going away for a few days.
 
My Connex on the plate (see earlier picture) barely rises above ambient. I cannot detect any significant warm-up time before it sounds its best so it is turned on only when needed, same goes for the MDAC. £50 of electricity a year for a marginally better first few minutes doesn't sound like a bargain to me - but it's your choice. I also have concerns over reliability and safety (lightning transients killed microfilters here recently)
 
Nick1881 said:
The lid of my case is warm to touch even at idle, similar to the top of the MDAC itself, both stay on 24/7. I switch off if I'm going away for a few days.
Click to expand...

As I wrote, the thermal protection only kicks in at +95C, but specified max operating temperature is +50C. If your enclosure is warm to touch, you are probably hitting the +50C, possibly shortening the life of the electronics (usually the electrolytic capacitors are the ones suffering the most).

I have pretty good ventilation in my enclosures, and have checked temperatures, but I still switch my amps into smps standby when not listening. I haven't noticed any warm-up effect on the sound quality.
 
Well, thanks for all the advice guys. A pair of ncore modules, power supplies and cases have now been ordered, though it will be at least a fortnight until I receive them. In the meantime I want to order all the remaining cables to set this up as a nice system, and would like to ask for recommendations.
I'm am not looking for ultra-high end, I just need something pretty decent at an affordable price. The shopping list is:

Case IEC connector > power supply: I believe I can just use standard mains cable for this. Remove the plastic cover and twist the two blue/brown wires. Yes? If so, I have some already.

XLR input connector > amp module: Someone said this is included but it looks different on each build picture I see. I believe this does NOT need to be twisted (correct?) but is shielded. Recommendations?

Amp module > speaker binding posts: Someone recommended teflon insulated silverplated copper, alternatively just copper. Another recommended 2mm core. Recommendations?

MDAC > Ncore: As I want to run long XLR cable from MDAC to monoblock, then short speaker cable to speaker, I need a pair of XLR cables of around 8-10m each. Someone suggested star quad cable. What about this?

Ncore > Speakers: Will only need 0.5-1m, I will use my existing speaker cable for now (some old QED 79), unless I can buy 2x1m of better for good price at same shop as the rest of this stuff.

Appreciate if you can give specific recommendations (brand, type, etc & links welcome) as I am new to all this and don't necessarily understand the generic terms, and it would be really ideal if I could order all I need from the same place. Thanks a lot...
 
occamsrazor said:
XLR input connector > amp module: Someone said this is included but it looks different on each build picture I see. I believe this does NOT need to be twisted (correct?) but is shielded. Recommendations?
Click to expand...

Is included.
As for the teflon insulated stuff; I had that lying around so used it. Pretty sure something like 2,5 mm2 copper is sufficient

And welcome aboard.
You'll enjoy the ride

Cheers,
Johan
 
Julf said:
As I wrote, the thermal protection only kicks in at +95C, but specified max operating temperature is +50C. If your enclosure is warm to touch, you are probably hitting the +50C, possibly shortening the life of the electronics (usually the electrolytic capacitors are the ones suffering the most).

I have pretty good ventilation in my enclosures, and have checked temperatures, but I still switch my amps into smps standby when not listening. I haven't noticed any warm-up effect on the sound quality.
Click to expand...

I just don't get the circular circuit board that you cant bolt to a heat sink?
If this board is heat dependant why don't they design it so you can bolt it to a case heat sink FFS ????
Alan
 
occamsrazor said:
Case IEC connector > power supply: I believe I can just use standard mains cable for this. Remove the plastic cover and twist the two blue/brown wires. Yes? If so, I have some already.

XLR input connector > amp module: Someone said this is included but it looks different on each build picture I see. I believe this does NOT need to be twisted (correct?) but is shielded. Recommendations?
Click to expand...

Both of these are provided, no need to twist the XLR input wire.

For the amp to speaker binding posts I used Van Damme Hifi 2.5mm and split it down the middle so I could twist it. Mark Grant sells this, which is also where I got my XLR cables from.

Which cases did you go for? I'm tempted to go for the Ghent ones.
 
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