Evolution of the prototype amplifier !

Started by Tranquility Bass, June 12, 2020, 05:32:29 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Tranquility Bass

Zee boards have arrivethed !

A present from DHL ;) Partially assembled boards from our prototype assembly service. The rest of the assembly to be done by yours truly  :-X

Cheers
David

P1050018.jpg




Tranquility Bass

The Hypex Ncore amplifier modules used in this build consist of:-

1 x NC502MP
2 x NC252MP
2 x HF100

Cheers
David

P1040608.JPG

P1040609.JPG


Tranquility Bass

Nice little package from Mouser arrived !

Cheers
David

P1050025.JPG

Tranquility Bass

Yes lots of assembly required !

P1050020.JPG

Tranquility Bass

The wiring looms require some thought as you don't really want to mix up the high current mains and speaker wiring with the sensitive small signal wiring ;)

P1050030.JPG

P1050029.JPG




Tranquility Bass

Green lights mean all channels are go ! What do you do in lockdown whilst waiting for Ultimate-Preamp DSP boards to be manufactured by our production house ? Answer is to write an operating system for our multi-channel power amp. This time we are cutting code for an STM32 M3 ARM micro and not a SHARC DSP. So far everything is going to plan.

  • Power Amp Mains Sequencing â€" tick !
  • Main-switch and trigger-IO monitoring and relaying â€"  tick !
  • LED display driver â€" tick !
  • Real-time Amplifier/clipping/DC error/Over-Temp-Alarm and general fault monitoring and display â€" tick !
  • Thermal management â€" in testing phase !

The custom all stainless steel case is earmarked for a customer who along with the still to be delivered Ultimate Preamp Plus (sorry for the delays) will be using it in a custom active speaker system of their own design. Using all Hypex NCore amplifier modules in a custom case that matches the Preamp we found the Hypex modules to be the ideal choice for this application with no shortage of power and performance.

P1050032.JPG

P1050033.JPG

P1050034.JPG

P1050035.JPG

nonlinear

David,
Will this Ultimate Amplifier also be offered to the public?  The multi-channel class-D amplifier that I have on my prototype bench is strikingly similar, but is only in layout form consisting of ICE modules for woofer and Sure class-D for mids and tweeters.

Tranquility Bass

That was the plan but unfortunately time isn't on our side with the new orders for the preamps. Having said that I use this amp daily and it eventually has to go to the original customer who also ordered a UPP a while ago. Also because there are so many people making these things now and competing on price the urgency wasn't really there. Having said that our amps way a ton due to the stainless steel case and 10mm thick heat spreading plates which is why we can drive then at full power and they don't even break a sweat. Many of the lesser designs try and use a bit of flimsy case work as the heat sink. Not good for long term reliability. I wanted to make ours bullet proof but it has also made them much more expensive to build than other offerings :(

Also this particular amp had some experimental features incorporated into the design which are not seen on any other amp but will be removed to simplify the design in any future revisions. I do have some parts for two more of these amps to put together when I have some more time.

cheers
david