All About Buckeye Amplifiers with Dylan Launder | Techthusiasm Live Podcast

Comments · 73

• SQ

  @squared80 · 3 years ago (edited)

  Bought myself a Buckeye 3-Channel Purifi last year to pair with my Denon A1H. I usually don't care about customer service, but I will say, some things came up and Dylan just took care of it. That's the reason I recommend Buckeye to anyone looking for amps. Objectively high quality builds, reasonable prices, and great customer service. I hope he has the infrastructure to keep pace with his growing business.

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• JO

  @johnthornton3863 · 4 months ago

  Six months with my Buckeye Purify monoblocks.  Dynamic detailed fast open! Not enough raving about Micro Audio power supply Dylan added. These amps have transformed the base of my high end German Canton speakers at all volumes.

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• AC

  @Acoustic_Theory · 2 years ago

  I have noticed that Purifi is not competing directly at the same power levels as Hypex. Where Hypex has a 500W module (as well as NCoreX and Nilai), Purifi's module is 400W. Beyond that, Purifi has a 700W and 900W module, and Hypex has a 1200W and a 2000W NCore module. Bruno has said that his interest is not a rivalry with Hypex. The main difference in the Purifi architecture is incorporation of filters in the control loops that may allow Purifi to tailor the sound in some interesting ways later. Also, Bruno now has a mathematical model that speeds the development of self-resonating Class-D amplifiers that maximizes the open loop gain so that more feedback can be employed. This would change the design pipeline so that there is less iteration and faster time to market. Hypex has gone down the road of iteration and splitting the market a few different ways. There are still a couple of issues. The reliance upon feedback means that the closer to clipping you get, the less the feedback can help you in reducing distortion. I think it's important to make sure you conservatively size a Class-D amplifier so that you never experience clipping during normal listening. That means you need more power than you think you need, but with Class-D this is inexpensive to get anyway so it is not a problem, and you will get tremendous dynamic impact from ordinary speakers as a side benefit. Also, in chasing the distortion numbers, the 'cheat code' appears to be lower gain, which means you need very low noise and low distortion buffer stages that are capable of a lot of voltage just to drive the amp to full power. This is also true of Class-AB amps like the Topping LA90. So source component matching becomes very important if you want to get the largest SINAD or SNR. You need source components capable of large voltage swings on their differential outputs. Otherwise you have to engage the onboard buffer in a Hypex or Purifi amp, and the SINAD decreases about 10dB because now you are amplifying upstream noise. This is the next major limitation to be worked on.

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• DE

  @DerekBove · 3 years ago

  Very happy to be a customer of Dylan's! I've had an 8 ch (4 NC502 /4 NC252) for a year and a half and it sounds amazing. Zero noise!

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• PS

  @Psyphonyx_Audio · 3 years ago

  Fantastic technology .. I was just browsing on amp tech ..and Buckeye hit my radar along with Orchard Audio.<br>Nice interview.. thank you!

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• BA

  @BARBELLS-AND-BUDS · 2 years ago

  I would love a 3 channel Purifi 1ET7040SA even if the case was 20 inches wide

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• MA

  @mafosa8519 · 3 years ago

  “Great chat fellas!”<br><br>On my radar now!

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• AL

  @alcozar5905 · 2 years ago

  Amazing story Dillion looking forward to my first purchase!!!!👍

• AC

  @Acoustic_Theory · 2 years ago

  When you have a power module that is this linear, imparting no character to the signal, an engineer can now tailor the sound of that power module based on upstream components. I don&apos;t begrudge the use of tube buffers because some people really want tube sound characteristics, but if they have speakers that would previously be considered unsuitable for a tube amp (not high sensitivity, weird impedance swings, etc.) now it doesn&apos;t cost an arm and a leg to make a tube-y sounding amplifier with the ability to drive those speakers.

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• SH

  @shaner3d · 3 years ago

  Absolutely great video! &nbsp;Love the information provided.

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• TH

  @The-One-and-Only-Joe · 3 years ago

  Dylan is doing some super interesting things and I can&apos;t wait to see what he has in store for the future! I live in NE Ohio and I love seeing his small business explode in popularity like it has been! When I purchase my next power amp I don&apos;t think I could allow myself to spend my money anywhere other than with Buckeye. I &nbsp;wish you success and happiness my friend!

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• SC

  @scrivs1976 · 9 months ago

  Coming from a guy who just had paid $916 in tariffs for an early Hypex Christmas (FA503s, a few SMPS, consumables, etc.<br>My main gripe with Hypex is he quality of their BOM. &nbsp;Just as importantly, they continuse to use undersized FRP in their PCBs. &nbsp;I&apos;ve had more than a few Ncore MP series fail due to the tiniest of the tiny SMD components taking leave of the board due to flexing of the too-thin FRP PCBs. &nbsp;I&apos;ve also had two fail due to the solder joints cracking on the outputs, beneath the platen/heatsink. Due to flexing. &nbsp;Those were 2019 builds, with the Su&apos; S&apos;u Su&apos;scon electrolytics. &nbsp;No Sam-Wha this time. &nbsp;Judging from today&apos;s delivery, looks like made a side-grade: Aishi. &nbsp;Oh well. &nbsp;It all sounds the same.<br>I only bring it up because I wish they would do better. &nbsp;Just before Halloween, I ordered a 200AS2, 1200AS2, and also own two 300A2s. &nbsp;The Icepower boards are built sooooo much better. &nbsp;Properly sized, thick FRP, beautifully done soldering, and a BOM that indicates longevity, and reliability were a high priority in their over design goals. &nbsp;Nothing but Nippon-Chemicon, Elna, Panasonic, etc. &nbsp;From their most economical boards, to the 1200AS2, they&apos;re build to last, and are more robust. &nbsp;I swear, the PCBs even feel better in the hand! &nbsp;And they&apos;re priced a good bit less than Hypex and Purifi. &nbsp;And to my ears/brain, they sound indistinguishable to one another. &nbsp;<br>in 8 years, I&apos;ve had three Hypex boards fail, compared to zero failures with the Icepowers.<br>You should offer up some Ice stuff once capacity allows.

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