By It is no secret that I am a bit of an audiophile extrovert. I will talk to people anywhere and everywhere – especially at an audiophile show and especially younger audiophiles. When asked, nearly without exception, younger audiophiles will tell you that the number one factor in why they will make their next component upgrade is value. Audiophile bling is not high on their list. Ego is not factored in. They are looking for the best possible performance for the lowest possible price. We feel you guys. We feel you.
Enter the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP class-D power amp. This lightweight, diminutively-sized, generic-looking power amp brings the best of today’s Class-D operation to the audiophile on a budget at a price that nearly anyone can afford. Gone is the weight, heat and power consumption. In is that colorless, almost-Class-A sound and lots of power. If you want to rock like a deep pocketed, old-school audiophile without spending like one, read on.
What Makes the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP Special?
- 150 watts of Hypex Class-D power is enough to drive nearly any modern loudspeaker today. I love me a little “max headroom,” and the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP has that with 150 watts of power into eight ohms, 250 into four ohms and 180 watts into two ohms (if you can find a pair of speakers that dips to two ohms anymore). I drove everything from an easy-to-drive pair of MartinLogan Foundation F2 folded motion tweeter speakers (read my review) to my $31,000 Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4s (read my review) using the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP, and it never cracked a sweat or showed any signs of sonic stress.
- I could hear no audible coloration in the sound of the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP power amp. That’s normally a sentence that I put in a review of a Pass Labs or Boulder or Mark Levinson review, not a review of a $600 amp, but it is true. Now, some people like a little softness or color to their sound via their amp, which isn’t the way that I would advise any audiophile to go, as the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP does it right. This is a clean, colorless power amp – the way it should be.
- There is literally no heat generated by the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP. OK, this is a sore topic for me, as my new $32,000 Pass Labs XA 160.8 power amps (review pending) are room heaters. The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP creates no heat. None.
- Wasting energy won’t win you any points with younger audiophiles. The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP draws very little power from the wall, unlike my aforementioned and beloved Class-A designs. The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP gets you that Class-A sound without the Class-A power bill.
- The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP is feather-light and small. If you wanted to, you could juggle a pair of the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP (assuming that you can juggle; I cannot), as they are that small and light.
- The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP come with Neutrik high-end XLR connectors internally. The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP might not be fancy on the outside, but Dylan Launder and his team don’t skimp on the parts.
- Custom colors are an option in terms of metalwork. One of my favorite value audiophile components is from SPL in Germany. I own one of their $2,600 SPL Elector stereo preamps (read the review), which is finished in a metallic red and has super-cool round amber-colored gauges. If you like, you can go for a similar look with the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP, as they can order the metal in a host of unique colors (no gauges, however).
- Hypex is a really good Class-D technology. Buckeye Amps makes amps using Hypex, as well as Purifi technologies. Gallium Nitride amps round out the exciting new-school world of Class-D amps. I own at least one example of each of these technologies right now (Orchard GaN, Peachtree Purifi and Buckeye Hypex), and they all are really good. I will go further and say they are game-changers.
- There are other case configurations available. As an audio enthusiast who often uses a Middle Atlantic rack to neatly install his gear, having a full-width component is a must, as well as a cost-saver. Buckeye can deliver on this need for the more custom install or pro audio consumer. This is an easy and super-smart move on the part of Buckeye Amps.
Why Should You Care About the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP Power Amp?
If you had the money, you would buy a Pass Labs XA-25 Class-A power amp (read my review). Damn the consequences (heat, power bill, price), in the real world, you can’t make that kind of investment. Enter the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP as a low-low-low-cost alternative. This powerful amp has that Class-A sound, low power use, small footprint and high power output for close to no money. Most established audiophiles have interconnects that cost more than this world-beater amp.
Young audiophiles just making their first moves will be drawn to the high-value proposition of the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP. More established audiophiles who are adding to other rooms/systems or those looking to scale down their system to a smaller, simpler configuration will be drawn to the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP – and for good reason.
Some Things You Might Not Like About the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP Power Amp
- The aesthetics of the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP are generic and bland-looking.While the build quality is very high, the look of the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP is pure DIY. For those who know what good sound and great value is, they will not care. For those who need a little more audiophile drip, look elsewhere.
- There are no RCA connectors on the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP. Connecting your amp with XLR cables is my preferred method, but for an audiophile on a budget, buying new interconnects could change the value proposition for a potential purpose. Fret not, as the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP can be bought with XLR to RCA cables, or you can use adapters. Not a perfect solution, but I doubt you (or any of us) would be able to hear the difference.
- The naming convention of the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP is just silly. There is no marketing department at Buckeye Amps to tell the engineers to name their amps something simpler. I would look to brands like Mercedes Benz or even an audiophile brand like Mark Levinson. Consumers would rather have something easy and shorter, like the Buckeye No. H-321. Keep it simple.
Listening to the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP Power Amp …
As I mentioned before, I actually own all three of the modern Class-D power amp technologies. I have also shuttled them from my (smaller) bedroom audiophile system to my (larger) reference living room system. To put a $675 amp on a pair of $31,000 reference speakers used in some of the world’s best recording studios and mastering labs is a big ask, but this amp seemed up for the challenge, so why not, right?
This Christmas, I was making my new Gen-X girlfriend a mix tape (literally, a cassette tape) to go with the vintage Sony Sports Walkman that I gave her as a gift. One of the old-school jams that I put into the playlist is “Then Came You” by The Spinners with Dionne Warwick (Qobuz). This is a Detroit-style soul jam of the first order, featuring rich vocal harmonies, gorgeous layering and a quite danceable groove. What jumped out at me when listening to the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP was the level of bite and detail on the effect-laden guitar sound on the track. It has a vintage analog effect (don’t ask me which one, but it is super-cool, kind like my Small Stone that I lost in the Palisades Fire). It is something like a flanger, but I am not 100 percent sure. The level of space and openness in the soundstage is what I expect out of amps costing many, many times more. The overall cohesiveness of the sound was rock-solid and that’s what you are looking for from an amp at this price, as well as many times higher.
One place that lesser-priced amps can disappoint is in their ability to present delicate details and openness. The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP in no way suffers from this malady, as I learned when playing back Norah Jones’ title track from Don’t Know Why (Qobuz). OMG. On my Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4s, the delicate nuances of the piano were just gorgeous. The breathy vocals of. Jones were sexy and inviting. The gentle details of the brushes on the snare drum were vibrant, but never overpowering. The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP was able to be a gentle lover of a power amp capable of detail and resolution, as you should expect from Class-A amps that are in a whole other category.
There was one track that blew me right out of my new King Living Australian leather sofa in my listening room. Michael Bublé’s rendition of “The Best is Yet to Come” (Amazon Music) is a modern take on a true standard. The finger snaps and simple piano melody to open the track is the calm before the big band storm, as the rich layering of a fantastic orchestration just walks right into your listening room. Bublé’s vocals come across with that modern recording yet vintage (Neumann would be my guess) mic sound on his vocals. Around the 1:30 mark, the band is swinging hard and the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP is just laughing at the musical challenge. To my audiophile friends – this is one of the best demo tracks that I have found in a long time. Put this in your playlist of best audiophile tracks if you like singers and standards and/or big band-type stuff.
Will the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP Hold Its Value?
With a retail price of $625, the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP falls into the “who cares” category in terms of long-term resale value. If you can’t use $625 worth of value from this amp, then you just aren’t trying hard enough. With its diminutive size and light weight, you could use as easily store a Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP in the closet, just in case you need another amp. This would be a perfect amp to donate to an aspiring audiophile who is just getting started. There will be no shortage of places that a Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP could be useful, but with such a low barrier to entry in terms of cost, I am not worried about resale value on this power amp.
What is the Competition for the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP?
So if we are looking for really great value power amps to compare to the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP, we might start with the Monolith by Monoprice M2100X stereo amp at $395 (read the Eric Forst review). This is a Class-AB amp made in China, but not really a CHI-FI amp per se, as Monoprice is a full-service retailer. With famous amp designer Morris Kessler’s fingerprints vaguely on this uber-low-cost amp, it is a full-sized chassis and a solid performer for barely any money.
If you want to go way less money because you are REALLY on a budget, we might look to a real CHI-FI option in the $149 Fosi ZA3 power amp (read Michael Zisserson’s review here). These are the types of reviews that we publish that make the oligarch audio companies refuse to advertise with us. Screw them if they want to ignore the need for value products, I say. This ultra-small-form-factor amp punches so far above its weight that it isn’t even funny.
I am a huge fan of Gallium Nitride amps (learn more about GaN), but they tend to cost quite a bit more. The amps that I own personally are the Orchard Audio Starkrimson 25 Mono Premium amps at about $2,500 per pair (read Andrew Dewhirst’s review here). While all three Class-D technologies mimic Class-A operation believably, I think GaN is my favorite. These mono amps are way-way-way more expensive than the Buckeye Hypex amps, but are sonically and logistically comparable. I find myself comparing Class-D amps with top-performing Class-A or Class-AB amps, as opposed to shooting out the different Class-D amps.
Final Thoughts on the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP Power Amp …
Value is everything when it comes to younger audiophiles, and the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP delivers performance and value in spades. The Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP is a no-nonsense, generic-looking power amp that is for the audiophile who is comfortable enough in his or her skin to not need to show off any audiophile glitz and/or glamour, but who wants big reserves of power, plenty of headroom and that open, detailed, controlled, non-colored sound.
If that sounds good to you, then place your order, because the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP is one hell of a performer. There is no way Launder is getting this amp back. Consider the check cut, folks. I am buying my review sample of the Buckeye Amps Hypex NCx252MP. How’s that for an endorsement?
