Some comments from users of Hypex products and some UCD180 project links :-

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Listening test:

The modules need some time to "settle" it seems, just like any electronics heating up, played some music for 15 mins without listening, then came back.

A few comments on some tracks...

Lord Of The Rings Soundtrack - Fellowship theme: Very engulfing soundstage, a lot of detail in the instruments. When the lead woodwind (flute?) starts playing, eyebrows were raising, it's not just a "tone" from the flute I hear, but also the air blowing through the instrument, it's that detailed. Dynamics are just right - everything is there without any stress in high SPL passages.

St. Germain - Sure Thing: Like in the earlier single channel test, much improved bass response, not boomy at all, very dy and correct. John L. Hooker's voice tingles the spine, power "on tap" seems to be unlimited.

Gladiator OST - The Might Of Rome: has a choir of male voices that are a lot more defined and lifelike, and amazing dynamics, almost scary.

Gladiator OST - The Battle: Very high SPL level that needs a lot of reserves, if you don't know this track, just think about any heavy Wagner passage souped up with electronic sounds that Hans Zimmer likes to use. On cheaper speakers this comes out as a mess, on the 804's is was more defined, but this amp brings it alive, it's almost scary. I know now that the DSP-A2 was already compressing hard at moderate levels, the UcD's just sing along, I still have the urge to turn the volume down because I'm scared of clipping... no need to do that anymore

Heroines OST: Studio female voice recording, just amazing definition, tears to the eyes.

And a lot more... overall, again the authority, large dynamics, pin point soundstaging (when moving your head away from the sweet spot, there's less changing in the sound like there used to) and very "free" sound, even less the feeling there are speakers present. Microdynamics (this is concentrating on a "quiter" instrument in the musical image) is lots improved, there's so much more to piano's and brass instruments, and more airy sound to woodwinds.

Only thing I needed to get used to is the highs. They sound very... refined, but also very different. It was almost like there was less treble, but my guess is that it's truly what's in the recording, and the class-AB "added" harmonics or something. It's getting used to but in the end it's better.

Last thing: My modules are in a "flat" setup with the sink screwed to the T. The T runs a lot cooler than without the sink, but the piece at the tip of the T (don't know what part it is) runs very hot, it's possible to put a finger on the tip of the T but it shouldn't be much hotter to be impossible. This worries me a bit.

Conclusion:

To use a famous 80's TV action characters words...

I pity the fool that spends more than 1000€ on a stereo amp! You should audition UcD's first.

It's a pity I can't test the amps on even better speakers, i'm sure they are able to handle even more. For my setup it's just perfect, it reminds me of the sound I heard at the store when auditioning 805/804 and Signature 805. That was on a Classé setup....

Congratulations on Bruno for the UcD concept, and bravo to Jan-Peter and his crew for bringing this quality to us at this level.

In time I'm going to power my front stage (3 channels) with this, and if money permits, 5 to 7 channels. For me this is the amp for the next years to come.

On his UCD 400 and 180 ...

           Lack of bass?? How much do you want? I can't believe how much my 400's [and for that matter 180's] produce. Most people I've read are abandoning their subwoofers due to the amps' ability to drive controlled extended LF.

            A friend and I did measurements on the 400 with 8620's on a Neutrik test unit, and found that the LF response was ruler flat to below 10Hz, and beyond 26KHz.

I think the 8620's add a further level of clarity to the modules, but the difference is not night and day, as the standard input amps are already good

On the UCD 180 ...

Well I compared the UcD180 with my Accuphase E407 and a Tripath based Marantz, the UcD blows both of them away.

Comparing the power amp stage of the Accuphase E407, the UCD180 sounds cleaner, more dynamic, seems also to have faster better controlled bass.

Yes, the highs of UcD are something special. Cymbals suddenly sound like cymbals and much less like some noisy metal sound, the definition of the UcDs is really very good. You talk about a 1000 Euro amp, these guys blew away my 3000 Euro Accuphase amp (Accuphase amps are a lot cheaper in Japan than in Europe , that's why I bought one a few years ago).

They keep sounding clean, whatever the power level, I can turn up the volume much higher than with my previous amps, just because there is no harshness in the sound, it stays clean.

This is indeed very good value for money, maybe some people think they can not be that good since the price is so low.

On the UCD 180 ...

I've corrected the UCD impedance to match with my passive preamp what is surprising first is that the sound is not digital at all

Compared to my modified Panasonic saxr45 (TI equibit ) : it seems to have no distortion , very linear and a deep large and accurate presentation

The more i'm listening to the Ucd180 , i'am pleased with its natural tone , especially with the transient sounds very surprising !

On the UCD modules ...

In short, I can only congratulate Hypex on the UcD modules, take my hat off and say that the level of details and presence is far far beyond my ability to even try to express in English.

What I can say is that it almost scared me and definitely overwhelmed me when I listened to them the first few days, although I felt there was a bit of harshness in the presentation the first two or three days. 

But after that, the edges smoothened out and now I'm in HiFi Nirvana, or at least on the porch to Nirvana, since there are a few things left to do before I enter completely!

On the UCD modules ...

It difficult for me to evaluate in absolute terms, but at first the UcDs seemed very tizzy in the upper end with the treble sort of detached from the rest of the soundscape -- at least compared to my Plinius SA-100. That signature fortunately went away after leaving the UcDs playing for a couple of hours.

Now, after playing for a couple of days, the sound it good, very straight-forward with clear mids and firm bass -- and the top end is now integrating with the rest as it is supposed to. The top end is maybe not quite as smooth and easy on the ears compared to the Plinius running in class A mode, but then again, the Plinius has a dark/warm signature to it where the UcDs come across as more neutral. 

When playing loud it is easy to hear that the UcDs are more powerful. I think I prefer the mids of the UcDs over the slightly recessed mids of the Plinius. With the UcD, voices (both in music and in movies) are easier to understand than with the other amp

On the UCD 400 ...

These comments are for the ucd400 with ad8620, electrolytic coupling caps shorted, polypropylene 4.7 uF caps on the inputs for DC offset protection. No DC protection on outputs (yet).

Configured as monoblocks, power supply used is nothing special, 280 VA power transformer, 10,000 uF filter capacitor per rail, 61 volts per rail.

Speaker used is a ribbon/dynamic array of my own design, all dipole. The amplifier powers the dipole panel that covers 110hz on up. Preamp is a Sony TA-P9000es. Source material is SACD with a decent player, and some 24/96 material.

Generally: Very impressive! Better than Parasound hca1500a (much better), better than Audio Research D115kmII tube amp (hoped for but not really expected). This is my first experience with a switching amplifier in my own system. The ucd400 is better than D115mkII for massed vocals, cymbals/percussion, and bowed string instruments, which is very impressive for any solid state amp. This amp does all the right things with my speakers. The images break free from the speakers, the speakers sound as flat as they measure, etc.

Sound quality of the setup is very similar to a Martin Logan CLS with an all-tube amplifying chain, e.g., an Audio Research SP10mkII and D115mkII. Very transparent and "live sounding" over a broad range of music types. I get a very good "relaxation response" from this setup. These are first impressions. Long term experience may differ. This is the best sounding solid state amplifier in my experience, though I have no experience with the best solid state amplifiers of the past 10 years (e.g., Pass Labs x-series).

Really good loudspeakers benefit a great deal from using the highest quality amplification, and this amp seems to be worthy of the best (IMHO).

 List of Finished UCD 180 Projects

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38199&perpage=10&pagenumber=99

http://www.hififorum.nu/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=5&TOPIC_ID=32073&

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38199&perpage=10&pagenumber=79

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38199&perpage=10&pagenumber=24

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42146&perpage=10&pagenumber=74

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