Amplification
Hypex
Class D amplifier modules, plate amplifiers and DIY kits from Hypex Electronics — designed in the Netherlands, built in Malaysia.
The other half of the build
Choose the drivers, design the box, cut the wood — and then somebody asks what is going to drive it. For a passive kit, any competent amplifier will do. For an active one the amplifier goes inside the cabinet, and the field narrows very quickly. We now carry Hypex.
Hypex Electronics was founded in Groningen in 1996 and describes itself as “a world leading OEM specialist supplier, designer and manufacturer of Class D power amplifiers, power supplies, DSP solutions and plate amplifiers for the HiFi, High End and Pro Audio industry”. UcD arrived in 2003, NCORE in 2011, Nilai in 2023.
If that shape sounds familiar, it should — it is the same story as SB. A company spends two decades building the parts inside other people's products, gets very good at it, and then puts its own name on the box. Hypex Direct is that own-name channel for people who build their own: a dedicated DIY operation since 2016, renamed from DIYclassD in 2025.
Designed in Groningen. Built in Malaysia.
Since 2013 Hypex has manufactured at scale at Seetek EMS Sdn Bhd, its own Malaysian production affiliate — around 80 on-site engineers, craftspeople and production staff, working to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2015. Boards go from there to Groningen for final quality assurance before they reach the catalogue.
For anyone building in Singapore or Malaysia that is worth saying plainly: the amplifier module is made next door, to Dutch drawings, in a factory the maker owns outright. It is the same reason we are comfortable selling SB — the design house and the works answer to the same people.
FusionAmp — put the amplifier in the cabinet
Hypex calls the FusionAmp family its plate amplifier range: mains-powered NCORE amplification, a switch-mode supply and a DSP crossover on a single plate. One, two or three ways. You pick the model by how many drivers it has to feed, and how hard.
Inputs run to balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analogue, AES and S/PDIF digital with loop-through, and optical Toslink. Crossovers, levels, delay and channel assignment are set in Hypex Filter Design — free to download, Windows only, and the same tool that configures the DSP3 modules.
| Model | Ways | Into 4 Ω | Into 8 Ω |
|---|---|---|---|
| FA122 | 2 | 2 × 125 W | 2 × 75 W |
| FA123 | 3 | 2 × 125 W + 100 W | 3 × 75 W |
| FA251 | 1 | 250 W | 130 W |
| FA252 | 2 | 2 × 250 W | 2 × 150 W |
| FA253 | 3 | 2 × 250 W + 100 W | 2 × 150 W + 100 W |
| FA501 | 1 | 500 W | 270 W |
| FA502 | 2 | 2 × 500 W | 2 × 350 W |
| FA503 | 3 | 2 × 500 W + 100 W | 2 × 350 W + 100 W |
The three-way models keep the large channels for bass and midrange and add a 100 W channel for the tweeter, which is the right way round — a dome asks for far less. The two- and three-way models will also bridge, if what you want is one very large channel.
On the FA503, Hypex specifies 15 biquads per amplifier channel, IIR and FIR filters, and three selectable presets — enough to hold a full crossover, a room correction and a voicing you can switch between without opening the cabinet.
Nilai500 — a finished amplifier you build yourself
Nilai is Hypex's current Class D generation, released to the DIY market in 2023. The Nilai500 kits arrive as a complete amplifier in parts: the Nilai500 module, the PS500 supply, a matte black case, the internal harness, the input and front boards, the fixings, the instructions and the four keys you need to assemble it. Everything is in the box, and every part of it is specified.
Hypex rates it at 260 W into 8 Ω, 525 W into 4 Ω and 500 W into 2 Ω, with one balanced XLR input, a 12 V trigger and a gold-plated binding post set that will take banana, spade or bare wire. Mains input selects itself between 100–120 V and 200–240 V. Hypex specifies a five-year, 20,000-hour warranty on it.
There is a mono kit and a stereo kit. Mono is the honest answer for a big pair of floorstanders; stereo is the sensible one for everything else.
Modules, supplies and the rest of it
If you already have a chassis, Hypex Direct sells the boards on their own. The Nilai500 module, and the UcD line — UcD180HG and UcD400HG, both with the HxR regulator. Alongside them sit the SMPS switch-mode supplies, in a range of power ratings and output voltages so that a module and a supply can be paired exactly.
The catalogue also runs to a preamplifier kit, the PreDIGin digital add-on for it, and XLR interconnects. Tell us what you are building and we will tell you which combination Hypex intends for it — which is usually a shorter conversation than working it out from the datasheets.
Passive, active, or both
A passive loudspeaker puts one crossover between one amplifier and all of the drivers. An active one gives every driver its own amplifier channel and does the crossover in DSP, ahead of the power stage — so the filter is set in software, the levels between drivers are adjustable, and each amplifier looks at a single driver.
Both are legitimate. Passive is simpler, works the moment it is wired up, and is easy to pass on to the next owner. Active is what you choose when you want to keep tuning the loudspeaker after it is finished, or when the cabinet has to be small and you intend to make up the difference electrically.
Our kits are passive designs and we are not about to talk you out of them. But if you want to run one actively, or design something new around a FusionAmp and a set of SB drivers, that is a conversation worth having before you cut any wood.
Come and listen.
Bring your favourite tracks. Leave with something you'll keep for decades. No pressure, no commission-chasing.