HELIX H400 esprit

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nico boom
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HELIX H400 esprit

Post by nico boom »

I bought this amp because of it's reviews on the internet, and because it's so well build; just wanted to try one.
For the rated power it's a very, very small amp....
So I am driving it hard at this very moment, pushing it to it's [bridged]limits.
First things I noticed while first listening to it, are the amazing detail and placing of instruments in mid-air, speaker-placing is hard to detect with my eyes closed.
It playes with much more detail than the ms2250, which is powering the peerless xxls12 sub at this moment in bridged mode. [thanks Cecil].
There's unbelievable punch and detail coming from this small helix amp.
IMO; a GREAT [!] amp for SQ, don't try to drive some subs all day long with it ,because of the small heatsink.
There are 11 [!] diagnostic leds on the board, who light up when all is well.. romance ! :lol:
It has no heat problems in my setup, but my towers are 6 ohms, so the amp doesn't have to work so hard, and the low-pass signal goes into the 2250.
These amps are common found around here as used amps, as they are made in Germany, our neighbours.
There's a whole range of this series, all well designed and with very promising specs.

www.audiotec-fischer.com [in German..]
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twisted
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Post by twisted »

cool, i have wondered how those amps perform......kinda wanted to try them out and see how they sound.


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stipud
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Post by stipud »

Awesome! TO-3 outputs. I also like the way they shield their torroids. Fischer makes some good stuff... I wish it was easier to come by here.
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Post by 1moreamp »

They are very nice amps. I worked on one a while back that had been abused and was in protection. When over driven there is a ground link in the RCA ground that blows like a fuse on these. Once I had repaired that the amp played again.
It is superbly small, and seems to be well manufactured. its a shame its a discontinued model. These amps will fit anywhere inside of a car or truck or even a boat. The latter I do not recommend as these amps have not been treated for corrosion prevention.
SQ was very good, source dependent, but noticeably clean and well defined. For its size its a shocker. I account for some of its SQ because of extensive shielding used in the power supply section. These people understood their are noise issues in the average car amp.
Hope you enjoy it Nico.... :)


PS the same amp is on e-bay right now for $469.00 I think :?:
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bdubs767
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Post by bdubs767 »

Ive also heard overheating was a problem w/ these amps due to the small heatsink.
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nico boom
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Post by nico boom »

Well, after playing it LOUD this whole afternoon, the sink is warm, not hot.
[as I expected with that 6 ohm load, 50hz high-pass]
It's rather shocking to hear details that I've never heard before, on material that I know very well....
I consider it a bargain for the $240 that I payed for it, and I already found the silver ones for less.
For now, it drives my towers, and the bridged ms2250 brings the sub alive very well. :shock:
nico
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Post by GlasSman »

Nice amps.

What kind of power supply do you have it hooked up to?
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nico boom
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Post by nico boom »

This one.
Because I'm playing it on my towers [6 OHM] ,it does not draw much current though.
Nico
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GlasSman
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Post by GlasSman »

ThAt power supply is jammed FULL.

They don't make 'em like that anymore.

What vintage is that?
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freshkryp69
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Re:

Post by freshkryp69 »

nico boom wrote:This one.
Because I'm playing it on my towers [6 OHM] ,it does not draw much current though.
Nico
whats the brand name of that power supply? where can 1 be bought?
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Re: HELIX H400 esprit

Post by trickyricky »

That's a serious power supply, look at all those caps..mine only has one, this one looks like at least 6 of them.
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Drock
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Re: HELIX H400 esprit

Post by Drock »

Makes my 80 amp kinetics look like toys. Lol. ( probably are compared to your beast.
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nico boom
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Re: HELIX H400 esprit

Post by nico boom »

I don't know the brand anymore, just that it was [conservatively] rated for 100 Amps continously.
The person I bought it from demonstrated "that it was fully working" by short-cicuiting the outputs with a piece of finger-thick iron....the rod melted.
It was WAY overkill for a home-install; highest powersurge I measured was about 10 amps.

Take a good battery, charge it at night, unplug charger during the day; clean power enough for two-three amplifiers.
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Re: HELIX H400 esprit

Post by trickyricky »

No doubt its a 100amp supply, especially if it can pull 10amps from the wall socket. Wish I had one.
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