Hypex was founded in 1996 by Jan-Peter van Amerongen as a supplier of amplifier subassemblies for active PA speakers. The products drew the attention of hi-fi speaker manufacturers, resulting first in a line of active subwoofer amplifiers, shortly followed by multichannel units with active cross-over filters for the studio market. 2003 saw the start of a migration of all products to class- D. After reviewing many class D technologies, Hypex selected the "Universal Class D" circuit from Philips. Realizing the market potential of the circuit, Hypex decided not only to use the technology in completed subassemblies, but also to sell bare amplifier modules to the open market. The UcD180, UcD400 and UcD700 modules have quickly established themselves as the new standard, both in terms of measured performance and subjective ratings. In 2005, Hypex decided to become a source of new innovations and a major player in the OEM class D market, and hired UcD's inventor, Bruno Putzeys, formerly Chief Engineer Class D Audio at Philips Applied Technologies. Hypex now serves many big name audiophile brands which previously couldn't find class D amplifiers meeting their stringent sound quality requirements. Standard products now span the range from 20W to 3kW and 2009 will see the introduction of a line of switch-mode power supplies to match, along with dedicated 100V systems and DSP platforms for active loudspeaker control.