Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

**MikeCh** · June 30, 2016, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by tomy2

MikeCh-

When switching or rolling op amps after the amps run for 3-500 hours, since they run class A do you just need the amp to be on for them to settle/burn in versus having to have a signal run through it?

I believe that the NC500 amps (amp modules and power supplies) and any op amp modules that you wish to try out all need break in time with signal. After that period, leaving the amps powered on just short cuts the warm up time (from cold) before listening.

**tomy2** · June 30, 2016, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

I believe that the NC500 amps (amp modules and power supplies) and any op amp modules that you wish to try out all need break in time with signal. After that period, leaving the amps powered on just short cuts the warm up time (from cold) before listening.

Thanks Mike

**tomy2** · June 30, 2016, 02:13 PM

Just wanted to say thanks to those that reply to questions and answer pm's. I know it's not in everybody's dna to be helpful, so to those that take the time to share their knowledge and experience it is much appreciated from those of us who aren't quite there yet in being an experienced audiophile.

**rah50** · June 30, 2016, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by tomy2

Just wanted to say thanks to those that reply to questions and answer pm's. I know it's not in everybody's dna to be helpful, so to those that take the time to share their knowledge and experience it is much appreciated from those of us who aren't quite there yet in being an experienced audiophile.

+1

**Devg** · June 30, 2016, 02:22 PM

How do you guys power the Nords ? Does it go through a power conditioner or straight to the wall ?

**MikeCh** · June 30, 2016, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by Devg

How do you guys power the Nords ? Does it go through a power conditioner or straight to the wall ?

I was running them straight to the wall (dedicated 20amp circuit) then I recently installed a PS Audio Dectet 10 outlet isolation strip. I can't say that the Dectet has taken away any sonic goodness from the amps that I've noticed.

During the summer months we get frequent lightning storms and with the Dectet now installed I can unplug gear from the wall when needed much easier / quicker than before.

**MikeCh** · June 30, 2016, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by tomy2

Thanks Mike

You bet.

**boggit** · June 30, 2016, 02:34 PM

I have to say this is the most constructive, non confrontational, Intelligent Audio forum's I have come across. I wish you all a happy Independence Day on the 4th. Lets hope our recent controversial decision works out as well!

**joeinid** · June 30, 2016, 02:51 PM

Thank you so much for the kind words, Colin. We wish you well. You make a special product. Thank you for your support here and via phone/email/website.

Love the amps!

Originally Posted by boggit

I have to say this is the most constructive, non confrontational, Intelligent Audio forum's I have come across. I wish you all a happy Independence Day on the 4th. Lets hope our recent controversial decision works out as well!

**rah50** · June 30, 2016, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Devg

How do you guys power the Nords ? Does it go through a power conditioner or straight to the wall ?

Good question!

I just added my listening room on to the house, so I have four 20 amp dedicated circuits to play with plus a Panamax M5300-PM and some old Tice power conditioners. So I'm not sure how to split things among the circuits and conditioners. Almost everything will be Class D amps with SMPS supplies, including powered woofers and subs and probably the new OLED TV, everything except the DAC and LPS running the MircoRendu and misc goodies like FMC's. I guess a lot of experimentation is in order. So would love some thoughts too!

Also this brings up the question of power cords. I'm starting with some reasonably priced Pangea's I have on hand but never really tested as to whether they made any improvement.

**rah50** · June 30, 2016, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by boggit

I have to say this is the most constructive, non confrontational, Intelligent Audio forum's I have come across. I wish you all a happy Independence Day on the 4th. Lets hope our recent controversial decision works out as well!

Indeed, and some folks with very good equipment providing them some very good experience.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 06:16 PM

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**joeinid** · July 1, 2016, 06:27 PM

Now you are getting smart Mike!

**Devg** · July 1, 2016, 06:30 PM

Wow Mike. How does it sound and what was your previous amp ?

**tomy2** · July 1, 2016, 06:32 PM

So who's the Nerd amp owner now?

**George47** · July 1, 2016, 06:45 PM

Ok Guys, another data point.

I have a friend who is an electronics experts looking after the instrumentation at one of the UK's universities. He was intrigued by my comments on the Nords so having done his own research we met up tonight to try my stereo Nords in his system. On getting there he asked tons of questions of which I could only answer a handful. The first thing to do, whip off the top. On closer inspection he had analysed the circuit and and then there were a lot of approving noises and nods. Top back on.

OK everything connected into to his system. His system consists of a Linn Klimax DSM (top dog), a Linn Akurate power amp (4x100w amps), a pair of Townsend Glastonbury loudspeakers with a ribbon tweeter and super-tweeter. The system was wired up with Nordost Frey/Heimdall. After letting the system warm up (38.4C on the top of the case) on goes the music. Rather than wade through all the music played here are the edited highlights. Playing a modern compressed track from Ed Sheeran. First track 'One' starts with a simple guitar tune. All the fretboard noise were there together with the sound of the strings as a solid image of a guitar and then in comes the voice. 'This amp allows me to hear all the cracks in his voice'; I knew exactly what he meant. The next album of note was classical and had a well recorded kettle drum. It was easy to hear the skin on the drum being hit and resonating accompanied by the air in the drum vibrating and then the sound gently decaying away in a large hall. We listened to a lot of test music but in the end gave up and just listened to the music. What fun with the tennis on the big screen and a collection of great tunes being played. The comments started as 'an interesting amp' , 'I am hearing things that I have not heard before', ' the detail in this tune is amazing', I want one of these amps', 'I want one of these amps as soon as physically possible'

And then the sad bit.

Back in goes the Linn Akurate. It is a good amp but where were the dynamics and why was the bass heavy? The sound was now murky and unclear. Ho hum.....

This guy is very picky about his sound and understands electronic circuits in detail. For him to be impressed, we had to have an impressive product.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Devg

Wow Mike. How does it sound ?

We are getting some loud popping (scares the sh!t out of me). Jerry has the same problem but had hoped the new opAmp solved it.

Does anyone know what might be causing that? Is it just a problem with his particular amps or have others had experienced something similar?

Otherwise, for their price point, nice! This new opAmp has a nice warmth to it compared to the opAmp Jerry originally used. The bass balance is excellent. Not too much, not too little. Bass heavy speakers...ah hem...Raidho's....could be a great match for these little babies. I found they have good separation and create a nice wide soundstage after warmup. They are also able to flush out minute details in the recording, something you just don't often hear at this price point. Very clean.

I would like more experimenting to determine a few more attributes and whether the 400 watt power rating is accurate. I have often found some class D power ratings don't seem to match real world experiences. But nothing here has given me cause for this concern. Vocals are not as fleshed out as you would hear with a tube amp or class A and I detect a little excess sibilance. Amps costing many multiples more will give you more 3D and create more of a holographic image. These little amps transform more than most with a little bit of a warm up. Tonality seems better than I've heard with other Class D amps I've owned, but getting tone right has always been a niggly point for me with respect to Class D amps. More time and more listening is required, but good so far. I would like to see different speaker terminals used, I found bananas slip out rather easily. Single ended convenience connections would be nice too, but that understandably adds cost. But for $1600 and given where class D amps have been in the past (sonically), nice! Hats off to Colin.

I agree with what many of you have found: these amps would not be embarrassed against many sub-$5-$10k A/B amps and compared to other Class D amps, even those costing much more, these little amps can hold their heads high.

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**Dizzie** · July 1, 2016, 06:58 PM

38.4 degrees C is about 101 degrees F. I thought these amps ran cool.

**a.wayne** · July 1, 2016, 07:20 PM

Mike's room is 105 ......

**a.wayne** · July 1, 2016, 07:22 PM

Mike would you be able to try them with the shortest speaker leads you have as close as possible to the speakers ...

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Mike would you be able to try them with the shortest speaker leads you have as close as possible to the speakers ...

Huh? I have 2 meter.

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**a.wayne** · July 1, 2016, 07:40 PM

Can you go closer , cut one of Steve's .....

The shorter lead may eliminate noise....

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Can you go closer , cut one of Steve's .....

LOL! No...all are 2 meter or less. I have some lamp cord in the garage I could cut, but why?

**Devg** · July 1, 2016, 07:42 PM

Mike, did the Amp break-in for 300hrs as others report its a must ?

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by Devg

Mike, did the Amp break-in for 300hrs as others report its a must ?

Yes. Even more. Jerry has been running it 24/7 for months. Are you asking because of the popping sound? Jerry and I were hypothesizing. Could it be some sort of static electricity build up? Seems unlikely in humid Florida, but who knows? If no one else has experienced this oddity, my guess is that its something with Jerry's particular amps.

But it's a good thing my chairs are brown.

**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 07:53 PM

Mike,

No popping here. When are you experiencing this issue?

Which op amps are you running right now?

**a.wayne** · July 1, 2016, 07:54 PM

Class-D work best with very short speaker leads .....

**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Class-D work best with very short speaker leads .....

I'm running 2.0M + 4" (7'-0") speaker cables with no issues.

Did you visit Colorado recently and pick up some wacky tobacky?

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

Mike,

No popping here. When are you experiencing this issue?

Which op amps are you running right now?

Only in the first 5 minutes. If I shut the amps down, wait 10 seconds turn them on, they pop 2-3 times in the first 5 minutes. I unplugged everything, waited 10 minutes, tried again and same thing. I'm confident it's just these amps. Going to keep trying.

The opAmps are the 994's.

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**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:02 PM

After the first 5 minutes, they run perfect. No more popping.

Going to try it a few more times tonight.

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**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Only in the first 5 minutes. If I shut the amps down, wait 10 seconds turn them on, they pop 2-3 times in the first 5 minutes. I unplugged everything, waited 10 minutes, tried again and same thing. I'm confident it's just these amps. Going to keep trying.

The opAmps are the 994's.

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Yeah, that sounds suspect.

Are you using the same power cables Jerry has been using? If so, maybe try throwing on a pair of non-audiophile versions just to see if maybe the termination design of the "audiophile" power cables might be playing fits with the amps.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

Yeah, that sounds suspect.

Are you using the same power cables Jerry has been using? If so, maybe try throwing on a pair of non-audiophile versions just to see if maybe the termination design of the "audiophile" power cables might be playing fits with the amps.

That's a great idea. He included those in the box. Will try that tonight.

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**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

After the first 5 minutes, they run perfect. No more popping.

Going to try it a few more times tonight.

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You might power them off, remove the covers and make sure all the various Molex nylon connectors on the boards and/or cables (including the op amps and sockets) are all seated well. Basically, make sure nothing is loose that shouldn't be.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

You might power them off, remove the covers and make sure all the various Molex nylon connectors or cables (including the op amps and sockets) are all seated well.

Ok, will try that too. Thanks!!

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**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Ok, will try that too. Thanks!!

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You bet. Short of that, it may just be that there's a bad component somewhere that's having problems. But, if it's both channels that's what makes me wonder about the power cables. Having a capacitor or other discreet component on one of the boards go wonky is one thing, but if its in both channels unlikely a component. The other common denominator would then be the power cables if you're using the same ones Jerry had been using.

Trying a pair of standard computer-grade 16awg molded IC to Edison power cords would at least let you know if the problem remains or goes away.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

You bet. Short of that, it may just be that there's a bad component somewhere that's having problems. But, if it's both channels that's what makes me wonder about the power cables. Having a capacitor or other discreet component on one of the boards go wonky is one thing, but if its in both channels unlikely a component. The other common denominator would then be the power cables if you're using the same ones Jerry had been using.

Trying a pair of standard computer-grade 16awg molded IC to Edison power cords would at least let you know if the problem remains or goes away.

I will definitely try that.

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**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:17 PM

Popping aside Mike, if you leave the amps powered on overnight and give a listen in the morning (after normal warm up of your other front end gear per usual) you could be pleasantly surprised at their performance. It seems the longer I leave my amps on, the better they sound.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

Popping aside Mike, if you leave the amps powered on overnight and give a listen in the morning (after normal warm up of your other front end gear per usual) you could be pleasantly surprised at their performance. It seems the longer I leave my amps on, the better they sound.

I already am. I thought I wrote that? But I will leave them on tonight.

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**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by Dizzie

38.4 degrees C is about 101 degrees F. I thought these amps ran cool.

That seems off to me too Dizzie. Maybe the stereo Nord amp runs warmer than the Mono version? I believe George has the stereo version....

**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

I already am. I thought I wrote that? But I will leave them on tonight.

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You did, I'm just saying they sound better when left on and warm/stable.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

You did, I'm just saying they sound better when left on and warm/stable.

I could definitely hear that today and noted it in my comments. You can leave them on all day no worries.

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**Devg** · July 1, 2016, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

That seems off to me too Dizzie. Maybe the stereo Nord amp runs warmer than the Mono version? I believe George has the stereo version....

The Veritas monoblocks that I had for a short time earlier ran cool and nowhere closer to 101deg. My Pass gets pretty bad. I thought that in Nords the opamps where only class A and draws only few watts ?

**Jack** · July 1, 2016, 08:46 PM

Mike

As you are a tube guy at heart you might like the Sparko's op amps better than the SI's.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by Jack

Mike

As you are a tube guy at heart you might like the Sparko's op amps better than the SI's.

I could be wrong, but I think those are the ones Jerry first had??

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**MikeCh** · July 1, 2016, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by Devg

The Veritas monoblocks that I had for a short time earlier ran cool and nowhere closer to 101deg. My Pass gets pretty bad. I thought that in Nords the opamps where only class A and draws only few watts ?

I just measured my Nord mono's on top of the case with my wife's digital cooking probe/thermo.....83F.

That's pretty cool.

**Jack** · July 1, 2016, 08:53 PM

I thought Jerry had the Bursons as he was looking for detail.

**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by Jack

I thought Jerry had the Bursons as he was looking for detail.

You could be right. I forget. I like these ones.

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**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

I just measured my Nord mono's on top of the case with my wife's digital cooking probe/thermo.....83F.

That's pretty cool.

I didn't notice any abnormal heat either.

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**Mike** · July 1, 2016, 08:58 PM

One thing I forgot to mention was how good the packaging was.

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**tomy2** · July 1, 2016, 09:01 PM

Mike-

Is the blue light on the front really that bright or is it just the camera picking it up?

Thread: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

Re: Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....