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

I know! Crazy, but oh, the humanity of it all. 👍😺

It’s just crazy, but true. Mine just went from great to fantastic. The sound stage is shocking at times. I was happy. Now I’m ecstatic.

Originally Posted by Mr Underhill

A week or so ago I took possession of my Nord One UP NC500 3 Channel Mk II with SI 990 Op Amps. This is intended to replace my EAR Yoshino 534 main amp plus an old bolt together Naim NAP 250 that I use for center channel duties. Source = Linn Klimax DS/1 Renew, LP12/Aro/Geddon or Oppo 105D Preamp = EAR Yoshino 868 Speakers = Focal 1008be II + BK XXLS-400DF Sub. The things that I immediately noticed were the detail resolution and the linear subterranean bass. Along with this I also noticed that some of the magic had disappeared from the mid-range, more anon. The Oppo acts as pre-amp, stream renderer & DAC, using the ESS Sabre DAC chips. I was taken with just how good this is. Historically I have tried using it as just a DAC, and started threads noting what good VFM it is, and this is more than reconfirmed here; have I wasted money on my Linn & 868? For me the short answer is NO, but the gap I would note would be in shrug territory for the female members of my household. With the Linn + 868 I gain 3D soundfield and texture. But, as I sit here typing this I am listening to the Oppo very happily. When I first started playing the Nord on of the tracks I played was Alicia Keys, Girl on Fire, Brand New Me. Now as the track progresses it shifts gears and just blossoms, at least it does via the 868/534. With the 868/Nord all the detail was there, and more, but the that dynamic shift of gears just failed to appear, at least to the extent I am used to. So, time to exercise some patience and play the amp in. I am probably 50 hours in, in terms of playing music and AV through the amp, and there are definite changes, not night and day. The bass and detail are still remarkable, but as it plays in a certain mid/high frequency sharpness is relaxing; and Alicia Keys? Well, the dynamics does grow, what doesn't quiet get to the same level is the vocal magic I get with the 534. A friend of mine has a Naim uber system: CD555/PS555DR > 552/555DR > 500 > Focal 1028be. This is probably the best sounding Naim system I have heard, although I have listened to more expensive setups. The one area that my system bests his has been female vocals. I believe currently with the Nord this aspect has moved back a shade, but in the area of detail and bass heft it has moved forward. So, pleased or disappointed? Very pleased. The amp may eventually replicate all the strong points of the 534, if it does GREAT. My suspicion is that it has its own strengths and that it will perform well in other areas which are the 534's strengths. It will be VERY interesting in a few weeks to re-connect the 534. As a side note: The Nord is brilliant for AV as well.

Well, I had a bit of a disaster a couple of weeks ago when our cats destroyed one of my Focal 1008be. A couple of friends cam to the rescue and loaned me some speakers, both very good but I have fallen in love with a pair of Mk I Naim SBLs. Now how do a factor in the changes to the Nord over time, well i simply cannot. But the combination of the Oppo, Nord & SBLs is excellent. But it is improved upon with the Linn/EAR, and yes, the female vocal magic is back. Whether it is the Nord working better with the SBLs, the Nord bedding in, or a combination of both who knows? I am one happy chappy. M

😼😹🥂🤑👀🙀👍

Interesting review of the Rev D boards: https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/nord2/ The review is not an uncritical recommendation, although he is comparing his MB to some rather expensive and excellent amps. Knowing how long these things can take to bring online I asked Srajan what burn in he had allowed, 'A few weeks ....'. He is continuing to use it in combination with a Nagra Pre when listening to some Raal Requisite ribbon headphones where he thoroughly enjoyed them, so after a while maybe he will revisit them with his speakers?

Hi Matias,

Yes he did. As he is continuing to use the amps with his headphone setup I am hoping that after a while he will try again, as my experience with most of us here is that the opamps take a lot of breaking in.

I find that the SI 990s are plenty warm enough in combination with the Supra power cable .....which is something I didn't ask Srajan about, and I don't recall him mentioning ....I will go and re-read it.

M

I can’t stand that guy’s reviews. Everything is a study in tactical semantic ambiguity. Damning a great product with faint praise....🤯💩

Originally Posted by Samoyed

I can’t stand that guy’s reviews. Everything is a study in tactical semantic ambiguity. Damning a great product with faint praise....勞

Depends on how I am feeling, they tend to be a bit of a meander!

Sure. I’m just offering my gratuitous, antecedent opinion that 6 moons is a psuedo-sesquipedalian and a genuine hose bag. 🙀

Now, that’s just me....🥴

Indubidably

As I said....

Wish I could but I’d be on cat food for months. My MK II will have to do! I expect the preamp will be a terrific pairing with a Nord amp. 👍🤑👀😿

Originally Posted by Matias

6moons tests Rev D. Praises for "flexi-fi" opamps rolling. Chooses the brighter SI opamps, and concludes the amp is "leaner and with lower harmonics" as the other references. Why not test Sparkos opamps instead?? Go figure...

I get the feeling SixLoons favors a sonic aesthetic similar to his writing and web design. The more neutral gear which I own or would like to own (NC500, W4S STP-SE) seems to be more admired than loved.

Originally Posted by boggit

Our new state of the art TVC/AVC pre amp, 2 balanced 4 RCA inputs, balanced and RCS Pre out TFT Screen, Remote control, Auto line level matching.
100-240V compatible £1995.00 We are offering £200 rebate for forum reviews for the first 5 customers wishing to take up the offer.
Nord One TVC-PRE 1 BLK QTR_edited.png

Can you tell us anything about the transformer used in this preamp? Are they the same SILK units used by ICON?

Difficult? How about obtuse, patently ambiguous, and fatuous? But, that’s just me....🙉🙈🙊

Not to mention a stinking fog of intellectual doubt... ��

Stop holding back and tell us how you really feel!

Originally Posted by KLH007

Stop holding back and tell us how you really feel!

O.K., 6buffoons , 12 monkeys or whatever he may be, is, as the Chinese say, a running dog. 💩

Relevant? Really? It’s a forum, which invites discussion. Reasonable people can disagree. I disagree. I think he is an arse.

Whoa-assumptions.... pop, pop, pop....

😱

🌬🌬🌬

And, he is STILL prolix and ambiguous.

I tend to agree with Jack on this one. I've read a number of reviews on 6moons which I've found helpful, many of which are on lessor known brands. I wish there were more review sites like 6moons.

While I believe that the Sparkos op amps are better choice for some systems, such as mine, the nice thing about the Nord is that you have a choice.

One of the things I like about Srajan is that he replies to emails. In the review he loved the Nord in one application, and preferred a FAR more expensive amp in another. As he is continuing to use the Nord in the first setup I hope he may return to use it in the second at some point in the future; but, the review is not negative as such, just not a wholehearted endorsement under all circumstances.

My beef is with his psuedo intellectual style. Nothing he writes is clear and unambiguous, and using arcane metaphors in a highly subjective field is little more than circumlocution for its own sake. He is more full of crap than a Christmas goose. And, yes, reasonable people can disagree: SI, or Sparkos isn’t the issue. 🌬🌬🌬🌬

Yes, I think that is a reasonable critique. I don't think I have ever read one of his reviews and been able to simply digest the content, it has always taken a second even a third read.

For anyone who likes his style, that’s fine. This is a forum, and it is not metaphysics Monday. That he promotes anything is the task he has undertaken, and indeed, his stock in trade. Surely those logos all over his site are there for a pecuniary reason.... I will say this, at times I find his apparent enthusiasm refreshing. 👀

prolix adjective
pro·​lix | \ prō-ˈliks , ˈprō-(ˌ)liks \
Definition of prolix
1 : unduly prolonged or drawn out : too long
2 : marked by or using an excess of words

Now, for those who have their arses over their shoulders and are blinded by their biases to intended Socratic irony passing as humor in mimicry, I sincerely apologize-or as “he” might say, please accept my least sincere, most ambiguous and lugubrious.... 🕳

Chef d’oeuvre, dog doovre, whatever.... You, like Oliver Wendell Holmes, are right. Nothing validates a bad idea like a good one.

Yes, like the nether region, he is “around.” 🥴

I must recant a bit and say I do on occasion enjoy the unintended humor in his publications.

It is supposed to be...see ‘Socratic irony,” Supra. Demonstrating the proposition by mimicry is called satire. Apparently, the purposeful irony, showing how such form obscures substance, was either too subtle or too ambiguous. 😱

Hu.

Sparkos vs Si question to those who have tried both:

Other than warmth, is there any other difference between the two op amps? I guess am wondering if the Sparkos has a better soundstage, especially depth over the SI?

I'm ready to order a Rev 2 for my center channel, so now would be the time to make the switch to the Sparkos if I'm going to give them a try.

Thanks, and what was Colin's reference to tubes and the NC500 about in his email?

I found the SI to have slightly more detail, that’s all I heard.

Duplicate removed.

Rah, I’ve got 4 SI op amps with about 200/300 hours on them if you are interested.

Thanks all. I think I'll give the Sparkos a try sometime this summer.