Anyone listening to their Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps with the 994 op amps and new input board? ....

Folks,

any updates on how the Nord sounds. I want to pull the trigger but waiting for some feedback. If I have heard the Veritas and liked it, will I be disappointed with the Nord w/ SI 994 Opamp ?

Between, I have borrowed the Audio sensibility Statement and Signature power cables from my friend to compare on the DAC and Preamp and liked it very much. The Signature is just superb on the DAC but not so on the Preamp. However, I had been using Acoustic Zen Grangatua II & Absolute and Shunyata Alpha digital for sometime now.

When I compared all these to Audio sensibility I had some interesting results - The Statement is very fast (because of the OCC coper) and detailed but has a narrowed soundstage than either the Grangatua or Absolute when I tried it on the Preamp (Cary SLP-05). The Acoustic Zen power cables are just terrific and has a huge soundstage & musical which I am yet to get from any power cords I have tried so far but they are a tad slower than the Audio Sensibility. On the Preamp, the Absolute beats any of them - more natural tones than the Grangatua but similar dynamics and soundstage.

On the DAC (PS Audio Directstream and Schiit Yggdrasil), the Audio Sensibility Signature was excellent and did cut down digital glares quiet a bit (I think because of the Bybee and especial filter Steve uses) and beats the Shunyata handily. In fact, Absolute didn't fair well on the DAC and posed quiet a narrow soundstage. Interestingly, the Grangatua did a lot better than the Absolute and sounded very similar to the AudioSensibility Signature.

I haven't tried the Audio Sensibility on the amps and the results could be very different. I remember when the NC400 DIY came out, folks preferred to use the Triode Wire labs.

Is there any suggested power cord for the Nords ?
 
nc42acc said:
Mike I am holding judgement until I can try some different buffer op amps.
Click to expand...

How would you compare them how they are with the NC400's? I had the NC400's for 4 years and I've extensively compared them with my NC-500 with my SIL-994 based buffer. However they weren't the Nord buffers. So I would like to know how your assessment compares with mine.
 
The SIL-994 is about as close to the NC-400's of any of the opamp's I've tried. Only I, along with several others who heard my boards, find them more natural, and rich all around. More like pure music. And the measurements back it up as well. It's not "Euphoric distortions" causing this. If your experience differs from this in any way, it sounds like a board problem. Changing opamp's won't likely fix the problem.
 
I'm using a pair of NC400/SMPS600 mono now, would the NC500 w/994 opamps or NC1200 be a big step-up. My speakers do go down to 1ohm, more power would not hurt.
 
Welcome to the forum PeteG, thank you for joining.
 
PeteG said:
I'm using a pair of NC400/SMPS600 mono now, would the NC500 w/994 opamps or NC1200 be a big step-up. My speakers do go down to 1ohm, more power would not hurt.
Click to expand...

They are a big step up at my place. But I haven't heard Nord's implementation of their 994 based input buffer yet. I haven't seen measurement data either.
 
PeteG said:
Thanks guys, any info on the input buffer you are using.
Click to expand...

I have tried all sorts of buffers with the NC500's. All I can say is the buffer is everything with these amps. The NC-500 module is only an output stage. How it sounds is set with the buffer. My latest buffer experiment cost me 10x what the NC-500 modules cost themselves. But worth every penny :)
 
Mivera Audio said:
My latest buffer experiment cost me 10x what the NC-500 modules cost themselves. But worth every penny :)
Click to expand...

Wow, with that kind of cost it should be at a totally different level. So I guess what I need to know is how the Nord's 994/burson input buffer's SQ compares to the NC400.
 
PeteG said:
Wow, with that kind of cost it should be at a totally different level. So I guess what I need to know is how the Nord's 994/burson input buffer's SQ compares to the NC400.
Click to expand...

There's only 1 guy on here who's compared. And he's not saying much. I have only heard Nord's last board version and it had an issue with the 994's and a noise floor higher than it should have had. But still sounded good.
 
Last pair was Moon W5 mono's, I've had quite a few over the years (mine or just tried). I've settled on the Hypex sound, I've listened to the NC1200 quite a few times just not with my speakers.
 
PeteG said:
Last pair was Moon W5 mono's, I've had quite a few over the years (mine or just tried). I've settled on the Hypex sound, I've listened to the NC1200 quite a few times just not with my speakers.
Click to expand...

I sold a NC-500 based amp to a guy with the Moon w-5's. No comparison. It put them to shame.
 
Hi
i have the new rev d boards i started with the sparkos op amp whilst weighty and open in the midrange ,treble sounded fuzzy,so i switched to the sonic imagery enh 994 wonderful open soundstage light in the bass, and open in the treble ,lots of detail but with a natural warmth,in the end the lightweight presentation proved too much so switched back to the sparkos ,after 300 more hours they have opened up superbly treble much more open and airy midrange same as sonic imagery but with a bit more body to it and the bass has taken on a new character not just weight but definition too ,i do prefer the sparkos they are not too far apart in presentation both op amps, it depends how you like your music for me more body to it is good ,the levels of details are on a par so i will stick with the sparkos.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top