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

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Showroom Dummies said:
I have recently bought a Nord One SE UP NC500DM Stereo Silver but have another week to wait before it arrives.

I will be connecting it to a Roksan Caspian M-Series 1 preamp but a lot of owners are using passive preamps, and so I'm wondering if I should aswell.

Has anyone tried the PP10?

I can't post a link due to not having 10 posts.
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mrcrowley said:
Hello guys, this is my first message in this beautyfull forum.
I am really interested in Class D amplifier. I did follow since NCore 400 came out for DIY.
Then I bought an integrated Rega Elicit-R, because of semplify setup. I have ProAc D15 speakers.
Now I read a lot of new class D amp, Hypex NC500, Pascal S-Pro2 (Red Dragon S-500), Nuprime ST-10 and Lyngdorf SDA2400.
For NC500 I found that someone use OPA1612. Does someone hear it compare to SI994 ??
What do you know about Nuprime and Lyngdorf amp ??
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Nobody tells something on OPA1612 ??? I find that are well renowned and recommended on many forums.
For my ProAc D15 should be better go for NC500 or NC250MP is enough ??
NORD says that MP are 85-90% of classic NC500, but I don't understand in which aspects. Sound or just power ??
Byee
 
Showroom Dummies said:
I have recently bought a Nord One SE UP NC500DM Stereo Silver but have another week to wait before it arrives.

I will be connecting it to a Roksan Caspian M-Series 1 preamp but a lot of owners are using passive preamps, and so I'm wondering if I should aswell.

Has anyone tried the PP10?

I can't post a link due to not having 10 posts.
Click to expand...

not tried it but heard a lot about the pp10 . a lot of people rave about the hattor passive

if you look on the music first audio news site , half way down you will see a link for musgrave article at hifi critic on passive pre amps . its well worth a look

https://mfaudio.co.uk/latest-news/

having had about 10 passives , my fav is the copper mark 2 classic which is around 1k s/h or more
 
hifinutt said:
not tried it but heard a lot about the pp10 . a lot of people rave about the hattor passive

if you look on the music first audio news site , half way down you will see a link for musgrave article at hifi critic on passive pre amps . its well worth a look



having had about 10 passives , my fav is the copper mark 2 classic which is around 1k s/h or more
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Thanks for the link. I'll have a read.
 
I have a lot to think about.
Depending on which passive preamp is used, it makes a difference to what sound you get.
As I have never heard a passive preamp, what exactly is the difference compared to conventional preamp, such as my Roksan Caspian?

But how do I go about testing these different preamps without buying them first?
I have the money do to this, but then it's the hassle of having to sell the ones I don't want or if I'm lucky sending them back for a refund.

Power cables and XLR cables affect the sound aswell. Do I buy different cables and see which is best.......?

My amp is coming with the Sonic Imagery 994 (which seems to be the best) but some like the Sparkos Labs SS3602.

I listen to a very wide range of music so it might be best to try the Sparkos Labs SS3602, once the SI 994 has a good few hours use.
 
Showroom Dummies said:
I have a lot to think about.
Depending on which passive preamp is used, it makes a difference to what sound you get.
As I have never heard a passive preamp, what exactly is the difference?
Click to expand...

I think I've written about my experience from going with built in volume control in my DAC to a passive preamp (Music First), and it was nothing but a shocking experience. I still today cannot believe what a difference it made, and before I bought it I was actually afraid I wouldn't hear any difference as I thought passive are supposed to be "truly neutral". The Music First is a bit different than many other passives though as it's transformer based, but considering you are in UK and close to manufacturer I would deeply recommend it if it's within your budget.

Showroom Dummies said:
Power cables and XLR cables are the same.
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Hmm... The same as what? Power cables especially has in my experience the most dramatic effect of all cables. The Nord responded extremely well when I upgraded my power cables, and after some testings I put the best one I had on the Nord as it gained the most of it in my system. But of course, there will always be those who believes in cables and those who don't. I believe in what I hear... :)

Showroom Dummies said:
My amp is coming with the Sonic Imagery 994 (which seems to be the best) but some like the Sparkos Labs SS3602.

I listen to a very wide range of music so it might be best to try the Sparkos Labs SS3602, once the SI 994 has a good few hours use.
Click to expand...

I had the SI994 as well, and unfortunately never got around trying the Sparkos. But be aware, as I think was mentioned before, burn in time takes forever.... just keep it playing for as long as you can....
 
What a great reply to a question asking about what the difference is, just saying the difference was huge... :) Sorry about that, but I guess explaining in more detail how it's actually technically different from one thing to another is not so easy and probably something for another topic, and especially for somebody else than me. I can just say that for ME, adding this preamp made a huge impact on dynamics and soundstage, everything gained in authority and felt stronger or how to explain it. I don't have much experience in trying other preamps though, passives or actives, as I honestly was trying to live without one.... :)
 
@VoiceInMyHead:

What has happened to your amp?

I will have to start a new thread about passive preamps, but I do like the look of Hattor, but you mentioned that the Music First preamp is transformer based and I guess the Hattor is not.
Wonder if that makes a lot of difference?
 
Showroom Dummies said:
@VoiceInMyHead:

What has happened to your amp?

I will have to start a new thread about passive preamps, but I do like the look of Hattor, but you mentioned that the Music First preamp is transformer based and I guess the Hattor is not.
Wonder if that makes a lot of difference?
Click to expand...

DHL came and took my amp away today, off it went to a new happy owner... right now it's greatly missed as I don't have a replacement for it yet. I loved my Nord, it was absolutely amazing. Don't let my foolishness impact how you feel about your purchase though, I can guarantee you that you will be just as happy as I have been. I'm just so restless and want to try new things, and my deal with myself is to not build a hifi museum at home, if something new comes along, something old has to leave.

I was also interested in the Hattor for a while, I think a lot of people in this thread have been or are using it with great success.

It's always difficult when it's not possible to listen to products before buying them, the only real way to know how something works is to listen in your own home, with your own system. I do a lot of reading and research before I buy something, but still it's just theoretical and maybe I can get some kind of feeling if I think it would suit me or work in my system, but it's impossible to say until it's actually in there. Working with local and dedicated dealers for sure has it's advantage sometimes, while others offers a money back period if you're not satisfied....
 
"I think I've written about my experience from going with built in volume control in my DAC to a passive preamp (Music First), and it was nothing but a shocking experience. I still today cannot believe what a difference it made, and before I bought it I was actually afraid I wouldn't hear any difference as I thought passive are supposed to be "truly neutral". The Music First is a bit different than many other passives though as it's transformer based, but considering you are in UK and close to manufacturer I would deeply recommend it if it's within your budget."

totally agree with this . the mfa stuff is magic .

jonathan the maker bought the first baby ref to my house t demo and it was good . later i had a ref5se at the same time and there was not a huge amount in it
 
Sorry if this a silly question. As mentioned elsewhere, I like a good quality hifi system but I don't understand the smaller details.
When running the amp for burn in, does sound have to come out of the speakers?
 
Not a silly question.

Yes, you absolutely need a pair of speakers on the amps or at least some sort of dummy load that mimics a speaker to help break your amps in. So yes, music needs to come out of your speakers.

Something for everyone to remember, tube amps should never be run without speakers. While that should not hurt most solid state amps, they can withstand being run without speakers, but you need to check with the amp manufacturer to be certain.


Showroom Dummies said:
Sorry if this a silly question. As mentioned elsewhere, I like a good quality hifi system but I don't understand the smaller details.
When running the amp for burn in, does sound have to come out of the speakers?
Click to expand...
 
Alex

If he hasn't yet, George should look into the W4S STP-SE as it is an excellent match with the Nord amps. More expensive yes but far more flexible.
 
yes someone i know had a version 2 on demo with some active speakers and was very positive about it .but not sure how it would sound with nord
 
Jack said:
Alex

If he hasn't yet, George should look into the W4S STP-SE as it is an excellent match with the Nord amps. More expensive yes but far more flexible.
Click to expand...

He has looked at a number of active preamps, not sure about the W4S though but really likes the sound of passives. You do seem to need a fully balanced preamp to get the best out of the Nord in my opinion.
 
Alex

It is fully balanced and is a passive with a buffer that kicks in at the 2/3 max volume point, not an active preamp at all.
 
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