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

What a great album, really enjoyed it. In return a few recommendations:

London Grammar - If You Wait;
Peter Gabriel - Shaking the Tree; and
Benny Green - Live at the Village Vanguard.

The Benny Green is simply fantastic.

M
 
Samoyed, Subterranean bass? Try X Ambassadors, VHS. Bloody good. Last night I watched Elton John's 'Madison Sqr Gardens - Hits Live'. Up to now the centre channel has been driven by an old Naim NAP250, with the L & R being via my EAR868 > EAR534. Last night the front three channels were driven by the Nord ........and? The bass was brilliant, as was the shear resolution of detail and information. I was able to easily follow the two lead guitarists, the bass, Elton on piano and the two sets of drum kits; all this from a lossy DTS 5.1 soundtrack. REALLY VERY GOOD.
 
I plan to drop in on Colin this summer as we’ve never met. Big 75th event in Normandy. I’m thinking of putting the cats down so I can afford the new nc1200! :( They are getting restive. The Benny Green album really shines. :)
 
;-D George47 popped in to see him a week ago, having his Nord updated. I had a brief chat about the NC1200 with Colin, he said the 500 is the sweet spot of performance per pound, but I don't think any of us need much persuasion to get a tad more. Just listening to Aqualung, the NC500 really punches out the bass, I swear I have gained an octave of strong informative bass.
 
I wish we had a guy like Colin over here. He is understated and truthful, and always ready to help. His “peer” over here hawks his “cherries” like a carnival barker, promising that for one thin dime you can see “her” crawl on her belly like a reptile!
 
8-D - Colin comes across as a straight forward, honest chap, if a bit tired at the moment, I am happy to have done business with him. Although I am NOT planning on spending any more on my system for quiet some time I have found myself pondering on an NC1200 for the mains and using the NC500 for centre & rear duties; no, no, no!
 
MikeCh said:
Listen again after the Nord has a few more hundred hours (600 +/- hours play time for OneUp NC500 in mine and others' experience) and you might be tickled further. Also, my NC500 monos stay powered on 24/7 so as to avoid thermal cycling/required warm-up of the chassis and components. Do you leave your amp on?.... or power off daily?
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Hi Mike, Sorry, meant to respond to this. I am leaving it on 24/7, simply as that is what I have done with my Naim 250s over the decades. That said, Colin's view is that they come on song in 10 to 20 minutes. Yes, I am prepared for a looooong burn in. M
 
I wonder how much devaluation the Mola Mola Kalugas, based on NC1200, will have on the used market after Hypex allowed lower priced NC1200 based amplifiers to be sold.
 
Well chaps with a following wind and a lot of help from Colin I am hoping to do just that with a review. Hopefully not too soon.
 
My system is sounding better and better. Since I've made so many changes over the past few weeks (cables and preamp), I'm not sure if it is these other components that are slowly breaking in, or if the NC500 really takes THAT LONG (several hundred hours now). I've still got a few cables that I want to replace in the next few weeks (I'm taking the DIY approach and making my own, so progress is a bit slow), and I have some more GIK panels on order, but I'm now quite pleased with the sound.

The power cables seem to have a bigger affect than I would have expected. I'm not spending a lot - using DH Labs Power Plus cable and a mix of connectors ranging from relatively inexpensive 'audiophile' connectors from Amazon to Furutech Fi-28, but keeping them as short as possible for my application (generally around 3ft). I haven't gone back to A/B the old cheapo power cables, but the bass is deeper and tighter, background is quieter, and overall, the sound is considerably smoother and more refined. Some of this could be the NCore amps (or Parasound preamp) continuing to break-in.
 
Mr Underhill said:
Hi Mike, Sorry, meant to respond to this. I am leaving it on 24/7, simply as that is what I have done with my Naim 250s over the decades. That said, Colin's view is that they come on song in 10 to 20 minutes. Yes, I am prepared for a looooong burn in. M
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Hello @Mr Underhill
You will get better mids and warmer and fuller sound with Sparkos Op Amps. Try them if you can and then let us know.
 
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