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

Pointblank said:
Hi everyone,

I've been reading the Audioshark forums for a while now but first time posting. A lot of great info on the Nords in this thread that I have found very beneficial in the last few months, so thanks to all of you who have posted in here already!

I bought a pair of the monoblock Nord NC500 SE Rev C amps in September last year off the back of a recommendation from Rob at ER Audio in Perth, Australia, who makes the Electrostatic Speakers that I inherited from my father a few years back. At the time, I bought both the Sparkos and SI Opamps (8-pin versions that suit the Rev C Buffers). I tested both initially and went with the Sparkos (straight out of the box, these sounded better in my system) for a few months before swapping to the SI ones for a month or two as well. I enjoyed these but after the time with the SI Opamps in the Nords, I then swapped back to the Sparkos ones, confident that I still liked these better in my system. As others have described here already - a fuller, slightly warmer sound.

Anyway, fast forward to April this year and after reading the few reviews circulating about the Rev D upgrade, as well as the many posts on here, I bit the bullet and contacted Colin about upgrading and asked him about his thoughts on the Opamp choices, given the new SI Opamps apparently had slightly better detail vs the Sparkos.

The whole purpose of my post is to say that Colin mentioned in his email that after recently changing the speakers in his system, he is now leaning more towards the Sparkos SS2590 over the SI 990 and recommended I go with those, given my preference to the Sparkos in the Rev C.

I've just installed the Rev D boards this morning, so only a few hours on the new Opamps + Boards, but already noticing a fuller, more detailed soundstage with more refined bass extension and improved clarity in the mids/highs. At this stage, I wouldn't say it is a night and day difference between Rev C and Rev D but straight out of the box, it is definitely a noticeable improvement. It will be interesting to hear how these Sparkos Opamps open up in a couple of hundred hours as others have noticed here.
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Colin recommended SI to me, too. They made my tinnitus ring louder! I switched to Sparkos, and that disappeared. I love mine-it’s like liquid, flowing music. Colin now has some big ole honkin JBL speakers so....😼
 
And that's why Srajen ended up with the amp set-up he reviewed because that's what Colin wanted reviewed and how he sent the amp. He did the same with the guys from HiFi Pig. With his gear that is what he thinks sounds the best. It is also what he recommended to me three years ago but based on what Joe and others had said I new the SI's would not be a good match for the speakers I was using at the time that had been voiced with tube amps. I tried the SI's later and found them to be much like you described them with all but one set of speakers, the Spatial open baffle.
 
Tautology. My beef is with 6buffoon’s fatuous palaver, not his taste in op amps, or not.
 
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You are quite welcome. Mutuality, as it were. Leave your quarter on the table on the way out. 😱

If you don’t appreciate the irony of your post, I’d say you don’t know, Jack. 💩
 
More is the pity. Ad hominem, thy name is Jack.

First in time is first in right, eh, Jack? 🙇*♂️
 
Uh, Joe, the guy has been pulling my tail. Toss me out if you want, but I will not ignore his taunts.
 
In fact, Joe, I’ll make it easy for you. Please remove all my posts and my membership. Thanks
 
Hello guys
If it helps someone.
As I said before, I've had both boards (C and D) on my Nord NC500DM stereo and liked more the Sparkos over the SI.
 
For PLGA
Please write more detail your comparisons of revisions C and D. How big is difference between them with Оp Amps Sparkos SS3602 (Rev.C) and Sparkos SS2590 (Rev.D.)?
I have stereo amplifier like your NC500DM Rev.C and I have both sets of Op Amp SI994 and SS3602.
My obvious choice is Sonic Imagery 994 Op Amp, which in my system sounds much better than Sparkos SS3602 (sound stage is wider and deeper, upp and mid frequencies are "more transparent").
If I change buffer to Rev.D., which Op Amps Sparkos SS2590 or Sonic Imagery 990Enh will be closer in sound to SI 994?
For me, Sparkos SS3602 does not have required sound stage and does not satisfy me.
Thanks, and sorry for my English...
 
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I have not heard the Sparkos, but my suspicion is that this is not a simple slam dunk. I tried a number of power cables with the Nord and, for once, there was a difference - if subtle. I bought a couple of Supras which added a slightly warmer presentation to the SI Nords.

If I play my system using my Oppo 105D as pre & streamer the result can be lean, however if I feed it with the Linn Klimax & EAR868PL balance is restored.

System Synergy Rules OK.
 
There’s no substitute for trying something in your system and listening for yourself. System balance and personal taste are so important. It’s how you like your system, not someone else.
 
Hello, I'm brand new here in this forum. Wow 196 forum pages on this topic. Long story short, the North Amp is total new to me.
What would be the best price - value amp from North? Same the case with the choice of op amp, speaker output wire & 12V trigger
options. I got no clue, sorry for my greenhorn questions.

I'm running here a Stageline STA-2000D with 2x1000W Pascal S-Pro2 Moduls. Pre Amp is a passive Khozmo Acoustic. Speakers are the Achenbach Tricolon with 93db efficiency and max. 500W.

Best regards, and thank you for your support in advance.

Florian
 
Thanks a lot Joe,
I was reading here a little bit more and stumbled over the Apollon NC800 CL. Well for a greenhorn like me, from outside
it looks very similar from the main configuration. Looks interesting to me and maybe not too bad for contacting
someone who speaks my native language..
 
I’m not familiar with that one but maybe you could contact Colin from Nord. I’m sure he’d be happy to help you out.
 
woodchamber said:
Thanks a lot Joe,
I was reading here a little bit more and stumbled over the Apollon NC800 CL. Well for a greenhorn like me, from outside
it looks very similar from the main configuration. Looks interesting to me and maybe not too bad for contacting
someone who speaks my native language..
Click to expand...

I have an Apollon as well. Very nice amp, you won't regret it. Sparkos is more popular on this topic than Sonic Imagery, but this is system dependent.
 
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