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

Mike,

Those Mola Mola amps are brutally revealing and detailed. Certainly not as good as the Nords :D.

Besides, Magico needs a "special" amp to make the sound great :ninja:
 
I think Class D needs "special" speakers. [emoji13]


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Change from Input board Rev B to Rev C.

I have just changed from my original Rev B to Rev C boards and thought someone may be interested in my initial reaction.

Switching the boards is fairly simple – about ten minutes per mono-block. I have initially kept my Sparkos op-amps but will try the Sonic Imagery ones when I have listened long enough to the Sparkos with the Rev C boards.

After I fitted them I turned on Radio 3 and went upstairs for a shower, trying not to listen yet. When I came down again a live broadcast solo piano was playing with crystal clarity – certainly one of the best performances I have heard via the (HLS) AAC stream. AAC is far from the best medium but the lack of recording losses always seems to add a sparkle that recordings rarely have – so it was very enjoyable.

Moving on to my own music it was immediately apparent that the new boards have added a spaciousness that was not there before. All recordings suddenly had a depth to them, a three dimensionality that all live music has – and if missing makes the music sound obviously artificial. That three dimensionality is easily portrayed by virtually all valve amps but only the best solid state. My Bryston 4B SST has it but not as convincingly as my valve amps. I THINK the Nords are now somewhere in between but I do want to listen more before being categoric.

The other thing I love about valve amps is their effortless detail and again the Nords are making a pretty good showing there too. The obvious lacking though is the mellifluous sound of a valve amp. I think in fact the Rev C boards have reduced that aspect of the Nords – with the Sparkos op-amps remember. They are instead more analytical than with the Rev B boards. I thought initially that they would be tiring but that is not the case. I listened for about 6 hours today with no listener fatigue whatsoever.

Is the right word euphonic? I am still trying to work out if the extra clarity is as a result of ‘nice’ euphonics, that shouldn’t really be there, being cut out or if the tonal balance now has a slight hump in the middle. I get the impression that the upper bass notes are reduced. Whether that is right or wrong is difficult to know. Whatever the rightness or wrongness, I am certainly enjoying the extra spaciousness that the Nords now have. Now that I am used to the changed tonal balance, I can already say that I do prefer these new Rev C boards. I hesitate to say it but I will also claim that the advantage of hi-res is more apparent with these boards. A better illusion of reality.

I will get around to trying the Sonic Imagery op-amps eventually but in the meantime I would appreciate comments from anyone who has changed from Sparkos to Sonic Imagery using the same board. What changes were obvious and what changes were more subtle?
 
The new Rev C boards are the best by far. I have gone back to the SI 994 op amps and remain happy with the combo. Using a tube preamp gives me the best of both and a little more clarity but not at the expense of too much detail or harshness. The balance for me now is perfect, but I am on borrowed time with Mike's VAC preamp. Now I have some thinking to do.

Glad you are loving the new boards.
 
joeinid said:
The new Rev C boards are the best by far. I have gone back to the SI 994 op amps and remain happy with the combo. Using a tube preamp gives me the best of both and a little more clarity but not at the expense of too much detail or harshness. The balance for me now is perfect, but I am on borrowed time with Mike's VAC preamp. Now I have some thinking to do.

Glad you are loving the new boards.
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That's my old preamp from a couple of years ago. It is an excellent piece of gear, for sure. That was one I let get away.
 
Joe

While your deciding why don't you contact the guys at Backert Labs and take them up on their 30 day trial on the Rhumba?
 
I've been thinking about that one many times. It's looking more attractive for sure.

Do you know anyone who has it or tried it?



Jack said:
Joe

While your deciding why don't you contact the guys at Backert Labs and take them up on their 30 day trial on the Rhumba?
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Supposed to just involve the shipping cost to Delaware. Gain is 9db standard but if I remember from one of the reviews they will make it lower. For me 6db would be about right. Also with the STP-SE and the DAC from the SE outputs you can't get past 20 and stay in the room. Balanced from the DAC would be way to much. My KO's and your Strad's are about the same efficiency.
 
Think you can start with the regular tubestage version and then upgrade later if you want to or when he gets caught up. The regular version got rave reviews from owners and reviewers to start with.
 
Hi to all,

Just joined this forum because of my interest in the the Nord amps and to ask a question about speaker matching. Look forward to hearing back from you folks.

I have on trial at home ATC SCM19 speakers. I was looking for a more powerful amp to drive them. These are rated at 85db efficiency. Some have said they need lots of current to drive them. In any case I have just ordered a pair of Nord monoblocks and hope that things work out.

Does anyone have experience using the Nords with these or similar (ATC?) speakers, or can speak to whether they might be a good match?

Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum jaybe, sorry it took so long to let you on the forum! Thank you for joining.
 
jaybe said:
Hi to all,

Just joined this forum because of my interest in the the Nord amps and to ask a question about speaker matching. Look forward to hearing back from you folks.

I have on trial at home ATC SCM19 speakers. I was looking for a more powerful amp to drive them. These are rated at 85db efficiency. Some have said they need lots of current to drive them. In any case I have just ordered a pair of Nord monoblocks and hope that things work out.

Does anyone have experience using the Nords with these or similar (ATC?) speakers, or can speak to whether they might be a good match?

Thanks.
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Hello jaybe.

I agree that ATC make some superb speakers (and amplifiers) and it makes sense to try them with the Nords. I can't answer your precise question but I thought I would remind you that IQ Speakers also sell the excellent IPL speakers. I expect Colin is too polite to promote his own speakers here but I am sure, if you ask him, he will give you an honest answer based on his experience with them. If you are anywhere near Cheltenham it would be well worth making a trip to hear the Nords in combination with the IQ/IPL speakers.

I must confess that I am rather biased in favour of transmission line speakers and have used them, almost exclusively, for about 27 years. My PMC OB1i speakers sound superb with the Nords and I am sure the IPLs would too. The Nords FULLY control the bass driver which can get a little unruly with some amps.

For less than the cost of the ATC speakers you could have some superb, non-boomy floor standing transmission line speakers and, to my ears, a far more natural bass presentation.
 
jaybe said:
Hi to all,

Just joined this forum because of my interest in the the Nord amps and to ask a question about speaker matching. Look forward to hearing back from you folks.

I have on trial at home ATC SCM19 speakers. I was looking for a more powerful amp to drive them. These are rated at 85db efficiency. Some have said they need lots of current to drive them. In any case I have just ordered a pair of Nord monoblocks and hope that things work out.

Does anyone have experience using the Nords with these or similar (ATC?) speakers, or can speak to whether they might be a good match?

Thanks.
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[FONT=&quot]Like Nevalti I think if you can you should give IQ Speakers a listen and you would find them very good value.
I have not heard them myself but have read some excellent reviews. Just like the Nord amplifiers they are probably equivalent of buying other speakers worth 3 or 4 times the IQs price.[/FONT]
 
colmon said:
Like Nevalti I think if you can you should give IQ Speakers a listen and you would find them very good value.
I have not heard them myself but have read some excellent reviews. Just like the Nord amplifiers they are probably equivalent of buying other speakers worth 3 or 4 times the IQs price.
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Thanks for the IQ speakers recommendations. I'm in the US anyway. In any case for now I'm trying to get the ATCs to work well and will stick with those. Nords are due in a few days, cant wait.
 
jaybe said:
Thanks for the IQ speakers recommendations. I'm in the US anyway. In any case for now I'm trying to get the ATCs to work well and will stick with those. Nords are due in a few days, cant wait.
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Can see how that would be difficult, would not be easy to take them home on a plane. Guess the ATCs maybe the best option at the moment.
 
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