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

ngamountains said:
Hi, everyone. I just joined up to post here as this evening I became the third owner of the amps originally owned by RKlein in Ohio (by following the USAM sale tea leaves), and after a couple hours of introduction, am blown away. This is my first Class D experience and wow, more to come but what a great first impression. Happy listening!
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Yeah, I don't have any itch to get rid of mine. Sound quality aside I just leave them on 24/7 and don't have any regrets when I get the hydro bill. Ok, call me not a real audiophile for caring, but it does matter to me.

Not sure if you went through this entire thread, as it is mentioned several times, but in case you missed it: power cables make a huge difference.

What did they replace in your setup?
 
I've read that different power cables can make a difference to the sound with the Nord.
Anyone in the UK tried different power cables and found there was a difference?
I'm using a Mark Grant DSP 2.5 but have not tried any others.
 
Showroom Dummies said:
I've read that different power cables can make a difference to the sound with the Nord.
Anyone in the UK tried different power cables and found there was a difference?
I'm using a Mark Grant DSP 2.5 but have not tried any others.
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I've done quite a lot of power cable experiments, I settled on a sort of "go to" cable for most things a while back and have not tried my Nord on anything except that cable I don't think (that cable is about £150 in parts and then self built).

The only thing that on a slim chance might be relevant here is that I have tried the DSP2.5 at some point on other power amps and other separates and I was never impressed with it, that was DSP2.5 built up with a silver plated MS-HD plug and silver plated Kaiser IEC.

Are you using a multi-way extension by the way or is the Nord plugged straight into a wall socket?
 
Showroom Dummies said:
I've read that different power cables can make a difference to the sound with the Nord.
Anyone in the UK tried different power cables and found there was a difference?
I'm using a Mark Grant DSP 2.5 but have not tried any others.
Click to expand...

Yes. I have just finished reviewing some mains cables and got different results with different amplifiers. On the Nord, the best inexpensive cable was the Belden cable with decent connectors (Wattgate and Schurter). MCRU and others will make you up a cable for a reasonable price £40. After that, the Supra 3.5 mains cable was better than the Belden but not by much. It costs about £80-90. If you are feeling a little flush then the SW1X Design copper cable is a high-quality, good, copper cable for about £250. And finally, the SW1X Design silver cable at £450 is clearly better. I tried Audionote silver cables and they did not work so well and made the sound a bit bright, light and airy. And unfortunately lightweight and sharp, which the Nord, being super neutral, is not.
 
mfin said:
I've done quite a lot of power cable experiments, I settled on a sort of "go to" cable for most things a while back and have not tried my Nord on anything except that cable I don't think (that cable is about £150 in parts and then self built).

The only thing that on a slim chance might be relevant here is that I have tried the DSP2.5 at some point on other power amps and other separates and I was never impressed with it, that was DSP2.5 built up with a silver plated MS-HD plug and silver plated Kaiser IEC.

Are you using a multi-way extension by the way or is the Nord plugged straight into a wall socket?
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I'm using a Russ Andrews extension block and I have to use it due to only having one socket in the area by the hifi system.

Interesting thoughts on the DSP2.5
I'm going to try some of the mains cables George47 has tested.
 
George47 said:
Yes. I have just finished reviewing some mains cables and got different results with different amplifiers. On the Nord, the best inexpensive cable was the Belden cable with decent connectors (Wattgate and Schurter). MCRU and others will make you up a cable for a reasonable price £40. After that, the Supra 3.5 mains cable was better than the Belden but not by much. It costs about £80-90. If you are feeling a little flush then the SW1X Design copper cable is a high-quality, good, copper cable for about £250. And finally, the SW1X Design silver cable at £450 is clearly better. I tried Audionote silver cables and they did not work so well and made the sound a bit bright, light and airy. And unfortunately lightweight and sharp, which the Nord, being super neutral, is not.
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Excellent information there. I'm going to try some of them, hopefully the more expensive mains cables I will be able to test, and return them if I am not happy.
 
I'm using a Nordost Heimdall II mains lead with my Nord mainly because I had it before the Nord arrived but clearly a lot better than the stock lead supplied with it.

Certainly worth experimenting with mains leads IMHO.
 
If you make your own with off the reel cable you can get the mains plug and iec sorted then you can always rebuild with a different off the reel cable.

You don't have to be too handy to build them, the screening you connect to earth at the mains plug end. Some off the reel cables have a drain wire which makes it easy, ones that don't you fashion a thick wire out of the screen braid. Cover whichever with a bit of heatshrink and connect it to the earth pin.

The last ones I made and use I got a Furutech FI-11cu and FI-1363L cu and put them together with FPS-20n, these were good. I might have a spare one if you want, but I'm not sure if it is 0.75m or 1.0m.

If I was making one now, I would try Acrolink 7n-p4030 Anniversario which is supposed to be great, but it is like stiff hosepipe, a lot of them are, but it is particularly stubborn to route about.
 
I'm thinking about getting the SW1X Design silver cable, but I'm also thinking about the use of my Russ Andrews extension.
I most probably won't get the full results of the SW1X due to the extension.

I'm also thinking about interconnects. I'm using Mark Grant HDX1 pure copper cables at the moment.

Any recommendations with prices which are not ridiculously expensive?
 
mfin said:
If you make your own with off the reel cable you can get the mains plug and iec sorted then you can always rebuild with a different off the reel cable.

You don't have to be too handy to build them, the screening you connect to earth at the mains plug end. Some off the reel cables have a drain wire which makes it easy, ones that don't you fashion a thick wire out of the screen braid. Cover whichever with a bit of heatshrink and connect it to the earth pin.

The last ones I made and use I got a Furutech FI-11cu and FI-1363L cu and put them together with FPS-20n, these were good. I might have a spare one if you want, but I'm not sure if it is 0.75m or 1.0m.

If I was making one now, I would try Acrolink 7n-p4030 Anniversario which is supposed to be great, but it is like stiff hosepipe, a lot of them are, but it is particularly stubborn to route about.
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I'm no good with diy.
I would like to try one of your home made cables but I need 2 metres. Thanks for the offer though.
 
Showroom Dummies said:
Excellent information there. I'm going to try some of them, hopefully the more expensive mains cables I will be able to test, and return them if I am not happy.
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Yes, they have a try at home and return to the manufacturer if it does not all work out.

I have a Nordost Heimdall mains but it is too short to use on my amplifier (dam). I have tried 3x copper mains cables and they were unimpressive and at £1,500 not good value. Best not say which they were or I'll get banished, may be component/mains specific. The best I have used is the Cut Loose silver ribbon cable but at £2,000 not sensible with the Nord. Needless to say, it was borrowed.

The best upgrade I did was to put 6 sockets on a separate mains spur.
 
i remember once putting some valhalla mains cables on my beautiful belles power amps , it was ghastly sound . i went back to good heavy guage copper rapidly . i know nordost can make a huge improvement to many components as i have done it many times with various nordost cables but its not always a match
 

from the website . looks interesting . lots of nice stuff made in austria

Apollon Audio is based in Gralla, Austria a small quiet town 200km away from Vienna, the capital city of Austria. We have specialised in crafting handbuilt world class Class D Amplifiers that are changing Pro Audio and Audiophile users perceptions about Class D Amps. We live for sound quality and our line of products is the manifestation of this belief while at the same time offering exceptional value for your money.
The technological advances in Class D amplification over the last few years have significantly altered the hi-fi and pro audio industry.Speaking of audio amplifications, these advances have resulted in the creation and ongoing development of Class D amplifiers who initially joined and then equaled and in many cases also surpassed the performance of traditional analog classes (A and AB) based on thermionic tubes and transistors.




The superiority of a class-D amplifier lies in the high efficiency that allows to obtain high power output even with relatively small modules thus eliminating the need for heavy enclosures and huge heat sinks.
A class-D amplifier also delivers faster transients compared to class A and AB while reproducing a very clean, rich and uncoloured dynamic sound.
So it is no wonder that many of the renowned hi-fi and pro audio manufacturers repositioned their business on the class D, but without developing their own technology and using what was already eveloped by companies such as, Hypex, PASCAL AUDIO, ICEpower and Anaview.



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They are offering a custom input board with the same voltage regulators and same range of discrete opamps as Nord?
 
That input buffer board which was in part designed by the owner of Sonic Imagery was posted on the DIY forum for all to see and use if they wished. Colin also took advantage of the design to tweak his own buffer so no copying. Only so many ways to skin that cat anyways without a much larger R&D budget so using a design approved and tested by the Op Amp manufacturer seems like a smart move to me. The cases, cables, connectors, etc. are really the only choices to make and unless you want your amps to range into the prices of Bel Canto and Merrill your choices are limited. So as the result there are a group of "OEMs' making what appear to be identical amps.
 
Jack said:
That input buffer board which was in part designed by the owner of Sonic Imagery was posted on the DIY forum for all to see and use if they wished. Colin also took advantage of the design to tweak his own buffer so no copying. Only so many ways to skin that cat anyways without a much larger R&D budget so using a design approved and tested by the Op Amp manufacturer seems like a smart move to me. The cases, cables, connectors, etc. are really the only choices to make and unless you want your amps to range into the prices of Bel Canto and Merrill your choices are limited. So as the result there are a group of "OEMs' making what appear to be identical amps.
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I've seen the low noise Sonic Imagery circuit, it's an adaption of the Hypex designed input buffer with low input impedance and additional filtering to rein in the bandwidth of the 994. It would seem Colin's buffer is something else, he has maintained a high input impedance while retaining the low noise performance of the SI circuit.
 
Do you see other OEM which also has similar design as Nord or Apollon ? Or any other ncore NC500 choices in the market ?
 
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