Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....
- Thread starter joeinid
- Start date
si 990
Thanks for the feedback! One question, and now you can compare sound of two sets Op Amp Sparkos SS2590 and SS3602 on buffer Rev.D? The board Rev.D is compatible with two sets of Op Amp.
I’m wondering how much better the SS2590 discrete opamps are than old SS3602 on same bufer board Rev.D.
As I noted earlier, the SS3602 Op Amps on Rev.C in my stereo have a too muddy sound, a less deep sound stage compared to SI 994.
Mr Underhill
New member
Well, today I was nagged into putting my EAR534 back into my system driving my main speakers, which are now Naim SBLs .......and, as much as it pains me to write this, the 534 is simply better. The Nord is very good, but the 534 is music. NOT the result I wanted, as I can leave the Nord on for other family members. As it is I will be using the Nord to power my centre and rears for AV, and using the EARs for my main listening. All this said, I have thoroughly enjoyed using the Nord as my main amp for a few months, and it has improved. If the 534 was not sitting on a shelf I could carry on listening to it without pain, but the EAR IS there and will now being going back home for a service.
Mr Underhill
New member
Hi Samoyed, I'm not going anywhere. I have set the Nord up to (continue) running my centre and now my rears, and the AV system has improved by a notch or two. The EAR costs over twice what the Nord costs for three channels of amplification. Depending on how flowery the language I use is I could make the difference sound enormous. The fact is that I could live happily with the Nord, but the EAR just helps the music to free itself from the speakers and instruments and backing vocalists to separate themselves from the musical soundstage. With different speakers and pre-amp that result may be turned in its head. MYou’ll be back....
woodchamber
New member
Did anyone compared the Nord with the Benchmark AHB2?
boggit
New member
- Joined
- May 16, 2016
- Messages
- 84
We have several customers one who bought the Benchmark DAC3 had them on home demo preferred the Nord.
Also feedback from another customer
I would also like to relate my experience with the NORD one SE Mk II so far.
I had bought it without any demo. I felt that it was worth a punt in view of the various positive reviews on forums and it has far exceeded my expectations. My system consists of an Innuos Zenith Mk II feeding a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC and Schiit Freya pre amp. Speakers are Harbeth SHL5+ 40th anniversary. Powered with the Nord and after the initial burn in, my music has come alive again. I am getting tremendous base extension
without it being boomy and the treble has great detail (this is a forte of the yggdrasil) but not overtly bright. But for me, the greatest strength of the Nord amp is the mid range where vocals are just so wonderfully lush. This is achieved even at reasonably loud volumes where the music remains true to the recording without any distortion. I have been listening to The Hamiltons Musical soundtrack repeatly and it never ceases to impress me. Each time, I feel that I am transported back to the Victoria Palace Theatre where I first watched it live. Before this, I have tried various power amps including Wyred for sound mono blocks, Benchmark AHB2, Teddy Pardo MB100 monoblocks and lately Hegel H190 and H360. Although they all varied in price and had their different strengths, I never felt that they had achieved the right balance and the music I was hearing was never that emotive. As I sat on my listening couch, I couldn’t help but wonder what change I should be planning next. This has now been completely dispelled and I think I have found the missing jigsaw piece. Many talk about system synergy and I am glad that I have found mine.
I had bought it without any demo. I felt that it was worth a punt in view of the various positive reviews on forums and it has far exceeded my expectations. My system consists of an Innuos Zenith Mk II feeding a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC and Schiit Freya pre amp. Speakers are Harbeth SHL5+ 40th anniversary. Powered with the Nord and after the initial burn in, my music has come alive again. I am getting tremendous base extension
without it being boomy and the treble has great detail (this is a forte of the yggdrasil) but not overtly bright. But for me, the greatest strength of the Nord amp is the mid range where vocals are just so wonderfully lush. This is achieved even at reasonably loud volumes where the music remains true to the recording without any distortion. I have been listening to The Hamiltons Musical soundtrack repeatly and it never ceases to impress me. Each time, I feel that I am transported back to the Victoria Palace Theatre where I first watched it live. Before this, I have tried various power amps including Wyred for sound mono blocks, Benchmark AHB2, Teddy Pardo MB100 monoblocks and lately Hegel H190 and H360. Although they all varied in price and had their different strengths, I never felt that they had achieved the right balance and the music I was hearing was never that emotive. As I sat on my listening couch, I couldn’t help but wonder what change I should be planning next. This has now been completely dispelled and I think I have found the missing jigsaw piece. Many talk about system synergy and I am glad that I have found mine.
Matias
New member
The differences with the larger opamps are less than they were with the smaller, but still Sparkos is a little warmer and fleshed out compared to Sonic Imagery they say. So definitely worth trying.
I'm not sure if I'm just getting more used to the sound of this amp (actually two monoblocks), or if they're actually getting better the longer they're on, but my Mk II Monoblocks with Sparkos op amps are sounding better to me now than they were a couple months ago. I've now owned then for about 6 months (with the Sparkos Op amps for a little more than 4 months), and they're sounding better and better.
The Nords were a replacement for a 20 yr old Krell which had one channel that was distorting. I'd already repaired the amp once, and couldn't justify the cost of fixing it again, particularly considering the amount of heat that it generated. But during the first few months of owning the Nords, I really missed the Krell.
Now, I'm not so sure. The Nords have definitely gotten quite a bit smoother and more refined as it has "aged". I leave it on all the time (which I really couldn't do with the Krell), and this definitely helps. I do think that this amp takes quite a bit longer than most to reach equilibrium. My Krell had a standby mode (which still generated more heat than my Nords do when playing loud music), but this at least reduced the warm-up time. The Nords, on the other hand, seem to take a day or two to reach their peak if they've been off for any extended time.
So they stay on. Fortunately they generate very little heat if I'm not playing any music.
At this point, I doubt I'd find another amp close to the same price that satisfy me more, but at some point I'd like to compare them with a decent quality class A/B (perhaps one of the Parasound amps).
The Nords were a replacement for a 20 yr old Krell which had one channel that was distorting. I'd already repaired the amp once, and couldn't justify the cost of fixing it again, particularly considering the amount of heat that it generated. But during the first few months of owning the Nords, I really missed the Krell.
Now, I'm not so sure. The Nords have definitely gotten quite a bit smoother and more refined as it has "aged". I leave it on all the time (which I really couldn't do with the Krell), and this definitely helps. I do think that this amp takes quite a bit longer than most to reach equilibrium. My Krell had a standby mode (which still generated more heat than my Nords do when playing loud music), but this at least reduced the warm-up time. The Nords, on the other hand, seem to take a day or two to reach their peak if they've been off for any extended time.
So they stay on. Fortunately they generate very little heat if I'm not playing any music.
At this point, I doubt I'd find another amp close to the same price that satisfy me more, but at some point I'd like to compare them with a decent quality class A/B (perhaps one of the Parasound amps).
Hi everybody,
I have been reading last few days all 200 pages
to find more on this NC500 and NC1200). Finding many good here and on audiogone as well, intrigued with this staff I have decided to buy one to test 
Finally I have ordered today Nord One SE NC500DM MKII Dual Mono Stereo Amp in black, but with OP Amp Sparkos Labs SS2590 and version full grazing version: cabling Neotech UP-OCC Cu, network plus sockets Furutech FI-06 IEC & FP-S022N Mains Wire , outputs for columns WBT-0705Cu Copper Conductor Posts, inputs XLR - Furutech XLR FT-786 Rhodium, and bottle-free SYNERGISTIC SR BLUE FUSE 5A.
now 2 weeks of waiting and ... 300 hours of warming from what I read from users' experiences. I am very curious about the effect. Until now, class D was not at all an option for me, but from the description of your impressions, as well as many others on audiogone, I found it worth trying. Especially that I liked the sound of Spectral, and if it were not for some 2 elements of the sound, I would probably have bolught it. If this Nord has similar aesthetics but without faults I have met, it would be a new black horse on the market.
Will be exposed against the stereo power amp Simaudio Moon W5, 32kg live weight, full dual mono, hits 2 x 1,1kW class A (first 5W) / AB 175W 8ohm - 350W 4ohms - 700W 2ohms
I have been reading last few days all 200 pages
to find more on this NC500 and NC1200). Finding many good here and on audiogone as well, intrigued with this staff I have decided to buy one to test Finally I have ordered today Nord One SE NC500DM MKII Dual Mono Stereo Amp in black, but with OP Amp Sparkos Labs SS2590 and version full grazing version: cabling Neotech UP-OCC Cu, network plus sockets Furutech FI-06 IEC & FP-S022N Mains Wire , outputs for columns WBT-0705Cu Copper Conductor Posts, inputs XLR - Furutech XLR FT-786 Rhodium, and bottle-free SYNERGISTIC SR BLUE FUSE 5A.
now 2 weeks of waiting and ... 300 hours of warming from what I read from users' experiences. I am very curious about the effect. Until now, class D was not at all an option for me, but from the description of your impressions, as well as many others on audiogone, I found it worth trying. Especially that I liked the sound of Spectral, and if it were not for some 2 elements of the sound, I would probably have bolught it. If this Nord has similar aesthetics but without faults I have met, it would be a new black horse on the market.
Will be exposed against the stereo power amp Simaudio Moon W5, 32kg live weight, full dual mono, hits 2 x 1,1kW class A (first 5W) / AB 175W 8ohm - 350W 4ohms - 700W 2ohms
Matias
New member
PMD, nice purchase, congrats! In my overall experience, the first couple of weeks burn in are the most dramatic and the rest more subtle. So I would leave the amp on 24/7, and even better playing music 24/7 if possible.