Nord One NC1200DM Signature Stereo Amp Review

[Matias]

Compared to datasheet:

4Ω:
View attachment 41615
View attachment 41616

8Ω:
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Power is the same, but distortion seems to have a different behaviour (there is no more drop before clipping point). By the way, @amirm, will you stick to dB instead of % for your THD vs Power graph?



Datasheet claims 0.005% THD+N at 5W/1Khz. That's 86dB SINAD. Still to be measured, tho.

I think Hypex measures in 220V and Amir in 110V. This may cause some differences. I remember that ICEpower 125ASX2 datasheet shows different power depending on voltage input.
I use my amps in 220V.

 

[MZKM]

Are a pair of NC1200 modules powerful enough to drive Revel Salon2? I heard that they are very power hungry speakers. I'm aiming for these speakers in the very near fut

https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/speakers/revel_ultima_salon2/

~84dB sensitive @2.83V, since it’s a 4ohm nominal speaker, that’s 81dB at 1W into 4ohm.
The THD shows little distortion with ~100W (4ohm), so it likely can be pushed a bit more, but anything that’s 100W or more into 4ohm should be loud enough for most all music in most setups (unless you sit like 25ft away), though more can’t hurt. The NC400 monoblock kit (~$1500, no brainer assembly) will produce ~300W into 4ohm (closer to 400W if you accept more distortion).

 

[Robin L]

The performance is great, but the price is high up in the sky!

Less than 10% of the cost of this:

Truth to be told, considering what you get, not high up in the sky. Merely high enough to be out of reach.

 

[March Audio]

Power is the same, but distortion seems to have a different behaviour (there is no more drop before clipping point). By the way, @amirm, will you stick to dB instead of % for your THD vs Power graph?



Datasheet claims 0.005% THD+N at 5W/1Khz. That's 86dB SINAD. Still to be measured, tho.

So with 4 Ohms at 5 watts, 0.0006% is 104.5dB

 

[March Audio]

How do ICs like the OPA1632 compare to the discrete Sonic Imagery and Sparkos op amps in buffer applications?

1632 is better

http://www.sonicimagerylabs.com/pro.../990Enh_Ticha_Docs/990Enh_Ticha_Datasheet.pdf
$69 each 2 required

http://www.ti.com/lit/gpn/opa1632

$3.60 each

However its not that simple as looking at the chip specs. Other factors come into play, board layout, supporting component choices (cap dielectric), wiring hygiene etc, on how close you get to the data sheet performance.

 

[Labjr]

Why would Nord spend money adding voodoo parts to their product.? Ted Denney & Synergistic Research is a total fraud. Not much different than the Scientology cult. IMO, the worst kind of high end scammer. He literally makes shit up. I can find nothing about his background. Not even sure if he has a formal education.

 

[CerealKiller]

Amirm, what input level produces near máximum output ? Is it correct to asume that if the module specs states balanced input the signal that Will drive it to Max output should be around 4volts ?

 

[SEKLEM]

Why would Nord spend money adding voodoo parts to their product.? Ted Denney & Synergistic Research is a total fraud. Not much different than the Scientology cult. IMO, the worst kind of high end scammer. He literally makes shit up. I can find nothing about his background. Not even sure if he has a formal education.

Why do marketing teams put attractive women in advertisements for products? Sex sells. And sadly, among audiophiles, snake oil sells. I was watching an auction on eBay for a pair of Bel Canto amplifiers that employ ICEPower 125ASX2 BTL modules which retail for about $125-150 each. So two modules at max costs $300. Those amps went for $1711 plus $65 shipping. That's people buying a brand without knowing what's going on inside, and generally not caring as long as they are being told what they're buying is excellent.

 

[Thomas savage]

Nord are in a funny position, some will dismiss them simply because they are not expensive enough. Ironically some of you cheap bastards think they are too expensive lol

They want to sell Amps so choices / customisable options are good.

Please let's not start bashing them for these ' audiophile' options , they would be stupid not to offer it.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

Please let's not start bashing them for these ' audiophile' options , they would be stupid not to offer it.

Really? I agree with some of the other posters. This sort of "option" reduces my opinion of Nord. My Mr. Spock eyebrow is on full 100% raised mode when I see this sort of thing from a (supposedly) reputable manufacturer.

Dave.

 

[Labjr]

Really? I agree with some of the other posters. This sort of "option" reduces my opinion of Nord. My Mr. Spock eyebrow is on full 100% raised mode when I see this sort of thing from a (supposedly) reputable manufacturer.

Dave.

I agree with most of your statement but I wouldn't call Nord a manufacturer.

 

[anmpr1]

Why would Nord spend money adding voodoo parts to their product.? Ted Denney & Synergistic Research is a total fraud. Not much different than the Scientology cult. IMO, the worst kind of high end scammer. He literally makes shit up. I can find nothing about his background. Not even sure if he has a formal education.

Probably something as simple as it pads the spread, adding more profit for the seller. I mean, a blue fuse (or whatever it is) selling for god knows how many tens or hundreds of times its actual cost, benefits the manufacturer's bottom line. I guess it's like a car dealer selling 'paint sealant' or some kind of 'rustproofing' spray you don't need.

That said, the actual performance of the product is impressive. Contrast the Stereophile review (on line) of the latest and greatest Krell integrated amp, the one that didn't pass the pre-conditioning testing warm up without going in to shut down. Imagine, a Krell not being able to pass such a standard and well established test. How the mighty have fallen. LOL

 

[Vince2]

Seen some measurements of class d amps that revealed a phase shift over the frequency spectrum. Not sure how to measure this for an amp but sure curious if this is the case here. Can you check for this?

 

[anmpr1]

Why do marketing teams put attractive women in advertisements for products? .

I'd much rather them advertise using an attractive women fawning over the amp, than use a one hundred and fifty dollar fuse in their amp. Or offer a nice bottle of scotch with your loud speaker purchase. Or both.

 

[bobbooo]

Audiophiles routinely underestimate how much power they need.

Could you expand on this? Is more power needed than you think because the clipping region takes up a significant part of the available power range? I was under the impression that audiophiles actually often buy overly powerful amps when they don't really need to (especially headphone amps).

 

[SEKLEM]

I'd much rather them advertise using an attractive women fawning over the amp, than use a one hundred and fifty dollar fuse in their amp. Or offer a nice bottle of scotch with your loud speaker purchase. Or both.

View attachment 41675

Even better, offer attractive women with your amplifier or speaker.

 

[anmpr1]

Could you expand on this? Is more power needed than you think because the clipping region takes up a significant part of the available power range? I was under the impression that audiophiles actually often buy overly powerful amps when they don't really need to (especially headphone amps).

If you have very inefficient speakers, and as you listen louder, you need more power than you think. In another thread I wrote about how Bob Carver's 700 watt Phase Linear, when used to test the AR LST speaker, was often pushed into clipping. Julian Hirsch said that because the speaker could take so much power (1000 watts short term), and because the amp was so clean and powerful, they kept pushing it into the stratosphere, which caused Bob's monster to frequently clip.

If you own Paul Klipsch horns, and if you don't live in Windsor Palace or the Biltmore Estate House, 100 watts per channel will likely be more than enough. Probably 50 will suffice.

 

[peng]

I wonder if there exist a hypex based 100 W amp with the same fantastic measurements in the more affordable $1000 to $1500?

 

[Deleted member 2944]

I agree with most of your statement but I wouldn't call Nord a manufacturer.

Well, they're responsible for manufacturing 'that' aspect of the amplifier. The difference between a manufacturer and a "manufacturer" can be rather gray in the current state of audio where packaging of sourced modules into a final product is not unusual.
Regardless, I still think a decision to include this sort of "audiophile feature" cheapens their reputation.

Dave.

 

[amirm]

Could you expand on this? Is more power needed than you think because the clipping region takes up a significant part of the available power range? I was under the impression that audiophiles actually often buy overly powerful amps when they don't really need to (especially headphone amps).

Some audiophiles do buy powerful amps. But many are starting to go the other way, buying low power tube amps, "first watt," etc.

Our impression of loudness is logarithmic and hence the reason power measurements are show in log scale:

Notice how little distance there is between numbers to the right relative to power they represent. The Nord is twice as powerful as Purifi but in the graph looks just slightly to the right of Purifi.

While I have a very large space, my amplifier produces 500 watts into 8 ohm and 1000 watts into 4. With my Revel Salon 2 speakers, I have on occasion pushed the volume to max. And it is remarkably how little variation there is in the upper range of volume with respect to how loud something sounds.

Same is true of headphone amps by the way. The difference between 1 and 2 watts is small.