Review and Measurements of Nord One NC500 Amp

[amirm]

Got it. Thanks.

 

[MZKM]

Got it. Thanks.

You’re welcome.

I’m not electrically savvy, is there a benefit to dual mono power supplies over a single stereo power supply?

It looks to cost ~$70 more from Hypex for dual SMPS600’s over a single SMPS1200.

 

[amirm]

You’re welcome.

I’m not electrically savvy, is there a benefit to dual mono power supplies over a single stereo power supply?

Not in the absolute. It can result in less crosstalk as one amp can't pull more than its share of power.

In this case I was just curious as to the cost differential between NC500 and NC400 and since the Nord has dual supplies, want to see that config with NC400.

 

[Bamyasi]

Nord One NC500 model reviewed seems to be their older "standard" model, at least according to the price quoted. Would be interesting to compare it to the latest incarnation from Nord, NC500 SE Mk II. This model is significantly more expensive however.

 

[amirm]

What is the difference with MK II?

 

[MZKM]

Not in the absolute. It can result in less crosstalk as one amp can't pull more than its share of power.

In this case I was just curious as to the cost differential between NC500 and NC400 and since the Nord has dual supplies, want to see that config with NC400.

Gotcha.
James is using the Hypex enclosures, and looking at the internals, he probably couldn’t even fit two power supplies, so a separate enclosure would need to be used, which would drive up the price.

 

[MZKM]

What is the difference with MK II?

Looks to be just a different input buffer.
https://hifipig.com/the-mkii-nord-one-se-nc500-amplifier/

UK amplifier brand, Nord Acoustics, is introducing the new MKII Nord One SE NC500 with REV D Buffer Boards.

They say that the new amplifier has: ‘Significant improvement on the REV C with more tonal depth improved bass and even bigger soundstage’. The Nord One SE Hypex NCore NC500 MKII Amplifier uses the Nord REV D Input Buffer. It uses Sparkos discrete Voltage regulators and choice of Op Amps, the Sonic Imagery 990 or the Sparkos Labs SS2590 both running in full Class A. Prices start at £549.



Upgrades for the Nord NC500 amps to the MKII specification are available as a DIY fit.

 

[amirm]

I don't know that any of those would improve the fidelity without measuring it.

 

[McFly]

Looks to be just a different input buffer.
https://hifipig.com/the-mkii-nord-one-se-nc500-amplifier/

Haha, dont know if they can get an even BIGGER soundstage than the one amir got for testing...

 

[MZKM]

I don't know that any of those would improve the fidelity without measuring it.

For the MK II units they also have options for different Class A Op amps which they claim:

All our discrete Op Amp choices run in full Class A and offer a warmer more engaging sound than the standard amp. Extra dynamics better deeper soundstage. More depth, texture and naturalness.

So, seemingly more bass response than the standard unit you have.

 

[amirm]

Those are all subjective terms created out of sighted listening. I doubt there is truth to much of that.

 

[RayDunzl]

Look at the right channel: the red cable is connected to black terminal instead of red.

I was going to suggest it was wired "correctly" but the connectors on one channel were swapped.

But nooooooooooo.

I might have expected reds outboard to the blacks, mirror symmetry.

Well, mirror symmetry here

And here

But the opposite of my mental image of what's best.

 

[tktran303]

Some historical perspective..

The NC400 was the first publicly released Ncore product. It was highly optimised for superior performance. It included a discrete input buffer. It was the one that was demo’ed to high end OEMs to get them “on-board”, for lack of a better term.
Later, Hypex released the dedicated power supply for it, the SMPS600.

Other Ncore products came later, including the fabled NC1200, and then much later the NC500, NC32 and NC2K and variants. These later products for OEM only, cost optimised.
To allow for OEMs to have product differentiation/ customisation an input buffer was not included. OEMs were also free to choose their own power supply option.

Now I’m 2019, as one looks at the marketplace,
you may see all kinds of implementations, include valve, class A etc input buffers, or linear power supplies, prior to the signal going into the Ncore power amp.

Make no mistake, the DIY designation of the nCore400 does not mean it is a lesser variant.
It was actually the definitive Ncore product.

 

[CheapskateCCAOwner]

Hi Amir,

Can you let us know how hot the amp runs?

 

[Bamyasi]

What is the difference with MK II?

My understanding is that SE in the model name stands for their own, supposedly upgraded performance, version of the "input buffers" and Mk II indicates Rev. D of such buffers. Unfortunately, Nord's website is a mess and my browser hangs and crashes constantly when attempting to render its pages, so doing more research is not an easy task. However, I found Nord customer support very responsive and generally helpful last time I've tried to contract them, so anyone interested can e-mail them and ask, then post results here.

Personally, after much consideration I've decided to go for Apollon NC800SL, which is currently awaiting to be put on the plane in Ljubljana on its way to me, so my interest in the Nord amplifiers is more academic at this point.

Would be nice to get my NC800SL measured by Amir when I get it but that depends on how much it would cost to ship it to the West coast (from the East one ;-). And of course, on Amir's schedule since he seems to be already overwhelmed with the equipment.

Or maybe Tibor@Apollon will get interested and ship one to Amir directly.

 

[amirm]

Hi Amir,

Can you let us know how hot the amp runs?

It hardly got warm after my testing. Heat is not an issue whatsoever.

 

[amirm]

Or maybe Tibor@Apollon will get interested and ship one to Amir directly.

Drop him a note to see what he says.

 

[Matias]

Any chance you can test continuous power? Because this is what the data sheet shows:
View attachment 27049
Is “continuous” that much different than RMS?
Maybe do a wattage vs time measurement to see how long it takes to reach that (opposite of plateauing?).
Also, odd how there are no parameters in regards to bandwidth nor THD.

This is dependent of cooling. Testing this would only mean how much the Nord chassis is able to dissipate before the module starts to lower its power. Like a modern CPU thermal throttle in a notebook.

 

[cjfrbw]

Now, all you need to do is to send it to S. Guttenberg for a subjective evaluation.

 

[Tks]

Now, all you need to do is to send it to S. Guttenberg for a subjective evaluation.