I removed all the oxygen from my sealed listening room - just having nitrogen made a massive improvement to my speakers, as a man on the internet said it would. Sadly, there isn't time for a proper blind test, so I'll just remain right on this point, unless you give me your evidence to the contrary.
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Sold my Nord Three 1ET7040SA Monos — Upgrading to 1ET9040BA MB MKII Flagship
- Thread starter Cpopovic
- Start date
JSmith
Master Contributor
OP
Cpopovic
Member
- Thread Starter
- #23
Fair point on Russell’s teapot – I’m not asking anyone to believe in anything on my say‑so. I’m reporting what I hear in my own system and I’m perfectly happy to label that as anecdotal.
At the same time, if the community position is “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”, then “all fuses are always audibly identical in every implementation” is also an extraordinary claim if it’s not backed by controlled data either. Right now we mostly have measurements that rarely look at fuses in situ, and a lot of very confident opinions on both sides.
I’m not trying to convert anyone; if someone thinks it’s nonsense, they can just ignore that part of my post. What I find more interesting is why a couple of fuses in one person’s system generate more heat than a kilowatt of amplification and DSP ever do.
ASR members have very low (some say zero) tolerance for BS. Even if you are not trying to convert anyone, we are trying to stop those BS.
Maybe someday you will be converted yourself.
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It shouldn’t be a point of contention in this forum that amps with distortion lower than -100dB, flat frequency and phase response have no audible differences.
I’ve never understood the whole deal with trading amplifiers every couple of years.
Hey, if wasting money makes your system sound better, have at it.
I’ve never understood the whole deal with trading amplifiers every couple of years.
Hey, if wasting money makes your system sound better, have at it.
I'm not sure anyone is saying fuses are audibly identical in every implementation. That leaves room for some sort of pathological "gotcha" edge case in which they aren't.
In any event, the "extraordinary" claims argument can't simply be pointed at anything you disagree with. By that logic, if I said I can levitate because my big toe could negate gravity, any counterclaims would also require extraordinary evidence
Not sure what you mean...right now, every single measurement already includes the effect of any fuses that are in situ.
Imakeller
Active Member
Do you really expect to hear a difference?
That’s what I was thinking. Nord seems to make nice amps. Not sure why they aren’t more popular in the USA. The OP’s new amp measures demonstrably better than his previous amp, but will it be audibly better? I’m skeptical on that.
However, I’m not faulting the OP for making the change. A pursuit of “better” and “personal gratification” is part of the fun of the hobby. I myself got the Buckeye version of this amp. Enjoy the new amps @Cpopovic !
JSmith
Master Contributor
Here's a 28 page thread started 10 years ago, plenty of info in there;
www.audiosciencereview.com
Some of the many comments of note;
JSmith
Fuses do affect sound, the question is how much
OK, so about forty years ago I watched a fuse pulsate to the bass beats in an amplifier. It was a fuse in line with the speaker, and for speaker protection. Fuses react to current flow and they heat up when it happens. Now, I don't think I heard the affects of this fuse whose impedance was...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Further discussion on this should be in that old but still current thread, last post 8th of Feb 2026.
JSmith
OP
Cpopovic
Member
- Thread Starter
- #30
The fuse was a tiny, incidental part of the post; some people just fixated on it and turned the thread into a side debate instead of addressing the main point about how the mono amplifiers actually behave. A bit more tolerance would help keep this thread focused on the main point. I forgive you all
How do you know this? The latest modules show such low noise and distortion that the measurements are mainly driven by the input buffer.
Where is this information?
All I see on the Nord website is waffling about how opamps improve tonal density. Where are the actual specs?
nah,The fuse was a tiny, incidental part of the post; some people just fixated on it and turned the thread into a side debate instead of addressing the main point about how the mono amplifiers actually behave. A bit more tolerance would help keep this thread focused on the main point. I forgive you all
we all know that both of your amps - old and new are SOTA performance and nothing is differently audible from them.
your "other" equipment are more interesting to talk about.
OP
Cpopovic
Member
- Thread Starter
- #34
In the new Nord Three 1ET9040BA mono amps, I was specifically referring to the Weiss BP2 op-amp used in the input buffer, but I didn’t make that clear enough. To clarify, I’d measure it in-circuit under identical conditions, keeping the gain, load, supply voltage, and source material constant. By comparing the noise floor, THD+N, frequency response, output level, DC offset, and stability, you can see where the buffer’s behavior ends and the Purifi module’s behavior begins. Since the change is in the buffer stage, the comparison should be framed as a careful listening or measurement test of that specific stage, not proof of a universal result
Imakeller
Active Member
I could probably cite Purifi’s specs for the 7040 vs the 9040, but I just based it on the OP:
“These units utilize the Purifi 1ET9040BA module, offering superior performance over the 1ET7040SA with <0.0001% THD+N, a 137dB SNR, and higher damping factors. Featuring the Nord REV D input buffer and specialized Hypex power supplies, they deliver 375W/8Ω, 750W/4Ω, and 925W/2Ω for significantly increased output headroom. [1]
My objectives for this upgrade, beyond pure curiosity, focus on these measurable technical improvements:
- Ultra-low distortion and noise floor: <0.0001% THD+N (vs 0.00035% on the 7040SA) and a 137dB SNR (vs 129dB) for enhanced transparency.
- High damping factors: >500 (vs ~400) for superior bass control and authority with demanding speakers.
- Increased dynamic headroom: 375W/8Ω, 750W/4Ω, and 925W/2Ω (compared to 250W/8Ω, 500W/4Ω, and 950W/2Ω).”
Maybe a lightning strike? Or attach a speaker cable to the amp and while using a blow dryer on the other end to shrink the banana plug plastic wrapping accidently short out the blow dryer on the banana plug.
shipping to US especially with tariff is problematic. Already buckeye and VTV to choose from.
No definitely not
someone has the money and wants the best/latest. His friend offered to buy his old amp on the spot - supposedly at reasonably good price, so I would understand if he wants to upgrade. Many of us do the same thing - I did upgrade my coffee machine because I want something nicer with new features. The espressos they make - can't tell a difference
and people change cars every other years. if they have the money and they want to do that, so be it.
Upgrading amp for better sound is an entirely different thing though
I will very much enjoy it if the old one is through.
tineared
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I have no problem with the OP wanting to own one of the finest amps on the market for whatever reason.
Without knowing which speakers the OP is using or how loud he likes to listen on occasion or how large the listening area is, we do not have enough information to know whether the upgrade is likely to deliver audible results.
I hope he enjoys his new amps.