Some of us buy what we want because we just want it. Let's face it, cars, interior, exterior, home, and furniture are different colors for a reason, not to mention the clothes we wear. There is primer under that paint that no one will ever see, but will enjoy the benefit it brings in the long run.
Much like the OPs' choice of amps, no one on this forum could tell the difference, distortion-wise, from my older NC500s and either of the Purify amps, especially on those speakers. I have a few pairs of older Klipsch speakers and a pair of Jenesen Imperials DM300 @ 102-106 sensitivity. The noise floor is absolutely ZERO with any of the newer Hypex or Purify modules. The problem is blowing VERY expensive drivers if you sit on the remote and go from 0-100 in .5 seconds, or worse, make a boo-boo and flip them off and on by mistake while blasting. There goes 3-5K for some drivers in my case.
I'm a Nord and Sparco buffer fan and have been for a while. I had the original NC500 that was recalled for rev C buffers that were replaced at no charge because of stock voltage regulator failures. I could not hear any difference, but as a person who has had to make many factory changes through the years for people I worked with, I appreciated the fact that it was done quickly and at no charge to me.
The next-gen rev D boards were sold to me as a mere convenience, and I believe at around 75.-100.00 per buffer. The socket was changed, and some minor resistor upgrades from iron to copper, and the dual OpAmp sockets were added, for pro and normal OpAmp sockets. Once again, I couldn't hear any difference.
As far as the whole fuse sounding different or better, I went through FREE fistfuls of different fuses and came to the conclusion I never could hear a difference, BUT noticed no further heaving from the fuses when I observed them on startup. The problem with a glass or ceramic tube and the fuse element, heaving/moving, and flexing on startup, is a serious problem in all equipment that vibrates, mainly on initial startup.
The problem is that while that tiny wire is moving around, there is a VERY high probability of failure accompanied by extreme cold or heat, either ambient or introduced by the environment. The bigger problem for ALL of the companies that were using stock tube fuses was the location of the fuse, how difficult it was to access, replace, and then reset the system. It literally brought the whole machine down.
I still have a few of the fuses that were Bussman (I believe), and they saved a lot of money overall for about 20-30.00 usd. It had nothing to do with sound, but it sure did save countless road calls from South America to the top of Canada and beyond.
The fuse controlled a very accurate computer control system for .250 accuracy while core-drilling columns. MANY vertical bores were made over the last 35 years as seismic retrofits in/on many bridges, overpasses, and other high-dollar structures.
Fancy fuses for sound, I've never heard a difference, but for reliability, they have saved millions/billions in the real world of foundational and structural drilling, just to mention a few, and added the needed protection to 50-130k computer systems that took weeks to have replaced or repaired.
The way certain fuses are made and dampened is a pretty cool thing to study from a mechanics perspective, BUT then I'm pretty easily amused.
OP, I wish you well and hope you enjoy your new amps as I have enjoyed several products from Nord. I love the cases and the consistency of build times.
My issue is VAT I have to deal with from the UK. Nord is not the least expensive amp builder out there, but they sure have the best-looking case (in my opinion). I never had any questions that weren't answered by the owner at Nord or Andrew at Sparco. They are both a great bunch to work with. Considering my systems are usually built around Mcintosh SS/Valve and Cary valve amps. Nord is a lot lighter and cooler to deal with. My issues with the newer class Ds are that they sound too good, LOL I kid you not!
I still drop the needle, use cassettes, RtR, and of course CDs. I sure like the convenience of Spotify, though. I've always used "The Music Channels" from the 70s onward, though.
BTW, I'm listening to a C20 (Samra build) MC225/MC240 and a pair of Infinity RS4Bs (which are well over 50 years old), BUT very well maintained. Sound-wise, that system puts every amp and speaker combination on notice at my home/shop. I will listen to that system for 6-8 hours straight with only a food break today. I'm comparing that to 30+ pairs (in hand) of well over 110 pairs of speakers I've built or owned. Some of those speakers won best in show several years at CES.
My personal opinion is that some things need a little distortion. LOL
Regards
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