Well we could stir up an argument about a JOB Sweetcord, shielded Mains lead making the nc400 sound sweeter and 50/50 it will be yourself or Julf
Would be interesting if Julf might have to buy an nc500...'we' could be nice and give him one at cost ;-)
Paul
Ps. I've ordered my nc500s
I wouldn't doubt that it has sweeter coloration.
So did you get the upgraded board, or did you cheap out and get the standard board?
Starting small growing big
Audio should always come first
Hi Tom4s if you are able to build your own speakers I would go to the Troels Gravesen site he has some great designs and you end up with speakers worth a lot of money. I built the Illumina 66 floorstanders they are great.Not quite, but after a detour through Germany I got it today! It is very beautiful, my wife also approves!! Now it is clear that I must renovate or replace the speakers. Time to start a new thread in another forum!
Or you could even have a look at IQ Speakers again you get a lot for your money. Or even get IQ to make some cabinets and build the Troels Gravesens into them.
I have recently seen some speakers with similar drivers to mine and they cost £ 11,000 with stands, I built mine for £ 1,700
I have some beautiful drivers for sale as well
Legendary drivers for sale!!
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=285363
A small question for Julf:
You admitted being obsessed by damping factor and low impedance, but do you really (and objectively) feel like there is any need for that low an output impedance? (I don't know of any amp with a lower impedance than the n400)
Bruno himself said that the very low impedance came as a buy product of his amplifier topology, and that the only advantage he could find was for biwiring.
You admitted being obsessed by damping factor and low impedance, but do you really (and objectively
) feel like there is any need for that low an output impedance? (I don't know of any amp with a lower impedance than the n400)Bruno himself said that the very low impedance came as a buy product of his amplifier topology, and that the only advantage he could find was for biwiring.
A small question for Julf:
You admitted being obsessed by damping factor and low impedance, but do you really (and objectively
Bruno himself said that the very low impedance came as a buy product of his amplifier topology, and that the only advantage he could find was for biwiring.
Really and objectively? No. The output impedance of the nc400 is way lower than you would ever need. But I think we have all agreed overkill is an essential part of this hobby.
Damping factor yep its one measurement of a great amp a really important one along with the slew rate (I'm a big fan of both) and they kind of go hand in hand. Its kind of the ability of an amp to boss, control the drivers accurately. It allows other things to fall into place and usually the realm of large heavy transformers 800-100vA and 80-1000,000uF capacitance for starters. Yet Hypex amps have neither! Topologies for you.
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Anybody use nCore with other SMPS like Abletec Switch Mode Power Supply +53V ?
Here is spec info
https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/129-147-parts-express-specifications.pdf
Here is spec info
https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/129-147-parts-express-specifications.pdf
From '79 to the mid-90s I had the Spectro Acoustics 500SR amp. I constructed a temp controlled fan unit for cooling after having fried the output transistors twice. Despite the fan I fried a 3rd set of transistors, and gave up trying to fix it; each channel had 10 carefully matched and very rare Motorola types, as I recall. Instead I bought a new Adcom GFA-585. This lasted a bit over ten years before one channel died. I tried changing all caps and the servo IC as I noticed it looked burnt, but no go. I then had the idea to recycle the Adcom chassis. That's when I got seriously interested in class D and joined diyaudio. Hypex UcD, 41Hz TruePath and NewClassD were on my shortlist when I saw the nCore announcement and started this thread.
Now, after nearly 10,000 posts, I finally have my first seriously powerful class D amp!! It is looking sweet, tidy and small compared to my previous amps. Like Colmo, I also have an Audiolab 8200CDQ. The little silver box above is a brand new Shiit Mani phono preamp, and the big box below is a 1970s chunk of Kenwood KT8300 tuner. Out of picture is a Denon DP40F direct drive TT with an Ortofon MC20 Supreme.
Pretty red lights are aglowin' within. I will need to pop the hood on this soon, and check out your work.
The new amp is actually not my first Nord. I also have a couple of this kind!
The most recent amp I had was an old Technics SE 9021 that a friend pulled out from his cellar storage, and let me have. It didn't survive for long with my speakers...
The first song I played with the Nord amp was Crazy by Seal. As I haven't used the speakers for about two years now, I raised the volume slowly and it soon sounded rather weird. I removed the speaker grills to find that the foam surrounds on both woofers had separated from the cones. The glue has just dried, the cones look ok. I have ordered some fresh glue with new surrounds. May as well replace them at the same time, as the last time was some time ago...
Oh, yes, there was that to say as well! Before the surrounds separated, I was very impressed with how well it sounded. Mind, I have only listed to the Audiolab through headphones before, as the amp from you is not the only new component.
I obviously didn't spend much time listening, but what I heard I like to describe as uninhibited. Without discolouration, and without hesitation or lag. It was a long time ago when I last heard the old components playing, but I now think music had been held back by that gear with its momentum of inertia... which is now gone!
(Feel free to quote parts of this post on your web site.)
There was a time in my life when I did build speakers. A pair of quarter wave Voigt horns were my greatest success. Now I spend far too much time trawling the net looking at all the pretty things I could be building...
Yes, I had a look at Troels' designs before, and liked the specs of the Jenzen ATS, but it is so damn ugly... I am also intrigued by many of the open baffle designs out there, but most of them are also very low on WAF.
I don't know... I probably will build speakers some day, but not before I have gone into retirement. Until then, I am well tempted by some of the newer models from Focal, Sonus Faber, B&W...
10,000 posts I'm honoured! And apologies for blowing your drivers apart that's 400W's for you! Looks good. As to the other Nord even the logo is similar no intention there!
I came on to ask if there is any interest in a UcD700 amplifier? My interest peaked by the alternative PSU!
Still waiting for Colmo for his impressions of the Nord buffer board and the differences preferences between the Burson and Sparkos he got his boards Friday. To be honest this feedback is valuable to me and future customers plus it's the most enjoyable bit for me!
January has been staggering not to mention an immense amount of work but we are completely up to date and may be able to build some stock units! Thank you all.
I came on to ask if there is any interest in a UcD700 amplifier? My interest peaked by the alternative PSU!
Still waiting for Colmo for his impressions of the Nord buffer board and the differences preferences between the Burson and Sparkos he got his boards Friday. To be honest this feedback is valuable to me and future customers plus it's the most enjoyable bit for me!
January has been staggering not to mention an immense amount of work but we are completely up to date and may be able to build some stock units! Thank you all.
Good for you. With the effort and care I know you spend, the success is well deserved. May I just suggest you review your logo design before your business takes off to the next level? It didn't quite occur to me before, but the other Nord may not appreciate it...
Nord Keyboards | Handmade in Sweden
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