You are leaving out your source gear. This is likely the problem. It's also the mistake everyone makes with these amps. Do you not think that this could be the problem? Simply get source gear that sounds good and this won't be a problem. Or if you like a warmer amp, get Boggit's NC500 build with the Sparko's. The NC400 is designed to add no coloration at all to the sound. No added warmth. So if you want warmth, it must either be in the recording, or in your source gear.
Cambridge audio on the other hand are purpose voiced for a warm presentation.
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It's IC opamp based. Looks very close to the design of the standard Hypex NC500 buffer. But not sure of the opamp used. Probably voiced towards a bit of added warmth.
No, Cambridge Audio's 851 series are know as neutral, even little bit bright.
Regarding the source, you are right but the best source I currently have is this source. I could try my Luxman CD player but It would need a preamplifier which would add another coloration and distortion. Luxman's sound is little bit warmer than Es9018 though.
I mentioned this comparison which was done against CA amplifiers because they are the only solid state amplifiers I currently have. I owned or tried some other brands but I did not have NC400 at that time.
I agree with Julf, the manufacturers may design their products in a way of giving more pleasure to their customers so this may add some coloration but NC400 might be "extremely" neutral.
I actually do not pay attention to the sound signature but I am concerned about the performance with the complex music. I have just tried Beethoven (Deutsche Grammophon, 423 064-2) with both 851W and NC400, the difference is obvious. 851W gives the instruments very well separated and in bigger sound stage (as 3lviz mentioned)
Unless I have problem with my Ncore setup, it's performance with complex orchestral music is not so good. It does not mean it is a bad amplifier but it currently cannot compete against a good designed AB class amplifier. I believe class D technology will dominate the market in the future after some improvement though.
What you need to do is actually play around with different source gear, before you decide it can't handle complex orchestral music. Most amps like the Cambridge, artificially enhance music. This extra soundstage and better separation was "voiced " into the equipment. Buy Boggit's amp and 5-6 different pairs of discrete and IC opamps and swap them out. You will hear a completely different presentation and soundstage with each one. It's not the class D technology that is the bottleneck here. It's simply the lack of artificial enhancement due to the "straight wire" buffer stage.
Once you have this experience, it will be an eye opener.
Do you have the possibility of borrowing a graphic equalizer or a DSP unit?
Bruno explains his philosophy behind his "straight wire" approach with the NC 400 here:
"It's always a dilemma whether an amp should be tuned for things like subjective bass control, sweet mids or not. One of the tricks a McIntosh does by design is to have a highish output impedance—because of the autoformer—which makes for a more liquid midrange sound and then to add a subjective sense of bass control by allowing a slight THD rise in the top end. When things like those are really tastefully balanced, such an amp can really make life hard on a 'straight wire' amp in a shootout. The signal actually comes out sounding nicer and more impressive than what went in. But on the other hand I think that to make the greatest number of people happy, one can't afford to give an amp a sound of its own because the number of new fans is probably immediately offset by the number of people who don't like that particular tuning. But it's tough to resist the occasional sonic touch-up. I can emulate the sound of pretty much any amp out there if I wanted. But so far I'm resisting. If ever I give in, it'll be obvious from the measurements and I hope someone calls me out on it. Anyhow that's why I decided I actually wanted the NC400 to have this unvarnished dead-pan delivery."
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/acousticimagery/1.html
Personally I think in order to make the greatest number of people happy is to give them the choice of how they want it to sound by allowing easy opamp rolling in the buffer.
"It's always a dilemma whether an amp should be tuned for things like subjective bass control, sweet mids or not. One of the tricks a McIntosh does by design is to have a highish output impedance—because of the autoformer—which makes for a more liquid midrange sound and then to add a subjective sense of bass control by allowing a slight THD rise in the top end. When things like those are really tastefully balanced, such an amp can really make life hard on a 'straight wire' amp in a shootout. The signal actually comes out sounding nicer and more impressive than what went in. But on the other hand I think that to make the greatest number of people happy, one can't afford to give an amp a sound of its own because the number of new fans is probably immediately offset by the number of people who don't like that particular tuning. But it's tough to resist the occasional sonic touch-up. I can emulate the sound of pretty much any amp out there if I wanted. But so far I'm resisting. If ever I give in, it'll be obvious from the measurements and I hope someone calls me out on it. Anyhow that's why I decided I actually wanted the NC400 to have this unvarnished dead-pan delivery."
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/acousticimagery/1.html
Personally I think in order to make the greatest number of people happy is to give them the choice of how they want it to sound by allowing easy opamp rolling in the buffer.
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You might be on to something here. You could buy a "Levinson" opamp, or an "Ayre" for example. Certainly Goldmund and Boulder would have to be priced much, much higher though. We could take the idea of "amp modeling" from the guitar world to the hi-fi world.
Well it's his amp, and I haven't personally tested his buffer yet, so it's best to leave it up to him to offer these recommendations.
Yes this is the whole reason why I shared this idea months ago on this thread. I also shared all the recommended opamp's, as well as the parts list to build the buffers.
Colin (Boggit) loved the idea, and this is why his upgraded buffer board exists today. He was originally just going to offer the stock LM4562 IC opamp based buffer. Same one that Acoustic Imagery uses. I knew that would be pretty lame so I decided to just spill the beans on my idea. Since I have no plans of building a stand alone amp anyways, might as well share the idea.
So there you go, it's a done deal, and ready to purchase today.
Too bad the currently available DSPs don't readily allow emulating distortion profiles or add microphonics (afaik), you'd need a VSP/AU environment for that.
Would be cool though, you could really tune a neutral sounding amp like the NC400 on the fly to sound like anything you wish for
cool stuff, still available today!
@Julf, you posted while I was away and still had my post half typed out -- On some other forums you're actually warned that someone posted a relpy while you were typing your post.
Maybe the "new" SHARC based DSPs
Would be cool though, you could really tune a neutral sounding amp like the NC400 on the fly to sound like anything you wish for
cool stuff, still available today!
@Julf, you posted while I was away and still had my post half typed out
-- On some other forums you're actually warned that someone posted a relpy while you were typing your post.Maybe the "new" SHARC based DSPs
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What's missing is the expectation bias that comes with the high price tag. Plus the quality case. You must use a very heavy CNC machined aluminum case for the highest level of expectation bias.
So in other words, they just need to keep doing what they are doing.
So I will buy an amp from Carven with nc1200 emulation.
I think it is easy and will cost me only €700.
That was in 1985. I think the standards have gone up now. But you could likely emulate the Carver with the Ncore amps.
Or put the whole setup under a big carton box and throw a piece of black cloth over it and tell everyone it dampens the interference from earth;s magnetic field on the quality of your mains or whatever.
If you're a good enough salesman, you can make a Bose wave radio sound like the finest thing available. If you put the guts in a gold plated aluminum case, you would have rap fans paying $50k for 1 no problem. Just call it the Jay Z limited gold edition.
This is certainly my experience so far - an openness and naturalness that I hadn't yet heard.
In my opinion, a slower, less dynamic amp is mistaken for being "warm" or "smooth" - it's simply lacking the dynamics which are in the recording and therefore is smoothing everything over a little. Fine if that's what you like but you could also put a measured amount of cotton wool in your ears I suppose to get the same effect.
hypex ncore
LPS is a must. Not only do you get the buzzword, you also get the weight. Because true audiophiles know, SMPS are unsuitable for audio.
LPS is a must. Not only do you get the buzzword, you also get the weight. Because true audiophiles know, SMPS are unsuitable for audio.
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