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Nord NC1200 or PS Audio M1200’s

thugger

Wipe that stupid grin off you're face!..
Has anyone got first hand knowledge of Nord NC1200 amps?
I want to find a great Class D amp. I recently had a demo of the PS audio M1200’s, a revelation! Their tube input buffer really works. But... I am intrigued by the Nords, but the fact there is no way to demo them is a bit off putting... thoughts please.
 
Yes the nord units are hypex and the ps audio are icepower. Some say the icepower are a bit warmer . Certainly hope to try the ps audio m700 Some time as I love my icepower asx 50 monoblocks.

Glad to hear you liked the m1200.

There is huge love for nord and they often come up sh . Some find the model range a bit confusing but both are worth hearing.
 
I’m thinking about changing my amps and the Class Ds are really interesting. There are lots of new ones out there including hifinutt’s favourites the Bel Cantos (the e1x had a fantastic write up in Stereophile) and The Rogue Dragon and Hydras use valves like the PS amps.Since the PS audio M1200s are new and Nords are only available direct my guess is that that not many direct comparisons have been made. Hopefully experiences of different Class D amps will eventually lead in a roundabout way to a useful comparison of the Nord and PS amps that Thugger wants. It would be great to hear your experiences.
 
yes the m1200 are quite a jump up, there is always the more reasonable m700 ps audio . using the bc pre 3 with a sean jacobs dc3 into some VERY modest icepower gives superb results . these icepower were only supposed to be a stop gap after the 16k power amp was sold to pay the bills , however they turned out to way better than i thought . not neutral , not cold and sterile but warm and musical and engaging . playing george benson ` the ghetto` those drums just give that sense of realism and snap and you just keep wanting to play it . [with the tannoys ]

i will add though that it depends so much on the speaker , they were not quite my cup of tea with the 93db impulse horns . thats still class AB power amp
 
The two amps you mentioned are rather different things. The Nord unit is based on the Hypex nCore modules which are more or less state of the art when it comes to Class D designs, and their USP is that they are neutral and "just work". The PS Audio amp is based on Icepower, which aren't as good as Hypex technically, and then they put a valve buffer on the front (and add a load of $$$ to the price) which is either there to add distortion, and so make the performance worse, or alternatively not add distortion and just act as an extremely expensive additional light source.
 
I was researching class D with the hope of trying to hear some amps on demo but failed miserably.

That said, I did come across kjf audio who posts here, as orangeart i think and they were willing to do a loaner of their class D hypex amp, just not outside the UK where I am.

From what I heard about Nord, they may come across as edgy in a bad way, particularly on brighter speakers, i.e. ProAcs. Bel Cantos are apparently smoother and possibly NuForce too.

I read an interesting post where it was said Class D works best with speakers with a complex crossover which I thought was interesting. Mine do so still considering them.

They dont appear to hold value like a chunky class a or ab amp though, which put me off. It could be because it is still an emerging technology.

The new NAD at £1699 which is a Purifi amp looked interesting and Nord do an equivalent. There is a good comparison between it and a Bryston amp on YouTube:
 
I had the Ncore NC1200 (oem, buffers disabled) for quite a while, and last year made the switch to the Purifi IET400As. Despite 15a less current available to my KEF Blades, the IET400As after many weeks of break in quite frankly walked over the NC1200s even at crazy (100db) volumes which was a real surprise. IMHO I would skip the Ncores at this stage for either Ice Edge of Purifi amps.

Edit: as perspective, one of my SMPS blew (power surge), and had to return to the NC1200s for a couple of weeks till replacements arrived. I kept finding myself pushing the volume higher and higher trying to recover what was missing from the Purifis, to no avail. It's quite a leap, but I would highly recommend borrowing a pair that have been burned in first as it took quite a while for mine to fully settle.
 
It’s possible to dip your toe in the water with icepower at moderate cost.I bought a 1200as2 stereo power amp from an eBay builder for comparatively little and it’s very good. Bass slam will come as a shock after many Class AB amps.
 
The two amps you mentioned are rather different things. The Nord unit is based on the Hypex nCore modules which are more or less state of the art when it comes to Class D designs, and their USP is that they are neutral and "just work". The PS Audio amp is based on Icepower, which aren't as good as Hypex technically, and then they put a valve buffer on the front (and add a load of $$$ to the price) which is either there to add distortion, and so make the performance worse, or alternatively not add distortion and just act as an extremely expensive additional light source.

thats interesting , i thought the latest icepower edge could compete with any hypex

https://icepower.dk/products/audio-ics/iceedge/
 
The two amps you mentioned are rather different things. The Nord unit is based on the Hypex nCore modules which are more or less state of the art when it comes to Class D designs, and their USP is that they are neutral and "just work". The PS Audio amp is based on Icepower, which aren't as good as Hypex technically, and then they put a valve buffer on the front (and add a load of $$$ to the price) which is either there to add distortion, and so make the performance worse, or alternatively not add distortion and just act as an extremely expensive additional light source.

Adding distortion can be a real good thing, one should try something along the likes of the Korg Nutube buffer which gives you the ability to dial in more or less H2 distortion along with other modes. Many are converts now, who cant live without it!
 
If you like to swap kit regular like me watch out for the resale value of these Class D amps, I’ve shifted umpteen A/B amps with ease with minimal loss to a small gain over the years, the last couple I’ve bought have been Class D and it’s looking like I’ll take a bath on them, the Bel Canto ones especially.
 
the last couple I’ve bought have been Class D and it’s looking like I’ll take a bath on them, the Bel Canto ones especially

Think the Ncore Class D is particularly 'difficult' due to the fact so many kit builds are available. It's what put me off the Bel Canto ACI-600 when I demoed one a few years back.
 
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Think the Ncore Class D is particularly 'difficult' due to the fact so many kit builds are available. It's what put me off the Bel Canto ACI-600 when I demoed on a few years back.
Yeah, I looked into umpteen options/versions including the Nord stuff, their website was incredibly confusing at the time. Also now put off from the new Bel Canto gear which I was looking at a while ago as a potential demo candidate.
 
My amp uses a Pascal M-PRO2 Class D module. It's the first time in over 15 years of trying Class D designs that I can honestly say; I don't miss anything a Class A-A/B amp offers.
https://www.pascal-audio.com/product/m-pro2/

It may be of interest to some that Gato also uses this module. It's like DACs though; the 'chips' only play a part, it's the implementation that counts.
 
Yeah, I looked into umpteen options/versions including the Nord stuff, their website was incredibly confusing at the time. Also now put off from the new Bel Canto gear which I was looking at a while ago as a potential demo candidate.
yes many find nord a bit confusing but after a while you get used to it . Personally I prefer bc for build quality. Having had an awful lot of it . The new black stuff seems grossly expensive so sticking with their more modest stuff
 
If Nord power amps sound "harsh", there are options regarding op-amps which may "soften" the sound. That may well depend on the music you are listening to. Some like the sound "as is" other peoples ears might decide differently.
 


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