Thoughts on the sound from those who aren't Kool-Aid drinking fanboys.

playntheblues · « **Reply #40 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 11:32 am »

Hey guys when you were poking fun of us Koolade drinking fanboys

You forgot to mention that Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Jeff Rowland and a host of others you might have heard of are also Koolade drinking fanboys. So much so that there are no more NC1200 going out to new designers. Hypex has now said they have enough companies working with them. Just sayin

jackman · « **Reply #41 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 12:01 pm »

Quote from: playntheblues on 23 Jul 2012, 11:32 am

Hey guys when you were poking fun of us Koolade drinking fanboys You forgot to mention that Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Jeff Rowland and a host of others you might have heard of are also Koolade drinking fanboys. So much so that there are no more NC1200 going out to new designers. Hypex has now said they have enough companies working with them. Just sayin

I wasn't poking fun at all Ncore fans, just the ones who were taking shots at people who expressed less than unconditional love for the design. As I stated in my previous post, I'm probably going to build a pair later this year. They sounded great, better than my existing amp which sounds pretty good.

Oh, and I was also poking fun at a bandwagon-jumper who routinely expresses his uninformed, yet wildly enthusiastic, views of products he has never heard, Mr. Clarke. That part I can't help for obvious reasons.

JohnR · « **Reply #42 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 12:22 pm »

Everything sounds great in our imaginations.

Barry_NJ · « **Reply #43 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 12:50 pm »

Quote from: jackman on 23 Jul 2012, 12:01 pm

I wasn't poking fun at all Ncore fans, just the ones who were taking shots at people who expressed less than unconditional love for the design. As I stated in my previous post, I'm probably going to build a pair later this year. They sounded great, better than my existing amp which sounds pretty good.

Oh, and I was also poking fun at a bandwagon-jumper who routinely expresses his uninformed, yet wildly enthusiastic, views of products he has never heard, Mr. Clarke. That part I can't help for obvious reasons.

Fair enough...

playntheblues · « **Reply #44 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 01:28 pm »

Ditto, understood, fair enough and you are right.

medium jim · « **Reply #45 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 04:42 pm »

Quote from: jackman on 23 Jul 2012, 12:01 pm

...Oh, and I was also poking fun at a bandwagon-jumper who routinely expresses his uninformed, yet wildly enthusiastic, views of products he has never heard, Mr. Clarke. That part I can't help for obvious reasons.

The problem is that he doesn't get it and probably never will. However, it will be rather interesting to read his review/opinions of them once he actually does hear them first hand.

Jim

JohnR · « **Reply #46 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 04:54 pm »

Quote from: medium jim on 23 Jul 2012, 04:42 pm

it will be rather interesting to read his review/opinions of them once he actually does hear them first hand.

I beg to differ. It's just a shame that the legit comments have been overshadowed (or shunted off) by the ... what's the word? "enthusiasm"

medium jim · « **Reply #47 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 05:02 pm »

JohnR:

I guess my sarcasm didn't render to the surface.

Jim

wushuliu · « **Reply #48 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 05:18 pm »

Quote from: JohnR on 23 Jul 2012, 12:22 pm

Everything sounds great in our imaginations.

Tyson · « **Reply #49 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 06:03 pm »

Quote from: RCduck7 on 22 Jul 2012, 11:16 pm

Did you ever try a good solid state or Class-D amp with a tube pre-amp or with a tube buffer combo?? I have been playing some time with that idea? I like the pure, neutral uncolored sound and dynamics the best of these type of amps can give. But it might be the best of both worlds combined when mixing some tubes before the amplification.

Oh man, I never would have thought of that! Time to re-evaluate my listening preferences.

serengetiplains · « **Reply #50 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 06:17 pm »

Quote from: Nick77 on 23 Jul 2012, 10:35 am

I completely agree, but is the flatness prevalent in every build???

I dont understand its huge success with such an obvious fault.

I compared the Ncore to my SDS classd amp and another guy brought over a high end chip amp. While both couldnt match the Ncore clarity and punch they were more musical.

In my experience, thee Ncores do some class D things very well. Class D amplifiers have an ability to bring out what I hear as midrange ambiance and decay---not the really subtle HF ambiance and decay, but the midrange version of that which, in its effect, gives a sense of midrange continuousness and tonality. Combined with their bass control and evident speed on attacks---speed but not extension, ime, i.e., still lacking sparkle and HF extension and realism---class D amps can give the impression of being very detailed and involving. I say "impression" because over time those effects begin to sound to me as if the music is mildly synthesizer-like, and the lack of subtle decay and ambiance---that HF problem of class D, which includes copious ultrasonic noise that modulates down into the audible spectrum---leaves me flat. It's as if the amps, and particularly the Ncores with their high feedback, take away something while giving what they give, which can be impressive so far as it goes: a particular kind of "detail" that other amps ime do not give. Yet there is for me a sense of suck-out at the same time.

I think the Ncores deal with certain forms of class D noise uniquely. It appears they inject a form of digital (PWM) feedback which addresses dead-time and nonlinearities of the switching stage, which gives the Ncores a boost beyond what other class D amps can attain.

jhm731 · « **Reply #51 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 07:39 pm »

Quote from: playntheblues on 23 Jul 2012, 11:32 am

Hey guys when you were poking fun of us Koolade drinking fanboys You forgot to mention that Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Jeff Rowland and a host of others you might have heard of are also Koolade drinking fanboys. So much so that there are no more NC1200 going out to new designers. Hypex has now said they have enough companies working with them. Just sayin

PS Audio's planned amps will not be using the NC1200 modules, see:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=107779.msg1114859#msg1114859

playntheblues · « **Reply #52 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 08:18 pm »

I am getting a broken link?

Barry_NJ · « **Reply #53 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 08:27 pm »

Quote from: playntheblues on 23 Jul 2012, 08:18 pm

I am getting a broken link?

Try this one...

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=107779.msg1114859#msg1114859

Freo-1 · « **Reply #54 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 08:36 pm »

Now that the initial buzz and “best amp evea! (In an exaggerated Boston twang) is passing, a realistic assessment on the Ncore vs. the rest is starting to emerge. It’s always interesting to see how any flavor of the month piece holds up over time.

No doubt they are excellent performers, but like any piece of audio equipment, it falls short in one or more areas. It just depends on how one assesses the overall sound over time. I’m sure many of us have one or more items that initially grabbed us with a “wow” factor, only to have that fade over time once you got used to its overall performance.

playntheblues · « **Reply #55 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 08:44 pm »

Thanks Barry, that did it.

Rclark · « **Reply #56 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 09:59 pm »

As far as any "claims" I've made, all I did was report and discuss what was going on in the DIY thread.

In the beginning, I was one of the only people actually going over there and reading this stuff. First there are about 80-90 pages discussing the technical merits of the design, and a lot of anticipation. Then the reviews starting coming in, from well established users with impressive systems, verifying the claims and extolling the virtues of the amp. Considering everything about the topic, yes I was very excited and wanted to make sure people here became aware of what was happening. People had questions, and i constantly directed them to the diy thread, or I would answer if I knew the answer.That's all. Carry on.

Steidl Guitars · « **Reply #57 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 10:54 pm »

I puzzle some over the type of post that initiated this thread as well as this one:

Quote from: Freo-1 on 23 Jul 2012, 08:36 pm

Now that the initial buzz and “best amp evea! (In an exaggerated Boston twang) is passing, a realistic assessment on the Ncore vs. the rest is starting to emerge. It’s always interesting to see how any flavor of the month piece holds up over time.

In reality, I suspect that many have had a similar experience to me. We heard good things about Hypex previously, and decided to give the Ncores a try based on the company's solid reputation and some positive comments from early adopters.

We bought and built the Ncores. For those of us who felt they sounded better than the amps we had in place, we were happy, and we left the Ncores in place because we liked them better. Some of us reported that, some of us didn't. And that's pretty much it. From the vast majority of us, you heard no such absurd pronouncement of "best ever" or anything like it.

This is a hobby for many of us, so part of the fun is trying new things and maybe improving our system a bit. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, but it's all part of the fun, right?

serengetiplains · « **Reply #58 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 11:15 pm »

Steidl, consider the mocking of those who originally expressed other than just praise for the Ncores. I think you'll find your answer there.

serengetiplains · « **Reply #59 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 11:18 pm »

Like this post, and those following:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=107607.msg1112252#msg1112252