[drubin]

Earlier this year, I built an NC400 stereo amp using one of the pre-drilled chassis being offered in this forum. My first DIY project! Now I'd like to make changes to a few ancillary parts (IEC inlet), add an on-off switch, revisit the overall grounding scheme, upgrade wiring, etc. These changes require some mods to the chassis, which I don't really know how to do, and some overall guidance and supervision is also in order to make sure I get it all wired correctly. To be clear, the amp is built, I just want to make a few changes.

I'm hoping to find someone local who can help me out. I'm in Redwood City but will travel. And I will compensate you for your time. If I can't find anyone local, maybe this can be done remotely, kind of like a distance-learning exercise.

Thanks!

Dan
djr at well dot com

[Berndt]

Be happy to help if I can.

[drubin]

PM sent.

[drubin]

Anyone else?

[James Romeyn]

I certainly encourage additional replies to the OP request.  But if not, you'd be hard pressed to get better help than that offered by Berndt! 

Best wishes on your project.  It would be awfully cool and highly appreciated if you could upgrade one amp at a time (if they are mono), and A-B the two in mono.  IIRC several speaker companies develop mono prototypes for testing well before listening in stereo.

One upgrade I suggest you try today is to wrap Teflon plumber's tape around the OEM fuse.  I did this over time to every component.  Improvement ranged from barely noticed up to one particular component which was huge, maybe 30%. 

[rascal]

If you could provide more details you will get more answers.

I found posts on NC400 build thread VERY useful towards my build in terms of checking measurements and such.

[drubin]

Meeting with Berndt next week.

Appreciate the responses and I do think I'm in good hands now. Will come back if specific questions arise.

[drubin]

Oh, and James -- it's a stereo build.

Dan

[James Romeyn]

Oh, and James -- it's a stereo build.

Dan

Which power supply did you choose?  Did you see that SiliconRay designed stereo Ncore chassis for 1x SMPS1200A400 (or two SMPS400) rather than SMPS600?  The 1200 and 400 designed for UcD series prior to Ncore release.  Respectively, the power supplies are 1200W, 400W, and 600W.  Jan-Peter said the 1200 and 400 can power Ncore, but one input voltage is slightly different, thus slightly lowering effective current. 

In any case, at this time it appears the 1200W supply is ideal for stereo or bridged mono NC400.  The only question is how much more difficult is wiring the two together.   

[drubin]

I used two of the SMPS600 supplies.

[James Romeyn]

I used two of the SMPS600 supplies.

"Dual mono" signifying mono construction in single chassis...Sweet! 

Hoping you and Bill audition your Ncore driving his AudioKinesis Jazz Modules, and if so, please post impressions. 

[jtwrace]

Any update on progress?

[drubin]

Making progress! Bill and I met last week and he did a terrific job implementing most of the upgrades I had in mind. Plus I got to listen to his killer system.

There is a little wrinkle to this story that I didn't mention earlier. The amp had not been working. It was an odd thing; I had replaced the IEC input a short while back and, after that, the amp was powering up but not producing any signal. I assumed this upgrade exercise would identify and resolve the problem, but it did not. As it turns out, I do not have nAMPON properly grounded. I expect to address this in the next couple of days. What's strange is that prior to that IEC swap a while back, the amp did work. And I made no other changes.

[jtwrace]

Making progress! Bill and I met last week and he did a terrific job implementing most of the upgrades I had in mind. Plus I got to listen to his killer system.

There is a little wrinkle to this story that I didn't mention earlier. The amp had not been working. It was an odd thing; I had replaced the IEC input a short while back and, after that, the amp was powering up but not producing any signal. I assumed this upgrade exercise would identify and resolve the problem, but it did not. As it turns out, I do not have nAMPON properly grounded. I expect to address this in the next couple of days. What's strange is that prior to that IEC swap a while back, the amp did work. And I made no other changes.

Great!

Weird about the IEC.  Must have been making ground somehow then.

[James Romeyn]

Making progress! Bill and I met last week and he did a terrific job implementing most of the upgrades I had in mind. Plus I got to listen to his killer system.

There is a little wrinkle to this story that I didn't mention earlier. The amp had not been working. It was an odd thing; I had replaced the IEC input a short while back and, after that, the amp was powering up but not producing any signal. I assumed this upgrade exercise would identify and resolve the problem, but it did not. As it turns out, I do not have nAMPON properly grounded. I expect to address this in the next couple of days. What's strange is that prior to that IEC swap a while back, the amp did work. And I made no other changes.

Glad you diagnosed the problem.  As Rosanna Rosannadanna used to say (SNL), "It's always something..."

Interested in your thoughts of Bill's AudioKinesis Jazz Modules.