[edwinc32]

from similar forums like this and the rave about norh's impeccable customer service.....

i have orderd the se9 amplifier from the norh site and as such sent the an e-mail (to namphung) last thursday as a follow up to see aprroximately how long it would take for my amp to be packed and sent to me......


as such have not had a reply from their at all....how long did u guys have to wait before a e-mail reply let alone the delivery?

a bit anxious on getting the amplifier to do a side by side comparison to my signature (pre-amp (vacum2-ec88) & monoblock (vacum3-6bm8) setup driving the opera 1.5 loudspeakers  

[jptang]

i got my se9 a week ago. i ordered it feb 20. i was told it was in stock, but they waited to air freight it with my 4.0 speakers, which were back ordered. So it took 3 weeks or so for them to make the shipment. It only took 3 days to end up on my porch once it left bangkok.

namphung WILL get back to you, is my experience, with a confirmation of the order, before too long.

i was impatient and almost cancelled my order because in the meantime I acquired a JOLIDA amp and I saw a less than enthusiastic review of the se9 at enjoythemusic.com. but I am glad i waited. I don't know what to rave about the most... the speakers or the amp. The amp is beautiful and substantial. looks better in reality than on the website. very impressive. The sound is better than my JOLIDA 202A class AB. More linear, cleaner, less grainy. I am very satisfied. I use the JOLIDA to power 4 speakers in a large space, something the nOrh could never do.

And i am not intending to disparage the JOLIDA... it is pretty damned good and lots of bang for the buck, but it is not a neutral sounding amp nor does it seem to have the clarity of the nOrh. The nOrh is what I am using for critical listening in a smaller room. It sounds great even at low volumes, full and rich without exaggeration. It replaces a reasonably good NAD amp. The combo of the amp and 4.0 speakers is tremendous, and has won over this critic. I don't know where else one could possibly get a basic system of this caliber for $800.

something i thought not possible... my wife likes the system. she has always treated my hifi bug with a measure of derision, but she has been playing the new system a lot. This is startling... we've been together for 10 years andd she has NEVER had an inkling of interest in this hobby of mine. I think it is because the nOrh stuff is so musical... forget the equipment, all you hear is very well defined and pleasing music. It is easy to listen to and very engaging.

I don't play it loud as a rule because i am satisfied with the sound quality at a lower volume... another reason my wife is OK with it bc she always complained that the music was too loud before.  My most recent speakers (KEF 103.2), and pretty much every speaker i've ever owned, I had to play at pretty high volume levels to enjoy... not sure if it is due to the transistor amps i've used or the KEF/AR/JBL/ADVENT/BOSTON/you-name-it speakers i've used over the years, but at mid to lower volumes the sound was always dull and lifeless and I had to crank it to hear everything. Not so with this stuff. the music is full of life and detail even at background levels.

I have been "into" hifi for 30 years, since I was a kid, and have had more systems than I can count.  Some very expensive stuff, some not so expensive. This little system is frankly the most enjoyable to listen to in all those years. Certainly the se9 is not for you if you have very inefficient speakers or intend to play it very loud. It was clearly not intended for that purpose... no single ended class A amp will do that as far as I know, at any price. If you think you need more power better get a class AB like the jolida 202.

you can email me if you have any questions.
jpatricktang1@yahoo.com

[edwinc32]

thanks for the post.

guess i shall hold my breath and wait for the se9 and a reply from namphung.  Im actually kinda relieved that you mentioned that its worth the wait.

At the moment I have the present set-up:
Primary / personal r eference system:
1) Denon 2060se CD player (with modified clock and etc)
2) Signature 2.5 Pre-amplifier ( 2xecc88 valves) - modified oil & paper caps
3) Pair of Signature  Vacum 3 monoblocks (2x6bm8 valves) - 12watts each
4) Opera 1.5 loudspeakers (with transparent audio internal cables)
5) interconnect/s: transparent music link 200s
    speaker cables: transparent auadio the wall
6) others: REL  strata 3 subs (not connected as yet)

The above set-up sounds amazingly good, with wide & deep sounstage, fantastic imaging, and would make female vocals sound life-like.

I have always preferred the sound of valves as compared to solid state amplifiers and am at the midst of setting up a secondary audio/multimedia system for my office, therefore the price and features of the se9 fits the bill; the components that i have waiting for the arrival of the se9 include:

1) Pioneer DVD545
2) Kef cresta 10 speakers plus a pair of omega super 3rs on the way
3) Panasonic 19" LCD monitor with video input
4) interconnects: van den hul md300 mk3 (locally terminated)
    speaker cables: reference 770 linear cables from oz
5) others: computer database of over 100 songs

All the components are ready and just waiting for the amplifier......hope u now understand why i'm so restless  

[jptang]

waiting is the tough part. question.. i am not familiar with your model KEF speakers... i have a pair of older KEF 103.2 speakers and i doubt the little se9 would be able to drive them.  the KEFs are 6 ohm and are not very efficient, being acoustic suspension. yours may be different?

[jptang]

BTW i mentioned the negative review of the se9 at enjoythemusic.com and i'd like to comment on that. Mr. flood is entitled to his opinion but i consider his review rambling and unfocused, bordering on sloppy, making a number of errors in the process. That certainly calls to question the objectivity and credibility of his review.

For instance, he stated that the se9 is several times more expensive than the $99 Wave 8 from Antuque Sound Labs. well, if you do the math the Wave 8 is mono, so you need 2, and you need a pre-amp. And you probably have to pay tax and delivery, whereas the se9 is delivered on your doorstep for $399, and that includes shipping. So no, the se9 is not "several times more expensive" than a system employing 2 Wave 8s and a pre-amp.

Mr. Flood spends about half the time plugging other equipment in his se9 review. he clearly has an affinity for the Wave 8, claiming it is vastly superior to the SE9.

i should point out that the se9 was also reviewed at www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/norh_se9_e.html

in the tnt review by richard george it was stated that the Wave 8 "sounded harsh, gritty, and vaguely unpleasant compared to the SE9".

2 opinions for what they are worth. i am inclined to put more credence in Mr. George's assesment, since he at least compared the se9 directly to the wave 8, whereas mr. flood spares no enthusiasm for the wave 8... apparently without actually listening to the SE9 and the wave 8 at the same time. I think it is stepping out on a limb to say that an amp sounds better or worse than one's RECOLLECTION of another amp's sound.  

i also mentioned the JOLIDA 202A. I should in fairness say that the unit i acquired is second hand, and that i have not biased the tubes. The PO was nice enough to give me about 30 EL34s of various sorts and perhaps the sound will improve with a tube upgrade. But for now I still maintain that the se9 sounds better than the JOLIDA. A review of the JOLIDA 202A is available at: www.enjoythemusic.com. The reviewer is Wayne Donnelly, NOT Colin Flood.

[edwinc32]

received my se9 amplifier today and had to pay ups for the clearance and tax which amount to usd130.00   (this was sent to Malaysia btw).

anyway hooked up to my secondary system (as above posting) and initial impression is that it sounds a bit harsh and the soundstage way too small, this i'm sure is due to running in.  am gonna give it a good running in before i give a thorough review on this forum.


i do have to mention that i'm really impressed with the prompt delivery after my intitial e-mail to namphung that went unreplied after 1 week.  
NORH - i'm indeed impressed with your standard operating procedure.

[Sotantar]

The se 9 is great.  My se-18 is great.  Looks beautiful as well.  

Interesting.  I only paid $50.00 for Duty.  No clearance was necessary.  

You will be happy with that amp.

[edwinc32]

i would like to think so  

considering the price-performance value, i'm sure the se9 is indeed a good buy even after having to pay the extra usd130 for various tax and clearance charges......sometimes i do think that fedex and ups would merge and become....FED-UP!!!!

while waiting for the se9, i went to audition an interesting set-up at a friend's place with the following:
1) wadia cd player with audio note dac1
2) quad 11 monoblock (vintage tube- modified)
3) richard allan ls3/5a speakers
4) rogers ab-1 woofers & rel strata 111 subwoofer (taking turns)

the sound was just MIND-BLOWING!!!! the vocals are really good, mid range was wholesome, holographic imaging, bass - well defined, better with the stratas in my humble opinion, wide sounstage, not to mention warm......the particular strength with this set-up is jazz, classical and even rock music.  i'm really amazed by theses mini-monitor speakers!!!!

may even set-up a third hi-fi system to run with my present primary system side by side.....m really hooked now...cant wait for another audition this coming weekend.  have a good weekend all of yas

[nathanm]

The SE-9 really is quite a good value.  It has held its own against two other much more expensive tube amps in my system now, leading me to believe that price is not always the key indicator for performance.  I find it a bit odd that there's no manual though, especially since they are marketing it towards people who have never used tube amps before.  You'd think there'd be something in there about tube replacement etc.  Hmmm.

[MaxCast]

Ha, I've never received a manual for any nOrh product I bought...and I thought it was just me

[nathanm]

Yes, and it doesn't allow any of the Norh people the luxury of yelling at customers: RTFM!  

[EProvenzano]

Nathan,
Would you mind commenting about the comparisons you've done with other tube amps?

Thanks

[nathanm]

The only serious head to head comparison I did (with someone besides me listening as well) was with my Decware SE34i.  The frequency extremes were better with the SE-9, especially bass punch.  At the time I much preferred the Decware amp, but my friend was sold on the SE-9 being superior.  The frequency balance was the main difference I felt.  The Decware was dry and flat with not much bottom whereas the SE-9 was crispier up top and had much punchier bottom.  It was the most interesting comparison I have done because I was not prepared to hear much of a difference and yet each amp had a sightly different signature.

Right now I'm using the SE-9 with a Cary Rocket-88 (one badass amp in it's own right I must say) in a passive bi-amping configuration.  The SE-9 is driving the tweeters and the Cary the woofers.  It is sounding pretty darn nice, once the gain is matched up.  

If we're talking sheer economics, I probably could've saved myself a lot of money and just stuck with the SE-9 and been happy, but wasting money is the whole point of this hobby, right?  What the SE-9 could really use is a nice balance control.  That's what I really miss.

I also had Wave 8s at one point but they were a pain in my ass so I can't comment on the sonic difference.  Suffice it to say the ASL amp was built like a lunchbox whereas the SE-9 is more like a boat anchor.  Visually speaking the SE-9 wipes the floor with 'em IMHO.  I dunno, it's not the last word in tube amps (better mate it with high efficiency speakers) but it's like the Little Tube Amp That Could.  A Sophia Baby vs. SE-9 would be an interesting matchup too I think.

[jptang]

what you think of the SE-9 when you get it. i've had more time to listen to it since my previous posts, and my initial impressions are being confirmed... it is a great sounding amp.

I'm curious, you mentioned paying duty, and someone else did also. But mine was delivered to me here in california for $399.95. Inclusive of customs, duty and freight. Are you guys in canada or someplace other than the usa ?

[EProvenzano]

I'm curious how the SE9 or SE18 would compare to the Jolida 302B.
It is another amp I'm considering as I simplify my system from separates.

The Jolida has an edge in power, at 50wpc, but I've read that it requires some mods to sound very good.

Any thoughts?

[edwinc32]

i left the se9 on all day n nite to burn in (with the volume left on low and the cd playing in loop).........it's slowly starting to show some promise.....it's particularly important to partner with high sensitivity speakers, was using them with a pair of Kef Cresta 10s (90db - 8ohm): couldn't really bring out the sound.

The switched to Omega Super 3s (94db - 8 ohm) and WHAT A FREAKIN' DIFFERENCE!!!!!.....next, I switched the inputs from my dvd player via active pre-amplifier to the amplifier and another jump in performance.....


just experiment guys......the gains may not be THAT substantial as say using a higher efficiency speaker...but it does improves with RIGHT tweaking

[jptang]

I'm curious how the SE9 or SE18 would compare to the Jolida 302B.
It is another amp I'm considering as I simplify my system from separates.

The Jolida has an edge in power, at 50wpc, but I've read that it requires some mods to sound very good.

Any thoughts?

I've got an nOrh se9 and a jolida 202A. I'm running stock tubes in both. I'll have to say that the nOrh sounds cleaner, less gritty. Tighter bass. The Jolida is warmer sounding in the mids and gets gritty in the highs at volume. major  advantage the jolida has is much more power. I've got 2 boxes of el34 tubes etc. from the PO, but haven't played around with them yet but i've heard the jolida can sound really sweet with the right tubes.

[edwinc32]

did some tweaks to the se-9 and now it sounds just the way i like it:

1) replaced the alps volume control with a tkd step attenuater
2) replaced the "skinny" power cord with a transparent power cord
3) replaced the all the input and output tubes to svetlana tubes

and now the sound is just soooo sweet and musical.  vocals take on a whole new level and the soundstage just suddenly opened up.  the mids sound warmer and the bass response tighten up.  overall, i would say my se-9 now sound much better than the standard stock one.  the tkd attenuater makes quite a signifigance difference on it's own!!! defintely recommend it to se-9 owners.  as for the tubes it's much of a personal preference, the other el34s that i like are the JJ and valve art (chinese) tubes.