A friend sent me a couple of DIY NCore NC400 amps that he did and I got them yesterday. He wanted my opinion of them. I tried them against my McCormack DN225 amp. At first the 225 blew away the 400s. The 225 was so much more warm, involving and real. The 400s sounded very clear, clean and dull. I was disappointed in them as I had high hopes for them.
Running my air conditioner to cool the 225 it costs me over 10 cents an hour to run what I have. That works out to hundreds of dollars a year with the amount I run my system. Being class D the 400s run much cooler.
Today, thinking that the 400s might be a bit more neutral than the 225 I started pondering my Calypso tube preamp. I used the stock Sovtek tubes as it was the most neutral tube that I could find. That worked best to balance with the warmth of the McCormack. I got out some Telefunken smooth plate 12AX7s that I had and put them in the Calyspso. Magic! They sounded bad with my 225 but great with the NCores. My system now had plenty of warmth, excitement and possessed an amazingly realistic wide sound field. My system may be better with digital and vinyl than it has ever been.
It is amazing that a system can go from crap to great with a little adjustment in component synergy. I need to remember that when I hear something that I think sounds awful. I should keep a little objectivity.
Bob
Running my air conditioner to cool the 225 it costs me over 10 cents an hour to run what I have. That works out to hundreds of dollars a year with the amount I run my system. Being class D the 400s run much cooler.
Today, thinking that the 400s might be a bit more neutral than the 225 I started pondering my Calypso tube preamp. I used the stock Sovtek tubes as it was the most neutral tube that I could find. That worked best to balance with the warmth of the McCormack. I got out some Telefunken smooth plate 12AX7s that I had and put them in the Calyspso. Magic! They sounded bad with my 225 but great with the NCores. My system now had plenty of warmth, excitement and possessed an amazingly realistic wide sound field. My system may be better with digital and vinyl than it has ever been.
It is amazing that a system can go from crap to great with a little adjustment in component synergy. I need to remember that when I hear something that I think sounds awful. I should keep a little objectivity.
Bob