NORD power amplifiers

Jesus Dodge have you not done it already 🤪
 
This is the exact model, chose the upgraded speaker wiring and also added 2 pairs of RCA leads from Nord.

lead time is about 2 weeks.


Nord One MP NC252 2-4 250W Channels Black
No of Channels: 4 Channels
Speaker Output Wire: Silver Plated Pure Cu 14AWG

Excellent choice! I have one of those driving my atmos speakers and a seven channel version driving the main speakers - you won't be disappointed. I'm not sure the wire upgrade really offers anything, but I also spent the extra bit of cash. I'm still amazed at how good my system sounds.
 
Which speakers and pre amp have you paired it with?
 
Which speakers and pre amp have you paired it with?

I have KEF R500 for front and surrounds, R200C for the centre channel. Rear surrounds and atmos speakers are KEF T101. I have a Marantz AV7702mk2 processor. I have no intention of replacing anything on this system unless it breaks. The spend required to get a signifcantly better sounding system is beyond my income.
 
Nice, pretty awesome setup!
Can't wait to get my amp :D
 
Nord and IOTAVX AVXP1 were on the cards but I can only do 5.2. As I only want to power LCR first I'm going for a Crown XLS 1002 with DSP and switchable input voltage.

I bought mine from www.thomann.de/gb for £231 inc. shipping & 3 year warranty from thomann (Crown offer 3 year no squabble replacement for free). Was going to use BAX, as I've bought from them before, but they were out of stock.

If anyone is interested I'll do another thread with an install of them.
 
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I'd be interested in your views on this tbh. I've just purchased a 2502 from Thomann for my DIY sub and was wondering about using them for the LCR as well? How would they compare to the Nord amps I wonder? They certainly don't look as pretty that's for sure but sound wise, interested to have an opinion
 
I'd be interested in your views on this tbh. I've just purchased a 2502 from Thomann for my DIY sub and was wondering about using them for the LCR as well? How would they compare to the Nord amps I wonder? They certainly don't look as pretty that's for sure but sound wise, interested to have an opinion

They look like play toys in comparison to the sheen of Nord / IOTVAX. But they are not made to look nice. They are made to be worked hard for long periods of time and treated a bit rough. I will be trying to make it so mine are not visible !
 
They look like play toys in comparison to the sheen of Nord / IOTVAX. But they are not made to look nice. They are made to be worked hard for long periods of time and treated a bit rough. I will be trying to make it so mine are not visible !
Tbh I'm not that fussed on the looks, it's sonic capability that I'm interested in and of course reliability. I genuinely am thinking of running more 2502's in my system until I do not need an av receiver and I can migrate to a stand alone processor. I just want to be sure in my own mind that I'm not wasting my time with all the effort
 
I would be very surprised if Colin at NORD would not help with something out of warranty-their customer service is exemplary
 
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I’ve owned Nord 500 monos in the recent past and currently have a Crown 1502 as a temporary measure whilst my amps are serviced.

For sound quality there really is no comparison imho - the Crown is excellent at its price point for what it was designed to do but falls some way behind the Nords just about everywhere except the price.
 
I’ve owned Nord 500 monos in the recent past and currently have a Crown 1502 as a temporary measure whilst my amps are serviced.

For sound quality there really is no comparison imho - the Crown is excellent at its price point for what it was designed to do but falls some way behind the Nords just about everywhere except the price.
Interesting, what are the differences, are they measurable?
 
I’ve been out of the audiophile/ HiFi world for perhaps 15 years. I’ve been very happy with a set of active speakers. But witnessed all the better cable / filter the power supply / deeper bass stuff. I’m pretty sure, watching movies I’m not really going to notice the difference and the % difference that is present. It has been proven quite a few times that the subjective improvement in products ( not just HiFi ) is adversely effected by price / appearance and advertising. I think it’s quite true that you ( and others ) can hear a difference. But that’s subjective. I’m from a technical background and like facts.

alas I don’t have side by side amps to perform those test. However when I return from my next trip I will do a RAW test of before and after with / without the crowns.

don’t get me wrong. Nord and iotva look lovely and prob sound lovely too.

but from an industry that still tries to sell digital cables that have a better sound I do struggle. It either gets 1’s and 0’s or it doesn’t.

blind AB testing has also shown ...

I better stop before I upset someone:)

I’m just a sceptic and try not to drink from the cool aid.
 
I recently added a Behringer A800 in bridged mono mode to an Arcam AVR550, to power my newly acquired kef reference centre speaker.

It sounds the same to me at lower volumes, and I measured the frequency responses of both the Arcam and the Behringer using REW and they were identical.

I posted them on the Behringer A800 thread.
 
I recently added a Behringer A800 in bridged mono mode to an Arcam AVR550, to power my newly acquired kef reference centre speaker.

It sounds the same to me at lower volumes, and I measured the frequency responses of both the Arcam and the Behringer using REW and they were identical.

I posted them on the Behringer A800 thread.

Thank you... And I thought I was going a little mad....

Equally, don't get me wrong. The more expensive products do look lovely.
I recently added a Behringer A800 in bridged mono mode to an Arcam AVR550, to power my newly acquired kef reference centre speaker.

It sounds the same to me at lower volumes, and I measured the frequency responses of both the Arcam and the Behringer using REW and they were identical.

I posted them on the Behringer A800 thread.

I've seen your thread and results on your A800. It was interesting and kinda confirmed my 'thoughts'.

The active speakers I've used for years have class D amplifiers in them. Pretty modest ones. The only fault that was made of the speakers was they were too clinical, crisp. Put crap in, get crap out. I'm fine with that.

I nearly went for the A800's, but liked some of the DSP on the XLS 1002's. It made sense that I could cut out certain frequency ranges to my LCR, so below 80hz ( or whatever the crossover is ) and let the amp just deal with what you want it do. Also liked being able to alter input voltages.

I have a small Behringer UCA202 USB to Optical on the back of my Mac. The optical goes into my active speakers. No messing around, or changing sounds. It's just data being transferred. My actives sound great. £17.59 well spent. Prob. the same chips used in more expensive products. Ok, it look plastic, feels plastic and is plastic. But it's hidden so who cares.
 
I recently added a Behringer A800 in bridged mono mode to an Arcam AVR550, to power my newly acquired kef reference centre speaker.

It sounds the same to me at lower volumes, and I measured the frequency responses of both the Arcam and the Behringer using REW and they were identical.

I posted them on the Behringer A800 thread.

how does it compare on higher volumes?
 
how does it compare on higher volumes?
I measured with REW at the highest volume that I listen at (reference) and -15db from reference, I didn't want to risk going any higher than that, and the curves look identical on both.

I am reluctant to describe the audible differences from a qualitative point of view, as I know how strong the placebo effect is in these situations. I definitely enjoy how things sound when I am listening to a bombastic film at reference level. I watched 'Crawl' recently and there were a couple of scenes that blew me more or less off of my chair. The sound is crystal clear, I never struggle to hear dialogue, and the dynamic peaks blow my head off!

It is difficult to know whether this would be the same if I was powering the centre from the Arcam, I think it is better with the Behringer, and for £150 I get peace of mind that I have more headroom, and a nice light display with the VU meters :)
 
I’m not about to get into this subjective-vs-objective merry go round and the difficulty of using prose and language to describe a ‘sound’ that we all probably process differently anyway :D

Some perspective is needed before I add anything else.
I picked up the Crown on these forums (from a very good seller) simply as a temporary measure. Less than £200 delivered. And it is very good. Cool, efficient, reliable. Very powerful - at quite silly volume levels the first power LED lit, the second never flickered. And this was driving a stereo pair of speakers at 8ohm nominal but with low dips through the bass region.
God knows what they’d be like bridges into 4ohm - the thought had crossed my mind of sourcing another to bridge and mono-block to drive my 800Ds.

Hell, why stop there - why not get another 3, bridge all four and run my speakers bi-amped and monoblocked - around 2KW per channel and (here’s the ‘perspective’ angle I mentioned)... all in, around the same price as a pair of Nord UP500 monos!!

Then I powered up the Crown, set everything to bypass crossovers, ran it in stereo and the correct input sensitivity for home hifi. 2 minutes from start to finish and I was ready.

Hhmmmm, something was missing. So I left it playing a huge Tidal playlist to warm up while I got on with other stuff.
Returning to it several hours later and not much was different. I’m not sure if it’s a function of the brick wall digital filters built into it but there was a lack of air, that shimmering detail, decay to symbols - all that arty farty prose I try to avoid but it’s the best I can do to describe it.
The midrange cam across as a little ‘shouty’ - this was probably a function of turning up the volume to get some of that bass detail I love (and know my source and speakers are capable of) but it never quite gelled in this room, with my music and my gear.

The Nords I used for a while didn’t show the same issues. True fit and forget fidelity. I’ve been i to this game for longer than I care to admit, owner some nice gear and listened to lots of even better (and unaffordable...) stuff and the Nords are up there with them all.

Now, let’s be realistic here - the Cown is a bargain. It’s good. I fully intended to buy it, use it then sell on when my amps are serviced. But I think I’m going to keep it. Why? After it sounds like I’ve slagged it off? Quite simply because I think it would make a very good fit into a surround system or even bridged for a passive sub. It’s fairly clean sounding through most of the frequency, power is NOT an issue and it seems fairly robust but that top end (purely in 2-channel music) niggled me slightly. There’s a chance I will be setting up a surround system in another room in the future and I think the Cown will be great driving rear channels or even fromt channels where impact takes precedence over subtlety.

I’m sorry, I don’t have measurements or figures and don’t own the equipment to even attempt it but there are forums out there with all the details. Basically, keep the Crown working within parameters (not difficult with the power available) and it’s fine as long as you’re not expecting a £7000 Bryston or Krell for around £200! And, to my ears at least the Nords are simply better.
 
how does it compare on higher volumes?
I measured with REW at the highest volume that I listen at (reference) and -15db from reference, I didn't want to risk going any higher than that, and the curves look identical on both.

I am reluctant to describe the audible differences from a qualitative point of view, as I know how strong the placebo effect is in these situations. I definitely enjoy how things sound when I am listening to a bombastic film at reference level. I watched 'Crawl' recently and there were a couple of scenes that blew me more or less off of my chair. The sound is crystal clear, I never struggle to hear dialogue, and the dynamic peaks blow my head off!

It is difficult to know whether this would be the same if I was powering the centre from the Arcam, I think it is better with the Behringer, and for £150 I get peace of mind that I have more headroom, and a nice light display with the VU meters :)

I think, historically the A500 had reported issues with increased distortion at high sound levels.

This is why I was happy with the XLS 1002's because I'm not going to be running them at high levels, because my room won't take it, my ears won't take it and the wife will probably grumble, even at the other end of the house.

I am however aware this is a Nord thread. So I'm going to shut up soon before I get told off :)
 
I think, historically the A500 had reported issues with increased distortion at high sound levels.

This is why I was happy with the XLS 1002's because I'm not going to be running them at high levels, because my room won't take it, my ears won't take it and the wife will probably grumble, even at the other end of the house.

I am however aware this is a Nord thread. So I'm going to shut up soon before I get told off :)
Yes, I had one of those too. I was quite happy with it but it had a thump at power on and off. The A800 is a different amp - Class D instead of Class A/B, bit more power and no thump.

But.. good point, oops :offtopic:
 
I’m not about to get into this subjective-vs-objective merry go round and the difficulty of using prose and language to describe a ‘sound’ that we all probably process differently anyway :D

Some perspective is needed before I add anything else.
I picked up the Crown on these forums (from a very good seller) simply as a temporary measure. Less than £200 delivered. And it is very good. Cool, efficient, reliable. Very powerful - at quite silly volume levels the first power LED lit, the second never flickered. And this was driving a stereo pair of speakers at 8ohm nominal but with low dips through the bass region.
God knows what they’d be like bridges into 4ohm - the thought had crossed my mind of sourcing another to bridge and mono-block to drive my 800Ds.

Hell, why stop there - why not get another 3, bridge all four and run my speakers bi-amped and monoblocked - around 2KW per channel and (here’s the ‘perspective’ angle I mentioned)... all in, around the same price as a pair of Nord UP500 monos!!

Then I powered up the Crown, set everything to bypass crossovers, ran it in stereo and the correct input sensitivity for home hifi. 2 minutes from start to finish and I was ready.

Hhmmmm, something was missing. So I left it playing a huge Tidal playlist to warm up while I got on with other stuff.
Returning to it several hours later and not much was different. I’m not sure if it’s a function of the brick wall digital filters built into it but there was a lack of air, that shimmering detail, decay to symbols - all that arty farty prose I try to avoid but it’s the best I can do to describe it.
The midrange cam across as a little ‘shouty’ - this was probably a function of turning up the volume to get some of that bass detail I love (and know my source and speakers are capable of) but it never quite gelled in this room, with my music and my gear.

The Nords I used for a while didn’t show the same issues. True fit and forget fidelity. I’ve been i to this game for longer than I care to admit, owner some nice gear and listened to lots of even better (and unaffordable...) stuff and the Nords are up there with them all.

Now, let’s be realistic here - the Cown is a bargain. It’s good. I fully intended to buy it, use it then sell on when my amps are serviced. But I think I’m going to keep it. Why? After it sounds like I’ve slagged it off? Quite simply because I think it would make a very good fit into a surround system or even bridged for a passive sub. It’s fairly clean sounding through most of the frequency, power is NOT an issue and it seems fairly robust but that top end (purely in 2-channel music) niggled me slightly. There’s a chance I will be setting up a surround system in another room in the future and I think the Cown will be great driving rear channels or even fromt channels where impact takes precedence over subtlety.

I’m sorry, I don’t have measurements or figures and don’t own the equipment to even attempt it but there are forums out there with all the details. Basically, keep the Crown working within parameters (not difficult with the power available) and it’s fine as long as you’re not expecting a £7000 Bryston or Krell for around £200! And, to my ears at least the Nords are simply better.

No point in discussing people's "opinions" of right and wrong or the descriptive use of their understanding of what they can or cannot hear. The ambiguity in the english language can make one word mean many different things to different people, so perhaps not the best way to quantify the effects of a system setup.

This is why a scientific approach is more reliable IMHO. As such I have much more reliance on REW graphs. The microphones have a way better range of hearing than the human ear and as such one would expect a clinical impartial analysis of sound produced. Also means when you swap one component out and replace with another you don't need to worry about how did it sound some perhaps 20 minutes ago... Because the analysis is right in front of you.
 
No point in discussing people's "opinions" of right and wrong or the descriptive use of their understanding of what they can or cannot hear. The ambiguity in the english language can make one word mean many different things to different people, so perhaps not the best way to quantify the effects of a system setup.

This is why a scientific approach is more reliable IMHO. As such I have much more reliance on REW graphs. The microphones have a way better range of hearing than the human ear and as such one would expect a clinical impartial analysis of sound produced. Also means when you swap one component out and replace with another you don't need to worry about how did it sound some perhaps 20 minutes ago... Because the analysis is right in front of you.

Well, yes, I get all that and I understand it goes both ways - lots seem to be in the persuit of a perfect,flat and uniform frequency response. Measurement and EQ gets that and then some prefer a little bump at 50Hz, perhaps a little cut at 3Khz etc etc.

All I was getting at, is to my ears at least, the Nords better the Crown 1502 in purely subjective terms. In my room with my gear the Nord didn’t exhibit the slightly shrill and harsh upper reaches and don’t have that glare in the midrange with female voice.

A quick google of the Crown reveals a few listeners with the means to measure performance have mentioned a similar trait with the crown and point towards the fixed and non-removable digital filter built into the DSP chipset.

Me? I have no means to measure and so don’t have any objective science-based literature to thrust at you and say “there you go! Do you see?”.

However, I do have ears, experienced they are too but not infallible and, together with the processing in my brain, I’ve come to prefer the Nord over the Crown. But, as I’ve explained earlier, it’s not as clear cut as a simple A > B. Budget has to be considered, partnering equipment, use and expectation.

I sold the Nords earlier this year and, as I’ve said earlier, still own the Crown so no owner bias here. At least, I hope not.

The Crown reminds me of early ClassD that seemed to attract nay-sayers, using words like ‘glassy’ and ‘clinical’. The Nord is great in dismissing those issues and shows that digital can ‘do’ music. And do it bloody well :thumbsup:
 
I know this is the Nord thread but I think this has value considering recent posts:

An interesting review of a Crown 1502 vs Hypex NC400

I read this as the Hypex module is seemingly preferred to the Crown when it comes to quality of output so if Nord are using Hypex NC modules, I guess that they would be seen as superior products and would be the ultimate option to go for funds permitting.
 

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