Ignore for a moment the "class" designation of the new Ncore amplifiers from Hypex, think instead of how you would view them if described as high speed analog amplifiers with only two MOSFET output devices. That is exactly what they are and I've been fortunate enough to have spent the last few days with a pair on loan from Jason W. (jtwrace)
This is not a review, just a few comments about what I think of these, hence it's not in the critics circle. I have not been a fan of class D amplifiers and until now have not heard a pair that I thought I could live with for the long term. I believe I could be very happy with a set of these an assuming mine ship with the next batch I'll find out.
In terms of sound, these give the impression of being invisible. A lush, rich recording sounds lush and rich, compressed and lean recordings sound that way. My audiophile buddy Jerry (turk) came over on Saturday and we spent many happy hours listening to music and after a while both of us observed that we could not stay in an analytical mode. Instead of thinking about how it sounded, the thoughts were, my what an exquisite piece of music this is, how well played. I can think of no higher praise.
I tried to get some writing done on Saturday night, couldn't manage, I just kept falling into the music. Jerry used the word gravitas, meaning the music had more weight and emotion. I shared this with another friend who has heard these and his comment was "Gravitas yes indeed".
So rather than think of this as another class D amplifier, think of them as a high speed analog amplifier with only a pair of output devices. I was biased against class D but willing to listen, I'm delighted I did. The only sad part is I have to pack them up for shipping.
A little follow up, I got my amps running last Monday and have found nothing to change my opinion thus far.
There isn't a lot to say about the sound, they seem to just get out of the way, in a good way that is, they just allow the music to flow. I did have the opportunity for a comparison today, a friend brought over his Luxman M-600, a 30WPC class A amp. I've heard the Luxman before in my system and his and it's always been rich though I found it lacking in the perceived speed and extension compared my Atma-Sphere. Swapping in the Luxman for the NC400 was a surprise in a few ways. It sounded rather compressed and muddled in comparison and the biggest surprised was the harmonic richness, where we both expected the Luxman to shine, was actually better with the NCore. Swapping the amps back made the differences even clearer, there was just more musical information with the Hypex amps.
Both were run in balanced mode, same cables, stand and everything else, just the amps were changed.
While I'm sure the little NC isn't for everyone, I'm all smiles every time I listen to music. Played some Bob Marley on vinyl Friday night, never heard it like that before, had to play side two a second time just because I enjoyed it so much.
