@craigl59 I purchased the Nord One SE UP NC500MB Monoblocks for about $2800.00 with both Op-Amps for each monoblock a few months ago from Colin; a very nice chap to do business with. I tried both op-amp input buffer boards and ended up preferring the Sparkos Lab version over Sonic Imagery op-amp board. The Sparkos was more dynamic and less veiled while still retaining a slightly warm sound signature that I prefer whereas the Sonic Imagery felt like the additional added warmth was getting in the way of the music. I sent these amps to my audiophile friend in California to try out as an alternative to him running Threshold CLASS-A monoblocks and he enjoyed them, but ultimately said he felt they were slightly 2 dimensional in comparison to some older Class A Pass Labs monoblocks he had also just recently inherited (What a lucky guy!). The reason for this experiment was to see how they fared against some very formidable Class A amplifier competition. In the end he liked them compared to his Thresholds, but not as much as the newly acquired used pair of single-ended Pass Labs Monoblocks which have a very magical sound quality that is hard for many amplifiers to best and that I witnessed first hand while visiting him a few weeks ago while traveling back to CA to see my friends on the west coast. He was hoping the Nords would be good enough so he wouldn’t have to contend with the heat, hvac, and overall higher electric bill from running the Class A amps round the clock for extended periods to keep them sounding at their best. He’s retired and on a fixed income, in poor health, and electricity costs in California has got to be the biggest ripoff in the nation for electricity rates. I was very adamant that he keep the Pass Labs over his Thresholds and that he not give them back to his friend because he felt they were better than his friend’s Bryston amps (4 pairs of the biggest ones they make). He felt guilty keeping amps that were better sounding to the both of us, but luckily the other mutual friend was adamant that he keep them and that he would buy more new pass lab amps in due time. BUT, I DIGRESS...Terribly sorry for that, but I figured a little back-story might be helpful!
To your point, when I compare the sound I had from my Art Audio 300b Tube Amplifier to the Nords they sound more close than different and it’s hard to discern a clear deficiency tonally, but they definitely slaughter the tube amp in the dynamics and weight/bass department. There’s a bloom the tube amp has that is missing from the Nords, but I really don’t notice much if any deficiency in tonal weight of instruments and maybe my tube bias for flea powered amplifiers color my assessment to a degree. I do use judicious amounts of EQ to correct for any room anomalies of which there are very few in my very modest sized 16’x14’ room which limits how far I can pull the speakers away from the wall (about 2’) and my listening position which is relatively nearfield and about 2’ from the back wall. I would say in my system with the Encores I’m just enthralled with the sound that I am getting and unless I could spring for a pair of Pass Lab monoblocks, I feel very content with where my system is at sonically which may very well be that the Encores are just so damn good sounding over my double impacts that I’m on a bit of a honeymoon period and am not being critical enough to discern much of an issue with tonal weight presently. I really think I may just be lucky with a room, amp, speaker, DSP, and total system synergy that it is very satisfying to my ears, but maybe I will be more critical of the sound over the next few months and change my opinion at a later date. I’m just having a ball listening to music and enjoying myself immensely at this point. Hope that helps you some. I know it’s not much to go on. Edit: I do not know the OEM for the bass drivers, but they are quite impressive sounding.
To your point, when I compare the sound I had from my Art Audio 300b Tube Amplifier to the Nords they sound more close than different and it’s hard to discern a clear deficiency tonally, but they definitely slaughter the tube amp in the dynamics and weight/bass department. There’s a bloom the tube amp has that is missing from the Nords, but I really don’t notice much if any deficiency in tonal weight of instruments and maybe my tube bias for flea powered amplifiers color my assessment to a degree. I do use judicious amounts of EQ to correct for any room anomalies of which there are very few in my very modest sized 16’x14’ room which limits how far I can pull the speakers away from the wall (about 2’) and my listening position which is relatively nearfield and about 2’ from the back wall. I would say in my system with the Encores I’m just enthralled with the sound that I am getting and unless I could spring for a pair of Pass Lab monoblocks, I feel very content with where my system is at sonically which may very well be that the Encores are just so damn good sounding over my double impacts that I’m on a bit of a honeymoon period and am not being critical enough to discern much of an issue with tonal weight presently. I really think I may just be lucky with a room, amp, speaker, DSP, and total system synergy that it is very satisfying to my ears, but maybe I will be more critical of the sound over the next few months and change my opinion at a later date. I’m just having a ball listening to music and enjoying myself immensely at this point. Hope that helps you some. I know it’s not much to go on. Edit: I do not know the OEM for the bass drivers, but they are quite impressive sounding.