Hypex Ncore NC1200 Amps at NY Audio Show in April

I visited on Sunday. My impression of NCore1200 based amps: Tube Audio Design, Mola-Mola and Merryl Audio - they all sound the same: "warmish" and dull.

I could not A/B any of them with my Spectrons monoblocks but from memory, Spectrons are much, much better.

A friend of mine who also have Spectron monoblocks wanted to have a separate system based on SET amplifier and hi-efficiency speakers. He got SET built by Dennis Had (of famous Cary) and we did a few listening tests.

To my suprise, the "sweet seductive etc" midrange of SET amp was not better then midrange of Spectron transistor switching amplifier (with old fashion transformer base power supply which I suspect is the key to Spectorn sound).
Overall, Spectron sound was much better then that of SET. Regardless of midrange - you need weight, body, slam, soundstage etc.

I did not wanted to post that Spectron midrange is nearly identical to that of SET as not many people will believe it. However, I remember I am not a single one. There is review in Audioreview.com of Spectorn owner who also did the same comparison. I did not believe him at that time.

I wish the best to all owners of "new and imporved" NCore1200 but I am extraordinary happy with my Spectron with old fashion power supplies (with all upgardes possible!). I will add only that in my V-Cap Upgarde I have CuTF caps instead of regular TTFT caps and this make a big difference, IMO

Also, another point. New-er technology may be important but its implementation is much more important then anything else. As far as I can understand "Athmosphere" who produces one of the best tube products in the world and "Spectron" express identical philosophy in approach of building pre- and power amplifier and may be this is the key why Spectron midrange in A/B test show the same sweetness as SET amp

It's too bad that Merrill Audio didn't have the Sanders Magtech amp(s) on hand for comparison on the 10Cs.

IMO, Anyone who pays $12K for the Merrill Audio amps or $15K for the Mola-Molas without listening to Sanders $5.5K Magtech is making a big mistake.

I have been very busy this past week and still am but had to respond to the two above posts.

Dob: "warmish and dull" Really?! It is your opinion but what show were you at. Not the same as I.
I heard loads of people from the show say many things about the Sanders/Merrill Audio, Mola-Mola/Vivid, Merrill Audio/Raidho and Tube Audio Labs rooms, but while some liked what they heard and others not so much I never heard anyone describe the sound in the rooms as "warmish and dull". Several people thought the Mola-Mola/Vivid room sounded "bright and harsh" at times. I was at the show Fri and Sat. On Fri I thought the room sounded very good but on Sat a little bright. However I would not point the a finger at any one piece of equipment, amp, speaker, CD player, DAC, preamp etc. It very well could have been the music track as some are poorly recorded.

Keep in mind that show conditions are NOT the best place to get a true feel of what equipment will sound like. Some get lucky in their set up and others do not.

I have heard the Spectron amps and do like them very much.
But I also know many Spectron owners who after demoing NC1200 mono blocks have sold the Spectron and bought the NC1200 based amps.

Kana813: First that was a shared room with both Sanders Sound and Merrill Audio.
Well lets compare an apple to an apple. You are comparing a stereo amp to a mono block. Well Sanders makes a Mono Block version of his amps. And the price is much more as a mono block-$11,000. So lets lets discuss the sound.
The Magtech is a fine sounding amp. But as I have stated in another post; I have a friend who owns the Sanders speakers and amps, upon hearing the Merrill Audio Veritas vs the Sanders amps he replaced them with the Veritas. This person is VERY critical of the sound of his system and has spent a lot of money on his overall system. It was not an easy decision financially as the cost is not small. He is not independently wealthy.

We all have different tastes in what we like in the reproduction in sound. But you should do a direct demo in your system (with a reasonable amount of time) before you dish a product. Even if you think it is "all the same" as for the tech.

Also as I have stated in another post. Is this the best. No, nothing is. But for the price it ranks with the best. Now you have to decide what is your taste, Tubes/Chinese, Class A/Italian, NC1200/Dessert. They are all great just choose the one that meets your taste.

I most make a correction in my above post. The Magtech price is for a pair. But I stand by the rest of the post.
Even more so, as my friend had to spend a hell of a lot more to replace the Magtech amps with the Veritas amps. Way more then I thought he had.

Boy was I tired last night. There was no need for the correction after all. It was still more just not a hell of a lot more.