NSR high-end audio racks. "Audio racks design is basically to help equipment achieve the best "zero vibration. Most of these vibrations are actually small vibrations from the equipment itself. The most significant cause is the massive transformer and the CD Player rotating parts in the rear stage. Some are caused by too simple shells and poor shock-absorbing design. The shock-absorbing design concept of our R1 rack and M series chassis: First of all, from the design of the nail feet, through the cooperation between different metal materials, let the ground shake first from the hard stainless steel material."

Of course, you can also directly add our R1 aluminum alloy laminate to the racks you already use. In this way, it will have a pronounced effect in isolating the ground vibration and resisting the wave of the equipment itself. It is suitable for customers who don't want to spend too much money but want to improve the clarity of sound, localization of sound field, and low- frequency drive."

NSR short for “Natural Sound Research” Be proud of to describe what the brand is keen on and pursuing in sonic research and reproduction realism. The brand creator Kevin Wu, often known as Brother Feng, has been very good at promoting and selling world-class audio brands in Southern China. He is also known as a fanatic audiophile with lots of professional acoustics knowledge.

Talking about the brand NSR, it had been put on the table six years ago. With a great vision in mind, several experienced audiophiles and friends who endeavored to design and manufacture the best audio equipment in China founded the brand NSR. Over the years, the technology and know-how of NSR have reached the extreme. But its mission has never been changed: that is to deliver the most natural, authentic sound to the listeners brought by hi-tech and user-friendly designs. For that end, the NSR engineers and audio experts devoted some 1500 days to designing, manufacturing, and testing different audio components. And now from the NSR’s strenuous effort came perhaps the finest, most-accomplished audio components all over the globe from music source, decoder, preamplifier, power amplifier to the loudspeaker.

PROFILE OF SWING

The Swing Bookshelf Speaker by NSR embodies the sum of the brand’s knowledge and loudspeaker design skills. Years of design and manufacturing experience have enabled us to carve out our first speaker model---Swing combining world-class techniques and uncompromising craftsmanship. It incorporates several significant technical and designing advancements that set it apart:

--- 2-way and three drivers design

--- One 6.5 inches midrange and bass unit; two 0.6 inches tweeters

--- Exclusive Double-Port Design (200-10kHz;<±9 degree）;

--- Exclusive Top-mounted tweeter

NSR Swing features a tweeter on the top in the quest for a more extensive soundstage and richer overtone. The result is a remarkable loudspeaker system that faithfully reveals the natural power and appeal of music and effortlessly brings the musical details that generally remain hidden with the recordings.

--- Fanatical Attention to the Quality and Detail

All of Swing’s units and components are meticulously selected and hand-matched up to a ruthless standard, and the left-and-right difference is less than 0.5dB.

--- Superior Raw Wood Finish

NSR Swing’s truly high-end quality is also evident in its impeccable finish with premium raw wood material worthy of a place on your shortlist at its price level---and higher.

--- Smooth sound

Digital data streaming eventually became a robust musical art.

Playing this music through Swing shelf speakers is especially noticeable in human voices. For example, when playing music from the classic Hong Kong band Beyond, most  (if not all) speakers are not pure or transparent enough. But when using Swing, the sound is, apparent and there are hardly any subtle traces. Even at its climax, the music is  as soft as dove chocolate.

--- Excellent sound field

Swing's high frequency reaches 30Hz, which is beyond the human hearing range. The result is that the Swing model sounds soft, airy, or spacious enough.

Summary

To sum it up, if you are looking for a neutral, warm and soft sound, then NSR Swing is there for you and ready to bring you the most full-bodied sound you may ever hear. I’m sure what the Swing is capable of is worth its price RMB 6990 or even more than that.

As of writing this review, the whole set of NMT media transport + NDP preamp/headphone amp + Focal Utopia headphone was standing right in the middle of my listening room. The captivating music stream kept flowing around, bringing me into different dreamlike scenes in old times where I started my visual masterpiece. Utopia was the best and most vibrant headphone set I’ve ever heard. The Sennheiser HD800, HiFimanHE1000 headphone, let alone the Focal Utopia headphone all exhibited unusual vigor by joining the NMT + NDP combination.

I’ve had several different headphone amplifiers on hand like the Auralic headphone paring the EMT 986R CD player---yet only brought everyday, dull sound. I also used Meixing MC-sooEAR headphones to pair with the Linn Unidisk 1.1 player. The sonic result was soft, warm, and palatable. Over time, these headphone amp sets gradually did not appeal to me that much anymore. The moment I got Focal Utopia headphones, I instantly matched it to my AuraLic headphone amp. The sound was sweet and neutral, yet fell short of detail and dynamic. While having changed with MC-3000EAR, my Focal Utopia offered a full-bodied tone with more gain and sensitive mids. At low and high frequency, however, I was not entirely impressed by its speed and subtlety.

Well, here is the question---what headphone amp is entirely within the league of my Focal Utopia headphone? The NSR NMT + NDP is the definitive answer. One track after another, I played different music from the well-known pop music Exotic Dances from the Opera to the symphony conducted by Minnesota symphony orchestra Red Devil and Bolero. Let’s see, the Minnesota symphony has just appeared in front of me, and the precise position and rich ambient detail were all there right before me. Also, the soundstage transparency, features, and airy feeling embodied the ultimate state of sonic art.

Focal Utopia represents the first Beryllium diaphragm headphone through some four years’ painstaking efforts of research & development. The 25mm diameter of the large voice coil increases the contact area of the voice coil and diaphragm. And the long voice coil and the magnetic engine combine to improve the magnetic linearity. I exclaimed as I’ve never heard such vibrant and vigorous sound in a headphone system with such rich yet dynamic lows. I think now is the time to introduce the hero behind the scene --- NSR NDP preamp&headphone amp.

About a year ago, I had a conversation with NSR founder Kevin Wu (often referred to as the Feng Brothers) to discuss my suggestions for NSR's new headphone amplifier. After the discussion, Kevin was excited about the idea and rushed home for a strategy meeting, and this was when the New Democrats were ready. A year later, Kevin brought me more than just a pure headphone amplifier, but a whole set of super decoders integrated with digital preamps and headphone amplifiers. I'm afraid this is the most solid headphone amplifier in the world. Its colossal size and weight of 20 kg (including packaging) almost made me have a heart attack. The pressure does not come from its transformers or various components, but from a tank-type chassis with strong armor. NSR engineers chose the TI L49710 op-amp wisely in their NDP design. As a result, the THD of the operational amplifier is less than 0.00003%, the slew rate reaches 20V / μs, and the CMRR and PSRR both reach 120dB at 26 mA output current. The problem is that although they also use op-amps, these impressive results have become what other headphone amplifiers dream. Why is that?

The reason is simple. NSR NDP has only a small circuit inside, which can directly amplify the voltage, thereby saving complicated analog preamplifier configuration. NSR engineers believed that the signal was due to the analog-to-digital conversion process and therefore eliminated the analog input. NDP has two ESS9018 chips and a dedicated HDMI interface built into a rugged DAC module to receive local I2S and DSD music data so that NDP has the smallest short signal path. The result, of course, is the unparalleled audio experience of playing back the highest resolution music.

The first-class decoder NDP, combined with a robust power system, became my best partner for Focal Utopia headphones, which can display incredible sound! When the volume of Utopia headphones is adjusted to -40dB, the ears will be intolerable. The advent of NDP directly took me out of the shadows of many other headphone amplifiers, causing various flaws such as lack of detail, transparency, and power, which made me even more upset. So, is there any other headphone amplifier in the world that can compete with it? I do not know.

NSR NDP --- the highest resolution headphone preamplifier

NSR NDP is the complete, modern headphone preamp for today's music lovers.

Our dedicated HDMI interface is very suitable for hardware to decode SACD stream data and receive DSD data up to 512 (22.4M); the headphone output is 600mw / 32 ohms (THD + N <0.001%).

NSR NDP Introduction

After about six years of design, manufacturing, and testing work, NSR NDP is now here with our proud brand, NSR. Over the past six years, a series of significant events have happened here, our powerful and beautiful amplifiers, Swing speakers and today's actor NDP were born one by one.

Breathtaking beauty


NDP has a similar appearance to our all-in-one amplifier NMA. The neat front panel and volume knob, the sophisticated design of the LED screen, and the surprising position and size bring classic and vintage beauty to music lovers who will never endure the rough and flattering of many other amplifiers design.

Exact high-end features and excellent resolution

NDP positions itself precisely as a pure digital preamplifier with an expanded digital interface set, including HDMI interface, USB, AES / EBU, S / PDIF, and Toslink. Traditional analog inputs Completely abandoned The preamplifier remains in analog mode with RCA and XLR analog outputs.

NSR engineers spare no effort to source the best materials from around the world and go to great lengths to match each transistor to the exacting standards manually. NSR NDP has two ESS9018 chips and a dedicated HDMI interface built into a rugged DAC module to receive local I2S and DSD music data. It can hardware decode local DSD files, including DSD64, DSD128, DSD256, and DSD512; The USB input reliably and accurately receives audio data in PCM format up to 32-bit / 768KHz, while supporting almost any high-resolution music format, including DXD files. As a result, NSR NDP cracked the pure audio playback code of the highest resolution music format and let you rediscover valuable records.

Most audio formats are compatible with NDP digital-to-analog converters.

Unrivaled chassis topology

It combines powerful preamp functions, a first-class digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and headphone amplifiers. Sandwich structure design. The internal components and other circuits are located in a shielded steel box and are not affected by temperature and humidity. They can work under the same conditions to protect them from static and electromagnetic interference and external dust and moisture.

Choosing NSR NDP is choosing a higher level of music life experience! Real high-end preamps with high-quality headphone stage, stay here!

For those who missed the NSR model one, this is good news for them, NSR will soon release more audio components to meet the needs of the mainstream market better. The repositioned product range includes NMA all-in-one integrated amplifiers, digital preamplifiers NDP, media players NDP, media transmission NMT, headphone amplifiers NPH, and power amplifiers NS160 (4 ohms) and NS380 (4 ohms). During the National Day holiday, at the invitation of Fusheng Audio Equipment Company founder Kevin, I came to their luxurious listening room and auditioned his proud masterpiece-NSR NMA.

Speaking of Model One, Kevin was full of emotions and memories-it took more than 1500 days and nights from early concepts to prototypes, and produced three samples to compare different data and hearing tests. In the end, it took another 40 days of hard work to measure objective data and subjective performance, But the Model One we see today can't see any rough traces. In 2014, Model One was exhibited at the audio exhibition and attracted the attention of many enthusiasts with its outstanding quality and outstanding features. The 100 W Model One has an HDMI interface and an OPPO Blu-ray player that effortlessly drives Dynaudio speakers to provide impeccable imaging, musicality, and purity. Widely praised, Model One represents a new generation of high-resolution integrated amplifiers, which are different from others. It integrates an easy-to-use digital interface, a powerful DAC, and a pure Class A fully differential preamplifier.

Kevin's successful experience inspired by Model one and his extensive experience developing Model One laid the foundation for the excellent work of his engineering team. NSR has always pursued uncompromising sound art at an affordable price. Because of this idea, the all-in-one amplifier NSR NMA was developed. Compared with Model 1, NMA actually has more complete functions, and its dominant high-resolution media player can perform hardware decoding on DSD ISO music files and almost any existing music format. The 30 kg chassis shows that it is as hard as the Model one. The feature-rich NSR NMA can hardly find anything worth matching on the market in terms of its extraordinary design and unique sound.

Concise but not Simple

NSR has always been committed to its user-friendly and usable design concept. For this reason, although NSR NMA is not as heavy as Model One, it still maintains a simple but not simple appearance. NSR's chief designer responsible for the arrival of the product is Xie Jianhua. Xie Jianhua is the head of an interior design company. His masterpieces include BMW 4s Store, Li & Fung Hotel, and Fanyu District Government Building. As an enthusiast, Mr. Xie has always maintained his design credo. Years: Technology has set the standard for art. He had long dreamed of designing his audio equipment one day, and now his dream has come true. In the beginning, he was very excited about Kevin's invitation to cooperate. Although he has never worked on a similar design project before, he has confidence in the machine's voice, and he knows how the device should look. He feels that Audio equipment has a soul, and how to convey the essence to the audience at a glance is crucial. The design of the NSR NMA is relatively large. However, the volume knob and LED display are intentionally made small. As Mr. Xie explained, this large and small contrast will provide a sophisticated yet vibrant visual sense. Smooth rounded corners like Chinese Kung Fu give a sense of harmony, not a positive impression. From Model One to NMA, NSR has always strived to maintain its appearance and style while providing customers with the best user experience.

NMA is lighter than the Model one, but this will not reduce costs. In fact, on the contrary, its design has adopted more technology. Although NMA is lighter, the base and cover can still reach 10kg, and the whole set weighs more than 30kg. The heavyweight means better vibration elimination performance; also, NMA's unique soft and hard sandwich structure chassis design will further ensure pure and stable sound.

Concerning eliminating vibrations, Model One may have the ultimate design skills and investment. This is why Model one cannot be mass-produced. NMA's goal is not only to maintain the best Model one， but also to make it in bulk at an affordable price. Combining preamp and amplifier functions, coupled with a dominant media player and decoding and control section, the all-in-one NMA has a space-saving unit that does not reduce sound.


 

Best Materials 

This feature-rich, high-resolution integrated amplifier Built on achievements

Incredible Sonic Quality

In the NSR’s glamorous, nearly 60 square meters listening room, the NMA mated with the seemingly unmatched NSR Swing bookshelf speakers, offered an incredible sound with a formidably expansive sound stage and textural density. To me, not a surprise at all! You will feel the same if you get to know they once paired the Swing speakers with the Model One to play pop music or Jazz in a hall holding one hundred people. The jaw-dropping sound got everyone’s top mark. What the NSR NMA impressed me most was its slippery sound like caressing smooth silk or savoring a vintage wine. The NMA offered an utmost lifelike performance. One could only hear previously from the Hi-end single-ended vacuum tube. The subtle ambiance and detailed nuances of every note Excellent results through the NMA’ s spectacular detail retrieval capability. The recordings of Yo-Yo Ma’s cello demonstrated the NMA’s ability to be true to the source. They enabled the instrument to take on a much more sober mien, which translated into more realistic sounds coming out of the speakers. The musical result is that I felt like being transported to my private concert hall, and all that is needed was a pair of Swing speakers.

The 80 W power NMA exhibited an extensive soundstage; the bass was strong but not aggressive. The NSR engineers designed and produced their amplifiers always around the “the last watt” concept, and from this philosophy came the NSR utmost sound quality even at full power output. As is known to all audiophiles, “the first watt” is of importance for the components to bring quality sound as the nominal power output usually stays at 1W. But the leader of NSR, Kevin thinks otherwise. He believes “the last watt” is where the real problem is, and the hardest part is how to keep the sound at “the last watt” as pure as that of “the first watt.” As a result, The NSR NMA 80W power was measured at its full power output with THD+N less than 0.03% distortion at 20kHz. Even outperformed many other brands measured at 1kHz/1W.

The ultra-low distortion contributed to the NMA astonishing neutral sonic quality, evidenced primarily by the bassy and energetic sound---gracefully at ease. The black background of this component added minimal coloration to the original recording. Whether it was the lowest of lows or the highest of highs, it was just that the NMA didn’t bring those frequencies to my attention---they were just “there.” It was nearly sonically invisible.

Sum up

The Model One is the pilot item, following which is going to be a full set of the product range by the NSR. The NSR NMA is another integrated audio component by the NSR one can hardly find anything lacking in the sound quality or technique engineering of the Model One. The NMA represents a milestone in the internal audio components. It redefines the high-end sound with its unbeatable technology, audio capabilities, and its down-to-earth price. For those who are dreaming about bringing a most easy-to-use integrated amplifier, I suggest you have an audition on this component, And I ’m pretty sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

About three years ago, Kevin, the founder of Fu Sheng Audio based in Guangzhou, introduced me to have a listening experience with a Pureaudio DAC30. Later on, I wrote a review after the audition about the new way of reproducing high-resolution music files with this DSD DAC featuring a dedicated HDMI interface. With the passage of three years, different kinds of media players have been coming along, none of which is capable of real hardware-decoding native DSD music data. Kevin, together with several senior audio experts and friends, made up their mind to design and manufacture the best-integrated amplifier in China---the NSR Model One. As stated before, the NSR Model One offers a dedicated HDMI interface, and I feel obliged to explain why it is essential to use the HDMI Interface. The HDMI interface is especially critical when it comes to playing music on SACD or decoding and playing DSD ISO files. Some people may ask why it is needed to hardware-decode the DSD file over the HDMI interface since it sounds better with the 24bit/96kHz or 24bit/192kHz music files. I have to admit it is true, but the real recordings are hard to obtain, whether on the internet or from the record companies. SACD is still the most wealthy high-resolution music source, and there are three ways to enjoy the music on SACD:


First, one can play with an SACD player. Most integrated SACD players, however, are not capable of decoding and playing DSD music files. The OPPO Blue-ray player can help decode native DSD data. Still, the paired AV amplifier usually converts most if not all the DSD data into PCM format before decoding, which compromises the sound quality.        


Second, one can play on the computer. But Computers cannot play SACD directly, so one has to break the SACD to get iso files and play the iso files with software like Jriver, Jplay, Foobar2000, etc. Some media players on the market can support DSD data yet only in DIFF, DSF, or AIFF format; ISO files remain an unsolved problem. In the decoding section, S/PDIF interface has never designed for DSD data transferring, be it electrical (Cinch) input or balanced optical (Toslink) input. USB 2.0 is the last choice, but the problem is the USB audio 2.0 only supports PCM format, and what makes things worse is the audio driver in Windows system or Mac Os system does not support direct DSD transferring over the USB. To solve the problem, people have developed a technique called Dop (DSDover USB), and it works in this way: to input the DSD data into a PCM structure, and transfer the transformed signal over the on-board USB drive. In other words, the method is camouflage from DSD format to PCM format so that the signal could be transferred over the USB, and after transferring the signal takes off the camouflage to be decoded and played back. Unfortunately, some musical data fail to take off the camouflage and are decoded as PCM format. That some DSD data is converted into standard PCM format on the computer makes the Dop method even more meaningless.        


In most cases, People have to use Sony/Philips Scarletbook on the computer to extract DIFF file (usually four times larger than WAV files)from iso music files. Audiophiles are pursuing an enjoyment of music, not the headache, by exploring the usage of sophisticated technology. So even if the sound they will get from the exploration is pretty fascinating, it is like a mirage for many of them. From where I stand, the more easy operation will be far better, and all that is needed is a remote control. The first thing is to buy an OPPO blue-ray player and play the ISO files found on the CDs. Without converting any format, the native DSD data will be transferred over the  HDMI interface, which is the only interface able to transfer DSD data. The HDMI interface receives data in I2S mode and separates the data, clock, and the synchronized signal to avoid distortions from jitters. Theoretically, we could transfer the native DSD signal with the lowest distortion only if we have a robust HDMI interface. And last, we could wrap it up to get a preamplifier featuring an HDMI interface. But Kevin thinks bigger than any of us; he wants to integrate the preamplifier and amplify into a single chassis, and the decoded signal could come to drive the speakers directly. So here comes the integrated amplifier---the NSR Model One.  

NSR---A New Star in China Audio Industry      

As the very first integrated amplifier by NSR, the Model One defines the state of the brand’s technical art and know-how. The NSR Model One is a New Generation of Integrated Amplifier featuring a digital interface plus a pure analog, redefining the integrated amplifier like no other. The NSR, short for “Natural Sound Research,” is their registered brand and the company is planning to release a series of products in the days to come: NMA All-in-One Integrated Amplifier (80W output ), NMP Media Player, NDP Preamplifier, NS380, and NS160 Power Amplifiers, NPH phono and Swing shelf Speaker, etc. Ever since the NSR Model One was introduced, it has been critically acclaimed by a good many audiophiles though it actually was selling with no profits at all.


Kevin, head of the design team, is never a tonally oriented designer, and this is evident in the Model One. He has been dedicated to delivering a kind of clean, natural, dynamic, and transparent sound. To reach this audio goal like never before, he spared no expense and effort designing and manufacturing the masterpiece---the NSR Model One. The prototype of the Model One came out five years ago with separated structures. After five generations of painstaking refinement and outright breakthroughs, the Model One, as we see today, is nowhere. Browsing through the website of NSR http://www.nsraudio.com, we could read the articles like “The Birth of a Miracle” and other audiophiles’ reviews about the NSR Model One. All those reviews or remarks are flush with praise for its breathtaking capabilities to drive the Dynaudio loudspeakers: the Evidence Master and the Consequence Ultimate Edition. The latter usually needs a high-level output power amplifier to operate correctly and flawlessly. That the 100W NSR Model One effortlessly married with the Dynaudio Consequence Ultimate Edition while delivering a precise and natural, powerful, and vigorous sound evidently startled every one that had the audition experience. 

Unbeatable Sound Quality        

But there is another problem. Most users are likely to use CD transport to pair with the Model One over the AES/EBU interfaces. This method only brings 60% percent of the outstanding capabilities of the Model One. What a shame! That’s why I recommend using the BDP-LX88 flagship blue-ray player to pair with the Model One over HDMI interface. The unsurpassed sound quality delivered this way. Just let one rediscover the great value hidden deep in DSD music files.   


The Mbox player I have been listening to is also capable of recording and playing back ISO music files, the sound rendered, however, could never give me a feeling of “real transparency” due to the stray interference. It was as if there was a veil covering the sound. Ever since I owned the Model One, things have become different. Whether playing the SACDs or DSD ISO files with LX88 blue-ray player, the Model One captures and reproduces the intangible something about music that appears directly to my heart, not just my brain. Over the HDMI interface, the sound distortion and noise are reduced to an absolute minimum. The clear, transparent sound makes me simile as I couldn’t have to hear “veiling” on the sound anymore. The sound of Telarc’s recording is rich and heavy, and it is more powerful on SACDs. If it is not handled well, the recording would sound like roaring without any texture. But it really astonished me that the 100W Model One brings a sound with a deep and wide soundstage and lightning-fast transient response; the highs are not aggressive, the medium is transparent, very clear and detailed, and the bass is clean and precise with amazing clarity. The transparent sound brings one to the concert scene and clearly shows the layout of the concert hall. The ambient detail from Model One’s breathtaking detail retrieval capability is evident throughout the whole frequency. All these resplendent musical performances and sonic achievements come from the 100W Model One. Unbelievable!

A Expansive Set of Inputs and Purity

Having thoroughly considered all sorts of different demands of audiophiles, the NSR engineers offered various inputs and outputs with the Model One, including HDMI, S/PDIF, Toslink as well as asynchronous 32bit USB. Adopting the XMOS Native DSD solution, the Model One supports 32bit 384kHz sampling over USB2.0, and supports the native DSD music files of the Audio class 2.2 version. What’s more, the Model One provides supports for DSD64, DSD128, and DSD256, PCM format at up to 32bit/384kHz, and DXD format at up to 24bit/ 352.8kHz. So to speak, the Model One has raised the bar of music reproduction and resolution to the highest level, and that’s why it has no analog input, and one has to use these digital interfaces to bring the component’s value to fruition.

Under the Xmos solution, the decoding process is not DSD→PCM→DoP any more as it will hardware-decode the native DSD files. The Model One offers two ESS SABRE ES9018 chips imported from the USA in its hardware-decoding process. The ES9018 chip is well known for its proprietary jitter clock elimination technology DPLL, and itself is an eight-channel balanced DAC. The Model One features two ES9018 chips, and that means each channel has eight parallel DAC. It is also noteworthy that the Model One includes three pairs of 1PPM oscillators, and each channel has a clock plus a high-frequency clock for reference, all this translates to a negligible low distortion. As their founder Kevin says, they are slow birds. 

While other manufacturers are desperate to release new products, they are flying slowly and steadily, so they have the opportunity to introduce the best possible outcomes. Many others are also adopting the ES9018 chips. Still, the NSR spent thousands of days testing and designing, and here come the fantastic data indicators very close to the original ESS ones--- the THD is -108dB (0.00036%), noise is -130dB, SNR is 126dB, and Dynamic Range is 130dB. This overwhelmingly beats many Hi-end amplifiers.

 The Best Possible Materials Used     

Now let’s look specifically at how it works. The audio signal is transferred to a pure ClassA, full-balanced preamplifier, and amplified in A/B amplification modes while offering a wide bandwidth, high slew rate and low distortion in the process. Slew rate may be entirely new to many people; it refers to the amplifier’s ascending speed of the voltage output during a period, namely, the transient response. This capability, as we call rate, is a standard to measure whether the amplifier can follow the sudden dynamic change of the music, especially music with significant dynamics and steps. To deliver a fast slew rate, one has to use components with high transient response in the system and ensure sufficient power supply and transient performance. The NSR Model One offers a critical, super-fast slew rate at up to 85V/μs, well explaining why the 100W amplifier can drive Dynaudio Ultimate speaker effortlessly. The music comes alive, full of vigor and youth, instead of being dull and tasteless.

By the way, the first single-ended, pure ClassA integrated amplifier INT-30A used by the American Pass Labs, whose slew rate is 50 V/us, and the damping factor is 150. The NSR Model One does a better job in terms of the two indicators. We now have another new name --- the Damping factor, which denotes the capability of the amplifier to control the speaker cone movement. A more significant damping factor means a smaller output resistance. It is good to have a substantial damping factor, but if too much, it will hurt amplifiers due to negative feedback. The Model One combines an astonishingly fast slew rate with a damping factor at 800 plus enough sensibility and flexibility, delivering a new level of musical reproduction realism when driving the Dynaudio speakers.

Also contributing to the 100W Model Ono’s incredible capability and performance is its opulent power supply along with the minimum cords and cables in the chassis. The NSR Model One features two Noratel toroidal transformers, one big and one small. The small one is used for the digital and control circuit during the big one for an amplifier. The two transformers are placed one above the other in order to reduce magnetic field interference. Digital and analog circuits have a separate, isolated power supply. All the cables from Scottish ATLAS copper wires are used in the smallest number to diminish cable interference as much as possible. The preamplifier part is a pure ClassA, the full-balanced analog amplifier for the most optimized sound without a single hint of compression. The Model One offers a full-balanced power amplifier circuit, noted for its punishingly short signal path and a pair of painstakingly selected hand-matched transistors. As such, the distortion at full power output is being kept at a vanishingly low level at 0.03%. The NSR engineers spared no expense sourcing the best possible materials from around the world---24k gold-plated high-frequency circuits bringing an unbeatable anti-corrosion capability for the Model One. So the Model One can keep operating in the best condition for a long time while maintains a low temperature.

Industrial-grade Chassis       

And now, let’s have a look at the not flashy but heavy, steel-shielded chassis. The encapsulated enclosure protects the internal circuits and components from being damaged by the external dust or moist while working at an identical temperature.

The designer of the chassis, a non-audiophile with little knowledge of music, designed the topology of the frame from the industrial perspective, making sure every detail of his design has its rightful role. For instance, the ultra-large aluminum pedestal was made for transport convenience plus the thick front panel fixed by invisible screws. The front and back panels were painstakingly processed and polished with CNC, and the sandwich-construction innards made room for the exotic materials for reducing vibration. The exacting precision of the Model One craftsmanship contributes to its easy-to-use feature so that the volume knob, WBT termination, and speaker binding posts can be installed without screws. Also, the Model One incorporates internal circuits and components coated with special shielded materials to reduce further the subtle vibration caused by voltage and currents, which translates to a higher level of precision realism and transparency refinement. The 30kg Model One offers four oversized bronze feet to cancel the damaging sound jitter. With such a cruel, complex standard, the Model One cannot be manufactured in bulk, and the production cost keeps sky high.

By any measure, the Model One is not exaggerating to claim to be the best and most-accomplished integrated amplifier ever made in China. Well, if one is not quite satisfied with its 100W power output, the soon released NS380 and NS160 will accommodate the most demanding needs. The NSR long-term credo is while others are still trying to solve the first wattage problem, they’ve already made it produce a sound as extraordinary as the first watt when it is amplified to the last watt level. If one has a problem with using the OPPO blue-ray player, the upcoming NMP Media Player dedicated to matching up with the Model One will be your best choice. (NMP is numbered among the very few media players capable of hardware decoding the DSD ISO music files, offers an HDMI interface and two SPDIF outputs to transfer 24bit/192kHz signal, and DSD 256 over the USB). Someone might question if it is worth 40 thousand RMB to buy an amplifier made in China since the used market is a right place for many. I believe it is not only worth the money but is beyond the value one will get. Come to think of it, the NSR Model One incorporates not only a remarkable decoder but also a robust amplifier, driving the Dynaudio speakers effortlessly and rendering a breathtaking, elegant sound. Usually, it costs one hundred thousand yuan to deliver the same level of musical realism. I don’t see anywhere; it is not worth its price.

Kevin, head of the NSR engineering team, says audiophiles who aspire to sweet and soft sound may not be target customers of the Model One. The Model One’s target sound is a pure, clear, and neutral sound with expansive soundstage, low distortion, and high dynamics. Especially in the bass section, it may sound not so full at first, but the low frequency reproduced by the Model One is compact enough while taking on a bouncing and flexible mien.

During the audition period, the recording of RR is, of course, was the best testing material. The Model One challenged the 7th, 10th, and 14th chapter of Psalms by the American Turtle Greek Chorale, combining musical instruments like harp, pipe organ, and percussion. The sound provided was filled with expansive soundstage, extensive dynamics, and was energetic in the low and mid-range frequency. The transient speed, staggering authority, and breathtaking macro-dynamics gave me an etched impression. I could hardly believe a 100W integrated amplifier provided the stable and energetic musical results. The transparent sound of pipe organs in a deep stage can transport you to another time and space. With its superior ambiance detail retrieval ability, the Model One displayed the flowing sound in the concert hall, the layout of the chorus, and the subtle change in balance. How could a recording I have heard hundreds, even thousands of times, make me jump when it entered? Using the NSR Model One, that’s how.

There is no perfect audio equipment in the world. Still, indeed, I'd like to applaud this integrated digital amplifier---the NSR Model One, for its fabulous and outstanding performance, for the affordable price within ordinary people’s reach. At this moment, My heartfelt respect goes to the expensive product and its dedicated designers and producers.

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