norma

Blodger

Wammer
Wammer
May 26, 2011
670
186
108
Liverpool
AKA
Roger
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I think one problem emerging is that apparently - at least according to Analogue Seduction - there’s a three-month minimum wait for Norma amplifiers - they’ve been hit by the chip shortage as with many manufacturers. They rate Norma very highly, especially the IPA 140.
 

marko

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Feb 20, 2007
2,026
1,306
193
N.Yorkshire.
AKA
Mark
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I think one problem emerging is that apparently - at least according to Analogue Seduction - there’s a three-month minimum wait for Norma amplifiers - they’ve been hit by the chip shortage as with many manufacturers. They rate Norma very highly, especially the IPA 140.
Chip shortage or not, selling my
mint IPA 70B is like ‘Pulling teeth’!
 
Last edited:

marko

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Feb 20, 2007
2,026
1,306
193
N.Yorkshire.
AKA
Mark
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
like most hifi !!! and collection only always reduces sales sadly !!
A Wammer came here on Sat on his way home from buying a pair of moderately priced speakers. He’d already driven 400
miles that day, with another 100 to go before home. That’s commitment for you!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DomT and hifinutt

hifinutt

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Dec 23, 2007
16,573
4,865
208
midlands , , United
AKA
phil
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
marks beautiful norma 70b is now 1800 quid !!! thats a flipping bargain. surely someone near harrogate wants to go and buy it ???
 

Mowgli

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 18, 2017
198
836
113
Northumberland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have had the IPA-140 at home for a few days now, however, it looks like its going back to the dealers due to a hum issue. Whilst there is no hum emanating from the speakers, the amp itself hums when warm, to the point of when I walk in the room I know if its been left powered on. The hum does not come from the front of unit where the transformers are housed, but from the rear of the unit. I have tried everything from different power cables, different outlets, turning off/unplugging everything except amp and sources, a plugin Isotek unit which is supposed to remove mains noise.

My thoughts putting the hum issue aside.
Positives: this is a powerful, smooth, clean and very dynamic amp, although its dynamic ability only really starts to show when you start edging the volume control above 9 o'clock which is a bit much for late night listening.
The phono stage is excellent and very quiet, in another league compared to my Rega fono.
Texture and timbre of instruments is very good.

Negatives: the feel of the volume control is not befitting of a unit with a £6.5k retail price.
 

johncu

Wammer
Wammer
May 23, 2011
118
67
43
Northern Ireland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have had the IPA-140 at home for a few days now, however, it looks like its going back to the dealers due to a hum issue. Whilst there is no hum emanating from the speakers, the amp itself hums when warm, to the point of when I walk in the room I know if its been left powered on. The hum does not come from the front of unit where the transformers are housed, but from the rear of the unit. I have tried everything from different power cables, different outlets, turning off/unplugging everything except amp and sources, a plugin Isotek unit which is supposed to remove mains noise.

My thoughts putting the hum issue aside.
Positives: this is a powerful, smooth, clean and very dynamic amp, although its dynamic ability only really starts to show when you start edging the volume control above 9 o'clock which is a bit much for late night listening.
The phono stage is excellent and very quiet, in another league compared to my Rega fono.
Texture and timbre of instruments is very good.

Negatives: the feel of the volume control is not befitting of a unit with a £6.5k retail price.
I’m trialling a 70b I recently bought from @marko , it’s excellent I have to say, and agreed on the phonostage, superb, miles better than any integrated I’ve tried previously.
Re. the hum, there’s an inbuilt mains DC filter on the power board, well there is on the 70b. It’s a right faff to get at as you need to remove the top cover then the inner cover over the transformer (which is screwed from underneath) but it might be worth a try. Details are in the handbook.
No hum here even without the DC filter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hifinutt

Mowgli

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 18, 2017
198
836
113
Northumberland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I’m trialling a 70b I recently bought from @marko , it’s excellent I have to say, and agreed on the phonostage, superb, miles better than any integrated I’ve tried previously.
Re. the hum, there’s an inbuilt mains DC filter on the power board, well there is on the 70b. It’s a right faff to get at as you need to remove the top cover then the inner cover over the transformer (which is screwed from underneath) but it might be worth a try. Details are in the handbook.
No hum here even without the DC filter.
Marko's 70b was the first Norma I heard and sounded fantastic.
The 140 is basically two 70b's in one case, full dual mono design 2 transformers, etc. even the Phono stage is dual mono.
I will check the handbook tomorrow, I'm assuming when you say there's no hum without the dc filter, the dc filter is switchable In the 70b?
 

johncu

Wammer
Wammer
May 23, 2011
118
67
43
Northern Ireland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Marko's 70b was the first Norma I heard and sounded fantastic.
The 140 is basically two 70b's in one case, full dual mono design 2 transformers, etc. even the Phono stage is dual mono.
I will check the handbook tomorrow, I'm assuming when you say there's no hum without the dc filter, the dc filter is switchable In the 70b?
It’s not switchable as such, you lift off a 1/4” spade Faston terminal and push it on to a different post. Bit fiddly but doable. A pair of pointy nosed pliers is helpful.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hifinutt

Mowgli

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 18, 2017
198
836
113
Northumberland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
It’s not switchable as such, you lift off a 1/4” spade Faston terminal and push it on to a different post. Bit fiddly but doable. A pair of pointy nosed pliers is helpful.
I checked the 140 manual this morning, there is nothing about a DC filter jumper and suspect that feature is not incorporated into the 140, I've just gotten off the phone with the dealer who is going to speak to Norma about this, Norma have suggested that it could be the phono stage board/s given the hum is from the rear of the amp.
 
  • Like
Reactions: johncu

hifinutt

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Dec 23, 2007
16,573
4,865
208
midlands , , United
AKA
phil
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
well watching this with interest . certainly the volume knob on the 70b i had was smooth and classy feeling . there was zero hum either . i had it for quite a while as well but it only had a dac in it not a phono stage so wonder if johncu has hit the nail on the head
 

Mowgli

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 18, 2017
198
836
113
Northumberland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The volume control on the amp does move smoothly, that is not the issue for me.

Its the way it clunks at each end of its travel and it is possible to move side to side slightly which results in a clunk.

Yes, I am being picky, largely due to the fact I've been a design engineer then engineering manager for best part of my working life and the way I'm critiquing this is no different to the way I would review my teams products at work.

However, it has to be said the solid aluminium casework is beautifully finished.

I have had a few suggestions from the dealer/Norma regarding the hum, which I will try later today.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hifinutt

Blodger

Wammer
Wammer
May 26, 2011
670
186
108
Liverpool
AKA
Roger
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Interesting to read about the issues that you've been experiencing Mowgli. As described in earlier posts I had hum from my 140 which was definitely DC and transformer related; a Puritan mains conditioner dealt with that and more, improving the overall sound of my system, especially the DAC. From the description of your hum problem and from where it's emanating, it would seem to be something other - especially with the introduction of the phono stage.
On volume matters, I would agree that the manual volume control is not as crisp to use or engineered as say a Luxman, but I've not really found any looseness and not really thought about this till you mentioned it. I tend to use the remote 99% of the time, and although it's not the best designed r/c ergonomically, I find the fine control volume buttons a great asset as well as the standard ones. Regarding low-level listening, I suspect it may depend on speakers to an extent too - mine are pretty ineffecient Dynaudios and so need a bit of power/current to drive them effectively, so volume control needs to be around 9 o'clock to get them working at reasonably low volume which I find fine.
I'll be interested to hear how you get on.
 
Last edited:

Mowgli

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 18, 2017
198
836
113
Northumberland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
@Blodger The dealer/Norma indicated that it could be vibrations from the transformer being transmitted through the chassis and suggested placing it on a different surface, placing something else under the amp to support rather than using the feet, I tried all of this using oak cone feet and carbon isolators but still the hum remained. They then suggested removing the phono boards, however, that did not make a difference either.
The volume control isn't a showstopper, just me being picky and yes I agree the controls on a Luxman feel much better engineered.
My speakers are similar, the volume needs to be around the 9 o'clock position to get them to start dancing, once you get above this though it really starts getting its groove on and making me smile.
Just waiting for the dealer to arrange collection and it looks like the amp is going back to Norma.
 

Blodger

Wammer
Wammer
May 26, 2011
670
186
108
Liverpool
AKA
Roger
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
@Blodger The dealer/Norma indicated that it could be vibrations from the transformer being transmitted through the chassis and suggested placing it on a different surface, placing something else under the amp to support rather than using the feet, I tried all of this using oak cone feet and carbon isolators but still the hum remained. They then suggested removing the phono boards, however, that did not make a difference either.
The volume control isn't a showstopper, just me being picky and yes I agree the controls on a Luxman feel much better engineered.
My speakers are similar, the volume needs to be around the 9 o'clock position to get them to start dancing, once you get above this though it really starts getting its groove on and making me smile.
Just waiting for the dealer to arrange collection and it looks like the amp is going back to Norma.
Hope you get it sorted. My overall experience with the 140 has been very positive; occasionally I've thought of changing, but it would be more change for change's sake than anything else - still glad I've resisted to date!
Just out of curiosity, was the hum intermittent or constant? Mine was definitely intermittent which led me down the DC track, and in particular to my wife's hairdryer! - amongst other culprits.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hifinutt

Mowgli

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 18, 2017
198
836
113
Northumberland
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
@Blodger The hum is constant, you have to put your ear next to amp for it to be audible when cold, but when warm I can hear it from across the room and my hearing isn't as sharp as it used to be.
I guess I will just have to wait and see what the dealer/Norma say once they get it back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blodger

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
113,444
Messages
2,451,263
Members
70,783
Latest member
reg66

Latest Articles