Initial impression of the Nuprime ST-10 amp

Mark,

There is no perfect Amp at least I haven't found one yet.
They all have their own sound characteristics as you are finding out.
That's why I like trying different ones and comparing and most of them I could live with and use a long time and be happy with.

You may want to give the red dragon at least 100 hrs or more before you judge It's true character.You did get a S-500 is that correct.

Red dragon doesn't have the best looking cases that's how they keep their price down compared to others, I have a black one and It's not as noticeable for me.

As I tell a lot of people you need to figure out what kind of sound presentation you desire and go from there.That's the best way that I know how to describe It.

Best,

Kenny.

Right you are, Kenny.  I will run in the new amp for the requisite hours and then compare them.  I do have the S500 and like you, the black case is no bother to my eyes.  The ST10 has a main on/off switch on the back and a standby on/off switch on the front.  It is a bit of a bother having to reach to the back end to switch it on and off, but that is a trifling matter. 

I reckon in time the class D amps might be able to mimic the euphonic sound of tube amps and keep the speed and LF control.  My pal has the Nuforce/Nuprime Ref 9V3 mono blocks and for them he has retired his high end Krell amp, much preferring the REF 9.  Now, even further up the food chain of Nuprime is the Ref 18 and 20 mono blocks and I would expect that they are incrementally better than the ST10 I have.  Cheers, Mark

Whitestix,

I can relate to you about what you are saying about the various Amp differences.

"I reckon in time the class D amps might be able to mimic the euphonic sound of tube amps and keep the speed and LF control. "

There is some of the upper models that can do this to some degree at a price.There is a very fine line in design of class d to have these kinda qualities,mainly you would have to add distortions and colorations to get those euphonic tube like qualities but then you lose clarity,detail,inner detail and the perception of speed and LF control.

Class d has certainly come a long way but I kinda look at like analog vs digital,we have had digital music for a long time know and today we have better dac's than ever but It still sounds different than analog.Now don't get me wrong I enjoy both formats equally.

Maybe It's the same with speakers,there is some qualities I like about OB's but I never have had a pair and since moving in to our smaller house I don't have the right room for them anyway or panels either.It's just a trade off I quess,no perfect speaker either but we do have some very good ones.

Best,

Kenny.

@whitestix So, you kept the Nuprime or Red Dragon? :)

same question for @kdude66

An update:  After a while with both class D amps, I sent them back for refund.  There seemed to be something missing in the sound of my system, and it was fully restored when I put a class A/B system.