Nuforce STA200

I also have a Freya, I could not use the Tube stage with the Nuforce, very loud hum/static/hiss etc. I actually can't use the tube stage with any amp, in my 12' x 13' x 8' room with 93 dB efficient speakers. Nuforce's high gain made it even worse than other amps I tried. 

I found I like the passive mode best anyway though. 

brad, if you were to connect the Nuforce to your speakers, without connecting anything to the amps input, ( any amp for that matter ), you may find the Nuforce / other amps to be quiet through the speakers. I have done that with both of my Nuforce amps through my 104 db efficient speakers. The Nuforce amps were silent.I believe you may have a problem with the Freya, or a tube ( s ), as others have not reported very loud hum / static / hiss etc. Enjoy ! MrD.

MrD, thanks, the Nuforce was dead silent in the Freya's passive mode. 

Some early production Freyas had a lot of tube noise, but if I send it back I may just get a "that's normal" response and be wasting my time... 

I have decided for now to just keep using it in passive mode. 

OK

How does it run so cool? It is almost cold to the touch, even under load... Are we sure it is class AB?