Nuforce STA200

I tend to not put much stock in reviews when people take a fantastically reviewed piece of equipment, and say, "but look at these measurements I came up with"..... Especially when it is a lone voice.

Nine months ago purchased a pair of the STA-200’s to bi-amp Martin Logan SL3 electrostats.  Very satisfied.  After about 200 hours of break in time can verify the good results reported by others.  Liked them so much purchased a 3’rd and sent it to my son (at $499 from AA a steal).  Ditto results.  The only issue, as reported, is the high gain.  They do not distort even when pushed hard, but it limits out on my system at 11 o clock (too loud), more like 9:30 for normal listening.  I use a DB hand held meter to preserve my hearing.  The only issue is the amp does induce a slight hum from my tube phono section in neutral..  Have a Schiit passive on order and expecting it any day.  Based on reports here I’ll try an upgrade to the PC.  Thanks for the recommendations.

The STA200 doesn’t have specs provided for 4 ohm output because the transformer limits the power output, plain and simple. The same thing goes for the Job 225 which the STA200 is based on. The output into 4 ohms cannot double with either amp because the transformers cannot supply enough power, hence the 4 ohm output is nearly identical to 8 ohm output.

This can be verified by reading one of the Job 225 reviews on the net (I forget which one exactly).


Also, as others have mentioned, I listen and judge with my ears, not my eyes. You will find numerous people who bash REL subwoofers because of their poor measurements, but ask folks who actually own and use REL subwoofers and they will tell you they are the bees knees.

Just received my STA200 and am playing it via a Schiit SYS. As to my earlier post today, my only concern was about power output not sound quality. My amp is a demo unit, however I have no idea about the number of hours use it has taken. Out of the box it sounds quite nice, my impression is that at $500 it is a high value amplifier which requires careful pairing to regarding signal strength and speaker load. 

I have had no problem powering either my 6 ohm 89db or 6owhm 85db speakers, but neither are crazy loads.  Also, not sure if its because I have a tube preamp or not, but no obvious gain problems.  Maybe just lucky.