Nuforce STA200

My STA200 blew up and cannot be repaired. Stay away at any price.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I have one and asking for my personal info:

1.Just blew with normal use I assume?

2. Did it just not turn on? Or did it actually pop and go dead?

3. was it after the amp was on a while or when you first turned it on?

4. Where did you purchase?

Out of warranty?

aysancorluhan,, I already have the STA200, and the truth is worrying about it blowing up is the last thing I am doing.  I have not popped the hood to look myself, but it sounds like you are saying it is not fuse protected, which seems unusual.
 
While I am not currently thinking about new hard to drive speakers, I was really wanting someone to provide their input (thank you jl35) regarding the sound quality differences between the STA200 and a Parasound A21.  For example, does one image better than the other, better separation of instruments, anything else at all you can relate.

This amp produces no more power into 4 ohms than into 8 ohms.
Sensitivity is 0.45V for full output.
Gain is 35dB.

Very sensitive to source voltage and speaker load. At 51K ohms input impedance and the high input sensitivity a good candidate for a passive. Maybe try to set a stop on the passive pre so that volume can't be turned such that the degree of attenuation becomes too low overdriving the input stage. 

I will be using my STA200 with caution!

mesch, in layman’s terms, please explain exactly what are you being cautious about? Are you worried about the amp being driven into oscillation?  How does the fact that the amp produces the same power at 8 and 4 amps create a potential problem? If neither of these are the concern, what is the worry? Thanks in advance.