Nuforce

I get really tired of reading how cheap this stuff is to build, and how easy it is, etc. Do these same people object to $2000 interconnects? Hey, it is just wire and some fancy connectors, right? Can't be that expensive or hard to make.

If it is so easy and cheap, why don't we see any of these pseudo-experts making and selling products?

Part of the reason is that they will find that designing a Class D amp from scratch is not that trivial. Especially if it has to sound good. I won't even touch on the subject of keeping the EMI down to an acceptable level.

In contrast to Drubin's findings, I compared the twice-as-expensive Rowland 201s to the NuForce Reference 8Bs on Aerial 10t speakers and found that I liked the Nuforce much better in the midrange and high frequencies. The ONLY area where I felt the twice-as-powerful Rowlands beat the Nuforce was in bass extension and slam. I thought the Reference 8s sounded more natural and musical than the Rowlands in the critical midrange and highs.

I am now (and have been for some time) testing different versions of the NuForce Reference 9 amps. There are a few variables that Nuforce is playing with that have had dramatic effects on the unit's overall performance.

I can tell you that the Reference 9 series has a more extended and powerful bottom end than the Reference 8 series. It sounds generally more relaxed and can play at louder average levels. I can also tell you that this particular amp may have the potential to be a state-of-the-art contender, regardless of its price and/or expense of its individual components.

As I write this I'm waiting for my amps to return from another (minor but critical) change that may put them into super-amp territory. I have heard versions of the Ref 9s that excelled in one area or another, but I'm hoping this latest version will excell in all areas and fit my paradigm of the ideal amplifier. It's the refinement and culmination of several parts/circuit changes and some fine tuning. Some might even consider it personalization for my particular taste and system requirements. So be it!

Will it be every man's cup of tea. Heck no! No amp, no matter how perfect would appeal to everyone because we all have different listening biases and our individual ideals for "perfection".

I used to do a lot of audio club demonstrations and came away with the firm opinion that if you put a live band behind a curtain and let them play, at least half the group in attendance wouldn't think it sounded quite right. For some it would be too bright, for others too colored, and still others would think it wasn't colored enough.

Let's face it, pleasing ALL audiophiles is something no one component (no matter how fantastic or absolutely accurate) could possibly achieve.

I've also got a pair of Aerial 10Ts that I've been driving with a Levinson 331 but have been toying with the idea of uping the power since the 10Ts do love power. The McCormack DNA-500 is on my wish list but, of course, it's price tag is a good bit beyond the NuForce 9s.

Plato, can you say more about the 9s with your 10Ts and what you're having done to the amps? Are these personal mods or is Nuforce still tweaking the design of the 9s? (i.e. is 'latest version' your version or theirs?).

Switching amps may not (then again they just may) sound as good the better traditional amps now, but, they seem to have a rather fast learning curve. Maybe in the near future switching amps may be the reference?

Where do you put the Halcro DM 68 in context of the other
amps eg ML, MC , Pass and so on