Wow! Incredible amps. They want me to clip some capacitors to help the highs. My turntable's arm board is not flush with the top board(you just get base overtones or just the higher octave base). I wanted to listen to just a few things first. It is so nice that I will wait.
I have had fairly extensive trials with these amps. They tend to be chameleon-like in that they sound "tubish" with a tube pre-amp and solid state in nature with ss pre-amps. They will, however, completely obliterate any tuner in your house while they are in use, so if you are a FM guy, these are NOT the amps you should be thinking about. Otherwise,they are very powerful, able to drive difficult loads, never get hot, don't use much AC from the wall. They will definately benefit to add-on power cords ( S/R AC Master couplers, Shunyata Taipans, and Audio Magic Triniums all do the trick). Have FUN!
Rgurney, not to steal Jwpstayman's thunder, but in my systems, the Nuforce seem to make it impossible to tune in weak stations when the Nuforce amps are powered up. I have two tuners in other systems on a different floor than the Nuforce system and this seems to be the case with both tuners. The NuForce amps pass RFI interference to the tuners. You can tune in "phantom" stations with average signal strength that are purely RFI noise from the NuForce. When you turn the Nuforce off, these phantom stations disappear. If you use the Nuforce in a system where you have an FM tuner, you can still get some of the stronger stations (as I do) but it's probably best to use FM in a different system and switch the NuForce off while listening to the tuner.
But the Nuforce do perform amazingly well in their price range, there's no denying that. Perhaps someone will come up with a fix for the FM interference issue. In fact, I will write to Nuforce and ask them about it.
The RFI problem is partially fixed by this patch http://www.nuforce.com/support/F15HER3-patch.htm For some receivers, it will dramatically reduce or eliminate the RFI problem. We tried it on Sony FM receiver and the problem goes away. But for others, the problem is only somewhat reduce. We'll let you know in a week. Meantime, we appreciate whether the patch works for you or not, email support@nuforce.com and let us know.
THe RFI problem does not affect pre-amp or other equipment other than your FM receiver.
I performed the patch suggested by NuForce, it was very simple and consumed 10 minutes of my time.
Tvad, I do not have sheilded cable in my system, and I hear no sonic artifacts being generated by the NuForce amps when listening to digital sources. In fact, I have not heard or read a complaint from any users about RFI generated sonic artifacts.
Having completed the simple patch, neither am I experienceing any RF interference with my Audiolab 8000t tuner.
In my opinion, the sound of these amps is outstanding, and I personally am not ready to let this RFI issue turn my ears away from this product. Another thing that reasures me is that Jason at NuForce has publicly committed to offering users a solution to the RFI issue.
For those looking for low-cost, cool running, compact, high-performance amplifiers (and who isn't?), I am concluding that these amps represent an outrageous value.
We sent out parts and instructions to all dealers on May 25 & 26 for improving NuForce amp HF resolution and reduce RFI. Instructions can also be found on the updated support web page: http://www.nuforce.com/support/F15HER3-RFI-service.htm Feel free to contact support@nuforce.com for any assistant or questions.
I just got the updated Nuforce 8.01b back yesterday. Right at first, I thought they might be closed in. I have changed my tune. Without comparing them to the 8, they are incredible.
In regards to the Nuforce amps, another fix for the RFI tuner interference is to use a coax cable (same cable used by the cable TV company) on your tuner connected to outside antenna. This will take care of this issue period.
i have ref nine ses, and dont have a fm radio, all i can say is when i sit down in the sweet spot and drop the needle on my favorite lps the music i hear is as sweet as any bar none, if i want to have some back ground music playing any of the music channels on my cable box will do. for my main listening source vinyl, my ref nine ses rock and roll, mike
I just bought a Nuforce P-8 preamp to go with my Nuforce 8.5 amplifiers. Anyone in the market for a preamp to go with their Nuforce amps needs to at least audition the P-8(They have a loaner program, I believe.). For those just getting started, Nuforce's integrated amplifier combines both, in a way. The P-8 seems to allow all frequencies to be present equally. The music is cut from the same cloth, so to speak. It is allowing me to listen to whole cd's(like it is with analog), rather than listening to a cut here and a cut there.
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