2. amps-preamps
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How was the sound of your TDSS upgrade to your Nuforce Ref 9 amps?

I'm very excited at the prospect of improved sound that will come from the TDSS level 3 upgrade to my Nuforce Ref 9 V3 SE mono amps.  Bob Smith will be doing my amp upgrades in the next couple days.  The biggest change will come from the much more powerful power supplies he's putting in.  My system already sounds fantastic but he says it will be THE finest amp sound he has ever heard and thus will transform the Ref 9's into something few have ever heard.  I have VMPS RM40 BCSE ribbon speakers with the MLS cabinets--in other words among the finest speakers Brian Cheney ever made.  They are already on Sistrum SP-101 platforms with RTS couplers clamping them down--a fantastic combo in sound.  I really can't imagine sound with more clarity with dynamics that are off the charts and extremely organic bass than I already have.  

Tune in next week when I have the radically improved Ref 9's and I won't be able to wipe the grin off my face if all Bob says is actually true.  The rest of my system is the TRL DUDE preamp, Whest 3.0 RDT SE phono, Modwright 5400 Signature Truth CD/SACD w/Bybees on the rails and Audio Magic Pulse Gen ZX, super Lenco 78 with most of JTN's mods included, Trans-Fi Terminator, Benz Micro Ruby 3, wires by Cerious Technologies Graphene Extreme SC, Teo GC ICs, JW Reference ICs, Amadi Maddie Signature ICs, power cables from WyWires Juice II, Amadi Phil Reference, Mojo Enigma, TRL Silver, and Core Power Technologies Equi=Core 150, and Star Sound Sistrum racks with RTS couplers clamping each component.  I have Synergistic Research Blue fuses in the Nuforce amps, Whest, and Modwright 5400.
dorkwad
dorkwad OP
538 posts
 
After reassembling my system following an extensive rebuild of my basement including the listening room, I found that the low woofer on one of my VMPS RM40 BCSE speakers had a fairly loose connection from the clip that was crimped over 2 joined sets of wires running to the woofer.  I crimped the 2 wires firmly with a HD needle nosed pliers so the wires were of similar width from the connection to the clip.  Then I crimped the clip on securely and soldered it for good measure.  After reinstalling the woofer, I played music and the problem noted about one channel shutting down at about 11:00 on the dial, now had no problem with more volume as I was able to play my system at 1:00+ with no issues.  Took awhile to discover the problem, but all is well in all areas now.

Bob
dorkwad OP
538 posts
 
Couple months ago, Bob Smith at TDSS did what he calls the CapCellBar upgrade to both of my Nuforce Ref 9 V3 SE mono amps. He replaced the large bank of 20+ capacitors with larger, but fewer caps that were as much as needed, added his Smith Cell Vortex, and added solid copper bus bars to each amp. He had upgraded the power supplies to 500 watt/channel from the 350 watt/channel that were part of the level 3 upgrades that had been done a couple years ago. This upgrade allowed the amps to scale volume more efficiently and improved the sound over the already great Ref 9 with level 3 in all ways. BUT...the CapCellBar upgrade made an even bigger difference in SQ than the entire level 3 upgrade in these ways--the dynamics were now much more noticeable; the bass was both deeper and had great texture that allowed one to hear the different types of bass being playing very easily; there was much more detail to the sound at all frequencies allowing you to hear things that were never heard before or were less audible prior. The soundstage info was wider, deeper and more solid in where each instrument or singer was located. IMO the new upgrade is an even larger upgrade from the level 3 than the level 3 was from the standard mono amps. You should contact Bob at Ozark Mountain Audio or at TDSS--the Nuforce and Nuprime authorized upgrade place.
nick897
3 posts
 

Hi all. Recently, one of my reference 9 v3SE amps died. I assume it’s the common power supply failure. I’ve been following bob smith for a couple of years in case this ever happened.. and now that it has, unfortunately  tdss and bob smith have vanished. I was able to find someone’s invoice online for the upgrades which listed the parts used for the power supply swap. I was wondering/hoping someone somewhere had a picture of the upgraded internals of their v3 SE that they could send me so I can get an idea of how these replacement parts have been integrated. 
many thanks. Nick.

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