"NuForce bested my ARC VT100MKII hands down. An immediate knockout"
That was certainly not my experience. I had the 8.02's, and a VT100 mk2 at the time. I found the Nuforces boring, and sterile compared to the ARC. They were initially impressive sounding, but I did not want to listen long, unlike the multi hour sessions with the ARC. They just did not sound as natural as the ARC. But then, the ARC was more than twice the price, so it should have been better, and was.
That was certainly not my experience. I had the 8.02's, and a VT100 mk2 at the time. I found the Nuforces boring, and sterile compared to the ARC. They were initially impressive sounding, but I did not want to listen long, unlike the multi hour sessions with the ARC. They just did not sound as natural as the ARC. But then, the ARC was more than twice the price, so it should have been better, and was.