NuForce Popping

I've had several pairs of the NuForce amps and I now own their top of the line 9SE amps. Of the amps that I've owned, which includes a couple of pairs of Reference 8s, a Ref 9.02 pair, and now the 9SE's, I never had any of the amps fail, pop, or otherwise go bad.

I have heard of a few failures due to the fact that early versions of the NuForce amps had to have a load connected to the speaker terminals or they would sometimes overheat and fail. But NuForce fixed that problem a while back.

I think that certain of the amp's detractors would like to have others believe that the NuForce amps are unreliable, but in my experience, this has not been the case. I believe that NuForce has extended their warranty from one to three years, and they wouldn't have done that if they didn't feel confident that the design is stable and reliable.

I see you are brand new here. Welcome.

I think it would be interesting to know the name and location of the store you are talking about and what other products they carry.

If a dealer would not or could not represent the Nuforce line, it would certainly make sense that some may frabricate shortcomings of products they don't carry in order to steer others toward another brand.

-IMO

Plato, can you tell me about the improvements of the SE over the 9.02's? I now have the 9.02s and they are the best amps I've ever owned and I'm thinking about upgrading them to the SE.

Plato- any comments on the 9SEs?

Thanks,

KeithR

My NuForce 9.02 amps send a modest thump (pop) to the speakers when first turned on. Nothing huge or scary--I bet any speaker could easily handle it. I read at least one review where the same experience was mentioned, and it appears to be a normal occurence with these amps. No big deal to me, I leave them on all the time anyway--they sound better and use up so little energy. But the sound might be disconcerting to a store customer who's not expecting it. Do you think the store was looking for this "good" reason to decline to carry NuForce, when the real reason might be that they didn't want to hurt the sales of other more expensive, and more profitable, lines?
There may be some sinister reason other NuForce owners have put their amps up for sale (how's about a blunter "Why So Many..." thread title: WHAT ARE THESE GUYS TRYING TO HIDE?), but to me it just seems like the normal action of the marketplace as a new--and relatively inexpensive-- product gets sampled and eventually finds its way to longer-term owners. Not everyone in this hobby is a member of the flavor-of-the-month club, but many who are often fail to appreciate the performance of the products they turn over so quickly. I have to plead guilty here, myself: I remember a few years ago I tried to sell my Piega P-10 speakers and found myself competing with no less than 5 other sellers. We all had to practically give the things away to sell at that time. Nowadays? No P-10's on the market, and they rarely come up for sale.

Good to know. It's also possible that their source may have been causing this problem. I have a pop in my current system and I've narrowed it down to my DAC.

I have heard the Ref 9s and did like the sound and will most likely get a pair, hopefully soon.

Thanks.

The initial batch of preamps and integrateds had some minor design oversights. These were all fixed with a simple swap of the faceplate. Otherwise, the sound quality from these products is simply stellar for their price.

Forgot to ask, how would I identify these older amps that failed a while ago? If I buy something from this site I would obviously want the updated versions.

Guys,

I just received my 9SE's very recently, and I think they are still breaking in, so please keep that in mind.

My feeling is that they are an improvement over the 9.02's, which I considered excellent amplifiers.

For whatever reason, the 9SE's are the quietest NuForce amps I have tried to date. No turn-on pops and extremely low noise floor, but a funny (and minor) turn-off noise, which is not loud by any means.

The bass seems to be world class. It is the most articulate, tuneful and punchy bass I've ever heard from my system. It is a bit better than the 9.02 in that regard. The midrange seems very close to the 9.02, but perhaps just a little sweeter sounding. The highs are very extended, detailed, and focused. The clarity is superb.

These are lightening fast amps that deliver very well delineated dynamic contrasts, articulation, detail, and a huge soundstage (soundstage size is about the same as the 9.02, which was a strong point of the amp).

All in all, I believe it's another small step forward in the evolution of the NuForce design. Perhaps more break-in will reveal even more about the 9SE's considerable virtues.

Thanks for all your help. It's always useful to get the opinions first hand from those that own the products. You are right in that the store may have decided to not carry them as it may hurt sales of other products but I won't bother going there. There are some other other dealers in the area so I'll try them out. I was just curious on some of the things that I heard. I'm sure the amps are as very good and that NuForce are making changes to constantly improve an innovating product.