I bought my Nuforce 9SE v3 from a dealer that is driving a pair of ribbon speakers. The amps themselves are not bright but very detailed and have a wonderful spacious soundstage. They seem to be best mated to tube pre-amps and are only at their best using very good power cords. That said, you would be hard pressed to get better sound for anything less than 10k. No kidding.
A good friend of mine is driving his Revel Sudio 2 speakers with the Nuforce amps with a Benchmark DAC. His preamp is the top of the line Joule Electra (amazing piece of hardware). The DAC had a bit of edge and lack of music detail compared to my MSB Power DAC. (so much for a rating of Class A from the reviewers).
If you want the best sound get a preamp in my opinion. A good one will transform your system to a level you would not believe. Just my opinion.
A good friend of mine is driving his Revel Sudio 2 speakers with the Nuforce amps with a Benchmark DAC. His preamp is the top of the line Joule Electra (amazing piece of hardware). The DAC had a bit of edge and lack of music detail compared to my MSB Power DAC. (so much for a rating of Class A from the reviewers).
If you want the best sound get a preamp in my opinion. A good one will transform your system to a level you would not believe. Just my opinion.