Nuforce STA200

I also have a STA-200. Don't use it often and when I do it is paired with a simple single input boxed attenuator due to it's having too much gain. Given it was discounted to $400 it can be classified as great return on investment when paired with a passive pre and a true 8ohm speakers (rated 80wpc into either 8 or 4 ohms).

Redundancy can be useful at times :-).   

Well, I have been rotating amps in my collection, to determine which I should sell, and which to keep. I am still amazed, listening with the Nuforce STA 200 in my system. I cannot complain about it, tear it apart, want for anything. It does not have a house sound, and best, it gives an impression of the best of tubes and ss, in my system. Because I use a passive pre, it is extremely synergistic with the rest of my system, and simply works. It allows me to enjoy listening, which it is all about. It has been in my system for a month now, and I am doing fine. My best to all !. MrD.

Thank you. 

Just like Job amps, as long as your speakers don’t fall much below or preferably not lower than 3 ohms, you’ll be fine. 

I have one driving my Klipsch Forte II speakers.  They are 8-ohm and have 99dB sensitivity.  It runs cool.  I WONDER if they could handle the 4 ohm JBL L-100 Classics? 

TOO MUCH GAIN. Even with my McCormack passive preamp I can't turn my volume knob past the 10 o'clock position without leaving the room holding my ears.  There is no need for a preamp. All you need is a attenuator between your source and the amp. 

Thank you Mr. D.  I'll follow up with an update after 200+ hrs of break-in.

A couple hundred hours for break in. Leave it on, continuously, with music playing through it, if possible. The question of vertical bi-amp....I feel it is significant, but this goes with many dual amps I have had experience with. As far as a purchase, making any percentage of improvement, well, this is all part of our industry. It is a great amp, at the selling price, for many systems, and not the best, for others. System matching is still very important. 

I bought a STA200 and have about 5 hours of listening into it. Using on 86db/6ohm speakers and coming from a well respected chip amp. First thing I noticed was the impact this amp has at higher volumes.Very dynamic and lively -  it is meant to be played loud!  However, highs are a bit strident / grainy and bass/mid-bass is a little too exaggerated and loose (on my speakers).  I have a feeling the 60hz-200hz range is somehow accentuated on this amp.  These faults are easily overlooked when the volume turns up and you start "feeling" the music. It's dynamics & speed are addictive.  I wonder how much improvement could be had with a 2nd unit in a vertical bi-amp set-up...my rational self thinks it may not be worth it for a 10% subjective improvement in performance.  I will continue to listen for improvement as the amp breaks in.

Ooh, I'd like to know this as well.  I love the 530s

Has anyone used this amp with JBL Studio 530 speakers (86 dB, 6 ohms) ?

I encourage you to leave everything on, 24 / 7, with music playing through the system. It will take, ime, a few hundred hours, for them ( the preamp, too ), for things to gel ( lean bass, as an example ). They should be better, in sq, over the Rotels, in every area, but with a new preamp, you might not attribute all of these changes to the amps themselves.......And yes, they are very quiet....Anyone who experienced them to be noisy, was experiencing the high gain of them, amplifying noise earlier on, in the signal chain. Thank you for the feedback.....Enjoy ! MrD.

RV said to listen for extra brightness when bi-amped.  I had time, so I compared and found no additional brightness.  I didn’t want to go through the hassle of returning one of them.  I really like the sound staging and imaging from the amps.  Bass seems a little lean, but it’s fast and articulate.  Hopefully the amps will bloom a little more after breaking in.  I’m using a brand new Parasound P7 all analog preamp with it, so maybe that needs some break in time too.  New power cords too.  I’m incredibly impressed with how dead quiet the amps are, however.

Thank you for the feedback. What changed your mind about trying them this way, except time ? 

I wanted to report back that I have now tried a pair of the STA200s vertically bi-amping my Vandersteen’s.  No oscillating!  Phew!  The amps sound great, but they’re still breaking in.

Thanks JL35 and Mr.D.  I think I’ll see if RV knows about the NF amp.  I might even ask, in a diplomatic way, whether his retraction was an overreaction to a minute number of incidents.  Thanks again!

The NF STA 200 has a much wider bandwidth than the Rotels. What this means, I am not really sure, technically, because musically, the high frequencies on the NF are musically capable of reproducing much higher frequencies, with music signals. I still do not know what he has done differently, than 10 years ago. There must have been some folks ( likely just a handfull ), who had some issues, as it only takes one issue to raise a white flag. Same happened many years ago with a particular speaker wire, by Polk, that caused some amps to oscillate. I had these cables, and never experienced an issue. I know the STA 200 does not do well below 4 ohms, but this oscillation thing is completely different. If it were me, I would try it, as I have had very good luck, without things oscillating during my many audio years. But, this is me..........you can always replace tweeters, lol.....Seriously, I feel the STA200, based on all of the circuit research I did, would not go into oscillatio; The Vandys, as much experience I have had with them, never caused a problem to any amp I am aware of, except for a clipping issue, which is different than oscillation. It is your call. Could create a new purchase of a pair of tweeters. The Nuforce will likely be better, in sq, than the older Rotels. Like I said, if it were me......You, are not me....Enjoy ! MrD.

RV would certainly know best...give the company a call about your specific system

Hi Mr.D.  I was hoping to hear from you.  Your comments about this amp are largely why I decided to buy a pair.  Apparently, RV used to recommend vertical biamping in his manuals, mine included.  He now recommends against it on his website and his newer manuals.  Here is a quote from RV himself on the “Ask Richard” section of his website:

”VERTICAL BI-AMPLIFING IS NOT RECOMMENDED AS MANY AMPS OSCILLATE WHEN NOT HAVING A GROUND RETURN DRIVING THE TOP END OF THE SPEAKER. THIS PART OF THE CROSS-OVER IS CAP COUPLED FOR BOTH THE MID-RANGE AND TWEETER THIS COULD CAUSE THE AMP TO OSCILLATE AT VERY HIGH FREQUENCIES. THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM AND DAMAGE THE TWEETER.”

This has me scared to try.  I wonder if this phenomenon is unique to his first order crossovers.  I have had my 2ce Sigs vertically biamped with Rotel for the past 13-14 years.  But I’m still scared of damaging something if I do the same with the STA200 I just ordered.  Thanks!

Mated my Nuforce STA-200 with a Schiit Saga, was very good with my Zu Omen's. Used a Sillnote cord for $100.00 and opened up well.

dengief, welcome.....I am not sure what Mr. V is indicating....I am running my pair of STA 200s in a vertical biamp situation ( something I have been recommending for a while now, given having two identical stereo amps, or of the same, 4 monoblocs ), and I am having no issues to speak of. The speakers I am using are a pair of Signet floor standing towers ( I was a rep when I got them ), and they sound very good being driven this way, and of course, with the NF amplifiers. I have used professional Yamaha amps, Hafler amps, Citation amps, and some others ( I had a s---load of power amps at one time ), with the same configuration, with excellent results. I owned 2c’s, and later 2ci’s ( in the past ), and have had clients with them, and never an issue, and vertically biamped them, too. Unless Mr. V. is doing something different with the latest incarnation of the model 2s, I do not see a problem. I have always preferred, is sq, vertical biamping vs horizontal, and I have done so with Martin Logan, B&W, Kef, Klipsch, Legacy, and others, that had the passive biamp ability, without issues. I would encourage you to read the manual of the Vandys. I hope this helps, but if it does not, I do understand.....my best, and Enjoy ! MrD.

I know this is an old thread and I am a new member, but I have a question about the STA200 for which I cannot for the life of me find an answer.  Is it stable driving a capacitive load?  I have Vandersteen 2ce Sigs that I want to vertically biamp with a pair of STA200s.  However, Mr. Vandersteen warns that many solid state amps are unstable driving the capacitive load when vertically biamping.  I tried calling Optoma to ask, but their tech support is dedicated to their projectors, not their audio stuff.  Please help?!

Can anyone compare the STA 200 to the Mytek Brooklyn AMP?

Thanks guys. 

I got myself Audioquest Cinnamons (from the digital sources to the DAC) Golden Gates (from the DAC to the pre-amp to the SYS) and Red Rivers (from the SYS to the STA200).

I stuck with my ancient FMS Blacks to the speakers.

The sound is warmer but the details are still there.  I'm happy.

@daseldin - Currently using VH Audio Pulsar Cu RCA Interconnects. Vampire Wire also makes good reasonably priced interconnects.

So, has anyone new tried passive ? Even with a Parasound A21, as it works with amps that have normal gain.

I use Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects between source-SYS-STA200 as the LC-1 has very low capacitance.  

I originally had Blue jeans interconnects and they sounded fine. I am in the process of building my own cables. 

What cables - RCA and speaker - are you guys using with your STA200?  I've got a mish-mash of old high-end and cheap new (Monoprice) cables connecting my DAC, preamp, SYS, amp and speakers. 

I want to upgrade, but at a reasonably low price.  

Thoughts?

Its been out a few yrs. How does the STA200 stack up to newer budget amps, Emotiva monoblocks, Nuprime, TPA3255 based etc?

mrD, your post made me laugh. Why would you want to add more weight to the SYS unit? According to the Schitt website it already weighs in at a heavy 1 lb. I’m guessing they rounded up to get there.

If anyone is interested ( and this applies to anything ), you can open up, go inside of the sys, and Dynamat the circuit board and some of the chassis, as you will hear a significant improvement in detail and resolution. It will also add some weight to the chassis. Always need to be careful when pressing down on the boards, as you do not want to break the " traces " ( Sorry, been doing these mods for 50 years, and they work well ).

The Sys is so cheap that I went ahead and bought a second to have both a dual mono setup and also to be able to control the balance.  It really widened and opened the soundstage up using two instead of one.

I've got a Saga too, but as hard as I try to prefer the Saga, I actually think the Sys sounds better.

Busy now, but agree it will be fun to use the little SYS as a standalone pre in the near future to gain that experience.  Thanks for the thought MrD.

I agree with mrdecibel, the SYS is a good way to explore the merits of using a passive. I would probably upgrade from it in my main system. 

The SYS is not the most basic as it allows two inputs.

I'm looking forward to trying. Just curious, I wonder who makes a passive pre with all the bells and whistles?

The first thing to do would connect the Sys, direct, play music of all types that you often listen to ( I do say give it about a weeks time ), and determine if you like it, better, or not. My Luminous ( $1250 ) is quite a bit " cleaner " than the Sys, but, it should still give you more of a sense of " straight wire ". Passive is not new, but sources have gotten better and beefier in the output stages. Just give it a try, be patient, and see if your ears are good with it. If you like it, then, you can shop for a unit that has what you want and need. Again, if you don't, well, now you know. Enjoy ! MrD.

No remote on the Sys.  It about as basic as you can get, but it works well.

I haven't read this whole thread, and maybe it was mentioned, but does the Sys have a remote control?  Thanks,

Looking forward to your thoughts on the SYS/STA200 direct into your Zu speakers. 

Thanks for suggestion. I will try "sys only" this weekend. Now, I did use my Prebox S2 as a pre while my RP-5 was getting repaired and it performed outstanding. Finding a passive pre with all the features, inputs and remote as the rp-5 would be quite difficult.

To both jetter and abery ( and anyone else ). Although I am not using my pair of STA 200s in my main system, I do believe it is an amazing little amplifier. I also believe I have as much, if not more, experience than most, in using the amp with several different combinations since my acquisition of the first sample almost 2 years ago. The amp was designed with a passive pre to go before it, and for a year now, this is how I have been listening. Not just with the STA 200, but with other amplifiers. Without naming names, I owned 2 top tier preamps, that were quite excellent, but ultimately, determined they were coloring, and robbing my system of details in the music. I would suggest both of you to take your preamps out of your systems, and run only through the SYS, for about a week. There will be an adjustment your ears will make, as I know you will not like everything you hear at first. But if you really appreciate your recordings for what they truly are, and can be, given time, you, like me, will stay passive. This is especially true with the input sensitivity, and gain, of the STA 200. No preamp, one less pair of interconnect, and I am telling you, your preamps are not needed. My Luminous unit is incredible. Silent, reliable, and offers me remote volume, which I never had before in my main 2 channel system. My Dac is quite amazing as well, and it is an older type ( modified Adcom GDA 700 ), and drives any of my amplifiers with ease. And if I am wrong, after about a week, all you need to do is go back to your preamps with an extra set of interconnects, and, enjoy ! So, there you have it. Enjoy ! MrD.

I finally purchased the STA 200 amp and it is only 3 hours into listening—I enjoy the soundstage, imaging and sonic bandwidth. The price is fantastic and may be a used amplifier killer up to $2000 used / $4000 new. I’m comparing it to three other amps and will post my impressions later. 
The only issue is the limited space for connecting my speaker cable for bi-wiring. 

Yes, I have enjoyed the SYS using it as a stand alone passive pre with both the STA200 and Dynaco ST-70. I have not yet tried it as an attenuator between my Jolida  Fusion tube pre and the STA200. This I will do in the future and report back. The Jolida is mated to a BEL 1001 MK5 in my main system. 

The combination of the SYS with the STA200 when paired to the right speakers makes for clean and detailed sonics. One of the best deals in audio. 

I love the SYS. I'm glad I could be of help. 

Hi deseldin, really nice that you are enjoying the STA-200, it is a fun amp, and its funny that I believe it is the only AB amp they made, the rest being class D (AFAIK).  For me, without mrdecibel's input I wouldn't have purchased this inexpensive little gem.  

The SYS is a fun little toy, the first of its sort I have had.  Have fun.

I wanted to thank you all for sharing your experiences with the STA-200. I am a new, happy owner of the amp and I would not be without the benefit of your experience.

I was a pretty serious budget-oriented audiophile once upon a time. But after decades of faithful service, I knew it was time to replace my Audible Illusions Modulus 2B. The volume pots, replaced once already, were now reliably noisy with any adjustment at all. After some research I brought home a Rogue Audio RP-1. It added a whole new layer of musical detail, but I noticed a layer of upper-midrange glare. I was prepared to look elsewhere.  

Then I realized the glare – which turned into some seriously bad distortion on a solo piano recording – was only in the left channel. I flipped the cables to my power amp and found that the distortion stayed on the left. It was not the pre-amp after all – the higher resolution of the RP-1 revealed a problem with my power amp!

So now I was faced with a larger upgrade, both the Modulus 2B and my (also ancient) Forte Audio 1A amp. Unfortunately my budget hadn’t grown! I went looking for a highly-regarded inexpensive power amp. And that lead me to the STA-200 and, ultimately, to this thread.

The discussion of the STA-200’s sensitivity, and aberyclark and jetter’s experience in solving the problem with pre-amp noise ended up being crucial. Because I had exactly that problem – when I first hooked up the RP-1 and the STA-200, the noise floor was, well, more like a noise ceiling. Tube hiss was clearly audible from my listening position and, although the music through the RP-1 and STA-200 sounded great (dynamic, rhythmic, detailed and supple) the hiss was there every time the music got quiet or silence appeared. Not only that, but any RP-1 volume setting above about 17 (60 being full gain) was too damn loud for my room.

I immediately bought a Schiit SYS, just like aberyclark and jetter. As soon as I popped it between the RP-1 and STA-200, and dialed down the gain to 12 o’clock, the hiss was gone. But not the music. I’m running the volume control at anywhere from 25 – 35 now, so I haven’t even begun to max out the RP-1’s gain. I am very, very satisfied.

So thank you for your contributions to this discussion, especially aberyclark and jetter. I greatly appreciate your help!

Okay guys, sorry for the super delayed response but I wanted to try every option I had before posting another reply to the thread. I tried switching out to different interconnects (both are cheap options but I know both of them are shielded), but the same noise is present (hiss in the tweeters and hum in the mid range driver). So I went ahead and ordered an Emotiva CMX-2, which I just received tonight. I plugged everything in and the same noise is present. About a week ago I went around the house and unplugged electronics to no avail, and we don’t have any dimmers in the house. So, I just requested for a replacement of the amp through amazon. I should be getting the replacement on the 31st. I’ll make an update once I get to plug that thing in. Thanks for everyone’s help! I really appreciate it.

Removed my last post because it was about another amplifier, rather than the STA 200. Sorry for not keeping the thread on track. Enjoy ! MrD.