Nuforce

"Is there an estimated release date for the Reference 9.1SE?"
Don't try to be cute :). It is Reference 9 Special Edition, short for Reference 9 SE. Not 9.1

Are you kidding, we're just a small company :). We're in no position to be threating. The points I were making related to justifying the (already low) price and product positioning of Ref 8. I don't know what Tvad meant by achieving legitimacy in high end audio market :). We care more about having satisfied customers. Do we have plans to bring out high price and more exotic amps that cost a lot more ? YES. But we're also planning to continue to offer lower price and great sounding products to the average consumer who can't afford to pay a few grand for a system :).
Jason from NuForce

I know already this amps are not as good as the CJ350, and the DNA500, driving the Andra II

Jayctoy, thanks for your kind comment. But he he he he, I think the above statement should include a certain version and model of the amp :). In a few more weeks, we'll have some announcement to make and everyone will know our product roadmap. Every product that we introduced are carefully positioned in a grand scheme ;).

Jason from NuForce

Before you try any expensive power conditioner, try the Brick Wall audio surge protector $249. We strongly recommend it.
Jason from NuForce

06-29-06: Jp1208
Can you upgrade from 8.5 to 9SE?

Of course.

It took NuForce team 2 YEARS to complete the R&D and we have been granted 3 US patents and filed many more. The small team in California worked for long hours without pay for 2 freaking years! And attorney fees cost a fortune.
Do you think we're getting rich making a few hundred $ per unit? It is not like we're selling millions of these. Do you think traditional 50 lbs amp cost a lot? Come on, what you're paying for is the weight of the transformer, heavy metal case, R&D and marketing.
If you look around in the high end market, how many companies are actually doing original research?

With regards to revision, we could have stopped upgrading the current amp, come up with another model, raise the price and people will still line up to buy them. But instead, we stay true to our philosophy of providing better value to our customers. Sure, we're going against a very tranditional mindset here. But for those of you who "complains" about upgrade, don't you notice that your PC, laptop, routers, and many other high tech equipment all have different version numbers depending on when you buy them? Manufacturers like us add different version number so that we can differentiate between one production version versus another, even if there is minor changes.

Now about R&D etc. We're not done yet and don't forsee that we'll ever be done :). As we have said, we're constantly doing R&D and if we discover new enhancement, we will decide either to withhold it (for the next model) or release the upgade into the next production.
We are very grateful for those of you early adopters who recognized the tremendous value and performance (read the TAS and other reviews) of these amps and supported us. Those early customers will get a price break for more exciting products that we're coming out (such as preamp). Those who want to wait can buy the same great amp next year for perhaps higher price :).

Jason from NuForce

PHD,
The Ref 8 case is made of all aluminium, more expensive that other thick iron or steel case that some people preferred. In the early production, we use bright blue LED that is hard to control the brightness. The latest production has frosted blue LED.
Ref 8 is targetting people who appreciate good sound but are not willing to pay the extra. There are a lot of people who prefer that their audio equipment stay out of sight and to them, sound is what they care (may be not what you like). Ref 8 is also frequently used as surround and back channel amps and placed close to the speaker. It is meant to be light and small.
Jason from NuForce

Unless there was a particular problem with this pair of amps, the sound of this system was not very pleasant noted by all including the dealer . The Nuforce line in this case was not added. I was disappointed as a customer that it did not sound the way I had read that it should.

It is hard to comment without knowing how much breakin the dealer has allowed for the amp and whether anyone has attempted to re-configure the system or adjust for speakers toe-in position (toeing out). If you read many of the reviews (from professional reviewers to serious audiophiles) from magazines to online forums, they have taken the trouble to tune their systems. NuForce is ruthlessly revealing amount many other things. In addition, NuForce is a very neutral amp and it present the recording as it is. You don't find people describing it as warmth or sweet (to me that's distorted sound but hey, there is no right or wrong, music is very personal). So by introducing a neutral amp into a system that has been very well compensated can suddently appear off balance.
Jason

Please! The NuForce Reference 9 Special Edition is NOT a replacement of the standard Ref 9. It cost a whopping $2100 per unit versus $1250 for the Ref 9 :).
Please read the Nuforce website for the differences between standard and SE.

We made the changes in version 9.02 to fix overheat protection and sonic performance improvement.
We had a debate at that time whether to release it or not.
The advises that I (yes, I personally is responsible for this decision) received from dealers is that we should just follow what many manufactures do in the industry. Track the chances internally with the serial number and don't announce it. Ship new products with the upgrade quietly. If customers have problem, we quietly replace it for them. Then nobody is going to complain that we have to many revisions (after all the upgrades for Ref 8, we should avoid doing that).

My biggest problem with this decision is that I will leave all my previous customers in the dark and deny them of an improvement. We want to build a company with superior product and customer satisfaction. So I decided that we should bite the bullet and not compromise our integrity. I told my guys that we'll take the heat and just try our best to explain our philosophy. Someday people will understand. Having said that, there is no more upgrades for Ref 9. version 9.02 is the last one. We beat the design to death. Ref 9 SE is a higher end product costing a lot more. But keeping our strategy of offering the best as an option to Ref 9 customers, Ref 9 can be upgraded to the SE.

All Nuforce Reference series products can be upgraded with new circuit board or power supply when new technology becomes available.

To clarify:
There is no 8.05. Mr. Mmakshak upgraded his Reference 8 (with 8.02 PCB) to Reference 8.5 (same power supply, bigger case). Reference 8.5 comes with the same 8.02 PCB.

Our PCB revision stood at X.02 since 2005 October. Ref. 8, 8.5, 9, or 9SE all use the same X.02 PCB. The 9SE enjoys some parts upgrade on the 9.02 PCB, otherwise, identical to the others.

[email protected]