Great review Denf!
Thought I'd add my 2 cents. I'm 2 months into owning my ref V2's replacing my venerable Classe CA100's which now serve surround sound duty. In my 40 years of audio insanity these amps have educated me in a way I'd not thought possible. I find them so neutral, so natural that due to the nature of my system, I've had to replace, modify, experiment, and now look to build myself a set of speakers to utilize the full potential these amplifiers deliver.
You'll have to excuse me as I've not gotten much sleep lately due to late night listening experiences. Don't beat me up on my current setup but you can't help but laugh. My source components are a Playstation 3 and a modded Squeezebox 3. I hate my Sony Playstation 3 but admittedly, the Playstation is an overachiever. It just looks bad and has a fan to boot! It looks like a game machine sitting stupidly on my Adona rack system and oh ya, it’s that too :-/ My SB3 is not much better except for it's Welborne outboard linear supply. The SB3 need more tweaking and I love the interface. The Sony is really just a bus station transferring EAC ripped - FLAC encoded - Tversity server sent files through the PS3 then to an Onkyo PR-SC885P preamp, then to my SE V2's and finally to my Def-Tech BP2000's.
Please don’t get me wrong here. I’m just trying to name bash or discount brands or equipment. How I arrived at my somewhat kludgy system with these state of the art amps is another story. In fact it sounds pretty amazing at this point. My feeling is that it all starts with the V2's. I cannot describe a sonic signature with these amps. They're fed pristine digital files are @ 44.1Khz through a pretty long path and deliver an unbelievably coherent sound at the end.
The BP2000's don't image. That was my mantra for a decade. Now I have a SOLID central image with good depth although still confined between my speakers. This did not happen until I changed the power cables first from outlet to Line filter box (also modded), then on the Onkyo, and then on the PS3. Amazing change with the addition of HQ DIY power cables!
Last night after setting my newly acquired Adona rack I played Steely Dan - Aja. I laughed throughout the entire song and the next. I cannot believe how good the sound was through my Def-Techs. I think I was giddy. Don’t ever remember being “giddy”. Another thing I noted with these amps is the fact that they play at low volume levels the same as at high volume levels. How many amps or systems have you listened to that only came alive or sounded good only when pushed to higher volume levels? I thought that just how it is or supposed to be. Not any more! Even at low levels these amps bring all the nuisances of recordings that one hears at high SPL’s.
So these Nuforce’s forced me to upgrade some cables. Why, because you can tell what these things are capable of and wish to exploit.. I can't imagine how they'll sound through some audiophile grade speakers. I need a second job..
Criticisms? These amps seem to be sensitive to noise. Mine are quiet but I had my moments. The WBT binding post has failed and is in need of repair. Sometimes when I turn the amps off then on again say after changing to a different interconnect, they don't always turn back on. What is that?. I have not done that yet. I'm looking for winners here and like to DIY. They're so small.... They like nice interconnects, cords and equipment around them ;-)
P.S.
I really like the MAC Palladium's. I've tried the following cables through the Nuforces.
Various high end Monsters = Give to your neighbor
Anti Cables = Good but lacks smoothness and warmth.
DH-Labs BL1's = Better, warmer, detailed but read on.
Balanced Neotech UP-OCC interconnects = Good but voices lacked weight and felt recessed ON MY SYSTEM with my edgy metal dome tweeters
MAC Palladium's = These cables changed everything. Voices became more natural with proper weight. Detail by not hyper detail and non-fatiguing, even on my HT speakers. I'll buy more from this co. as their prices seem very reasonable.
Sorry this is so long – perhaps more than .02 cents worth?
Thought I'd add my 2 cents. I'm 2 months into owning my ref V2's replacing my venerable Classe CA100's which now serve surround sound duty. In my 40 years of audio insanity these amps have educated me in a way I'd not thought possible. I find them so neutral, so natural that due to the nature of my system, I've had to replace, modify, experiment, and now look to build myself a set of speakers to utilize the full potential these amplifiers deliver.
You'll have to excuse me as I've not gotten much sleep lately due to late night listening experiences. Don't beat me up on my current setup but you can't help but laugh. My source components are a Playstation 3 and a modded Squeezebox 3. I hate my Sony Playstation 3 but admittedly, the Playstation is an overachiever. It just looks bad and has a fan to boot! It looks like a game machine sitting stupidly on my Adona rack system and oh ya, it’s that too :-/ My SB3 is not much better except for it's Welborne outboard linear supply. The SB3 need more tweaking and I love the interface. The Sony is really just a bus station transferring EAC ripped - FLAC encoded - Tversity server sent files through the PS3 then to an Onkyo PR-SC885P preamp, then to my SE V2's and finally to my Def-Tech BP2000's.
Please don’t get me wrong here. I’m just trying to name bash or discount brands or equipment. How I arrived at my somewhat kludgy system with these state of the art amps is another story. In fact it sounds pretty amazing at this point. My feeling is that it all starts with the V2's. I cannot describe a sonic signature with these amps. They're fed pristine digital files are @ 44.1Khz through a pretty long path and deliver an unbelievably coherent sound at the end.
The BP2000's don't image. That was my mantra for a decade. Now I have a SOLID central image with good depth although still confined between my speakers. This did not happen until I changed the power cables first from outlet to Line filter box (also modded), then on the Onkyo, and then on the PS3. Amazing change with the addition of HQ DIY power cables!
Last night after setting my newly acquired Adona rack I played Steely Dan - Aja. I laughed throughout the entire song and the next. I cannot believe how good the sound was through my Def-Techs. I think I was giddy. Don’t ever remember being “giddy”. Another thing I noted with these amps is the fact that they play at low volume levels the same as at high volume levels. How many amps or systems have you listened to that only came alive or sounded good only when pushed to higher volume levels? I thought that just how it is or supposed to be. Not any more! Even at low levels these amps bring all the nuisances of recordings that one hears at high SPL’s.
So these Nuforce’s forced me to upgrade some cables. Why, because you can tell what these things are capable of and wish to exploit.. I can't imagine how they'll sound through some audiophile grade speakers. I need a second job..
Criticisms? These amps seem to be sensitive to noise. Mine are quiet but I had my moments. The WBT binding post has failed and is in need of repair. Sometimes when I turn the amps off then on again say after changing to a different interconnect, they don't always turn back on. What is that?. I have not done that yet. I'm looking for winners here and like to DIY. They're so small.... They like nice interconnects, cords and equipment around them ;-)
P.S.
I really like the MAC Palladium's. I've tried the following cables through the Nuforces.
Various high end Monsters = Give to your neighbor
Anti Cables = Good but lacks smoothness and warmth.
DH-Labs BL1's = Better, warmer, detailed but read on.
Balanced Neotech UP-OCC interconnects = Good but voices lacked weight and felt recessed ON MY SYSTEM with my edgy metal dome tweeters
MAC Palladium's = These cables changed everything. Voices became more natural with proper weight. Detail by not hyper detail and non-fatiguing, even on my HT speakers. I'll buy more from this co. as their prices seem very reasonable.
Sorry this is so long – perhaps more than .02 cents worth?