NuForce or NuFarce??

George 47

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Have been looking for a 'summer' amp. With the valves not being pleasant to use in the forthcoming summer
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I have been looking for a tranny amp that's liveable with.

I have installed the chip amps and a nice job they are doin' too but I may need a bit more welly.

The Nuforce seem to be getting stunning reviews (either for or agin), but what do they sound like. Are they all chrome plating and steely or telling it like it is? Am I going to find them bleeding awful or awfully good. I am not looking for a 'valve sound' I got that already but something liveable with.

So where are they on the scale:

bloody marvellous
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,

brilliant
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,

bloody marvellous for the money
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,

OK
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,

plusses and minusses
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,

crap
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,

bloody awful what is all the fuss about
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???

 

Nick

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I would put them in the brilliant category. It depends on what you are looking for in terms of sound. We have had a few customer suggest they are a bit too revelaing, not exactly toe tapping. Depending on the speaker they can give very good results. I find them very fluid with plenty of grunt/power/authority but not harsh or scientific. If nothing else they are well worth a shot.

 

vic

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I would put them a bit above the "bloody marvellous".

I have a pair of the new Ref9 SE v2 and they were in a totally different league of the other 6 or 7 that I auditioned before upgrading. Great grip on the bass, incredible dynamics, very clean, transparent and revealing sound, maybe even toorevealing for some systems. They would drive anything.

I use them with a tube pre (Minimax) so that I can taylor the sound as I like. They are going to stay in the house for a very, very long time

 

jonjin

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As some would know, I was using the NuForce Reference for some time (quite why they called them Reference when they don't have any other model is beyond me... and why start with the number 8?)

I found them to be excellent amps and truely good value for money. Their best characteristic is the excellent gip on the speakers with their high-damping factor. There is no trace of distortion what-so-ever... Their high wattage figure also gives lots of headroom for dynamics. These are clean sounding amps that can boogey...

For me their strength is also their weakness. These amps are a little too clean too me. Even though they don't sound digital in the old-fashion sense (meaning edgy or bright), they sound too neutral... It's hard to describe tbh. I haven't heard any other amp that sounds like them.

For the record, I used the earliest model, 8a with RCAs. Pre-amp was my Welborne Labs battery powered valve amp (fully tricked-up model). This pre-amp does not impart any sonic signature to the music at all but gives the valve soundstage and blacker background (due to the battery I suppose). Even changing the pre-amp valves did not make a difference. Speakers were LV OBX-R2, so there might have been a synergy issue as well.

JJ

ps-did you get my pm George?

 

JANDL100

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Nick wrote:

I would put them in the brilliant category. It depends on what you are looking for in terms of sound. We have had a few customer suggest they are a bit too revelaing, not exactly toe tapping. Depending on the speaker they can give very good results. I find them very fluid with plenty of grunt/power/authority but not harsh or scientific. If nothing else they are well worth a shot.
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I bought jonjin's Ref 8's off of him.

Fluid / clean / zero-fatigue / valve like / pure / musical - great amps.

Put me down for "bloody marvellous for the money".

 

Biscuit

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I'm going to be completely blatent/fragant as usual and suggest that a little something I am currently selling could be an option
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Tannoy and Esoteric are closely related in Japan, and I reckon it might be a very nice combination
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:lmao:

 

Napoleon

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Hi fi wise I found the top dobber ones good but were no where near as enjoyable as an Accuphase E213 (Under £2000) on A-B demming. The integrated NuForce never worked when I went for the dem...

I was expecting marvels from these but was quite disappointed.

They were in a hideous orange colour but the integrated was black and looked lovely.

 

CTank

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I believe Walrus may be selling their Nuforce amps ex-dem, may be worth a call.

I'm in a similar position at the moment, although for slightly different reasons. I love my amp, and there's definately something about valves that most solid state amps can't match. But I could really do with an amp that I can listen to for 5 minutes if I get a moment. Sometimes the responsibility of knowing that switching it on shortens the life of the valves, and it takes an hour to sound at it's best, and improves for the first 3 hours listening, gets a bit wearisome.

I'd like something that can sit there in standby, ready for those brief moments I can grab during my hectic executive lifestyle. Maybe digital is the answer, but I haven't heard enough to know whether it's a route worth pursuing.

Have you considered Channel Island Audio, they seem well respected at the moment?

 

George 47

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Thanks to Vic... I have now heard the Nuforce and it is Nuforce not Nufarce.

They were totally not what I expected. I thought they would be steely, dynamic, bright and up-front. They were certainly dynamic and fast but the sound was relaxed and easy on the ear. The bass was amazingly fast and very deep.

On the Solomon Burke CD (gonna buy it) the first track was bloody amazing and with female vocals no compression, congealing and smearing. And then the Fleck CD, really niceeeeee.

Need to hear them at home next........

Mind you this was with the SE Version 2 so maybe the newer ones are nicely tamed.

Thanks again.

 

JANDL100

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Glad you like them, G.

As I said above ....

JANDL100 wrote:

I bought jonjin's Ref 8's off of him.Fluid / clean / zero-fatigue / valve like / pure / musical - great amps.

Put me down for "bloody marvellous for the money".
Why do folks always imagine digital amps will be "steely" - IME they never are ....
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Papa Lazarou

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JANDL100 wrote:

Glad you like them, G.As I said above ....

JANDL100 wrote:

I bought jonjin's Ref 8's off of him.Fluid / clean / zero-fatigue / valve like / pure / musical - great amps.

Put me down for "bloody marvellous for the money".
Why do folks always imagine digital amps will be "steely" - IME they never are ....
71_71.gif.90e48c720ca56a2d2fa0532dd3380cc7.gif
IME they're rarely if ever steely - they can sound almost too clean with the wrong cables and partnering kit. With the right synergy they're immensely capable for the money imo.

 

Papa Lazarou

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JANDL100 wrote:

Glad you like them, G.As I said above ....

JANDL100 wrote:

I bought jonjin's Ref 8's off of him.Fluid / clean / zero-fatigue / valve like / pure / musical - great amps.

Put me down for "bloody marvellous for the money".
Why do folks always imagine digital amps will be "steely" - IME they never are ....
71_71.gif.90e48c720ca56a2d2fa0532dd3380cc7.gif
IME they're rarely if ever steely - they can sound almost too clean with the wrong cables and partnering kit. With the right synergy they're immensely capable for the money imo.

 

griffo104

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Papa Lazarou wrote:

JANDL100 wrote:
Glad you like them, G.As I said above ....

JANDL100 wrote:

I bought jonjin's Ref 8's off of him.Fluid / clean / zero-fatigue / valve like / pure / musical - great amps.

Put me down for "bloody marvellous for the money".
Why do folks always imagine digital amps will be "steely" - IME they never are ....
71_71.gif.90e48c720ca56a2d2fa0532dd3380cc7.gif
IME they're rarely if ever steely - they can sound almost too clean with the wrong cables and partnering kit. With the right synergy they're immensely capable for the money imo.
I would agree with Papa's choice of phrasing. From my few listens to these sort of amps I would describe them as clean and if partnered with the wrong speakers/source this could give the impression of steeliness.

For me I find them souding a little artificial, similar to why I dislike the sound of cds, but again this could be down to the clean sound they produce being unforgiving and too revealing maybe ?

Papa mentions the importance cables so you have to wonder how much the cables are acting as tone controls in this instance ?????

 
M

Mr Coherent

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Interesting the use of the word digital amps here, both the nu-force and belcanto ref series are analogue switching amplifiers
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Cables as tone controls? a cable should just allow the signal to pass unhindered, with no added flavourings.

 

griffo104

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Mr Coherent wrote:

Interesting the use of the word digital amps here, both the nu-force and belcanto ref series are analogue switching amplifiers
wink.gif.25d7e4815f6a2fee62f4117deebb27e0.gif
Cables as tone controls? a cable should just allow the signal to pass unhindered, with no added flavourings.
totally agree with you there. Just picking up on a point myself and Papa chatted about last time we met up, which was very interesting regarding cables and his amps.

 

Papa Lazarou

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Mr Coherent wrote:

Interesting the use of the word digital amps here, both the nu-force and belcanto ref series are analogue switching amplifiers
wink.gif.25d7e4815f6a2fee62f4117deebb27e0.gif
Cables as tone controls? a cable should just allow the signal to pass unhindered, with no added flavourings.
Exactly.
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This is where some of the cables i've used in the past have fallen down, with the Bel Cantos in particular.

 

JANDL100

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Mr Coherent wrote:

Interesting the use of the word digital amps here, both the nu-force and belcanto ref series are analogue switching amplifiers
wink.gif.25d7e4815f6a2fee62f4117deebb27e0.gif
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Doh !! - I knew that - I knew that.

But ... they do havea VERY similar sound to the digital switching amps! Strange that.

 

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