[rustydoglim]

I agree with JackD, ST-10 (Product of The Year award, announcing Nov 27) is the best for you (you mentioned the ST-100 but I think you are referring to ST-10, ST-100 was the old NuForce amp and not in the same class as ST-10).
If you have budget concern, then go with the next level down, STA-9 that will be shipping Dec 7.

[OleFaithful]

I agree with JackD, ST-10 (Product of The Year award, announcing Nov 27) is the best for you (you mentioned the ST-100 but I think you are referring to ST-10, ST-100 was the old NuForce amp and not in the same class as ST-10).
If you have budget concern, then go with the next level down, STA-9 that will be shipping Dec 7.

Hi.
Yes I meant the ST-10, the Nu-Prime. I'll have to talk to my dealer again
Thanks for the advice, really looking curious to the combination of Black Dragon and ST-10, which both are said to be superneutral, but with some ease from the ST-10. I'm an honesty kind of guy, been playing in too many studios to want tube warmth and all that

Thanks again!

[kevb]

I agree with JackD, ST-10 (Product of The Year award, announcing Nov 27) is the best for you (you mentioned the ST-100 but I think you are referring to ST-10, ST-100 was the old NuForce amp and not in the same class as ST-10).
If you have budget concern, then go with the next level down, STA-9 that will be shipping Dec 7.

Looking forward to more information on these new releases.  I love my IDA-8....the IDA-8 with a $400 purpose built PC makes a stunning match with my $5000 Equation 15 speakers.  It's crazy how amazing it sounds....the Equations are an easy load at 6 ohms and 90db.  They need quality much more than quantity, and the IDA-8 delivers in spades.  In fact, it is the best match I have by far for the Equation speakers.  I would trade almost everything I own to get the DAC-10H with the ST-10 or the Ref 20's.

[acumos]

Hi guys I'm going to complete my system with a dac. Now I use my fiy F6 and I'm very satisfied. I doubt is. uDSD wait for dac-8 or ida-8. What do you suggest?

[rustydoglim]

$749 DAC-9 for sure, if you just want a super good DAC without other bells and whistles in DAC-10H.
It is freaking cheap and REFERENCE CLASS.
Have I ever bull shit you guys ?

[kevb]

I don't doubt that for a minute.....after living with the IDA-8, I can assure everyone there is no BS. 

So if you had to pick a combination, would you pick the DAC-9 with the ST-10, or would you pick the DAC-10 with the STA-9?

[mresseguie]

Jason,

I can't possibly answer your question because I have just one Nuprime product. The easiest way to fix this problem is to immediately send me an ST-10, DAC-10H,and what the hell an IDA-16. You (or John) already have my address.

Thanks!

[kevb]

Jason,

I can't possibly answer your question because I have just one Nuprime product. The easiest way to fix this problem is to immediately send me an ST-10, DAC-10H,and what the hell an IDA-16. You (or John) already have my address.

Thanks!

Hahahaha.....so you are still loving your IDA-8?  How are they with the Fritz speakers?

[rustydoglim]

I don't doubt that for a minute.....after living with the IDA-8, I can assure everyone there is no BS. 

So if you had to pick a combination, would you pick the DAC-9 with the ST-10, or would you pick the DAC-10 with the STA-9?

If depends on the emphasis of amp or DAC.  But in this case, it is not a fair combo.
ST-10 is clearly on a different class, right below Ref 20, than all other amps (ignoring power, because even though a good power supply affects the sound, but power alone is not a quality characteristic, it is a requirement).
The difference between two NuPrime DACs are not that far apart.  Normally a $749 DAC-9 would not be considered reference class, but things have changed from the past few years.  DAC chips are getting closer in performance. But more importantly, we also developed new circuit capability (such as FPGA based switch resistor network for volume control that bring traditional $3K to $5K preamp design to a $749 product) and design knowhow.  A new US dealer just commented that DAC-10 has the only good sounding ESS implementation that he has ever heard. That might be a bit bias, but my point is that it takes much more to make a DAC sounded good, preamp being the most critical part.

[mresseguie]

Hahahaha.....so you are still loving your IDA-8?  How are they with the Fritz speakers?

Ya know, I actually do really enjoy my IDA-8. And yes, the Fritz speakers I own have pretty low sensitivity - though that is somewhat modified because of the series crossover. The tweeter is easier to power. It's a really good amplifier, but it is only 100w per channel. I learned a couple years ago that a 150w or 200w amp powers speakers differently even at lower volumes. I'm not dissing the IDA-8, but I can't help but wonder how the IDA-16 differs (not talking about specs or descriptions; I'm talking about how it sounds).

Perhaps what I imagine doing someday is to hand my IDA-8 over to a rep in Taipei to modify the amp so I can add the new (so many new products I forgot the correct name) 100w amp for a bridged setup to give me 200w per channel. I'm pretty sure this isn't possible, but I think it would be pretty cool.

I'll put it another way. I like it enough that I am not willing to trade up to the next level. I'll only get $XXX resale plus I must spend another $XXX to get 'N' sound improvement. I'd rather hang on to the IDA and save my pennies until I have enough to try out the DAC-10H in my system in Oregon. I'm due for a better DAC in that system. If the DAC-10H is as good as the hype/reviews claim, then I'll be interested in comparing my amp to Jason's best. I'd rather have one killer system and one really good system rather than trying to stretch my $$ too thinly between two systems. The IDA-8 is really good and my speakers are excellent.

[kevb]

Ya know, I actually do really enjoy my IDA-8. And yes, the Fritz speakers I own have pretty low sensitivity - though that is somewhat modified because of the series crossover. The tweeter is easier to power. It's a really good amplifier, but it is only 100w per channel. I learned a couple years ago that a 150w or 200w amp powers speakers differently even at lower volumes. I'm not dissing the IDA-8, but I can't help but wonder how the IDA-16 differs (not talking about specs or descriptions; I'm talking about how it sounds).

Perhaps what I imagine doing someday is to hand my IDA-8 over to a rep in Taipei to modify the amp so I can add the new (so many new products I forgot the correct name) 100w amp for a bridged setup to give me 200w per channel. I'm pretty sure this isn't possible, but I think it would be pretty cool.

I'll put it another way. I like it enough that I am not willing to trade up to the next level. I'll only get $XXX resale plus I must spend another $XXX to get 'N' sound improvement. I'd rather hang on to the IDA and save my pennies until I have enough to try out the DAC-10H in my system in Oregon. I'm due for a better DAC in that system. If the DAC-10H is as good as the hype/reviews claim, then I'll be interested in comparing my amp to Jason's best. I'd rather have one killer system and one really good system rather than trying to stretch my $$ too thinly between two systems. The IDA-8 is really good and my speakers are excellent.

Makes sense to me.  I am now intrigued by the DAC-9 as Jason has said that it has near reference class sound too.  And the real bonus for me is it appears to have the same bluetooth input as the IDA-8.  That has become invaluable as my wife and kids can just stream from their devices whenever they want to. Never in a million years did I think they would care to, but now they can throw on music whenever they want, and they have been - often.  It is the main reason (besides budget) that I am willing to sacrifice that "Nth" degree to get the added convenience. That way I have more budget to put towards the ST-10 if I can swing it.  Let's put it this way, if I went for the DAC-10 or DAC-10H, I would most likely be limited to sticking with my Crown XLS2500's (2 of them).  If I go for the DAC-9, I can swing the DAC-9/STA-9 for around the same price as the DAC-10.  That or even step up to the ST-10 if I can swing it.

So many choices, not enough money!!   

[John Casler]

Ya know, I actually do really enjoy my IDA-8. And yes, the Fritz speakers I own have pretty low sensitivity - though that is somewhat modified because of the series crossover. The tweeter is easier to power. It's a really good amplifier, but it is only 100w per channel. I learned a couple years ago that a 150w or 200w amp powers speakers differently even at lower volumes. I'm not dissing the IDA-8, but I can't help but wonder how the IDA-16 differs (not talking about specs or descriptions; I'm talking about how it sounds).

Perhaps what I imagine doing someday is to hand my IDA-8 over to a rep in Taipei to modify the amp so I can add the new (so many new products I forgot the correct name) 100w amp for a bridged setup to give me 200w per channel. I'm pretty sure this isn't possible, but I think it would be pretty cool.

I'll put it another way. I like it enough that I am not willing to trade up to the next level. I'll only get $XXX resale plus I must spend another $XXX to get 'N' sound improvement. I'd rather hang on to the IDA and save my pennies until I have enough to try out the DAC-10H in my system in Oregon. I'm due for a better DAC in that system. If the DAC-10H is as good as the hype/reviews claim, then I'll be interested in comparing my amp to Jason's best. I'd rather have one killer system and one really good system rather than trying to stretch my $$ too thinly between two systems. The IDA-8 is really good and my speakers are excellent.

Michael,

You want the STA-9's, but the GOOD NEWS is they DO NOT bridge to 200wpc any longer.

THEY BRIDGE TO 290wpc!!! (120wpc in stereo)  for $649 each.

And since you have the 2v output on your IDA-8, you can use them with the IDA-8 as a DAC/Preamp right now.

[mresseguie]

Michael,

You want the STA-9's, but the GOOD NEWS is they DO NOT bridge to 200wpc any longer.

THEY BRIDGE TO 290wpc!!! (120wpc in stereo)  for $649 each.

And since you have the 2v output on your IDA-8, you can use them with the IDA-8 as a DAC/Preamp right now.

John,

That is better than what I had imagined doing. Is the '2v output' on my IDA-8 different from the output to subwoofer? I ask because my subwoofer output is 1x.

[John Casler]

John,

That is better than what I had imagined doing. Is the '2v output' on my IDA-8 different from the output to subwoofer? I ask because my subwoofer output is 1x.

1x = 2v output, and is the standard output of CD players and such.
2x = 4v
3x = 6v

The output voltage would just mean that the Volume Control would be at a different point (db) depending on which output you have.

So if a 2v Volume setting was 1:00, a 4v setting would be lower, like maybe 9:00 or 10:00.

It also depends on the sensitivity of your amps.

This is slightly less important with the stepped ladder resistor network Volume Control since it doesn't work by large increases in resisting the signal.

[kevb]

Michael,

You want the STA-9's, but the GOOD NEWS is they DO NOT bridge to 200wpc any longer.

THEY BRIDGE TO 290wpc!!! (120wpc in stereo)  for $649 each.

And since you have the 2v output on your IDA-8, you can use them with the IDA-8 as a DAC/Preamp right now.

Getting more exciting....this sounds like a class killer in the making.  Along with the DAC-9.  Under $1400 for both....wow!

[-ol-]

I now had the chance to listen to the IDA-8... and I liked it very much! Even though I won´t keep it, there´s one crucial feature missing for me: A simple balance control. In my setup one of the speakers is positioned close to a room corner while the other speaker is not. There´s no way to change that at the moment, with my current amp I can correct the shifted middle by adjusting volumes for each channel separately.

I am wondering... after reading a bit about the technical side of the IDA-8 I understand that volume control is done by using lots of resistors and switching them accordingly. Shouldn´t it be quite easy to implement a balance regulation into that kind of volume control?

Thanks for your help,
Oliver

[rustydoglim]

Adding balance control will degrade performance. You can try to change the placement of the speaker just a little.

[Armaegis]

I now had the chance to listen to the IDA-8... and I liked it very much! Even though I won´t keep it, there´s one crucial feature missing for me: A simple balance control. In my setup one of the speakers is positioned close to a room corner while the other speaker is not. There´s no way to change that at the moment, with my current amp I can correct the shifted middle by adjusting volumes for each channel separately.

I am wondering... after reading a bit about the technical side of the IDA-8 I understand that volume control is done by using lots of resistors and switching them accordingly. Shouldn´t it be quite easy to implement a balance regulation into that kind of volume control?

Thanks for your help,
Oliver

Are you using a computer source? If so, you could adjust balance in the digital realm.

You're asking them to implement a rather non-trivial change into both hardware and software.

[-ol-]

Adding balance control will degrade performance. You can try to change the placement of the speaker just a little.

Thanks for your suggestion... if I could do that I hadn´t wondered why the IDA-8 doesn´t provide a balance control. Actually I had to move the wall of the house, then... something like four meters! Anyways, thanks for your answer.

One question though: Why would sonic perfomance be compromised by adding a balance control, especially given your choice of volume control (one single resistor for each channel active)? I unterstand that the choice of the active resistor(s) is done digitally, so a very simple program could do the job of not using the exact same values for the resistors for each channel? But maybe I am getting the whole idea of how the volume control actually works completely wrong.

[pixelmixture]

In my setup one of the speakers is positioned close to a room corner while the other speaker is not.

same situation here .
but this is the reason why i changed my back ported speakers for a pair of front ported bookshelf ... thus eliminating the annoyance