It is with regret that I report that my Nuforce 8.02's benefit significantly from power conditioning, specifically from a conditioner designed to reduce electrical cable-borne RFI: the PS Audio UPC200. (I regret it because I would have preferred not to spend the money.) I have followed the debate over Nuforce & power conditioning for a very long time, and finally bought a UPC200 on the basis of the Magnan cables Nuforce tweak suggestions (link below). I've always run my front end through power conditioners (my Don Allen custom tube pre through a Jon Risch DIY power conditioner, my Vecteur transport through a Jon Risch DIY digital isolation filter, and my Ack Dac 2.0 runs from a battery). All that stayed the same, but I switched the Nuforce 8.02's from a wall socket to the UPC200. The result is significantly better detail from top to bottom, better separation of instruments and voices, improved musicality (I now recognize that there was before a noticeable "hash" running over the music) and, to my surprise, dynamics seem to be improved (leading edges of transients are more clearly defined and energetic). In sum, I would recommend that Nuforce owners at least audition a conditioner that reduces RFI in power cables; Magnan lists several, and I know that the folks in the Lab here recommend some conditioners that generate balanced power. The UPC200, by others' reports, doesn't work quite as well as the balanced power units -- but it is much less expensive. In my system, it produced a pretty significant improvement. I have no relationship with PS Audio whatsoever, and this is the first product of theirs that I've bought.
http://www.magnancables.com/pages/tweaks/nuforce.html
