[Changed the title to better represent what I intended to say)
Let me say this up front: I distribute NuForce amps in Taiwan, so yes, I do have financial interest in the NuForce amps
However I feel I have to share the result of a comparison we did recently between the NuForce Ref. 9 and a pair of
extreme DIY PX25 amps--at least with those of you who already own the NuForce amp. This PX25 amp system cosists of four copper chassis (milled from solid copper billets) and is easily the best SET amp (though it uses a special configuration that allows the use of a no air gap PP transformer) I've heard. Also NOS Osram PX25, genuine NOS WE274 rectifiers and nickel core OPT with half the windings in silver.
The Ref. 9 (slightly mod'ed by us) sounded better in almost every regard than the SET, losing out only in tonal density (which is sometimes referred to as the "tubey" sound, in the positive sense of course). And no, it's not due to the huge power difference (160W versus what, 8 watts?), becasue the speakers were a pair of Altec A-4, 110dB+ sensitivity!
We weren't really expecting such results, especially with the mighty Altec. Being a tube guy myself, if you told me a year ago that a switching amplifier would sound as good as a PX25 SET with a horn speaker, I would have just assumed that you must have forgotten to take your medicine that day...
Now I am working on an
extreme hot-rodded Ref. 9 for myself, on solid copper chassis of course...
Bica
