[Welborne]

Can anyone tell me the difference sonically between these two? I know how IA-7 v3 sounds as I owned it before, sold because I was looking for Stereo 8.5 v3, but then took a detour back to tube, but the sound of V3 keeps lingering  in my mind all these years. Now as i was told the IA-7 v3 has been discontinued. My choice to reenter the budget Nuforce is either DDa-100 or STA-100.

Opinion welcome.

welborne

[rustydoglim]

If you have high efficiency speaker or in a near field listening position, DDA-100 can sound better than IA-7V3.  It has more details.

[Welborne]

Thanks Jason for your reply.

My concern is: will the DDA-100 sound as sweet as v3? I had v2 and then moved to v3 and I know the difference and how much more refined v3 is and that is exactly what makes Nuforce stands out from other class D I tried. I was not sure about the DDA or STA and whether they are more v3 type or v2 sound.

[charliefoxtrot]

Define sweet. I've lived with the IA-7 V3 for 3 years and just got the DDA-100 the other day. The initiall impression is that the DDA-100 is a tad warmer sounding.

[John Casler]

Also depending on your speakers efficiency one amp may have an advantage.

That is the IA-7 is more powerful, so would likely sound smoother with less efficient speaker loads.

[Welborne]

My speaker is 100db/1w Bastanis Mandala open baffle system. Yes, i know, i don't need all those 50w to 100w,  few watts will do but there was something very good about the IA-7 v3 that reminds me of some very good DHT fleawatter like vt25. I was in a bit of a shock when I heard my ia-7 v3 transformed after 200 hours of burn in(I almost gave up...).

Now with the Nuforce STA100 much cheaper than the ia-7 v3, I would like to know if there is an improvement over the now ceased ia-7, or it is step up in refinement. Both have too much power for me anyway.

Thanks

[Welborne]

okay, perhaps I should ask my question again properly in order to compare apple to apple.

How sonically different is STereo 8.5 v3 and STA-100?

Both are pure power amp with rca input.