[Doublej]

Or do they plan to stay a mono amplifier company for the forseeable future?

[nuforce]

Can you edit your post to have a poll?
NuForce is a tiny company and we can't commit $ for a product unless there is enough customer demand.

Why do you want a stereo version when you can get two Ref 8 for $1600?
Are you looking for a stereo version to retail for much lower price with less power?
Our thought is that buying monoblocks allow you to expand your system. You can move the Ref8 to the surround channels and buy Ref 9 for the main and center.

How much are you willing to pay for a dual 70W Ref 8 in the Ref 9 chassis as a stereo amp?  $995? $1195? This will have manual volume control only.
I would imagine that you want a stereo version to go with bookshelf speakers and require volume control with the amp (ie integrated amp).

[Doublej]

I would pay $995 for a dual 70 watt stereo amplifier without a volume control.

From my perspective if you are going to include a volume control then you'll need to add an input selector as well as I run 4 sources (dvd, tuner, computer and television) through it. Otherwise I'll need a preamp and if so I am not sure there's any value to me in ading a volume control.

A stereo amplifier would have a number of benefits. Less money spent for the amplifier, less money spent for ancillaries (power cords, isolation devices, etc.) less space consumed.

Hopefully the sonic degradation of a stereo amplifier over monos would not be that great and the cost savings of a single chasis design would be significant.

A $995 price point would be a huge savings over a pair of mono 9s. I would hope that this price point would create much creater demand for the product but the one thing I am positive about is I know nothing about the elasticity of demand for the high end audio market.
[/b]

[Jon L]

That's a definite YES for a stereo version without vol control.

I have power cords here, some of which cost more than Monoblock Nuforce.  Not to mention dedicated shelf, such as my Neuance shelf, dedicated footers, and room/space issues.  As long as you keep everything dual mono and separated in one chassis, I would buy the stereo version.  

I would go as far as to say get rid of balanced input (for a saving) and any cost involved in nice cosmetics.  I would even say decrease the power output to 30-50 wpc, but upgrade a few key parts to "signature" status.  Perhaps a couple of VH Audio Teflons or VH oil caps and/or Rubycon ZA, ZL PS caps.

There are tons of people nowadays who are looking to replace their 8-30 wpc tube amps for their highish sensitivity speakers who don't need >100 wpc.  Having been impressed with Nuforce 8B's myself, I would love to hear what a "signature" version with lower power with a couple of tasteful tuning can do for us 'triode' guys.

[Florian]

I did try to audition some nuforce amps on my big Apogees but the distributor for germany never picks up the phone and has the most brutal voice mail imagineable.  Any chance i can try one?

-Flo

[Rocket]

Hi Jason,

I would be interested in purchasing a 70watt stereo version of the amplifier.

Regards

Rod

[WerTicus]

why not just get two monoblocks and sticky tape them together?  

i fail to see what 'stereo' gets you that two mono blocks does not?

the real benifit of monoblocks is that you can put them directly behind your speakers thus eliminating speaker cable!  woa, a whole set of cables gone and your quality just went up a hell of a lot!

[nuforce]

It is very hard for us to justify making low power stereo amp at <$1K price. We can't recoup our investment. It is that simple. The sales volume for high end audio is very low. And we don't want to compromise the sound to make cheap and low power stereo amps.

R&D cost for amp at this level of performance is very high. We spent more than a year perfecting the implementation and still making improvement to pass along to customer.

WerTicus has made a very good point of placing the monoblock righ behind the speakers.

Jason

[rustydoglim]

We're exploring a 50W per channel integrated stereo with remote for bookshelf system at around $995. I think that will position well with our monoblocks which are intended for high end system.

[doug s.]

i would only be interested in a stereo amp if it were ~$1k, & had the *exact* same specs as a pair of 8.01 mono blocks...

doug s.

[OBF]

I'd be interested in the lower power stereo version, especially if the remote was optional, for 2 reasons:

1.  I'm considering a high efficiency system and I'd rather put money into speakers and not pay for power output I don't need.  In this case the remote integrated would be ideal.

2.  I'm also going to build a system based on a TACT 2.2x or DEQX at some point and I will need a min of 4 ch of power, but not necessarily a lot of power in any channel.  In this case there's no way I would/could spend $3,200 for 4 monoblocks, but would also not need a remote if using something like the TACT pre.

For my needs, a $995 stereo version would allow me to consider nuforce as an option, as opposed to something like UcD, while I probably would not really consider the $800 monos for either of my 2 scenarios.

[brj]

I'd find such a product potentially interesting, but I'd be careful about dropping the power specs too far... I realize that you want to meet a price point, but if the power output is too low, you limit your potential market dramatically.

For me, personally, I might consider such a unit for a bedroom system.  A lot of 2 way monitors that I'd consider for a bedroom system, however, are around 85-86 dB, and 50W/channel seems a bit low for that.

Don't forget that there are a lot of receivers out there now that would come in between $200 and $500 with 5, 6 or even 7 amps at 75-100W/channel.  They might not compete with your product in terms of outright audio quality, but spend the $500 to $800 savings on mods, and you might get close enough that the greater available power and extra features would tip the balance, especially if you can bi-amp them.

The other end of the spectrum includes the current set of integrated amps already on the market.  Your proposed price point makes quite a statement when competing against them, but 100W/channel seems to be the popular power point for many integrateds.

One other point - a remote with mute and volume are a must, and input selection highly desirable.  If you really/i] want to tempt me, add a USB input port!

[gme109]

A stereo amplifier would have a number of benefits. Less money spent for the amplifier, less money spent for ancillaries (power cords, iso ...

Ditto for me. Once you know how much difference a Good power cord  and  isolation can make, you don't want to go without it. I also don't want to have to duplicate the cost of a power cord and isolation for two amps. Unlike other posters here, I would like a higher powered stereo amp and would be willing to pay more. If it was as good as the monoblocks, I'd pay almost as much.

[JAMn Joe]

Why not have dual monoblocks in a single chasis so one power cord can power both units. The cost should not be any more than a pair of mono's as you are eliminating one chasis and replacing it with a larger one and adding a little bit of wire to allow sharing of a single power source.

Now on the other hand, bigger chasis for the monoblocks with blue analog power meters would be very cool

[WerTicus]

and the largest volume control knob ever made!

[rustydoglim]

while you're out of control, why don't you choose your favorite color: http://www.nuforce.com/colors_ref9.htm
 

[matix]

[quote WerTicus has made a very good point of placing the monoblock righ behind the speakers.

Jason[/quote]


This is interesting.  You mean one can put double side tape behind the speaker and stick the nuforce onto it?  That means the Nuforce will be in a vertical position   Any loss in sound quality?  I mean the speaker is pumping out bass...  Sorry if the question is silly?

[WerTicus]

ill take a happy snap of how i have mine setup - nuforce has said that virbration does not affect the amp, but i wasnt about to believe them

[gme109]

ill take a happy snap of how i have mine setup - nuforce has said that virbration does not affect the amp, but i wasnt about to believe them

Nuforce said that vibration does not affect the amp?! Affect it how, sonically, or it's ability to function? If they are saying sonically, I would like to know how their amps are immune to vibrations.

[nuforce-casey]

ill take a happy snap of how i have mine setup - nuforce has said that virbration does not affect the amp, but i wasnt about to believe them

Nuforce said that vibration does not affect the amp?! Affect it how, sonically, or it's ability to function? If they are saying sonically, I would like to know how their amps are immune to vibrations.

Why should amps be affected by vibrations?  It's the capacitor and large transformer running 50/60Hz that don't work that well when there is vibration (i.e. low frequency energy).  We have tiny transformers and small capacitors working at much higher frequency.  The switching MOSFET is switching all the time, extremely violently.