Wind Chaser,
That's a bit besides the point, I'm evaluating it on its technical merits and my years of experience in building an listening to audio equipment. Listing my system specifications or what cables etc. I use will not give the results any more credibility. Most of the gear I use is DIY, hence you will not be able to judge it by its appearance of technical specifications.
I'm quite familiar with the shortcomings (if any) in the components I use. Hence the fact that I change one component at a time in the chain of components I use (amp, cables, loudspeakers, etc.) allows me to gauge very well how that particular component performs an influences the reproduction of a recording.
It really is not an exact science, if it were we'd all have identical 10x30x30-feet listening rooms with set positions for loudspeaker, a comfortable chair to sit in, etc. so all results could be cross-referenced and compared. There's but one flaw in that ideal testing methodology, and that's the simple fact that humans themselves have preferences and your ears are not identical to mine.
To give you an impression of how I evaluate a component let me run you through a brief summary of how I normally approach this. In this case I simply substituted the amps I use in my system with the NuForce amps and started listening to them for a couple of days. Using CDs and tracks I'm familiar with. After a few days you're tuned in to the character of these amplifiers and you can better judge the pros and cons and weigh them against how your system sounds with an amplifier you're familiar with. Then it is time to change back and evaluate. This procedure is repeated a few times, and could also include switching loudspeakers, or cables etc.
After that (mind the after) I hooked them up to the measurement equipment as I don't want to start listening knowing how these amplifiers perform on paper, that might well influence my judgment, the mind is funny that way.
Best regards,
Sander Sassen
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com
