Hi, this is my first post here on the Nuforce forum, or AudioCircle actually. I owned Ref 9.02 for just over a year. I really thought they were good amps, but went ahead and sprung for the SE upgrade about 3 months ago. I think these are pretty excellent amps out of the box, but they take some work to achieve what they are capable of.
I've tried a number of tweaks with some considerable success. IME, Nuforce Ref 9 SE's will benefit from heavy guage power chords that have a good shielded design, and copper interconnects also implementing good RFI rejection shielding. Helix and braided designs in the $500 or less category never cut it for me. Unshielded silver doesn't work right either (though I still like them on sources). I also think laying a sheet of ERS cloth across the rear of the amps, hanging over the cabling interfaces is helpful.
The chords are easily the most important factor in exposing the potential of these amps - I'm using Ear to Ear "black" power cables (ordinary hospital grade Marinco connectors), Cardas Gold Reference XLR's, and Cardas bi-wired Neutral Reference speaker cables. I've auditioned different brands and models on each, and this combination is working pretty well in my system. I feel these are the items that most contribute to significant improvement in resolution, lower noise background, smoothness, and more natural sounding tone and timbre.
I've used different isolation and coupling techniques (BDR cones, Vibrapods, Jenga wood blocks, 1 inch maple platform), without any conclusive sonic improvement. Currently my amps rest on Herbies mini Iso-cups (no balls) for the best practice of reducing vibration, but I don't think this is a great contribution to better sound. I've also placed ordinary hockey pucks on top of the amps for added vibration dampening without any real audible effect.
The response in my system to the shielded power chords and IC's interfacing with the Nuforce monos leads me to believe that, like many audio components, the handling of EMF/RFI emissions is critical to achieve refined levels of performance. It also probably means that V2 is a very worthwhile upgrade, from the SE level especially.
My amps are currently plugged directly into the wall, unprotected. Plugging them into a Monster HTS-5100 MKII has a negative impact on dynamics that you can hear after listening to 1 or 2 tracks on a CD. I heard that the Shunyata Hydra PC's provide the surge protection, do not limit current, and contribute to better sound without harming dynamics. I'll be receiving the Shunyata Hydra 6 any day now, which I plan to use exclusively for the mono amps initially. I'll continue to use the Monster on sources and preamp (BAT VK-31SE) in initial evaluations. I'll be sure to share the results after some extensive listening.
On a side note, why isn't there more feedback from the guys that upgraded to V2?!?
Ken
