Hi all, just finished some surgery on my Nuforce system this weekend. First upgrade was replacing my Ref 9's with 9SE's which I did today. This was done with a full listening test with the outgoing Ref 9's then again with the new and hardly broken in 9SE's. In summary, I seriously underestimated the difference between them. I've read all the reviews, and they all read quite impressively, but I discovered much more beyond the standard "bass has more weight, mid-range is better, and highs are sweeter..." Even with minimal break-in, my hyper-efficient/sensitive Zu Druids (101db) responded immediately...as in right out of the box. What I heard was this:
1. Guitar chords were split into their individual notes...yes I could hear the tone from each string.
2. I could actually hear, feel, and practically see the room in which the music was originally recorded...this goes way beyond soundstage as we know it.
3. The 9SE's bass was without question already weightier than the Ref 9's out of the box, but it was also far more revealing and precise. Even as I played just a few hours into the break-in I could sweat my entire loft was transformed into a musical stage like nothing I have ever encountered, hands down. And I've heard some of the best of the best out there.
4. While the high's were perhaps sweeter, I didn't get the impression of any softening, or 'watery' feeling that the term "sweet" can sometimes reveal. The mid and highs were so incredibly straightforward and addicting to listen to for hours.
5. The detail was really most obvious to me. The separation of every instrument and vocal chord, all the way down to the most subtle bass notes were so clearly articulated, I was just blown away.
I recently saw an ad somewhere from Bang & Olufsen's new Beo9's. It said something like "If its been awhile since you've gotten a tingle down your spine from listening to your music, its time to try the Beo 9's" Well, I've been listening to some serious hi-fi gear well beyond B&O for a while now, and believe me the only 9's that have ever come close to this experience for me were the 9SE's from today. And most surprisingly, this was only after I was already well impressed and well adjusted to the incredible 9.02s.
How could an upgrade make such an incredible difference? I began to think (only for a few seconds) that maybe I was listening to faulty 9.02s for the past year. Obviously not the case. My 9.02s are perfect, but the upgrade was really over the top. I think that my Zu Druid's definitely have something to do with bringing this magic forward in such a potent and unexpected manner. Their near perfect coherency and hyper sensitivity simply bring out the best (or worst) of an amp immediately. Needless to say the 9SE's had nothing but good things to say to the Zu's.
After several hours of loft-flooded demo's from my Apple Lossless mp3's through my CIAudio VDA-2 DAC including: Art of Noise, Seal (acoustic), Tracy Chapman, Sting (acoustic), and some John Coltrane on SACD, I was beginning to honestly believe that I was probably listening to the best hi-fi in existence, and I hadn't even dipped into my 2000 Opus One Cabernet yet... However, the best was yet to come...no, not just better sound once these amps were fully broken in...no, not just that. The best to come is my new P-9 pre-amp that replaces my P-8. I specifically held back on the P-9 installation today so I could get my head around the 9SE's in a fair A/B comparison. I thought I'd keep the system with just the 9SE's all the way through the break-in period. However, after just one day, I've heard enough, been blown away. Not to mention the unopened P-9 boxes sitting in my loft were driving me crazy.
So tonight after about 10 hours of continuous listening, jamming, and relaxing, I broke ranks and unboxed the P-9, and dropped it ever so carefully into my system. The 2-unit pre-amp looks awesome together with 9SE's on my custom Nuforce stands. I shall repeat my demo tomorrow, with the P-9 in full swing with the 9SE's. Review to follow soon after. I can only take being completely floored like this, once in a day. In summary, the 9SE's are incomparable at any price and any system. Sounds like a pretty bold statement, I know, but it is what I honestly believe. The break-in should be quite an experience!
