Nuforce Icon S-1 Speakers

Don_S · « **Reply #20 on:** 22 Jul 2008, 06:26 pm »

Link to video on TheStreet.com Raves about the Icon amp and speakers.

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/video/the-slot-tech-news/10428976.html?cm_ven=YAHOOV&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA#1659870963

Toka · « **Reply #21 on:** 22 Jul 2008, 06:42 pm »

Just got my shipping confirmation today...can't wait!

I will be sure to post my impressions once I get some time with them...my Icon needs something to do!

budbrew · « **Reply #22 on:** 22 Jul 2008, 11:54 pm »

According to the Nuforce Icon web site the S-1 should start shipping tomorrow, the 23rd. I ordered mine (black/black) a long time ago thru Amazon. I hope they ship tomorrow

I'm just up the road from Nuforce so there is a chance I will have them on Thursday. We'll see.

Breaking news... arriving today

Albireo · « **Reply #23 on:** 25 Jul 2008, 03:02 pm »

Quote from: budbrew on 22 Jul 2008, 11:54 pm

According to the Nuforce Icon web site the S-1 should start shipping tomorrow, the 23rd. I ordered mine (black/black) a long time ago thru Amazon. I hope they ship tomorrow I'm just up the road from Nuforce so there is a chance I will have them on Thursday. We'll see.

Breaking news... arriving today

So how is it?

Mine arrives next Wednesday ...

Toka · « **Reply #24 on:** 25 Jul 2008, 04:03 pm »

I'm still waiting for mine...the FedEx site has delivery scheduled for today, but no truck in sight just yet. Of course, the tracking hasn't been updated in 3 days so for all I know its sitting in a warehouse in Nebraska.

budbrew · « **Reply #25 on:** 25 Jul 2008, 07:13 pm »

Really nice! Have not been at my desk much to listen, and they are still breaking in, but so far I love what I hear. I think the crossover-less single driver really makes a difference. Great clarity and rhythm. I'm very happy.

One thing to note... with my other non-Nuforce speakers I always heard a pop when the Icon was turned on, but with the S-1s I don't hear this.

The foam they were packaged in seems to have left imprints on the casing.

Toka · « **Reply #26 on:** 25 Jul 2008, 08:19 pm »

Well FedEx finally updated the status of my package...it will be here tomorrow.

Glad I stuck around home all day. Oh well, I'm confident it will be worth the wait.

Oh yea, budbrew, do you have the ability to post a pic of the imprints you mentioned?

ian_r · « **Reply #27 on:** 26 Jul 2008, 03:04 am »

'imprints' are there but really minor on my S-1s... seems to be where the foam has made the plastic bag rub against the pain finish. Definitely nothing to worry about. They have a nice matt black finish, and it doesn't show.

Sound is very crisp in the highs/mids but I do notice a lack of bass even with them right next to the wall... they are certainly excellent desktop speakers though, just don't expect them to compare with larger hifi speakers.

rustydoglim · « **Reply #28 on:** 26 Jul 2008, 03:53 am »

The sound will really change as it get close to 40 hours of breakin time and the bass will go a little deeper as well.

There are many low price sub (<$150) on the market, let us know what you have found if you use one.

Toka · « **Reply #29 on:** 26 Jul 2008, 04:21 pm »

They are here! They are here!

Just hooked them up and enjoying lossless audio from my iMac...oh my goodness...I'll post more later when I have some more time on them but within 2 seconds I knew I had a winner on my hands...if you are in the market for a new computer/office/bedroom sound rig look no further.

rustydoglim · « **Reply #30 on:** 28 Jul 2008, 10:08 am »

My home office desk has very little space but I manage to mount the S-1

This is the speaker mount that works very well with S-1: http://www.amazon.com/Vantage-Point-Bookshelf-Extended-Speaker/dp/B001649BA4/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1217239843&sr=1-17

Toka · « **Reply #31 on:** 31 Jul 2008, 12:55 am »

Well, after a few days of steady use I'm ready to say that the Icon/S-1 combo is simply amazing.

The clarity and ease of presentation is unlike anything I've ever experienced in a computer-based setup. I get an expansive soundstage in a (very) nearfield setup, with a sound that just floats directly in front of me. More than a couple times I thought I had somehow left my internal speakers on (iMac), because the sound appeared to be projecting directly from the monitor. Nope, its the S-1 doing its thing. I've found so far that they work best just slightly off-axis, but I'm still playing around. Right now they are below my head (aimed straight at me chest...just the way it works on my desk) but I'm going to try some more things in the coming days/weeks.

Today I swapped out the stock Icon PSU for the upgraded one, and it made things a bit more dynamic...not a huge, transformative change, but a more subtle one. A bit more speed. Maybe the difference will be more profound on "regular" speakers, I can't really say. But if you want to squeeze out every last drop of performance its worth keeping in mind.

All told, for about $500 total, this is a can't miss desktop audio experience. I've heard powered active speakers in my time and none of them did anything close to this. Outside of a professional studio, I haven't heard anything hooked directly to a computer that can touch these (and those were not as suited to the sort of application I use...ie, nearfield, solo listener). I still need to try them from a farther listening position, but that'll have to wait until I'm tired of what I'm getting now, and that may just be a while.

Congrats to the NuForce team...you have a real winner on your hands!

Toka · « **Reply #32 on:** 31 Jul 2008, 12:56 am »

Double post, sorry.

RodMCV · « **Reply #33 on:** 2 Aug 2008, 07:08 pm »

Jason,

I was just looking at your new S-1 speaker.
A beautiful and unique product!
I can't wait to hear a demo.

I see on the Nuforce web sight that the S-9 wave guide design is a Bob Smith SP Tech Speaker design.

There is also a reference to the S-1 design relation to the S-9 on the Icon web site.

Are we to infer that this is also a Bob Smith design?
The "Wave Guide benefits" section on the S-1 site seem like a Bob Smith discription of his wave guide technology.

I guess I am wondering why there is no mention of Bob Smith on the Icon Sight?

Credit where credit is due?

Thank you,
Rod

rustydoglim · « **Reply #34 on:** 4 Aug 2008, 02:09 am »

Yes, S-1 waveguide came from S-9 and Bob has a hand in designing it. But he is not the only person working on S-1. SP Tech goes get financial benefit from the sale of S-1. For the consumer product line, we do not intend to promote the designer and want to focus on the brand.

Jason

RodMCV · « **Reply #35 on:** 4 Aug 2008, 02:47 am »

Thanks for that.

a friend in sound,
Rod

Picker · « **Reply #36 on:** 6 Aug 2008, 04:56 pm »

I was amazed last year after running http://www.audyssey.com/technology/
on my wife's TV
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=033AV2808C when
it phase balanced all 7 speakers, EQ flattened the room from 6 seats
making a much larger and centered "sweet spot".

Her previous TV receiver (10 years old) went to my MAC connected via
SPDIF where most of my music critical listening is done. Playing with
the balance of the surround speakers made its ProLogic much better, but
no where as dramatic as running Audyssey MultiEQ upstairs.

So I got
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=580TXS505B with
a two seat Audyssey EQ and ProLogicII but it seemed even softer than the
old (expensive) amp both with same 20 year old 5.1 speakers.

The http://www.thrillingaudio.com/bose-acoustimass-5-series-III-speakers
on my wife's computer are stunning even with her 30 year old amp. My newer
second hand 5.1 speakers don't come close to her stunning music
sound stage.

So while researching for five $200 speakers for the mac. (the 75watt
sub is only 5 years old) I ran across T-amps and
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/nuforce7/icon.html so I bought one
and a pair of S-1

The sound is more "tinny" than expected, but the more time I spend with
it the more I can break down the components of the track. I've spent my
hole life with a little distortion dialed in making the sound
"smoother". Its new for me to hear this kinda detail. (change is hard
plus some musicians purposely use alittle distortion to hide their
mistakes

Most of the time is spent listening to 128kb MP3 from
http://slacker.com so I tried a few CDs. They sounded even clearer too..
wow, I could get use to this new stuff despite change! This move from
highly processed audio to a single waveguide is interesting.

The S-1 case is made of heavy PVC with lots of long screws holding the
back plate on. The plate even has a softer material between the two
parts to insure a good seal. The solo driver is 3.5 inches with the
magnet about the 2.5 inches. Heavy caulk is sealing the driver to the
box. Great care was taken to make sure this box doesn't have any
harmonics. There wasn't much base from this tiny driver, so I put the
line out into the sub. Lucky the sub has a low pass filter so the sub
wouldn't take the full range of the icon's line out. Normal work is done
at 30% on the vol knob with a good song going to 50-75%. A few cds arn't
compressed as much as MP3s so I've gotten to 100% but not often.

Am I nuts to forgo a Audyssey EQed 5.1 ProLogicII system for clean super
basic system?

Toka · « **Reply #37 on:** 6 Aug 2008, 05:24 pm »

If anyone is interested I wrote reviews for both the Icon and the S-1 on the Amazon site...sort by most recent and mine will be at the top (at least, for now

).

rustydoglim · « **Reply #38 on:** 7 Aug 2008, 01:16 am »

Quote

Am I nuts to forgo a Audyssey EQed 5.1 ProLogicII system for clean super
basic system?

Definitely not

When developing the S-1, given the size and cost constrain, we have to decide what to optimize. We could have save the cost of the wave guide (it is costly to make due to the mounting, machining, etc) and go with a more traditional 2 drivers speaker design. But we will likely end up with an above average sounding speaker just like some good 2 way desktop speakers.
We think that audiophiles would want to pursue the best possible sound even at this price range, so we set out to make S-1 with the best mid and high freq. You will discover more amazing details and clarity with the $249/pair speaker as you spend more time with it. With a little extra cost, customer can complement the bass with a sub woofer. I think S-1 is one of the few (may be the only one) desktop speakers on the market that can produce the kind of audiophile quality sound stage and imaging. We also realize that women generally do not care about extra bass (actually many of them dislike the extra bass) so to women consumers, S-1 and Icon is the perfect combination

Picker · « **Reply #39 on:** 18 Aug 2008, 04:29 am »

I've just scratched the surface of your "audiophile" world (if a $500 investment counts) but reading all your words has opened a vast experience to me. A few tidbits I'm sure you already know but for google's sake I'll spell out in one place:

Put the tweeter (or sole driver) at ear level. There is quite a drop of the high freqs off center.
Foam tape provides good vibration isolation but look at other things in the room that can reach a harmonic like the door knob. (fill with heavy grease)
S-1 low freq is supprizing good by its self, but if you use a sub woofer to supplement, make sure it has a low pass filter (crossover) as the icon's line out is full range. Set my for 80Hz
Yes, the S-1+Icon are alittle better than the $400 bose, alot better than the $800 MK and $600 Speakercraft speakers. (amazing)
"Better" is a complicated word, perhaps: 1) truer in dynamic transitions. 2) lots of mid detail.
Source is KEY. There is alot of bad recordings out there and its hard to find the differences with a crummy source. Huge diminishing return on investment too. (ie: some more expensive solutions aren't as good!)

There is increasing 5.1 content too. Games and Movies mainly. I was impressed with the S-1 in most movies, even dynamic ones like 300. The loss of the center channel isn't missed at all as the sound stage is very directional. The dialog detail with the S-1 is impressive. What's missing is the true 5.1 mixed car chases and games.

The other road block I've faced trying to sell this to colleges is the lack of buzzwords. Audyssey EQed 5.1 ProLogicII, Neo, X-Fi CMSS-3D, EAX® ADVANCED HD™. How can two $125 speakers match 5 highly DSPed ones? My reply is comb filters and line doublers in video, how can one "invent" data that isn't there? Once they hear the S-1 the sales pitch gets easier.

The Icon+S-1 is a remarkable product. Lets all hope the marketing department can do as good a job as the engineering department has done.