[invstbiker]

#
Introduction:
Reference Audio Mods presents HIGH PERFORMANCE modifications to the innovative NuForce Ref 9 Monoblock Amplifiers. The individual selected components parts used here in the modifications described below are tried and true CUTTING EDGE "State of the Art" type of parts that outperform everything else we have tried on the current market to get the best sound possible. We literally stay on top of the most cutting edge technologies and topologies to keep advancing to acheive best sound possible within your budgets. The results from our $995/pr modification package will bring a drastic improvment to your music. Your Music will sound much more cleaner, clearer, vivid and more open, with much more resolving detail and refinemnet to instruments and voices. Dynamics are now much more refined with a much greater sense of effortlessness and much greater sense of control. Definitely a major step up toward the real live thing!

Modification Package Descriptions $995/pr Installed/Shipped

# Replace Main rectifier diode bridges with the RAM Custom Handmade Exotic High Voltage Diode bridge. This reduces a vast amount of noise coming from the stock diodes and brings a considerable amount of improvement of imaging, clarity and resolution and dynamics.
# Replace main reservior capacitor bank circuit with Multiple Jensen 4-pole Electrolytic and hardwire into circuit using Audio Consulting Silver Wire. We are the only modification service using the Jensen 4-pole caps. These capacitor are exotic in the capacitor world due to their unique design and they are very expensive capacitors! These capacitors are superior to any other cap on the market for power supply usuage as they block noise from the power supply through their built in LC circuit and are fast reacting ad offer a complete improvement of resolution and dynamics for the amplifier.
# Replace critical voltage decoupling capaciotrs with the Ultra low Impedance Rubycon ZA series caps. These are incredibly faster and much higher performing than the stock smd type caps. This gives the critical amplification circuit chips cleaner and faster power to performance to higher levels.
# Replace stock speaker output cap to Jensen Aluminium Foil Paper In Oil cap to improve texture and neutrality.

[satfrat]

Do you actually expect NuForce to welcome someone else messing with their design or is your real intention to be a shrill for Reference Audio Mods at the expense of NuForce? Real bad form IHMO for someone with only 5 posts invstbiker.


Robin

[toocool4]

I don’t see what the big deal is with the mod’s, as long as they works yes your warrantee will be void.

After all AMG started to modify Mercedes Benz and Mercedes liked what they did so much they bought a big part of AMG.

At the end of the day it makes no difference to NuForce as you’ve still got to buy a NuForce before you can have it modified. Why should NuForce care what you do to the amps once you’ve paid for it?

Plenty of companies in the UK modify other manufactures products to make them better and there is a demand for it.

Good luck to you invstbiker.

Chris

[invstbiker]

Do you actually expect NuForce to welcome someone else messing with their design or is your real intention to be a shrill for Reference Audio Mods at the expense of NuForce? Real bad form IHMO for someone with only 5 posts invstbiker.


Robin

[invstbiker]

And if a modding company would come out with what they say would improve the amps, why wouldn't the company itself start with the best components to begin with, If they did there would be no modding companies.

[musicman06]

Simple answer is cost. The manufacturers are keeping their costs to a minimum to save money. In turn they can shave a few dollars off the MSRP. If the diehards want to pay extra for the best parts they still can via a mod. Most won't bother.

Personally I don't like spending much to supe up the performance of some processor that will be obsolete before it's earned its keep. I'd rather spend the extra on separate components that can be sold off or added on at will. Of course amps can be kept longer, but I'm not sure you'd gain a grand worth of performance tweaking an amp. Remember we're talking diminishing returns at this point. If you have spare cash and want to try it though I say go ahead.

[rustydoglim]

When we started out in 2005, we didn't actively warn any customers about mods and even supported it. Later we discovered that it is difficult to control the quality of the mod and some mods stopped the amp from working and we have to help fix it (free of charge at that time).
So now we stated that we will not authorize, examine or be consulted for any modifications and such modifications will void warranty.

There are more than cost issue with electronic parts. Availability is another issue. For example, we tried another brand of well known audiophile grade capacitor (the cap that we used are also audiophile grade) a few years back and it didn't sound good. We also tried other more expensive op amp and those don't sound good either. Some parts have different performance issue that cause problem too.  Anyway, I won't go into specific and as far as we are concerned, the modification case is closed. 

Once a design is stable, we don't spend time tweaking it over and over. Therefore there has been not change in V2 amp for more than a year.  What we do on R&D is not to tweak existing design (that's not R&D  ). We work on the next generation design.  It is possible to modify existing design to incrementally improve the sound so I am not saying that all modifications will not work. If you are patient, for the price that you pay for the mod, you could pay for the next generation upgrade, but that could take time. Going from V2 to V3 will take more than 2 years. We don't expect to release V3 until after mid 2009, perhaps even longer.

[hotbird]

Going from V2 to V3 will take more than 2 years. We don't expect to release V3 until after mid 2009, perhaps even longer.

Good to know about your future plans, but can you accomodate also plans for a newer pre-amp, a fully-balanced version of the P9, that was supposed to be the P10 and already in the works before something else came by...
It will be good if you can keep the preamp pedigree in pace with the Nuforce amps, otherwise owners will be looking for other brand pre-amps to match your V2/V3s... and I'm sure you would not want that to happen 

[invstbiker]

Gonna stay with my stock V9SE's as the price difference doesn't justify modding AND who knows what it's gonna sound like after the fact...I like 'em just the way they are-STOCK. I now believe the modding co's have very good marketing departments. BEST

[AmpDesigner333]

When we started out in 2005, we didn't actively warn any customers about mods and even supported it. Later we discovered that it is difficult to control the quality of the mod and some mods stopped the amp from working and we have to help fix it (free of charge at that time).
So now we stated that we will not authorize, examine or be consulted for any modifications and such modifications will void warranty.

There are more than cost issue with electronic parts. Availability is another issue. For example, we tried another brand of well known audiophile grade capacitor (the cap that we used are also audiophile grade) a few years back and it didn't sound good. We also tried other more expensive op amp and those don't sound good either. Some parts have different performance issue that cause problem too.  Anyway, I won't go into specific and as far as we are concerned, the modification case is closed. 

Once a design is stable, we don't spend time tweaking it over and over. Therefore there has been not change in V2 amp for more than a year.  What we do on R&D is not to tweak existing design (that's not R&D  ). We work on the next generation design.  It is possible to modify existing design to incrementally improve the sound so I am not saying that all modifications will not work. If you are patient, for the price that you pay for the mod, you could pay for the next generation upgrade, but that could take time. Going from V2 to V3 will take more than 2 years. We don't expect to release V3 until after mid 2009, perhaps even longer.

Jason,

Recently, we were contacted by a company asking if we would be willing to mention them on our web site as an "authorized modification resource"!  We were outraged by this!  They want to mess with something they don't fully understand, and we see them as parasites.

Your message above is so true (put very well).  We make digital amps (a.k.a. Class-D, DAC4800A and Cherry) too, and know how critical every part can be.  Not only that, the assembly process is complicated, and taking something like a digital amp apart and putting it back together is hard enough for the original manufacturer.  We now void the warrantee if the unit has been opened.

I'd also like to mention that I've always heard good things about your amps.  We are essentially competitors, but as far as all the digital amps on the market, I'm sure you realize how many products out there have worked against our mission in general, even ones from big names.  I always appreciate seeing a product that is a credit to digital amps instead of yet another let-down.  Thanks for reading this, and I wish you well.

Warm Regards,
Tommy / DAC

[jerryc]

I consider myself as a new consumer in the audio industry and I really enjoy reading ways of improving my sound system. And I certainly welcome information posted (of course, I would only make the modification provided such modification service is commercially available and is endorsed by Nuforce).

I guess the idea of modifying amplifiers may be upseting to some, but since I like personalise some of the things so I guess it's not too bad (at least to me) to make some modification (Jason, just for the record, I have kept my Nuforce V2 SE amp the way I bought it). So, just a suggestion, why not share the ways of improving the quality of the amp with Nuforce. Perhaps consider this as a way to improve V2 while we eagerly waiting for V3?

[rustydoglim]

If you want to mod the amp, please contact support first. We are not that inflexible and could authorize custom mod if we agree with the change.  We have a few customer that put in custom wiring, shielding material etc, that's fine.

I'd also like to mention that I've always heard good things about your amps.  We are essentially competitors, but as far as all the digital amps on the market, I'm sure you realize how many products out there have worked against our mission in general, even ones from big names.  I always appreciate seeing a product that is a credit to digital amps instead of yet another let-down.  Thanks for reading this, and I wish you well.

Warm Regards,
Tommy / DAC

Thanks for reading our forum. Agree with your points, there are many interactions between parts (another so called better sounding part might not have the same spec) and the tendency to "break" it is very high

I think the objective of an amp should be as close to perfectly reproducing the source as possible. So for our next generation design, we won't try to make it "sweet" or any of the subjective descriptions. But that's not saying that all audio system should sound alike. A good example is the bedroom audio system. A lot of people prefer mellow and soft sound.  Since an amp's job is to amplify (isn't that obvious) sound, it shouldn't try to shape it at the same time.  That's why we have 100 times more varieties in speakers than amps.