Nuforce REFERENCE 18

beachbum · « **Reply #60 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 07:30 pm »

daipat yes i have noticed the Nuforce logo does some changes in brightness. It seems to settle down as hours add on to Ref 18. Was wondering if it had anything to do with the caps being fully charged as a indicator maybe. Was hopping Cassy could chime in on that

cat hang in there for a dark period as you noticed right out of the box very nice for sure as part of the breakin and i'm changing that term to run in things get darker for 50 or so hours IMC. Now at 140+ hrs no doubt that Ref 18 has it over Ref 9. Fast, Controlled, Powerful, A Wide Deep Sound Stage, And the Best Part A True to Life Sound Top to Bottom.

One thing i highly recommend get that standard fuse out of there and put a Hifi Tuning fuse in, a very noticeable step up in sound.

worldcat · « **Reply #61 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 11:14 pm »

Beachbum your description is spot on. PS i sent you a message.

worldcat · « **Reply #62 on:** 27 Oct 2010, 12:21 pm »

At 50hrs these amps are shinning. To me they sound like a totally different kinda amp than there previous amps. I believe they are one of the best sounding amps in the world now

. The guys at nuforce really know what reproduction of music should sound like. I do not know if all systems will get the full benefit of the sound of these amps. I do know the better speakers you have the better sound will be produced. Everything Jason has said and on the Nuforce website is spot on. The amps sound even better than they can describe!

David C · « **Reply #63 on:** 27 Oct 2010, 05:00 pm »

WC
can you give a more vivid description of the difference and also opinion of differences vs cost. I have the 9Vses and P9 and am still wondering if the 18 is "worth" the price of an upgrade. I realise this may be a bit hard since you own the ref 18 now but would appreciate some candor

thanks

worldcat · « **Reply #64 on:** 27 Oct 2010, 07:44 pm »

It is worth the upgrade with out a doubt for my system. I believe it is a bigger jump IMO than V2 to V3 upgrade. Everything we have been saying and what it says on the Nuforce website is spot on on how it sounds. If your wondering maybe you can demo one and see for yourself. On my system it took it to a whole new level.

beachbum · « **Reply #65 on:** 30 Oct 2010, 06:01 pm »

Sitting at over 170 hours now and my Ref 18s are really going through a long run in process. Its my believe run in may take some time. I think that tunnel is still some what present at around 140 hours and even though i have been fighting a head cold can hear those musical changes. Yesterday over 11 hours of vinyl bliss. Willie Nelsons Stardust is a fine lp for male voice and Willies singing style with his country sound came over very clear with front and center vividness. Back ground music piano, guitar, organ, in there space very holographic with bass thats solid but not over bearing. Led Zeppelin 2 Rl pressing the Lemon Song the bass and bass drum slam are so present clean and felt, very nice. Plants voice with such clarity is as real as i have heard from any system. Blood Sweat and Tears Child is Father to a Man the song Something going On the Sax is dead center in air live and in person with the bass line fast and every decay is there from each note with rumbling life. The rest of the groups complex interments are in there space with Al Koopers Voice fresh and clean, wow. All in all i believe that Ref 18 is the real deal and to those owners the run in process does take some time much different than past upgrades in the amount needed for superior sound.

rustydoglim · « **Reply #66 on:** 4 Nov 2010, 06:33 pm »

Quote from: bernardl on 26 Sep 2010, 02:28 pm

John,

Nuforce has now updated their official upgrade/trade-in .pdf and they confirm your understanding.

I still don't understand the logic here, but it is of course their call.

On the positive side, I have just saved 4600 US$.

Regards,
Bernard

My comment here covers two area:
1) Moving to other amps - if customers want to purchase another brand, so be it. We compete base on merit.
2) Upgrade or trade-in policy - it is priced for customers to stay within the same product line. That's why we have generous trade-in for P8 to P9, or if you stay with Ref 9 series, future upgrade cost a ridiculously low $400 for a brand new high-end amp module (don't argue about cost of parts, R&D is costly).
We plan to offer CMA capacitor board upgrade for the Ref 9V3SE. And you can bet that 2 or 3 years from now, there will be a V4 (it is getting harder and harder).

The 8.5" products are not going away. It is our equivalent of BMW 5 series whereas the 17" products are the 7 series.

When we buy back the products at 60% of the MSRP in credit for Ref 18, we have to refurbish them, and then sell them for bstock (80% MSRP). And take the risk of inventory sitting in the warehouse for long period of time.

I will look into the possibility of offering a higher trade-in credit.

David C · « **Reply #67 on:** 4 Nov 2010, 07:28 pm »

I thought I posted this earlier but dont see it
Jason
thanks for the post. i am very interested in the CMA board for the 9VSEs and look forward to the upgrade and I am a very happy owner of the amps , the P9 and the customer focus.

Stay true

George47 · « **Reply #68 on:** 4 Nov 2010, 08:36 pm »

Quote from: David C on 4 Nov 2010, 07:28 pm

I thought I posted this earlier but dont see it
Jason
thanks for the post. i am very interested in the CMA board for the 9VSEs and look forward to the upgrade and I am a very happy owner of the amps , the P9 and the customer focus.

Stay true

Make that two Brits interested with P9s in tow

worldcat · « **Reply #69 on:** 5 Nov 2010, 06:04 pm »

So Reference 20 will be M series

!

worldcat · « **Reply #70 on:** 6 Nov 2010, 07:58 pm »

These amps take sometime to break-in. Mine are sounding better and better.

beachbum · « **Reply #71 on:** 6 Nov 2010, 09:50 pm »

Quote from: worldcat on 6 Nov 2010, 07:58 pm

These amps take sometime to break-in. Mine are sounding better and better.

Yea worldcat no doubt about it a long run in is a reality I'm well over 250 hours now and changes are going on till this point and i believe that trend will continue. I find unplugging and letting the capacitors discharge is also a good idea.

Even though Ref 18 shares the V3 PCB with Ref 9 at this point the two amps have there own sound and to my ears do not resemble each other. I'm listening as the hours go by and still enjoying the music but never would have believed the two amps could be this different sounding.

gojita · « **Reply #72 on:** 6 Nov 2010, 10:05 pm »

I'd like to hear a bit more about the ref 9v3 CMA upgrade as well, especially since all of the information that I've read from the website and here on the board has made it sound like the CMA design wasn't possible in the smaller chassis of the ref 9 and hence the Ref 18s were created.

worldcat · « **Reply #73 on:** 7 Nov 2010, 03:00 pm »

The ref 18 are so good I am at 250 hours and they have opened up. These amps are in a different league than the V3s. I will say it again I believe it is a bigger upgrade than v2 to V3 by a large margin. These amps play and sound like real music they transformed my system.

bernardl · « **Reply #74 on:** 11 Nov 2010, 09:24 pm »

I have had the chance to listen to the new Ref18 + p18 at the audio show 2 weeks ago in Tokyo. Very impressive display, one of the best on show IMHO. They were paired with Piega (I believe Master one) and the sound was exciting, clean, refined and very dynamic.

The only setup that was very clearly superior was based on a pair of Focal Utopia III speakers that literally blew everything else out of the water by a large margin, but the speakers were clearly the cause (amplification was very high end too though). I even found them to top the latest Wilson Audio by quite a bit.

Cheers,
Bernard

DeadFan · « **Reply #75 on:** 12 Nov 2010, 09:20 am »

Hi Jason.

Unfortunately I upgraded from Ref 9SE to V2SE about a week before you announced the V3SE upgrade. Can I trade/upgrade my V2SE to Ref 18. If so,
How much extra to pay? That path is not listed on your website. (unless of course it would mean I would need to pay the $400 per amp to V3SE then the $4600 trade to Ref 18 = $5400)

Would appreciate your response.

Graham

daipat · « **Reply #76 on:** 12 Nov 2010, 12:20 pm »

Interested to see some photos of P18......

David C · « **Reply #77 on:** 16 Nov 2010, 05:03 pm »

Jason
any update on a CMA board upgrade for the 9VSEs?

rustydoglim · « **Reply #78 on:** 2 Dec 2010, 02:30 am »

Quote from: bernardl on 11 Nov 2010, 09:24 pm

I have had the chance to listen to the new Ref18 + p18 at the audio show 2 weeks ago in Tokyo. Very impressive display, one of the best on show IMHO. They were paired with Piega (I believe Master one) and the sound was exciting, clean, refined and very dynamic.

The only setup that was very clearly superior was based on a pair of Focal Utopia III speakers that literally blew everything else out of the water by a large margin, but the speakers were clearly the cause (amplification was very high end too though). I even found them to top the latest Wilson Audio by quite a bit.

Cheers,
Bernard

Must be Ref 18 and P-9. P-18 is not out yet, show at CES 2011.
Jason

rustydoglim · « **Reply #79 on:** 2 Dec 2010, 02:33 am »

Quote from: David C on 16 Nov 2010, 05:03 pm

Jason
any update on a CMA board upgrade for the 9VSEs?

Yes, we are working on this.
I want to emphasize again that Ref 18 is not replacing Ref 9 series. Both series are going to continue on the same path. Think of them as the BMW 7 and 5 series

The Icon* are the 3 series