A couple of weeks ago Joel popped over excited to let me try out the new little Nu Force STA 100, a little or should I say a tiny little amp putting out 160 watts into 4 ohms and 80 into 8 ohms per channel and the equally Impressive DAC 80.
When I say this amplifier is small you have no idea just how small, I will post a couple of pictures at the end to show the meaning of my heading "David and Goliath"
The following is my observation
Yesterday Joel called me to say that he needed the STA's back, I can tell you I was reluctant to remove them because I was enjoying them so much. To put them through their paces I used my reference tracks spanning orchestral, classical solo (particularly piano, organ, and violin), jazz, pop, and rock. The STA were already mostly run in so I could get straight into serious listening. The amp cold out of the box was more detailed than they had any right to be and as they warmed up everything improved including the already good sound stage, everything became more relaxed, liquid, and airy.
The STA are nimble performers ? aside from the excellent bass performance, the high frequencies are supple and delicate. Complex musical passages are rendered with a sense of effortless ease. Listening with anything but full attention proved a difficult task, although for a few hours when Joel first dropped them of we were having a good chat and every now and then I would break the conversation with astonishment at how good the little STA's sounded playing in the background on my SDA Super Monitors. This really highlighted how musical genres are rewarded equally with sublime transparency and appropriate scale. One track I fell in love with was a cover of song of Crowded House being fed from Joel's lap top, bass and the female vocal was reproduced with such delicacy I just had to play the track over and over!
These amps are certainly in the entry level of components as far as price goes, but they provide a sonic picture virtually without flaw across the musical spectrum. The STA's for this entire session were installed in my AR REF system built around tube amplification, the fact that tubes were not really missed in the least during the review period speaks volumes about the vision of Nu Force.
This little baby may very well be a breakthrough in Class D amplifier design, their simplicity makes them plug ?n? play, Just connect your Lap Top and the equally good Nu Force DAC 80 which by the way also doubles up as a pre-amp and you have a system that will be almost impossible to beat at a total cost of around R25K. The build quality of the STA is excellent when factoring in the cost, and the footprint of the amp is tiny, which means easy installation and placement.
My time spent with the STA 100 and DAC80 was nothing less than enjoyable with long, satisfying listening sessions. They have the ability to drive virtually any pair of speaker without a hint of strain, and with a clarity and precision most often only seen at 3 or 4 times this price point. This is where the reference to David and Goliath comes in ? My Reference System is the highly regarded Audio Research REF 3 Pre and REF 210 Power amps that have been fully upgraded to the KT120 version delivering 260 Valve watts per channel, the total replacement cost would be in the region of R400K! To think that the little Nu Force kit comes in at 1/16 of that price makes the mind boggle. They kept me in musical Heaven for a couple of weeks and thats no easy feat, are they as good as the AR's - well not quite, but for the price, they amazed me.
All I can say is: I highly recommended these little babies for any one wanting to get into Hi End on a budget.
Thanks for reading.
Stu
Hide and seek ;D
Hitching a ride, boy is this amp small
From the top
STA 100 and DAC 80
When I say this amplifier is small you have no idea just how small, I will post a couple of pictures at the end to show the meaning of my heading "David and Goliath"
The following is my observation
Yesterday Joel called me to say that he needed the STA's back, I can tell you I was reluctant to remove them because I was enjoying them so much. To put them through their paces I used my reference tracks spanning orchestral, classical solo (particularly piano, organ, and violin), jazz, pop, and rock. The STA were already mostly run in so I could get straight into serious listening. The amp cold out of the box was more detailed than they had any right to be and as they warmed up everything improved including the already good sound stage, everything became more relaxed, liquid, and airy.
The STA are nimble performers ? aside from the excellent bass performance, the high frequencies are supple and delicate. Complex musical passages are rendered with a sense of effortless ease. Listening with anything but full attention proved a difficult task, although for a few hours when Joel first dropped them of we were having a good chat and every now and then I would break the conversation with astonishment at how good the little STA's sounded playing in the background on my SDA Super Monitors. This really highlighted how musical genres are rewarded equally with sublime transparency and appropriate scale. One track I fell in love with was a cover of song of Crowded House being fed from Joel's lap top, bass and the female vocal was reproduced with such delicacy I just had to play the track over and over!
These amps are certainly in the entry level of components as far as price goes, but they provide a sonic picture virtually without flaw across the musical spectrum. The STA's for this entire session were installed in my AR REF system built around tube amplification, the fact that tubes were not really missed in the least during the review period speaks volumes about the vision of Nu Force.
This little baby may very well be a breakthrough in Class D amplifier design, their simplicity makes them plug ?n? play, Just connect your Lap Top and the equally good Nu Force DAC 80 which by the way also doubles up as a pre-amp and you have a system that will be almost impossible to beat at a total cost of around R25K. The build quality of the STA is excellent when factoring in the cost, and the footprint of the amp is tiny, which means easy installation and placement.
My time spent with the STA 100 and DAC80 was nothing less than enjoyable with long, satisfying listening sessions. They have the ability to drive virtually any pair of speaker without a hint of strain, and with a clarity and precision most often only seen at 3 or 4 times this price point. This is where the reference to David and Goliath comes in ? My Reference System is the highly regarded Audio Research REF 3 Pre and REF 210 Power amps that have been fully upgraded to the KT120 version delivering 260 Valve watts per channel, the total replacement cost would be in the region of R400K! To think that the little Nu Force kit comes in at 1/16 of that price makes the mind boggle. They kept me in musical Heaven for a couple of weeks and thats no easy feat, are they as good as the AR's - well not quite, but for the price, they amazed me.
All I can say is: I highly recommended these little babies for any one wanting to get into Hi End on a budget.
Thanks for reading.
Stu
Hide and seek ;D
Hitching a ride, boy is this amp small
From the top
STA 100 and DAC 80
