I’ve wanted to take a closer look at NuForce’s amplifiers for a while now as my fellow journalists, mostly from magazines, have been giving them rave reviews left and right. I was however utterly disappointed by their performance, these amplifiers don’t sound any better than the $200 Philips A/V receiver I use for background music in my lab, and that’s featuring a run of the mill class-AB amplifier in the form of a potted STK module. The question comes to mind whether these journalists perhaps listened to fine-tuned ‘evaluation samples’ or whether they evaluated production samples, much like the ones I’ve evaluated here? Either way these amplifiers are one of the biggest disappointments I’ve come across in years, they do not, repeat: do not live up to any of the claims or rave reviews, they’re mediocre performers at best.

What’s more of a concern is the excessive amount of RF these amplifiers generate which seriously interferes with radio and TV reception and which is inexcusable. Every manufacturer is by law required to meet FCC requirements in the US and CE requirements in Europe and I simply refuse to believe that the amplifiers I have here would pass these, under any condition. Furthermore, the fact that their design includes a direct copy of the known-bad standard HIP4080 MOSFET driver application circuit (including its infamous lack of EMI control), their incorrect use of feedback, the excessive RF output and abysmal performance goes to show that they still have a lot to learn about designing and building class-D amplifiers.

Sander Sassen.

Manufacturer: NuForce
Model: Reference 8 class-D amplifier
Price: $799
Website: http://www.nuforce.com