Please read the reviews from customers who bought the NuForce Icon amp.
1) The Nuforce Icon AMP is perfect for powering my Denon SCCX101 bookshelf speakers. Sounds great, looks great, is sturdily constructed and easy to use. Just hook it up, turn it on (no power-on thump, no hiss, no significant operating noise), and it plays full and detailed sounding music that makes for highly addictive listening. Plenty of power for reasonable volume long-term listening levels. Really makes me tap my feet and enjoy the music! I really like the way it preserves nice detail and rhythm at lower volumes. Never makes my ears fatigued. I appreciate the simple design and the hassle-free way that this amp interfaces with a wide variety of sources- great little desktop amp- nothing more, nothing less. Great price/performance ratio. Oh yea- also- Nuforce customer service is fantastic with even the most difficult customers : )
2) I bought this amplifier to work with a squeezebox in my kitchen and it does a brilliant job. Using it in the kitchen with a pair of small loudspeakers has it limitations, but it has a sufficient amount of power and the sound is crispy and clear.
The most interesting part here is the size, it is approx. the same size as the squeezebox duet receiver, and being a class-D amplifier is doesn't get very hot.
This all in all makes it perfect for small jobs like the study, the kitchen ect.
3) After years of living with my PC speakers(Klipsch ProMedia 2.1) and was looking for a replacement. They had served me well, but I missed the accuracy I had with my home system. I had seen the NuForce amp, but dismissed it. Given it's size, I did not believe it could produce what I was looking for. Later on I read some reviews and they raved about it. More looking, more reviews, the same. So I started thinking maybe this could be what I was looking for. I had never owned PSB speakers, but they had a lot of good reviews. The Image B4 was the right size for my desktop, it's the smallest in the line. I purchased both and I couldn't be happier with my Nuforce amp and my PSB Image B4's. The sound is extremely accurate and a clean. It's a world away from what I had.
After a few weeks I added HRT Music Streamer II. I do think it improved the sound, but in all honesty the difference has been a bit hard for me to discern. I think part of the problem is that it sounded so darn good without it and to a/b test was not really easy. In the future I'll probably add the PSB SubSeries 1 to complete things. I know this is not the cheapest way to go, but I can honestly say I can't think of ever desiring to upgrade this.
Given the amount of time I spend at my computer I really wanted a system I could enjoy. I do now!
Final thoughts, the PSB Image B4 speakers sensitivity is 87db and they are 4 Ohms. Given this, the NuForce still drives them effortlessly. The NuForce is small, about the size of 3 CD cases. Bottom line, if you are looking for great sound in a small package, you would be wise to consider the NuForce.
