[drobbins]

Hi there -- I've been doing hi-fi for a while and am looking at the nuprime product range and trying to figure out what products might work well for my situation.

Here's my current audio setup:

Speakers: Totem Arros (I also have Martin Logan Vistas but greatly prefer the Arros which have an open rather than "beamy" sound, will be selling the Vistas)
DAC: NAD M53, Logitech Transporter, Denafrips Ares II -- I am currently using the Logitech Transporter just because I think it's neat and I can set its volume to not provide too much gain to my amp (unlike the denafrips). And it has lowest jitter/most detail when compared to coax out to NAD M53.
AMP (need help here): A tiny little GraceDigiital 100W bluetooth amp - https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Digital-GDI-BTAR513-Integrated-Amplifier/dp/B00PLCMZ8W -- in a sense, totally inappropriate for this system except it happily drives my Martin Logans and Arros with no problem and sounds good. Class D can punch well above its weight!

I listen at low to moderate volume levels. Room is pretty "live" -- I've found that these arros work really well -- they don't excite the room too much but fill it with good music either for critical listening or to fill our "open" layout house with nice music that can be heard in multiple rooms. So I'm looking to improve the system with an integrated or amp/preamp -- emphasizing reference-quality detail and musicality at reasonable volume levels, while complementing sonic qualities of the arros (soundstage, detail, musical/deep bass to compensate for these little guys). Maybe with some help from GIK acoustics, I can get higher volumes in the room at some point. But this isn't absolutely needed. Future speaker upgrade may be Totem Bison Towers if I demo them and find they appeal to me more than these Arros.

I am looking to get an integrated or a preamp/amp combo that will elevate my system. Budget is $3K or so, maybe I could stretch a bit higher. I am intrigued by the IA-9x because tube harmonics are great (have previously owned a Music Reference RM-9 Mk 2) but such a pain to own. Since my budget can go a bit higher, I am wondering if AMG or even stretching to EVO STA (amp only, use transporter volume control) could be best. The totems seem to do get better and better with better amps. But then -- would I be paying for too much power? Quality per watt is more important than number of watts, but maybe with nuprime you get both together?

So -- IA-9x -- or something different? Let me know what you think.

[rustydoglim]

No question about it, I recommend IA-9X with DAC-9X.
This comb can out perform most high-end system costing much more.
Why?  DAC-9X has received a lot of praises from customers.
IA-9X is literally the combination of STA-9X and PRA-9X.  Furthermore, IA-9X is the only amp that sounded like two different amps, with different sound characteristic.

If you tell me you have a big room and play loud, then I would recommend 2 X STA-9X (bridged into mono, but you can start with just one stereo unit) with DAC-9X.

https://nuprimeaudio.com/nuprime-9x-series-review-hifi-nl/

[drobbins]

No question about it, I recommend IA-9X with DAC-9X.
This comb can out perform most high-end system costing much more.
Why?  DAC-9X has received a lot of praises from customers.
IA-9X is literally the combination of STA-9X and PRA-9X.  Furthermore, IA-9X is the only amp that sounded like two different amps, with different sound characteristic.

If you tell me you have a big room and play loud, then I would recommend 2 X STA-9X (bridged into mono, but you can start with just one stereo unit) with DAC-9X.

https://nuprimeaudio.com/nuprime-9x-series-review-hifi-nl/

Rustydoglim, thanks for weighing in on this, I was hoping you would

Since I have a couple of DACs already, potentially I could just put these funds towards one integrated amp and no DAC. I can even potentially just do a regular amp and have the transporter feed it directly via analog since it has a volume control.

Does that change your recommendation, or would there be another interesting way to use $3K if it was purely focused on the amp? I can have the denafrips or the transporter feed the IA-9X. I know those ESS chips are awesome as I have heard earlier versions and it looks like you have a very good DAC design to complement it and some custom engineering related to the SRC chip.

I am just trying to coax another option out of you that might even be better... but maybe what you already recommended is best. I test drove a new Honda Civic SI (manual) yesterday and it was far more enjoyable to drive than a manual Porsche Cayman. So the $30K car beat the $100K car, and it isn't always about price. But wanted to pick your brain a bit more on this.

I could always just start with the IA-9x and enjoy saving some money too?

[drobbins]

rustydoglim, it looks like my budget would allow an AMG PRA + AMG STA, using an existing DAC. What would be the tradeoffs here compared to an IA-9X?

I can see that the AMG PRA has an ability to tune bass response, whereas IA-9X has the harmonics adjustment. How do they compare in other areas?

[rustydoglim]

That's a hard decision.   Even though AMG PRA and AMG STA are better than IA-9X (generally that's true for different series) but IA-9X by itself is quite special.  I think your decision should ultimately come down to your music preference.
Please read the listening impression of AMG STA to make sure.
If you can spare the $$$ and go for AMG PRA + 2 x AMG ONE, then this set will clearly outperform IA-9X or PRA-9X+STA-9X.

I think your conservative plan of just starting with IA-9X is a good choice. I am sure at a later time, next year may be, you would start to upgrade other components with Nuprime products. 

[rustydoglim]

I can see that the AMG PRA has an ability to tune bass response, whereas IA-9X has the harmonics adjustment. How do they compare in other areas?

In most cases you don't need to tune the bass response, unless your bookshelf speaker needs it. The harmonics adjustment allows you to fine tune for the music or time of day (perhaps warmer vocal at night)

[drobbins]

That's a hard decision.   Even though AMG PRA and AMG STA are better than IA-9X (generally that's true for different series) but IA-9X by itself is quite special.  I think your decision should ultimately come down to your music preference.
Please read the listening impression of AMG STA to make sure.
If you can spare the $$$ and go for AMG PRA + 2 x AMG ONE, then this set will clearly outperform IA-9X or PRA-9X+STA-9X.

I think your conservative plan of just starting with IA-9X is a good choice. I am sure at a later time, next year may be, you would start to upgrade other components with Nuprime products. 

This is really helpful. I like to know my options/context, which helps me have more appreciation of your original suggestion. I will go ahead an order the IA-9X from Audio Advisor. Let's see what it can do.

[drobbins]

The IA-9X arrived about 3 days ago -- Audio Advisor had silver on back order so I had to wait a bit.

I have been listening, and adjusting my gear extensively and seeing what this thing can do.

I think it's safe to say at this point that I am very happy with it. I'll have to do another post on all the gear I have swapped in and out.

The most surprising thing is that since this amp can handle the Martin Logan Vistas so well, I have these set up and delivering very clean sound in my room, and I am preferring this setup to my Totem Arros. ML Vistas go down to 1.2 ohms at 20kHz. So the little amp seems to be performing with demanding loads.

I also bi-wired the Vistas which is allowing enough current to get to the speakers and opened up the bass more and further enhanced performance.

I am still playing with enabling/disabling the harmonics switch. When my system was in "transition" (i.e. not ideal match of components or speaker placement) I was greatly preferring the harmonics. Now that I have things dialed in, I think I am preferring it off more. It is certainly valuable to essentially have two amplifier characteristics in a single amplifier. The Martin Logans can be "dialed in" to an extreme -- and this is both the benefit and pain point of these speakers as it can be frustrating, and if not done well can deliver bad results. If I was less successful at doing this, I might rely more on the harmonics circuit to provide a warmer sound. I am not finding the ODC circuit to be over-analytical and it can certainly deliver delicacy and warmth though the Vistas, which can be a very unforgiving speaker.

[rustydoglim]

Looking forward to more posts from you, show us some photos for Facebook post 

[drobbins]

Sorry I got distracted by figuring out issues with my Martin Logans. I can make them sound impressive, and the amp handles them well, but I always come back to my Totems.

I'll try to get some good pics ready soon.