$249 baby amplifier wows audiophiles

The Icon comes in four colors.

(Credit: NuForce)

I heard the NuForce Icon (briefly) at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last year, and the little bugger was astounding. The anodized aluminum chassis is available in four snazzy colors. It feels well made.

Stereophile's Wes Phillips reviewed it for real. He even had the nerve to hook up the teeny NuForce Icon to a pair of Definitive Technology Mythos STS SuperTower speakers, and Phillips was bowled over by the sound! The sheer incongruity of the match-up was disarming, but in the end Phillips heard the limitations of the NuForce Icon. Used as intended driving small speakers, it's tough to beat for its size and price.

It has USB, 3.5mm, and stereo RCA inputs; and headphone and speaker-level outputs. It's a 12-watt-per-channel desktop amp, so NuForce isn't touting the Icon as a giant killer, just that it'll sound sweet used in the context of a desktop audio system. Did I mention it's little, just 1 by 4.5 by 6 inches, and weighs one pound?

The S-1 speaker.

(Credit: NuForce)

NuForce also offers a matching speaker, the S-1, for $249 a pair. There's also a subwoofer, the W-1, that goes for, you guessed it, $249.

The W-1 subwoofer

(Credit: NuForce)

[coprock]

Very cool. I have been running a Super T-amp as a desktop computer system for a few years now with ADS L300s and an M&K 8" sub and have been enjoying fantastic sound only limited by the output of the simgatel chip on my computer. Throw in extra inputs and a DAC... I will seriously consider this at $224 on Amazon.

[alegr]

I bet if absolutely the same amp were selling for some $70, Steve would not get that excited. I wonder what's the real BOM for that (excluding the fancy case).

Can you suggest a "best sound for the money" desktop/bedroom system? If we start with the Icon amplifier, which is a good pair of speakers to go with it? The S1 from the same company, the Paradigm Atom v.5 (as mentioned in Stereophile), or Audioengine 2 (reviewed by you a few months earlier)? Do we need a subwoofer? Appreciate your help or whoever wants to recommend a good combination.

[one_flat_monkey]

whether you "need" a subwoofer is totally a matter of personal taste. me, i don't think bass is such a big deal. i've got a Monsoon mh 500 speaker system for my computer, and it has a small subwoofer, but i don't crank it up. it's on carpet, which absorbs a lot. here's a link to a review. i don't know whether these are still available, but they are amazing for the price. they are a powered system, so you don't need a separate amp.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/mh500/

[borispmchan]

I've heard complaints on the S1 speakers, though. It's absolutely bass light and sometimes harsh sounding. Some suggests matching the Icon with Scandyna Minipod, while I would like to give Klipsch RSX 3/ Synergy Sub-10 a try.

[coprock]

Audioengine speakers require no amp, however would make fine bedroom system.

[textorama]

First I was a bit baffled looking at the name nuforce, because in my region where I live (south of Germany) there is a manufacture of loudspeakers called Nubert. The different speakers were named Nu-Vero, Nu-Box and so on. The Stuff is sold directly without distributor so the they are quite affordable. The qualitiy is much more worth than you actualy pay for. Great sounding Speakers.

[xuxusung]

I bought it $200 during an online promotion. Connected to Pinnacle bookshelf speakers, they are very nice. I also tried Grado SR325s on the headphone jack and it wasn't bad, not ideal (due to impedance) but listenable. They probably wouldn't do so well connected to my Maggies, tho