Nubert nuConnect ampX Streaming Amp Review

[Deleted member 2348]

However, you miscalculated the difference in volume: -14 - (-25) = 11.

Ooops …

 

[MZKM]

Here is the thing and there is no way of getting around it: for the same money and features you could have a far better engineered audio product.

<$800 USD for a streaming integrated amp with subwoofer out, 5-band EQ (or auto room correction), loudness adjustment (dynamic EQ), app control, multi-room capability, etc.?

No excusing false/misleading specs or dismissing measurements, but I personally believe (roughly) a -60dB THD and -70dB S/N is good enough for pretty much all musical content and most all listening rooms. This amp almost gets there at some wattage levels (not enough to my liking), and I would dismiss this product if it was just a power amp, but I am currently unaware of anything except AVRs which match this functionality for the price.

But I have no trouble believing this gets good reviews, as I don’t believe the distortion/noise is so high that it would hit you in the face.

 

[Xulonn]

Let me follow the logic of the opinions expressed by Nubert supporters...

• Amir at ASR, over several years, has developed a suite of tests that are useful to compare audio electronics.
• Suggestions and discussions with participants at this open forum have resulted in tweaking of the suite, but it has otherwise survived as valid and is accepted by a very large number of forum members as well as many technical representatives of the audio industry.
• Along comes another amplifier from a small player in the global industry, and that product does not perform well using the standards by which hundreds of other components have measured and compared.
• However, that only proves that the widely used and accepted suite of tests is wrong, and because the amplifier performs well in some special little corner of the audio testing universe, everyone else is wrong, and Nubert is right.

 

[amirm]

The way I read it, they do not reject measurements per se but question the relevance of Amir's. They say e.g. that as a consequence of the technology used the frequency response becomes linear once connected to a complex load. Now that Amir has a complex load for testing, if he still has the ampX, he could test this claim.

I do indeed. I ran the test with speaker simulator last night:

The speaker model has its impedance shooting way up in high frequencies so it gives rise to the output there as they state. Problem is, it also impacts the rest of the response and actually makes the low frequency peaking worse. A good amplifier should have little to no dependency to load. Otherwise the sound you get is a crapshoot because you can't predict what the amp will do with your speaker. And we can't possibly test the amp with every speaker out there.

Here is Behringer A800 class D amp that I tested the same way:

As you see, there is essentially no impact on the Behringer. And that amp despite having far more power than ampX, retails for just US $300.

Problem is their amplifier architecture, using PWM. It is essentially a power DAC so requires heavy truncation of out of band signals right above audio band and that filter naturally interacts with speaker load. Traditional class D amps use switching frequencies in hundreds of kilohertz and don't have this kind of sensitivity.

PWM is one of those things that sounds good on paper but in practice, is a bad idea. Bruno explains it in this write up: https://www.audioholics.com/audio-amplifier/the-truth-about-digital-class-d-amplifiers

Admittedly he builds class D amps so is biased about these PWM/Power DAC/"Digital Amps" but the proof is in the pudding and his amps measure exceptionally well. And sound great as well.

 

[DSPGenelec]

@Xuloon, in respect of the Nubert supporters:

[.../] Come here to have fun, be ready to be teased and not take online life too seriously. [\...]

Obviously, that's what is missing at the other, Nubert's, side. However, some of them [fanboys included] looking now more serious on what has been "revealed". Some even support the measurements published [those having a bit of expertise]. The majority still is doubting and arguing that the device just "sounds perfect... so can it be wrong?" I would trough away a device which "sounds :] Again, since the Nubert forum is a customers one, in which people usually exchanging nothing else but how great their purchased products are [ok, some little "I want this and that, had this, would this be better compared to", even sometimes specs of speakers and devices etc. not mentioning the instant bashing against people coming up with non-Nubert products]. Xuloon, they are fighting for it, please forgive them! Isn't your car, horse, pool, kitchen or dress the best? Most of Nubert's customers are simply happy to listen to the stuff [btw, the passive section I do consider good]!

Interesting would be as to whether or not Nubert staff shows up with real figures and comparable measurements.

 

[tkr]

Interesting would be as to whether or not Nubert staff shows up with real figures and comparable measurements.

While technically monday and half of tuesday are working days, many employees in Germany have already started their holidays on friday, with a large number of them coming back the day after new year's day or extending it to January 6th next year. This is certainly true for our company, where most colleagues take advantage of the bank holidays being very employee friendly this year. Bottom line, if it takes a little for another reply from Nubert, it might be due to everybody spending time with their loved ones (and the rest of the family and relatives, too ).

 

[Xulonn]

@Xuloon, in respect of the Nubert supporters:

That would be @Xulonn - I am not a "loon" - at least I don't think I am...

The snark was strong in my post! Did you not detect it?

I have owned components based on many different architectures - from monaural tube gear as my first amplifier in 1958, through Class AB and Class T after solid state components came to the market. I am sure many of them would fare worse than the Nubert gear if tested today, but I enjoyed them all - I simply liked how my systems sounded. I didn't claim that they were accurate or SOTA, or scurry about searching for specification or measurement justification for my personal taste at the time. All the Nuberters have to do is say "I don't care how it measures or how accurate to the source it is, I just like my system" than there would be no problems. But egos, including mine, can be overly sensitive, and over the years, even I have reacted poorly when my own personal sacred oxen have been gored.

Hopefully, as with Schitt and other audio manufacturers, after the indignation subsides, it will sort out, and Nubert will apply good standard engineering practices to adjust to the new paradigm of good measuring AND good sounding audio electronics components.

 

[DSPGenelec]

That would be @Xulonn - I am not a "loon" - at least I don't think I am...

please aplogize the typo... just realized [thanks to aunt google] what a "loon" is and nope, wasn't my intention.. just take it for grant.

The snark was strong in my post! Did you not detect it?

I did hence the way I expressed consent. And yes, similarely to yours, the stuff I have/had I do/did consider not necessarely best but would somehow also argue for it [ehy, I did buy] until someone proofs, this is not that good as I thought and makes it real [here not by numbers but auditable].

 

[Xulonn]

please aplogize the typo... just realized [thanks to aunt google] what a "loon" is and nope, wasn't my intention.. just take it for granted.

No offense taken - I thought it was rather funny.

I did hence the way I expressed consent. And yes, similarly to yours, the stuff I have/had I do/did consider not necessarily best but would somehow also argue for it [ehy, I did buy] until someone proofs, this is not that good as I thought and makes it real [here not by numbers but audible].

Your handle tells me that you are a Genelec + DSP fan, and that tells me that you currently value sonic accuracy as oppposed to "colored" sound.

 

[tomtoo]

The AmpX meassures also with the complex load not realy well. It's ca. 700€ the A800 is 143€. Ok, the AmpX has a lot of fancy things that you maybe need or not. But for 550€ you can buy a lot of fancy thinks and with the A800 you have more than double power.

 

[DSPGenelec]

Bottom line, if it takes a little for another reply from Nubert, it might be due to everybody spending time with their loved ones (and the rest of the family and relatives, too ).

surprisingly they did - can't tell ya what's in detail, Nubert's community however rocks... look yourself.

 

[tkr]

surprisingly they did - can't tell ya what's in detail, Nubert's community however rocks... look yourself.

Happy new year to everybody.

When I first learned about Emotiva looking for a AV-Pre-Processor some years ago it seemed quite similar to Nubert as a company (mail order only, with the exception of two Nubert run stores) and their own equally active customer forum.

You are propably referring to this https://www.nubert-forum.de/nuforum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=44128&start=650#p1029109 post of Mr. Markus Pedal. He addresses a mixture of points, among them to use the gain setting if the source outputs only a small signal. Most arguments I cannot really judge by myself. Let's see if there will be a follow up by them.

 

[50°F=Hellfire]

An internal pic of this device from here:

Now I don't read German, but the reviewer appears to have given a 4.5/5 for sound. Goes to show how worthless subjective reviews are.

I could translate it if you guys want me to.

 

[Sound86]

Oh gosh, I was just looking for compact alternatives to the Yamaha WXA-50 and found a comparison on areadvd (german hifi and avr magazine) and even though I know areadvd is your run of the mill voodoo hifi people I actually thought for about an hour the Ampx could be the best thing since the invention of sliced bread.

Well... audiosciencereview... the place fantasies come to die.