NuForce AVP-18 Surround Processor Page 2

The actual calibration process takes about 15 minutes. But before you can start, your room needs to be as quiet as possible because the AVP-18 first measures ambient noise levels in your room, and if they’re too high, it won’t begin the calibration cycle. While this is good for you as it ensures you get an accurate test result, it may be difficult or even impossible to proceed if you live in a fourth-floor walk-up above a German beer hall or somewhere else where the city never sleeps.

214nuforce.rem.jpgWhen the testing is done, you’ll be able to see the results on the screen and save them. The NuForce system calculates 11 parametric bands per speaker, each with its own center frequency to the 1/100th of a hertz, gain or cut to the nearest quarter decibel, and Q, or bandwidth, to the nearest 1/8th octave (the higher the Q, the narrower the frequency range affected by the cut or boost). The results are highly specific, reflecting the effect of room positioning of the speakers and unavoidable real-world differences in speaker components and possibly even amplification on delivering a uniform frequency response to your listening seat.

Those differences between EQ’d and non-EQ’d settings weren’t night and day, nor would I have imagined they would be in my listening space, but they were still readily identifiable. Listening to Joss Stone’s LP1 CD, in Stereo (left, right, plus subwoofer), the room EQ’d mode featured a weaker perceived bass response, not surprising considering the 2-to-3-dB cuts in the 80-to-120-Hz region of the main speakers and even greater cuts to the subwoofer in the 40-to-50-Hz range. Was it flatter? Probably, but preferable? Well that’s subjective and greatly dependent on the source material. On laid-back tracks like “Drive All Night,” I preferred the EQ off. But on more aggressive songs like “Newborn,” the EQ’d setting removed some of Stone’s youthful chestiness, which seemed to be pushing the midrange on my Revel Salons a tad too much, so the room EQ helped there.

The non-EQ’d setting, however, always had the stronger center image with vocalists, be it Stone or John Mayer on his Born and Raised CD. But in Mayer’s case, this stronger center image worked against the recording. While the sense of Mayer being in my room was firmer without EQ, with the room EQ turned on Mayer’s voice sounded more natural, less chesty. While NuForce provides three manual EQ user settings in addition to the Flat (no EQ) and AutoEQ (i.e., room EQ) settings, at this point there is no way to copy the AutoEQ results to one of the three user memories.

With movies, that diminished sense of center translated into more noticeable surrounds, at least in rapid comparison. The opening orchestral introduction to Melancholia was decidedly richer without room EQ but more enveloping with it. All in all, I think NuForce has done an excellent job implementing their room equalization system, and it is well worth the time invested in setting it up.

Two-channel listening provided the most options for digitally processing the sound. NuForce’s Direct mode eliminates the subwoofer output, regardless of how you have your main speakers defined, Small (utilizing a high-pass crossover) or Large. So I recommend Direct mode only if you’re running your mains full range. The Stereo and All Stereo modes use the subwoofer. I found my best results setting the flagship Revel Salons to a 65-Hz high pass and letting the Revel Performa B15 sub’s beautiful and extended deep bass wash over me in Stereo mode. NuForce offers seven proprietary surround modes, from Hall to Stadium, as well as Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6 processing, both with respective Music and Movie modes, but I mostly preferred Stereo. Old school, I know.

A NuForce to Be Reckoned With!
NBC’s Dolby Digital broadcast of a football game had good, solid front sound and nicely done (not overdone) surrounds. The AVP-18 was giving me all the thrill of victory without any of the agony—except for the horrible distorting lenses the camera crew was using that turn 300-pound men into ballerinas! Meanwhile, high-def programs like The Bridge on FX and Breaking Bad on AMC were seamlessly enveloping, quite crystalline in their reproduction by the NuForce processor. I like to bring down the screen and fire up the JVC projector for these 1.85:1 epic TV shows more than most movies these days.

I saw Oblivion at an IMAX theater originally, which I have to admit is hard to beat, even with my setup. But I didn’t feel like I missed much watching the Blu-ray at home. The scene where Jack (Tom Cruise) comes in for a landing in a destroyed football stadium starts in the front left channel, the sound of his flying craft gaining volume and low-frequency gravitas until it swings behind you on the left, still behind you to the right, only to come back into view as it lands with thunder in the front right channel. It’s impressive, and I realized I subconsciously ducked my head as the craft flew behind me.

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I found the room-corrected AutoEQ setting was definitely the way to go with a high-powered movie like Oblivion. The spooky by-wire descent (a Cruise signature entrance if there ever was one) into the underground library is accompanied by water dripping behind you, and later steel wires snapping in and out of alignment. While the differences were large, there was a better sense of space with room EQ engaged. The effects were more distinct and at the same time the vast room seemed ever so slightly larger. Here, the effect of the stronger center image that accompanied the non-EQ settings—something that worked better with most music—actually detracted from the sense of spaciousness the audio designers were likely going for here.

My favorite scene in the movie is where Jack thumbs through a collection of vinyl he somehow has managed to collect. I couldn’t help think that if he had a NuForce AVP-18, with its lack of analog inputs, he wouldn’t be able to listen to that Led Zeppelin song. And if the Scavs were broadcasting a distress signal or a call to arms over an old AM or FM transmitter, well, ditto the out-of-luck part. But what the NuForce does do, it does excellently. The AVP-18 is sleek, simple, and from my view, stupendous. Sound quality is completely first rate and far and above what could be accomplished at this price point had NuForce decided to play the features game. I’m now officially a NuForce fan!

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COMMENTS
LordoftheRings's picture

It fails that one and yet it receives five stars!

Rob Sabin's picture
Our 5-Star Video rating was reflective of what ran in our magazine print version of this review, which was contingent on Nuforce resolving the clipping issue with a pending firmware update. Unfortunately, that clarification appeared in print but not here. The clipping issue has now been fully resolved in AVP-18 firmware version "AVP-18_Firmware_02172014" or later, available at the Nuforce Web site. See our Test Bench page for more information.
TimmyS's picture

I was looking at the circuit board for this unit and it looks in many areas suspiciously like some other "direct to consumer" brands unit that sells for much less and even has more inputs.

Could someone address this?

samchitwood's picture

They're also suspiciously similar...

I'm very disappointed at S&V for not mentioning the similarities to the other company's product. That product was also reviewed here months ago, so it's not like they can claim they didn't know about it.

Why I should pay nearly double for this unit? That should have been the core of this review. But this smells of product placement. That makes some people specifically choose another vendor.

givmedew's picture

this thing is too too much like the emotivia umc-200 that was sold for under $600. The display, the way the Bluetooth works, the dsp, the HDMI and more. It seems like a cheaper umc-200 that costs more.

LordoftheRings's picture
LordoftheRings's picture

Sorry, I don't know how to give direct links here.

Anyhow:

1. Emotiva UMC-200
2. Outlaw Model 975

* Perhaps it's up to the readers to compare, and not up to the reviewers?

hoffdano@gmail.com's picture

As exposed in other forums, the Nuforce unit appears to be an Emotive UMC200 in a different case with fewer inputs at about twice the price. Exact same remote, same front panel display, and other pics of the internals are nearly identical. The EQ behaves the same. Hard to see why the Nuforce is worth the price.

JAC's picture

This has been covered in other forums as it pops up, but this "clone" concept is put forth by those who don't know that many companies use OEM contractors to build their designs based on a pre-existing foundation.

The above mentioned companies are no different. The OEM offers a Chassis, and various foundational circuitry and or firmware, and the company then "SPECIFIES" what components/parts quality, functions, performance specifications, feature sets, and materials are to be used.

There are at least 4-5, if not more companies using this same chassis, and ALL of them offer different inputs/outputs, component parts, functions, and other features at various price ranges.

So these units may share "some" features that work the same, and some that work differently based on the firmware menus the Company selected. For example Processing Firmwares are ALL the same since Dolby Labs, DTS, etc require a strict adherence to performance parameters using specific processors.

For example the $9400 Bryston uses the same Processor chipset as some far less expensive Harman Kardon Receivers, because they work and function the same.

This practice is common, but making the assumption that the units are clones, displays only the ability to recognize the chassis size and "look". Upon closer inspection the differences and designs show clear differences.

It is up to you, to evaluate and figure out which best fits your needs, system quality, and budget.

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