NuPrime ST-10, Руководство пользователя

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NuPrime
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Background
In 2005, NuForce invented an amplifier that utilizes self-oscillating switching principles in an
analog-based topology (US patent #7,221,216 ) as a significant departure from bulky Class
A/AB designs using tubes or transistors, and Class-D digital designs that convert signals into
digital data. Thanks in full measure to unique innovations, the NuForce Reference 9 amp
received the Power Amp of The Year 2005 award from The Absolute Sound, a prestigious
American audiophile magazine. Subsequent versions of the Reference 9 received similar
awards in Japan and France.
In 2014, NuForce, having decided to focus on mobility products, sold the high-end line along
with its technology to investors who then created NuPrime Audio. Under the leadership of
NuForce co-founder and original CEO, NuPrime has assembled a design team comprised of
talented engineers who earlier worked on NuForce’s high-end line along with newly recruited
experts in switching-power circuit design. Recent developments have made it possible to
redesign NuPrime’s switching- amp topology from the ground up in order to create a new
generation of amps classified as Reference LE.
NuPrime is not a Switching Digital Amplifier
Switching Digital Amps, commonly known as Class-D, first appeared some decades ago. From
the start, Class-D showed enormous potential along with significant shortcomings: limited
usable bandwidth, and a fixed saw-tooth waveform for audio- signal modulation, the latter
producing jitter that effectively masks low-level signals.
Instead of the conventional saw-tooth configuration, NuPrime’s patented circuit design uses a
naturally occurring analog-modulating signal that adds neither noise nor jitter. Rather than
reverting to off-the-shelf solutions, NuPrime’s in-house advances have further unlocked the
switching amp’s potential without the difficulties pure digital-switching amplifiers simply
cannot avoid – in other words, the best of both worlds.
Goodbye, heat. Goodbye, hernias.
Once upon a time heat and bulk were badges of status. Today, they’re the bane of
obsolescent technology. NuPrime amps switch at 700,000Hz – more than twice the highest
CD sampling rate. At these frequencies, transformers and capacitors work far more efficiently,
making it possible to reduce their size. Typically, Class-A amps rarely utilize more than 30% of
the power they draw; the rest is wasted as heat. High operating temperatures also shorten the
useful life of the electrolytic capacitors used in abundance in these designs.
A comparison with traditional designs is mind-boggling. A NuPrime amp, small enough to sit
on the palm of one’s hand, is, typically, 85% efficient – in practical terms, cool-running and
easy on the utility bill.