gone were the days where getting good sounds require you to have mad scientist’s lab-like setup. everything has been shrunk down to a point where you could now get audiophile-grade sound even from a small cube device. however, if you are one who is adamant on the ‘old school’ setup i.e. multiple components, it doesn’t necessary mean your living or entertainment room will look like a power substation. the NuForce IA-18 Integrated Amplifier is one good example of an AV components that offers you the best in audio amplification without the bulk and also, it has the look that would fit into any contemporary decor. packed into its two-tone chassis are a choke full of features that put this squarely on the audiophile territory and if the specs does not hint of its audiophile-grade intent, then perhaps, its US$3,500 sticker would. features include a full microprocessor control with memory retention, five line inputs (each having its own volume adjustment), ultra low noise JFETs for lowest possible noise performance, thin-film switched-resistor ladder network for volume control, dual V3 amplifier modules for a good 135W per channel when on 8 ohm (and up to 335W on 2 ohm), Cross-Matrix Array (CMA) capacitor module and five RCA inputs. all the aforementioned audio performance bits are contained in a form factor of 16″ x 17″ and measuring just 2″ in height (40.6 x 43.2 x 5 cm). while we can’t vouch for its sound until we actually hear it, we can offer you a few more look of this beauty-meets-sound audiophile gadget in the gallery below.
