NuPrime calls the MCX-800AD ($3995) an "Immersive Audio Processor," but that's not really what it is, so I don't know why they call it that. NuPrime…
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The NuPrime brand may not be familiar to many readers of Stereophile, though a quick search reveals coverage in a 10-year-old report, a side reference in a 2022 review of a different product, and most recently, a brief mention of the product I'm reviewing—the NuPrime MCX-800AD—at High End Munich 2025. In the early years of this century, Stereophile reviewed several NuForce products as well; Jason Lim founded NuPrime after NuForce was sold.
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to measure the NuPrime MCX-800AD. Although the amplifier has eight channels, my Audio Precision is a strictly two-channel device, so I measured the analog inputs and loudspeaker outputs for channels 7 and 8, which were closest to the analyzer with the amplifier on the test bench. As the NuPrime has a class-D output stage and class-D amplifiers emit relatively high levels of ultrasonic noise that would drive my analyzer's input into slew-rate limiting, I inserted an Audio Precision AUX-0025 passive low-pass filter between the…
Sidebar 4: More Measurements
For digital-input testing, I used optical S/PDIF data, USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro, and network data played with Roon. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that the USB port accepted 32-bit integer data sampled at all rates from 44.1kHz to 768kHz. The USB Prober app identified the Symphonia as "Symphonia" from "T+A elektroakustik" with the serial number "343636303133510D00320039," and indicated that the USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. The optical and coaxial inputs only accepted data sampled at rates up to 96kHz—there was…
There's widespread consensus that Shohei Ohtani's performance in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series was the greatest in baseball history: at the plate, 3 for 3 with three home runs; on the mound, six innings with 10 strikeouts and only 2 hits allowed. That defines double threat.
Almost seven decades earlier, jazz's original triple threat made his first record—Triple Threat—for the King label: Roland Kirk, just a month past his 21st birthday and blind since infancy, played three different horns, sometimes simultaneously and not as a mere novelty. Later he added flute,…
"The term 'sales' is an anachronism. Today, it's about streaming and ancillary income."
Randall Grass, general manager at Shanachie Entertainment, has seen many changes since joining Shanachie Records in 1980. After uttering the statement above, he's happy to admit that while streaming and merch sales predominate in the music business today, there is one very powerful and profitable new surprise: vinyl. It's why Shanachie, an independent label based in Newton, New Jersey, has just launched a vinyl reissue series.
Shanachie's catalog is extremely diverse, covering a wide range of…
Sidebar 1: Whither Atmos?
I sought out the MCX-800AD because of my fascination with the lossless 24/48 TrueHD content at up to 7.1, which is certainly Atmos. Here's why. Multichannel audio is how I listen to music, and for two decades I have been able to obtain and enjoy multichannel recordings on disc or by download. In the past two years, those sources have withered, as labels large and small have been drawn away by the siren song of Dolby Atmos streaming, mainly from Apple Music. Record companies that used to offer discs or downloads now offer only streaming links. It seems…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Eight-channel power amplifier with analog and digital inputs, DACs, volume control, and remote control. Analog inputs: eight RCA, eight XLR (balanced, via DB25). USB Digital input supports stereo (PCM to 32/768, DSD Native to DSD256), eight channels (to 32/192), and six channels (DSD Native to DSD128). Analog outputs: eight RCA (trimmer adjustable from 0 to –6dB) and eight speaker level. 12V trigger in/out, USB-C service port, two USB-A accessory power ports. Two slots for optional I/O plug-in cards provide AES3 and audio-over-IP connectivity. Error…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Custom Intel/Win11 music server running JRiver Media Center v34, Roon 2 and DiracLive-ART, Merging Devices Hapi MkII and Okto DAC8 Pro DACs, QNAP TVS-873 NAS. Oppo Digital UDP-103 universal disc player.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2 (3).
Loudspeakers: KEF Blade 2 Meta with IsoAcoustics GAIA II feet (3). KEF LS60 (2); KEF KC92 (2) and SVS SB 2000 Pro subwoofers.
Cables: Digital: Mogami Gold AES TD DB25-XLR0 snake. Analog interconnects: Mogami Gold AES TD DB25-XLR snake, in-wall analog and digital wiring per AES72 via CAT6 and…
Turntables:
A+:
J.Sikora Reference: $48,000 w/o tonearm
This Polish company’s top-of-the-line turntable is a nonsuspended, high-mass design, weighing 253lb. The dynamically and statically balanced platter alone weighs 40lb! Drive is with four square belts spun by four Papst DC motors. MF found that the plinth was immune to knuckle raps and motor start-up noises and wrote that the Reference was very quiet. He decided that this J.Sikora ’table had been superbly tuned to extract deep, well-controlled bass free of overhang or excess. The measured speed accuracy was impressive, as…
Flashback: It was 2012—or maybe '13. I was in a small hotel room in midtown Manhattan. An array of five chunky black speakers teetering on tripod mounts almost filled the room. Every corner held a subwoofer, each with a tiny, unmarked box on top. On the coffee table sat an AVR, a disc player, and another, similar unmarked box connected to the AVR. No cables linked the coffee table stuff to the (powered) speakers and subs. But music was playing! In 5.1 at 24/96 with very low latency and absolute synchronization among the speakers.
Wow!, I thought. This WiSA thing is the future of home…