NuForce AVP-16 User Manual

Page 2

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specifically for the left, center, right, and
subwoofer channels. This design touch
acknowledges the fact that some audio-
philes already own amplifiers with XLR-
inputs, and that stereo purists might
wish to make the transition to surround
sound incrementally, adding a center
channel and subwoofer
first and surround
channels later on.

Purists Dig It

How does the AVP-16
perform in real-world
systems? I found the
AVP-16 was at its
best when playing
high-resolution mu-
sic material (SACD,
DVD-Audio, and Dual-
Disc) in B

ypass

mode.

Solid-state preamps
sometimes have a
cold, sterile quality
that distances listen-
ers from the music, but
the AVP-16 does not.
Instead, it offers a de-
lightful combination of
clarity and natural, or-
ganic warmth. On Gary
Burton’s Like Minds
[Concord, SACD], for
instance, the AVP-16
brought out the round,
full, honey-sweet to-
nality of Pat Metheny’s
jazz guitar, yet it also
had sufficient transpar-
ency to reproduce the
sound of Roy Haynes’s
sure and almost in-

describably delicate percussion work.
The AVP-16’s overall presentation on
Like Minds was so clean and pure that
many guest listeners offered unprompt-
ed compliments on the sound. On
well-recorded orchestral material such
as the Gergov/Norrlands performance

of David Chesky’s
Concerto for Orches-
tra [Urban Concertos,
Chesky, SACD], the
NuForce did a great job
of capturing the ambi-
ence of the recording
venue while convey-
ing the sound of an
orchestra arrayed on a
wide, deep, three-di-
mensional soundstage.
Overall, the AVP-16
sounded much like
NuForce’s excellent
P8 stereo preampli-
fier (reviewed in The
Absolute Sound issue
169), which is saying
a mouthful given that
the AVP-16 costs less
than the P8 does.

On CDs and other

stereo program mate-
rial the AVP-16 per-
formed well, offering
the expected bat-
teries of Dolby PL II
and DTS Neo:6 pro-
cessing modes, plus
eight proprietary DSP
modes (c

hurch

, s

DiuM

, t

hEatEr

, and so

on.). The Dolby and
DTS modes proved

effective, though their sound was
not quite as pure and transparent
as that of the B

ypass

mode. My sug-

gestion would be to avoid using the
AVP-16’s other DSP modes, though,
since they aren’t up to the controller’s
otherwise high sonic standards.

On DVD movies, the AVP-16’s video

pass-through switching added no
visible noise or artifacts. Sonically,
the controller’s Dolby Digital and DTS
decoders worked well, though they
sometimes smoothed over extremely
low-level, high frequency textural de-
tails. As a small example, consider the
“Ann Disarms Kong” scene from King
Kong where Kong seizes a full-grown
bamboo tree to munch on as a light

snack. High-resolution controllers let
you hear an explicit snap and crunch as
the thick, tubular bamboo trunk breaks
apart while Kong chomps down on it. In
contrast, the AVP-16 captures the snap
of the trunk but loses textural detail
as Kong chews on the shattered tree.
Nevertheless, the AVP-16’s surround
sound processing easily equals that of
most mid- and some high-priced AVRs.

The AVP-16 will appeal to stereo

enthusiasts looking to take their first
steps toward home theater and mul-
tichannel music. The NuForce pro-
vides the core sonic qualities that
audiophile’s demand, with solid though
minimalist video switching and sur-
round sound processing features.

TPV

• Fine sound quality in BYPASS

mode

• Nice combination of clarity and

warmth

• Simple, effective video and

surround sound features

• Value

• No HDMI, no video upconversion,

no auto-setup

• Surround modes not as pure as

BYPASS mode

• Remote is beautifully made, but

ergonomics need work

Specifications

NuForce AVP-16 Multichannel Controller

• Decoding formats: Dolby Digital , Digital

EX and Pro Logic IIx; DTS, DTS-ES and
Neo:6; eight proprietary DSP modes.

• Video inputs/outputs: Component video

(three in, one out with support up to
1080i), S-video (four in, one out), compos-
ite video (four in, o ne out)

• Audio inputs/outputs: 7.1-channel analog

(single-ended RCA, one in, one out), 3.1-
channel analog (balanced XLR, one out),
stereo analog (seven in, one out), digital
audio (seven in—four coax, three optical)

• Dimensions: 3.54" x 17" x 18"
• Weight: 17.5 lbs.
• Price: $995
• nuforce.com

The Last Word

Poor

Good

Excellent

Value

Sound quality, film

Sound quality, music

User interface

NuForce AVP-16 Multichannel Controller

(compared with similarly priced multichannel controllers)

TPV | March 2007

analog direct mode, and when
playing well-recorded material
at moderate volume levels. The
receiver’s subtle touch of warmth
and overall clarity helped it
render instrumental and vocal

timbres effectively. For example,
it sounded terrific on the Heifetz
recording of the Sibelius Violin
Concerto in D Minor [RCA Living
Stereo, multichannel SACD], cap-
turing the violinist’s sweet, sure,
lustrous string tone. Two small
drawbacks are that the Sony
offers good but not great sound-

staging and can sound bright or
rough on vigorous transients.
Fortunately, these minor flaws
rarely intrude on the Sony’s
warm and inviting core sound.

Lost in Translation
The only area where I had
significant reservations about the
STR-DG800 involved its user
interface, which I found difficult
to use. First, the receiver provides
no onscreen menu display,
instead showing menu informa-
tion only in the receiver’s front
panel display window. Second,
the Sony’s automated speaker
set-up feature for some reason
recognizes all speakers in the
system except for powered
subwoofers. As a result, all
subwoofer configuration settings

must be entered manually.
Finally, the receiver’s remote
control is far from intuitive and
makes common control tasks (for
example, adjusting channel level
trims on the fly) much more
difficult than they ought to be.

Overall, Sony’s STR-DG800

receiver offers a versatile mix of
features, functions, and I/O
options, and it provides very
strong core performance for the
money.

My only wish is that its user

interface made its performance
capabilities easier to tap—
especially for first-time AVR
owners. The good news is that
the performance fundamentals
are all in place; Sony just needs
to do a bit more work on the fine
points.

TPV

www.theperfectvision.com March 2007

Sony

(877) 865-7669

www.sonystyle.com

I N S I D E R S T I P :

Do not even

think about setting this

AVR up without reading its manual

beforehand.

As reviewed in issue 72 of The Perfect Vision and issue 168 of
The Absolute Sound.

OPPO DV-970HD Up-Converting
Universal DVD Player