{"id":38301,"date":"2024-07-09T09:27:19","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T07:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/?p=38301"},"modified":"2024-08-18T12:17:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T10:17:41","slug":"nuprime-agm-sta-se-stereo-power-amplifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/amplifier-reviews\/power-amplifier-reviews\/nuprime-agm-sta-se-stereo-power-amplifier\/","title":{"rendered":"NuPrime AGM STA-SE stereo power amplifier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review samples provided by Dimex
\n<\/a>Retail Price AMG STA-SE: 2.595 euro
\nUpgrade from AMG STA to AMG STA-SE: 699,- ex labor<\/h4>\n

When I first heard the AMG STA<\/a> in 2020, I was amazed at the sound quality it delivers at its price level. As I observed in the review, “Changing from the NuPrime ST-10 to the NuPrime AMG STA was like changing to a completely different amplifier brand. While it does not have the ST-10’s sonorous ballsiness nor entirely all of its dynamic impact, otherwise, it seriously<\/em> ups the game… the AMG STA raises the quality in some areas into high-end territory.”<\/p>\n

I continued observing that some of the AMG STA’s aspects, such as its fluidity, delicacy, and refinement, reminded me of classic Jeff Rowland amplifiers, class A\/B ones, such as the Model 6 monos and Model 10 stereo, mind you, not their later class D designs. To add some perspective, the cost of these classic amplifiers was quite serious at around 15K and 11K, respectively, back at the turn of the century, indicating just how class-defying the AMG STA’s performance is.<\/p>\n

With the AMG STA-SE, the company has issued a successor. With this new Special Edition model, the company aims to narrow the gap between the different sound characteristics of models such as the ST-10 and Evolution STA on the one hand and the AMG STA on the other while addressing some of the weaknesses compared to the ST-10 as mentioned in my review, such as reduced robustness, tonal saturation, and body. How an engineer can correlate listening impressions with the amplifier’s design remains a mystery, but the proof should be in the pudding!<\/p>\n

A closer Look<\/h3>\n

Ideally, I’d have the original AMG STA on hand for a side-by-side comparison, but alas, the model was out of stock, and I no longer had mine. However, I do still have vivid memories of it, as well as inside pictures. Curious, I opened the new model to have a peek inside. On the surface of it, the two amplifiers look very similar.<\/p>\n

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Above: original AMG STA; Below: new AMG STA-SE<\/em><\/p>\n

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In comparing the original model to the Special Edition version, there are only a couple of differences I can discern:<\/p>\n