The Icon grows up!

OK, so I'm going to divulge some secrets about my sound system:

When I got started, I didn't know what the hell I was doing.
You'll be able to tell if I showed you my amp and my speakers.  I have a pair of great big beautiful floorstanding Wharfedale Diamond 9.6's in a room that is so small, I have to sit three feet from the speakers to get an ideal sound.  Powering both of those is an amplifier that weighs about as much as a paperback book: the Nuforce Icon.  I saw two things I absolutely loved, and I said  "I MUST HAVE THESE."
Surprisingly, it worked.  There's a neat little story about comparing my pitiful little Icon to a few other amplifiers. The Icon was always the clear winner, even if it sometimes struggled to keep up with my towering Wharfedales.

Let's talk about the Nuforce Icon:
--15wpc amplifier, which is enough for a little system like one would have in my tiny little office.
--USB D/A converter, so that one can pipe in 44.1/16bit digital audio straight from your PC.
--Three ports on back: headphone-jack (aka iPod), RCA, and USB.
--A handy-little headphone port on the front for what I think Nuforce does best: HEADPHONE AMPS!

It's simple, it's pretty, it's modern, and it was a perfect all-in-one package for me for $249.  Plus, it was red.  It's amazing how my opinion of audio gear goes up once it is available in colors.
I was a fool, though, for next buying gigantic-ass speakers to sit with it, even IF they were 91dB sensitivity.

Quite a few months ago (not quite a year), I received an e-mail from Nuforce.  They had developed a new Icon: the Icon-2, and for the low price of almost-the-amount-I-paid-for-the-first-one, I could upgrade.  It had a 24-bit 96khz USB D/A converter and an additional 9 wpc.  Who was I to argue?  I got an Icon-2 upgrade for Christmas.

This was not an easy task, upgrading my Icon.  All you get is a circuitboard.  It is then up to you to unscrew the twelve screws of TWO DIFFERENT HEADS (plus the knob-nut, which is a different head still), use more force than you think you should to slide the Icon out of its case, and attach your old front and case to the new board.  I was worried I destroyed something.  I was also thankful they gave me additional screws in the package.
First impressions: the power supply was more power-hungry than the upgraded one I purchased.  This is good; the Icon two has a little more juice.  The board was black, too, and just prettier looking.  I wanted this in my office. NOW.

Hooking it up, I doubted there'd be much difference.  I knew my speakers needed more juice sometimes, but  come on, is it really worth the upgrade?  I guess, at least, I got a new D/A Converter out of it.  I put in the Main Street Electrical Parade CD, since it was already out, and hit play.

The opening "BOW" nearly knocked me back.  This thing had more kick!

It sounded cleaner, deeper, quieter in the background.  And this is with an all-synth recording without much stereo play.  I couldn't bear to turn this CD off; it was too amazing to stop.
Once everything finished, I noticed something was missing.  See, the Icon had a nasty hiss in my speakers, something Nuforce warns you about if your speakers are more sensitive than 92dB.  Mine aren't.  I still had a hiss.  I dealt with it, because I was cheap.
The Icon2 LOST THAT HISS.  It is dead quiet in my office now, while I type this, with the Icon2 on.

Trying out the 24bit/96kHz tracks HDTracks.com gives out for free, I was blown away again.  Deep, sensitive, quiet in the background, rich, full, and balanced.  My old Icon had trouble controlling the big woofers of the Wharfedales.  The new Icon2 didn't ever strain or struggle.  My Wharfedales had met their match.
This continued.  Even mono recordings sounded earthy and strong.  This amp isn't as sweet as it is deep, and paired with my amp, I get some rump-shaking in my office.  I like that.  Even so, this is much cleaner and happier than anything else I've heard.

If you need a quick, cheap, all-in-one solution to get into Hifi audio, buy a Nuforce Icon.  Even if you just hook it up to your powered speakers on your desktop with the line-out, you'll hear a difference.  Buy a cheap pair of Grado SR60i's to sweeten the experience.
If you want to throw in a few more bucks, the Nuforce Icon2 is worth every penny.  The ability to hear the extra 8 bits of audio, the added power (if you want to hook it up to some REAL speakers), the cleaned-up sound...it's my new dream come true.

I'm not kidding.  I actually go out of my way to listen to it.  I'm like a little kid again, sneaking away to listen to a song real quick before I go back to whatever I was doing.

Hifi audio is not a joke, and your best way to find out is an Icon.