What connection could there be between a modern amplifier and a kitten?
First, meet Panda. He’s a new addition to our home – he’s full of crazy kitten energy, smart, inquisitive and brings some much needed joy to our lives. Still tiny in comparison to Ted, he’s quickly finding his place in the world and every day is an adventure.
Now meet the new NuPrime IDA-9;
The NuPrime IDA-9 is similarly compact, also comes in two colours and is equally energetic. The IDA-9 was launched at about the same time Panda was born. While we ventured down to the Invercargill SPCA for Panda & Ted, the IDA-9 originates from NuPrime’s Taiwan operation. The first units arrived, perfectly formed, finished and packaged within days of the international release.
We’ve now spent 3 months listening to the IDA-9 in different systems; Over that time, the sound quality from the IDA-9 has improved significantly, and we’ve come to greatly appreciate, not just the initial euphoria of a great new component, but the subtleties that it delivers that go well beyond expectations.
At the heart of this amplifier is NuPrime’s unique GaN (Gallium Nitride) based power supply. This is something no other amplifier has. Why is this so important?
Power is the raw material for the operation of any amplifier. Both the quality and quantity are critical to the end sound you hear and this cannot be underestimated.
Conventional power supplies have a raft of issues and almost all designers seek to deal with these using conventional solutions. So not a lot has really changed in most amplifiers. They just get more expensive as costs rise and performance improves incrementally at best.
Because NuPrime are already well ahead in terms of unconventional design in their amplifiers, and have a grounding in unique switched mode power supplies, the implementation of a GaN based power supply is a logical progression. But most importantly it delivers a worthwhile improvement.
The electrical efficiency of GaN devices – as opposed to conventional silicone based transistors and semiconductors – is key. You get more power and less heat. This means you can pack more components in a smaller space with shorter signal paths and have less scope for interference. We make it sound easy but clearly it’s not, as then everyone would be doing it.
But the time is right for this technology. Outside of audio, there’s a massive incentive to deliver more efficient power supply solutions, especially with the rise of AI, energy and resource hungry data centres. At the same time, the price of copper used in conventional transformers is rocketing up in price as the production of Electric Vehicles ramps up and geo-political uncertainty grows by the day.
‘The bottom line is the IDA-9 delivers a ton of music that hits you like an acid trip with its lush, stocky, dynamic, detail-abundant, class-A-pure, SET*-like-intimate presentation.
*Single Ended Triode – a vacuum tube design
While the IDA-9 may not deliver the instrumental scale and bold imaging as completely as some top-tier gear, I consider the NuPrime IDA-9 a reference-level piece, and not just in the budget category. Despite its size, it is a musical heavyweight and a Giant Killer.’
pma.magazine .org December 2025
Everything about the IDA-9 design is smart – it’s compact, cool running and has a completely modern array of inputs, primarily digital but also analogue. There’s nothing on the outside that hints at the 200 watts per channel of available power. Yet it’s still obvious that this is a quality component – the finish and feel are completely consistent with NuPrime’s very best models making the IDA-9 a perfect introduction to the brand.
Kitten growth and amplifier evolution.
In the short time that Panda has been with us, he’s grown both physically and is becoming a unique little individual. The IDA-9 has followed a slightly different track as we have learnt to appreciate it’s qualities, and the sound has improved with run in. While this is just our own take, it appears that the complexity of the power supply, and also maybe the parts used, mean that the progression is greater than it would be with a simpler conventional design.
We’re also convinced that a power supply of any type can imbue a specific sound to an amplifier. While everyone knows what a conventional transformer does, it’s only the more informed that appreciate the virtues of a well implemented Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS). And the GaN based power supply is another story again.
What we hear is a significant improvement in the subtleties of music reproduction; the IDA-9, despite having a substantial output capability at 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms, is able to deliver remarkable detail, sweet tonality and balance, in a way that draws you in.
The fact that the IDA-9 is largely built on the original IDA-8 concept proves the importance of power supply. It’s also worth knowing that the advances in the power supply have allowed the upgrading of almost all the sections of the design – preamplifier, DAC and power amplifier. So while the connections array and front panel remain unchanged, the improvement in quality is huge – it puts the IDA-9 well ahead of the much bigger and more costly Reference Level IDA-16 integrated amplifier.
While it’s clear that the GaN power supply is the key to the IDA-9’s performance gain over the IDA-8, the question remains; is it the sound of the power supply or is it the other internal upgrades?
We think it’s a bit of both. NuPrime’s previous SMPS units have often lent a heightened sense of immediacy and precision to the amplifiers they feature in. The GaN based supply does this too but it’s also far better in terms of it’s noise performance which seems to deliver a much more finely textured picture, especially at lower sound levels. This is another of the IDA-9s seemingly contradictory characteristics – the power is there but it doesn’t come across as a brute force solution like so many heavyweight power amplifiers. Rather it gives the music space to breathe in.
Jason Lim – NuPrime’s CEO describes the development of the IDA-9 – “Creating a world-class entry-level integrated amplifier is extremely difficult—especially one that “can’t go wrong” with most speakers. IDA-8 became a classic because it struck the right balance. The ESS9018 DAC has been around for a long time, but it still handles DSD256 and PCM 384 kHz. It is not an easy chip to work with, yet we achieved a tuning with a touch of warmth that works very well in entry-level systems. When I say “chip,” I really mean the entire DAC design — because that is what ultimately defines the sound. So the big question was: do we redesign IDA-8 from the ground up? That could take more than a year, and even worse, we might lose the balance that made it special. Instead, we chose a smarter path. We upgraded the DAC and amplifier boards while keeping the proven architecture intact. Since the new GaN power supply already brings a dramatic performance improvement, we focused on refining the Class A transistor module that defines the sound. This allowed us to take the design to the next level—without losing the winning character that made IDA-8 a classic.”
Balance is one of the qualities that best describes the IDA-9 – it does almost everything very well, and indeed there are some aspects it excels at. Yet there’s no weakness we can pick. The margin between the IDA-9 and NuPrime’s own separates is now far less obvious despite the price difference. And given the IDA-9 has it’s own particular voice, for many people, the IDA-9 will be all you’ll ever want or need.
‘You’ll immediately hear this with the IDA-9 – it’s remarkably agile and there’s a propulsive quality to the music. Leading edges of notes are precisely rendered but there’s no harshness associated with this sense of immediacy. This is probably due to the extra headroom conferred by suddenly having 200 watts per channel on tap – in most listening situations, the IDA-9 will just be cruising.
Another striking quality of the IDA-9 is the level of detail it delivers.’
Totally Wired post – The Sound of Progress August 2025
As a digression, this aspect of ‘voice’ or innate musical character makes it far more difficult to ascribe a defining NuPrime ‘sound’. The IDA-9 is sonically distinct from the DAC 9x and STA-9x pre power combination and while they share many aspects of design, they diverge in a way that you wouldn’t expect given the near identical appearance. This is even more obvious in the PRA-9x balanced preamplifier and the all analogue IA-9x integrated amplifier (which is just about to get the GaN treatment but more on that later).
Then above the NuPrime 9x series, their AMG models deliver a seductive fluidity that rivals far more costly high end designs. And the flagship Evolution series is a story in itself.
Yet within this broad range, the IDA-9 excels, in many ways taking the best from the other models and combining them in a happy, easy to use and listen to, package.
Cat on a hot tin roof
It’s well known that heat shortens the working life of capacitors – we have seen many amplifiers, especially large Class A or highly biased designs fail and have to be re-capped. What’s less well appreciated is that the actual sound quality is also affected by heat; internal components drift off specification once outside of a comparatively narrow band of operational temperature. NuPrime have paid extra attention to this which is one of the key design features in the AMG STA-SE upgrade. And this work filters directly into the IDA-9.
Cats will however seek out warm spots and Panda has already found the IDA-9. Even at just 3 months he barley fits, but more importantly he won’t do the amp any harm. Because there’s so little heat to dissipate there are no holes in the top cover for fur or dust to get in and even with a kitten on top, the IDA-9 remains at little more than room temperature. This is especially important in terms of both long term reliability and sound quality.
The system achieves exceptional efficiency with minimal energy loss, translating to reduced operating costs and environmental impact.
Perhaps most remarkably, this advanced power supply system delivers performance equivalent to traditional transformer-based power supplies while occupying only one-fourth the physical space and weighing merely 20% of conventional designs. Add to this a 30% reduction in already low heat output and power consumption with a doubling of rated output and you can suddenly hear what the future sounds like.
Is the IDA-9 for you?
The IDA-9 will improve the sound of almost all existing systems. This is a bold claim so let’s explain; The IDA-9 builds on NuPrime’s extensive experience in both ClassA/D hybrid amplifier designs and switched mode power supplies. So the baseline performance expectations are already high. The doubled power output and greatly improved sound quality place it in a class above the already well regarded & extensively reviewed IDA-8.
Very few people have every heard their loudspeakers performing at their best. The IDA-9 delivers more and better output than many much larger pre and power amplifier combinations. The enhanced clarity and improved control will unleash untapped potential.
The IDA-9 has a useful array of inputs so will work in many systems. The digital inputs will often greatly improve the performance of existing components such as CD players and allow connection of sources you may not have previously considered. The analogue input is of equal quality and with an array of new phono stages from both Rega and Dynavector we are able to help you really enjoy your records again.
Being compact, simple in connection and operation we are happy to offer you a home demonstration option on the IDA-9. There’s no better way to find out for yourself. If you’d like to know more just pop us and email of give us a call – we look forward to hearing from you.
And just like Panda, the IDA-9 will grow on you; every day will be different with new discoveries.
NuPrime IDA-9 Digital Integrated amplifier
200 w per channel GaN based SMPS – silver or black finish, remote control included. NZ$3000 including GST and Delivery.
The IDA-9 also presently ships with the NuPrime Stream Mini which provides an entry to streaming, Bluetooth and AirPlay.