My experience with NAD is they aren't anything special. With no model numbers impossible to say.
The XLS is very low end. OK for PA.
Is the Nad pre amp and Nad tuner a good buy.
With crown XLS 1002 215 watt amp.?
My experience with NAD is they aren't anything special. With no model numbers impossible to say.
The XLS is very low end. OK for PA.
Your neighbors called. They like your music.
Hello,
Are you intending to drive Altecs with this setup, or some other speakers? My Altecs, and I gather many others, are quite efficient, and do not need a huge amount of power to drive well.
With efficient speakers, too much power can be a real drawback in several areas. I am driving a pair of Altec 604s in 9 cu ft cabs with a 50 watt SET amp. With a passive preamp (no gain), 11 o'clock on the volume knob is as loud as I would ever want to listen. If you are looking at a 200+ watts (and a linear volume pot), you would probably never get above 7 o'clock, which gives you rotten/no volume control. Add in preamp gain, and things could get even more problematic. Of course there is amp sensitivity, etc, which come into play but you get the picture.
If you are going to pay for power, you might want to consider what the best power level might be (I am VERY happy at 50 watts), and spend the budget on the best quality power you can get. That will optimize your sound, and also provide you with some granularity on volume control. I ended up selling my active preamp because I had so little volume control that I could not listen at the level I wanted to.
Much of the trend towards big power are due to inefficient speakers, which Altecs are not. That opens the door to reasonably low power tube amps, which in my opinion are the way to go. Tastes vary, but you might want to give one a try.
If you have volume control on your source (like CD player) then you might want to see what going direct to the amp will sound like. You have to be careful, and turn the source volume ALL THE WAY DOWN before you turn on the amp, and raise the volume slowly. You might find that the elimination of the preamp gain, which you likely don't need, provides a much more clear sound. Again, taste comes into play, and everyone's taste is right for them. I would personally never go back to an active preamp.
regards -- Roger
Nad pre amp C 165BEEOriginally Posted by Old Guy
Nad Tuner C427 AM FM
HAFLER P 3100 Amp instead of Crown
I use a 15 year old NAD C-316BEE amp to drive a pair of 604-8Ks in my bedroom system, the sound is very decent for a budget amp. Not in the same league as my Simaudio amp but rather decent for the price.
Hafler P3100's are very high priced for what you get. Personally I would get a smaller amp, I like older Crowns like the D75 and D150.
There are literally hundreds of amps that can be bought for next to nothing. Ashly Mosfet amps come to mind.
Here's for instance, an FET 1000c for 80 bucks on Fleabay
Ashly FET-1000C Mosfet power amplifier | eBay
120 RMS per channel at 8 ohms at .004 % IM distortion. IMHO the IM distortion spec is more important than harmonic distortion, others may feel differently. But even that is .004 at 1 kHz, and .05% 20 to 20K. Shipping may cost a bit, the dang thing is built like a tank at 42 pounds.
Specs:
https://usermanual.wiki/Ashly/AshlyF...1181536955.pdf
I have a stack of old Crowns to put up on the marketplace if I can ever get past being old and slow. But ask for options. I'm sure other members have favorites too.
Happy Hunting!
Your neighbors called. They like your music.
My experience with at least half a dozen pieces of NAD over the years has been largely that the basic design and engineering is quite good. Sonically, there were some excellent examples. All of the failure modes i've experienced with NAD were relative to build quality, and the use of cheap/low quality semiconductors. Every piece of early NAD broke at some point.
Newer NAD saw improved build quality and longevity, but for me the sound isn't there in the newer kit which gets them filed squarely under "why bother?"
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
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