Which NAD pre- and power-amplifier are the best?

Which NAD pre- and power-amplifier are the best?

I would appreciate your experience!

My Revox B251 "gave up" and I would like to buy NAD pre- and power-
amplifier.

My requirements:
- Musical sound picture and details (i have also a 3020i and this
amplifier sounds really nice)
- can drive critical speakers (I have Dynaudio 3-ways system); I am
also thinking one day to buy Dynaudio Confidence 5
- good MC part for my Ortofon TMC 200 (low output MC)
- shall additionally to CD have also AUX input

How good are following NAD-s:
1155
1300
208 THX
218 THX
Are there better ones?

Remark: I am going to buy 2nd hand.

Thank you!
Drazen

Re: Which NAD pre- and power-amplifier are the best?

On Mar 17, 12:33 am, Drazen <dadonja...@yahoo.de> wrote:
> I would appreciate your experience!
>
> My Revox B251 "gave up" and I would like to buy NAD pre- and power-
> amplifier.

Why not fix it? JM Technical Arts in Tennessee will do so at a quite
reasonable price. What are the symptoms?

But: I also keep a B251 that threatened to "give up" - turned out to
be the rear switch was wonky in addition to a sticky relay. Cleaned
them both (MY GOODNESS, what a PITA!) and it reverted to its usual
good nature. Also, there are four fuses underneath behind a small
plate - have you checked those? Unless you have let the magic smoke
out, it is unlikely that your unit needs anything massively
expensive.

With reference to NAD (and I am expressing only my opinion and
experience here), they are certainly well-sounding, but as to which is
best, the short answer is none-of-them. The build-quality and
reliability is pretty wretched and varies greatly from unit-to-unit.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

Re: Which NAD pre- and power-amplifier are the best?

> Why not fix it? JM Technical Arts in Tennessee will do so at a quite
> reasonable price. What are the symptoms?
>
> But: I also keep a B251 that threatened to "give up" - turned out to
> be the rear switch was wonky in addition to a sticky relay. Cleaned
> them both (MY GOODNESS, what a PITA!) and it reverted to its usual
> good nature. Also, there are four fuses underneath behind a small
> plate - have you checked those? Unless you have let the magic smoke
> out, it is unlikely that your unit needs anything massively
> expensive.

I am sorry Peter to disappoint you, but there WAS a magic smoke since
a capacitor exploded (the explosion sounded also a very impressive :-)
and spread several parts making shortcuts on the printplate. It looks
I need to exchange the power part for one channel and this is not in
it. I will sell it on Ebay and hopefully somebody has another working
channel and can give my old amplifier a new life. Revox B251 is really
an excellent device if you do not look at stability when driving
difficult speakers and complexity of its construction.
NAD and only few other names which a mortal being can afford are
sounding comparable.

I also decided to buy Dynaudio Confidence 5 speakers (although people
say it is a tough task to find a right amplifier to drive it).
That is why I was wondering if NAD 208 THX can do this job. Dynaudio
does not want to give any advice (???- probably they do not want to
give any preference, but leaving me without answer - is also not nice)

Drazen

Re: Which NAD pre- and power-amplifier are the best?

On Mar 18, 6:51 pm, Drazen <dadonja...@yahoo.de> wrote:

> I also decided to buy Dynaudio Confidence 5 speakers (although people
> say it is a tough task to find a right amplifier to drive it).
> That is why I was wondering if NAD 208 THX can do this job. Dynaudio
> does not want to give any advice (???- probably they do not want to
> give any preference, but leaving me without answer - is also not nice)

These?

http :// www .dynaudiousa,com /products/archive/conf5/conf5spec.htm

So, they have an actual impedance of ~4 ohms - you are looking for
stability at that level. There are a whole bunch of solid-state
vintage units out there that would be perfectly happy at that load. As
they also look like power-pigs, I would start with the brute-force
units up in the 200+ range.

Immediate thoughts are:

Dynaco ST-416
http :// home.indy,net /~gregdunn/dynaco/components/ST416/index.html

Harmon Kardon Citation 16
http :// www .canuckaudiomart,com /view images.php?cat=Amplifiers&catnick=amplifiers&cfidp122&image id@6803

Both of these beasts are perfectly happy at 2 ohms, both have plenty
of power, and both are pretty rugged - far more rugged than any NAD
unit I have seen.

Pays you money, takes you chances.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Re: Which NAD pre- and power-amplifier are the best?

"Peter Wieck" <pfjw@aol,com > skrev i en meddelelse
news:frs5vk02lt0@news5.newsguy,com ...
> On Mar 18, 6:51 pm, Drazen <dadonja...@yahoo.de> wrote:
>
>> I also decided to buy Dynaudio Confidence 5 speakers (although people
>> say it is a tough task to find a right amplifier to drive it).
>> That is why I was wondering if NAD 208 THX can do this job. Dynaudio
>> does not want to give any advice (???- probably they do not want to
>> give any preference, but leaving me without answer - is also not nice)
>
> These?
>
> http :// www .dynaudiousa,com /products/archive/conf5/conf5spec.htm
>
> So, they have an actual impedance of ~4 ohms - you are looking for
> stability at that level. There are a whole bunch of solid-state
> vintage units out there that would be perfectly happy at that load. As
> they also look like power-pigs, I would start with the brute-force
> units up in the 200+ range.
>
> Immediate thoughts are:
>
> Dynaco ST-416
> http :// home.indy,net /~gregdunn/dynaco/components/ST416/index.html
>
> Harmon Kardon Citation 16
> http :// www .canuckaudiomart,com /view_images.php?cat=Amplifiers&catnick=amplifiers&cfid=70122&image_id=406803
>
> Both of these beasts are perfectly happy at 2 ohms, both have plenty
> of power, and both are pretty rugged - far more rugged than any NAD
> unit I have seen.
>
> Pays you money, takes you chances.
>
> Peter Wieck
> Melrose Park, PA
>

NAD S-100 Pre (Silverline series) sounds very natural!
And in a whole different league, compared to the dark NAD's

Yamaha M-85 Sounds GORGEUS vith Dynaudio
Just heard a pair of Dynaudio BM6P nearfieldmonitors yesterday- Driven by my
M-85 Lots of air control and musicallity there!!!

Best regards
Tonni