David Finton
August 30th 03, 03:55 PM
I'm toying with the idea of upgrading my amp. The CD player is
an NAD 541i, and the speakers are Vandersteen 1b. These sound
good with my old NAD 7175PE receiver (75 watts per channel, 6dB
dynamic headroom).
I'm thinking about a used Acurus DIA 100, which is a nice 100 watt
per channel amp with an integrated passive preamp section. This
would be an upgrade to the receiver, certainly, but it might also
be a different sonic style, one which might not suit the rest of
the system or my listening tastes. An alternative is to feed a
passive preamp into the amp section of the NAD (something that
I've concept-tested with a cheap Radio Shack pot and liked).
So I'm hoping you all will be able to tell me something about
how the Acurus and the NAD compare in terms of presentation style.
As a reference point, I compared the NAD with Adcom amps when I
picked out the speakers (1991). I didn't like the Adcom sound
then as well as the NAD. I play trumpet, and I felt that the Adcom
made the Canadian Brass trumpeters sound too "closed in"--kind of
like hearing an English horn instead of an oboe, although the
difference was much more subtle. So timbre is very important to
me. I listen to lots of symphonic music, piano concertos, and
solo recitals.
I've heard people say that the Acurus is really bright; others
say that it's *neutral*, and you just need to give it a high quality
source. I've heard people say the NAD is bright also--is it? I've
also seen the NAD described as laid-back, so I'm wondering how these
amps would compare. I know I like the NAD in my system with a
passive preamp. I'm sure the Acurus would be an upgrade in quality,
but I'm wondering if I would find it brighter/harsher/more unforgiving.
The optimal thing would be a bake-off between the two amps with
my speakers, but that's not likely to happen. Any helpful observations
out there?
Thanks in advance,
David Finton
an NAD 541i, and the speakers are Vandersteen 1b. These sound
good with my old NAD 7175PE receiver (75 watts per channel, 6dB
dynamic headroom).
I'm thinking about a used Acurus DIA 100, which is a nice 100 watt
per channel amp with an integrated passive preamp section. This
would be an upgrade to the receiver, certainly, but it might also
be a different sonic style, one which might not suit the rest of
the system or my listening tastes. An alternative is to feed a
passive preamp into the amp section of the NAD (something that
I've concept-tested with a cheap Radio Shack pot and liked).
So I'm hoping you all will be able to tell me something about
how the Acurus and the NAD compare in terms of presentation style.
As a reference point, I compared the NAD with Adcom amps when I
picked out the speakers (1991). I didn't like the Adcom sound
then as well as the NAD. I play trumpet, and I felt that the Adcom
made the Canadian Brass trumpeters sound too "closed in"--kind of
like hearing an English horn instead of an oboe, although the
difference was much more subtle. So timbre is very important to
me. I listen to lots of symphonic music, piano concertos, and
solo recitals.
I've heard people say that the Acurus is really bright; others
say that it's *neutral*, and you just need to give it a high quality
source. I've heard people say the NAD is bright also--is it? I've
also seen the NAD described as laid-back, so I'm wondering how these
amps would compare. I know I like the NAD in my system with a
passive preamp. I'm sure the Acurus would be an upgrade in quality,
but I'm wondering if I would find it brighter/harsher/more unforgiving.
The optimal thing would be a bake-off between the two amps with
my speakers, but that's not likely to happen. Any helpful observations
out there?
Thanks in advance,
David Finton