I'm looking at getting a nice hifi system, not a surround home theatre, but just a good sounding powerful system. I need an integrated amp, and some nice bookshelf speakers... I've been looking at the NAD C320BEE, and I have a few questions: It says on the site 2 x 50W Minimum Continuous Power into 4 / 8 ohms 110W, 160W, 210W, IHF Dynamic power into 8, 4 and 2 ohms, respectively So basically 50W RMS, or 110/160 Dynamic? According to this: http://www.yamaha.com/yec/customer/faqs/general/faq13b.htm As far as speakers go, what about these: http://www.polkaudio.com/home/products.php?category=4&speaker=181 4/8 Ohm impedances, whats the diff? Bookshelf speakers, any good?
bookshelf speakers generally lack bass compared to floor standers. and bookshelf speakers may be cheaper but then you have to add the price of some proper stands with spiked feet. If you do go for bookshelf speakers a quick tip bluetac (blacktac is the best but hard to find) the speaker to the stand. Doent cost much at all but helps the sound.
i say go to a nice Hi-Fi store that is willing to spend loads of time demoing gear to you and making recommendations based on your room and where you want to put speakers. you can't make choices based on numbers on a web page.
I don't think you would be disappointed with the sound using the NAD amp and Polk speakers together. They are both good names to choose equipment from. If possible, it would be good to listen to them together before you purchase them. The speakers will be the easiest to hear the difference in sound so if you can't match the amp to the speaker you should at least try to listen to the speakers you are interested in before buying them. You should also listen to some other speaker brands in the same price range to see how you like the comparison. You may find that you prefer another speaker brand or model. I'm sure the Polks will sound great though. Edit: After doing a little more looking at the Polk site and reading some of the reviews you may want to look into a set of the Polk RT25i speakers. They are around the same price range you are looking at and then when you can afford it, add a good subwoofer to the set. You would have a really nice setup. Though they are discontinued you may be able to find a set somewhere. The RTi28's are the replacements I understand. Here is a link to the speakers: http://www.polkaudio.com/home/products.php?category=4&speaker=26&recent=1
Thanks alot for the advice guys... I'm going to go check out the NAD at an good audio shop. Maybe floorstanding speakers are better?
you heard of cambridge audio? not sure if they sell in america... check out their website. the camrbidge azur 640c cd player is the same price as the nad one here but gets better reviews, although apparently the nad amp and cambridge audio cd player work very well together with decent interconnects from the reviews i have read. http://www.cambridgeaudio.com edit: us seller http://www.audioplusservices.com edit2: your canadian... http://www.plurison.com
Yea, but if I get the NAD Amp, I'll get a NAD Cd player, so they look good together. Yep, I've heard of cambridge, I'm still looking around in local audio shops so I haven't decided on NAD yet... If I get a cambridge amp, I'd get the cambridge cd player...
I have the NAD C320BEE. Sounds good, and is a good buy for the price. It's (rather conservatively) rated 50W RMS, but into an 8 ohm load was found to deliver 70W without clipping. You can get the NAD at £199 at superfi.co.uk I think. As far as speakers go, I've not found any floorstanding speakers under £300 that sound anywhere near as good as bookshelf speakers for the same price. Of course, it's difficult to recommend speakers as people have very different views as to what sounds good and what doesn't. You have to go to the hi-fi shop and listen to what sounds good to you and your wallet.
Yes, I've read alot about how NAD likes to be very modest with it's power ratings, which is good. Speakers are definitly very personal, I'm just deciding between bookshelf or floor standing...
Your welcome for the help. After reading about the rave reviews on the Polk RTi25 speakers it got my curiosity going so I went on Ebay and found some sets of the 25's and a set of the 28's for sale. I ended up bidding on the 28's as I want to hear the sound myself. It looks like these speakers are selling for less than half the new price. If you use Ebay you may want to try getting some speakers this way. You will save a lot of money over new prices and the money saved could go towards a sub if you want to go that route. I wouldn't be to concerned about having to get some floorstanding speakers. They do have more bass but if you go with a three piece system by adding a sub you will have some great bass and possibly better than some floorstanding models. The sub can be added later when you have the extra cash for it. Saving for a good one would be worth the wait in my opinion. Another thought you could do if you aren't already doing so is, read some reviews on equipment in the price range that you are allowing yourself. This will save you some time possibly in your search for "the ultimate system".
either the amp will have a dedicated subwoofer output or, in most cases, you need to run the speaker cables through the sub and set a crossover frequency knob to the point your stereo speakers give up the sonic ghost.
Most subs have a left and right output to tie your satellite speakers to as Fod stated. The crossover is built into the sub along with a amp usually. You can select between using the built in amp or your own amp to drive the speakers. If you want to use the built in amp you just need a preamp level to drive the sub. It's amazing how much a sub adds to the total sound. I once listened to a pair of KEF speakers that retailed around $4,000 dollars and they were great speakers by themselves. There was a sub tied into the system also. After turning off the sub and letting the main speakers handle the total sound you just didn't have the same effect and wanted that sub back on.
