Amp Replacement?

londonguy

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Mar 22, 2011
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Ive got a NAD C320BEE amp with Monitor Audio BX5 speakers played with a squeezebox mainly. I do have a turntable and cd player but they are used probably 10% of the time as the squeezebox is much easier.

Ive been thinking of changing the amp as the bass on it sometimes gets too much. I love the sound of it on slower music, acoustic, slow tempo electronic etc... but with faster rock/indie music i feel it loses some of the higher treble notes in the bass signal.

Been trying to read up on some amps that may improve this, i dont want to lose the clarity on slower music but is it possible to gain a little faster, more gutsy amp for rock music at the same time?

Budget is probably £250 max so im probably looking at the 2nd hand market. I was wondering about peoples opinions on an arcam 9 or 10, some of the rotel range or if possible a rega? Although i notice that the Monitor Audio A100 is now half price at £199, would that be a good match for their own speakers?

Would they be reasonable ones to think about? or any other options? Only real stipulation is it must have a remote
 

londonguy

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Mar 22, 2011
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The c320 has tone controls and ive played around with them before, All it really does is turn the bass volume down, not change the charateristic of the amps bass. Ive also had a play with speaker positioning.

Maybe i worded the OP wrong, what im after is a bit more revealing amp
 

MeanandGreen

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londonguy said:
Maybe i worded the OP wrong, what im after is a bit more revealing amp

You won't achieve that with £250 even second hand, that isn't going to give you much of a jump over your C320. The bass problem is definitley an acoustic problem rather than an electronics problem.

Having googled your speakers they look like hefty floorstanders, could they not be too big for your room hence the bass swallowing the rest of the sound?
 

tonky

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Failing a Brio R maybe a Pioneer A400 or go to richer sounds and listen to some cambridge amps up to 300£ ish.

tonky
 

londonguy

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just to finish the thread i did try a rega brio r and although it had more clarity than the nad i didnt find it as enjoyable to listen to for long periods. I ended up a little over budget but bought a primare i21 for £300 and its been great so far. Has so much more clarity, the bass is punchier and not as overblown as the nad.

I did plug the nad back in to double check and it was like id thrown a blanket over the speakers to hear the difference between the two.

Plus the primare just looks so damn sexy :)
 

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