CREEK bargain ?

[admin_exported]

Hello -

I am thinking that the NAD C315BEE that I just bought is a little rubbish, and am going to call up the store and see if they will upgrade it for me, which I am hoping won't be a problem.

Speakers are looking like they will be the Tannoy DC4s, input a NAD T517 DVD and a Marantz KI sig DVD player (can't remember the model right now, but it was about £500 8 years ago). I will probably run a phono through it at some point as well (most likely a Rega Planar 3)

So - the options for my upgrade are either a NAD C326BEE [£290], or a CREEK EVO 1 amp, which the store is knocking out at £345, down from £550. I am leaning to the NAD as it has a sub-woofer line out which may come in handy soon and also seems like it might be slightly warmer in sound, which I would like.

But I wondered if anyone had any views on this ?

Thank you

Robert

 

[chebby]

Creek

 

[a91gti]

Creek also.

 

[matthewpiano]

Creek.

 

[Anonymous]

This seems like we have a quorum !

Any comments on the sound of the Creek ? Or my idea that the NAD might sound warmer ?

RDP

 

[plastic penguin]

rdpx:

This seems like we have a quorum !

Any comments on the sound of the Creek ? Or my idea that the NAD might sound warmer ?

RDP

Nad has a very similar sonic presentation to Arcam. The Creek has a very transparent and open sound - so if that's the sound that appeals, few others, imo, around that price are better. But we are talking about a mid-range amp and therefore will have quite an improved sound over the budget Nad.

 

[chebby]

Creek.

I don't like 'warm'.

At the budget level it is usually hiding something.

At the level of class A Sugdens (or a great valve amp) 'warm' can be good because it is not obscuring or making up for other deficiencies, and is more of a subtle character 'trait' - or 'accent' if you will - rather than a lumping great bag of treacle soaked cotton wool making up for rubbish bass.

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:
Creek.

I don't like 'warm'.

At the budget level it is usually hiding something.

At the level of class A Sugdens (or a great valve amp) 'warm' can be good because it is not obscuring or making up for other deficiencies, and is more of a subtle character 'trait' - or 'accent' if you will - rather than a lumping great bag of treacle soaked cotton wool making up for rubbish bass.

Its even worse if you connect your speakers the wrong way round, eh chebby

Remember us Naimees are everywhere...........

 

[chebby]

Meniscus..

Given that I was not personally present at any of the recordings on my CDs, and that I am not intimate with the layout of BBC studios etc. (and don't own any test disks), then having the right speaker on the left and vica versa is no big deal.

No improvement in sound quality resulted from swapping them back.

It was not as if the phase was out or anything really serious.

The story - for other folks here not 'in the know' like Meniscus - is that it seems Naim like to have the left hand speaker terminals on the right (when facing the front of the amp) and the right hand speaker terminals on the left.

A bit counter-intuitive (and opposite to every other manufacturer in the world) and a jolly jape to catch out people (like me) who have never owned Naim before and a 'legacy' quirk from the old days apparently. Nowadays it obviously serves to give old-timer Naim owners a giggle at 'Johnny come latelys' like myself.

Even my local dealer (when I told him) said that they had occasionally accidently demo'd Naim equipment connected like this themselves.

Thanks again Meniscus.

 

[plastic penguin]

Isn't that typical of Naimers?

 

[chebby]

Yes I was a little annoyed that after 38 years they had not got around to configuring terminals the 'right' (or normal) way around. It seems there is more to owning Naim than buying it.

One has to know all the tradition and 'tricks' too.

No doubt I will find out soon that my registration was invalid because I did not fill it out in Latin.

Rega are the same though. Since 1983 - with the advent of the RB tonearms - anyone following their turntable set-up instructions to the letter will come a cropper with the anti-skate slider. Everyone 'in the know' knows that even on a perfectly levelled support the anti-skate/bias should be set to at least half (or less) of what is recommended in the instructions.

They would no more think of correcting the instructions than they would consider recalibrating the anti-skate settings.

 

[Anonymous]

plastic penguin:Isn't that typical of Naimers?

Certainly is

Just for the record chebby, to be fair you were answering a post that a guy was asking how best to wire his speakers correctly and you posted a pic of your amp showing your speaker plugs about face, must admit that I did feel for you.

I would not have noticed either until it was pointed out but it did brighten up my day knowing you were a bit

thinking I'm glad it was not me................

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:
Yes I was a little annoyed that after 38 years they had not got around to configuring terminals the 'right' (or normal) way around. It seems there is more to owning Naim than buying it.

One has to know all the tradition and 'tricks' too.

No doubt I will find out soon that my registration was invalid because I did not fill it out in Latin.

Rega are the same though. Since 1983 - with the advent of the RB tonearms - anyone following their turntable set-up instructions to the letter will come a cropper with the anti-skate slider. Everyone 'in the know' knows that even on a perfectly levelled support the anti-skate/bias should be set to at least half (or less) of what is recommended in the instructions.

They would no more think of correcting the instructions than they would consider recalibrating the anti-skate settings.

Ah I was wondering that myself chebby after setting up my Rega p7 , I have one of those set - up LPs from years ago with a wide anti-skate band and the stylus remains perfect with only half of the recommended bias set, mystery solved................

 

[chebby]

The photo was just to illustrate what the Naim amp connectors looked like for the OP to find in his amp packaging. I was trying to be helpful.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep it helps to use another name - I know I do...........

 

[Gerrardasnails]

rdpx:
This seems like we have a quorum !

Any comments on the sound of the Creek ? Or my idea that the NAD might sound warmer ?

RDP

The original Creek Evo is powerful, fast, tight bass, very accurate representation of music and vocals and just an all round great sound. For that money, you will be hard pushed to come close.

 

[Anonymous]

Go for the creek. I've got it my bedroom with epos m5 speakers, and it sounds great, especially for a bedroom system.