NAD C165BEE pre amp/Nad C275BEE power amp/NAD C 565BEE CD Player combination running B & W CM-7 or 9s

[josh05]

Hi all, was just wondering if anyone could tell me there opinions on this combination for a new Hi-Fi and whether there would be a significant difference in the pre power amp combination over the smaller NAD C 355BEE Integrated amp.

thanks in advance, Josh.

 

[jaxwired]

Boy did you come to the right place. I used to own a NAD C355 and then later owned a NAD 165/275 combo. I used the C545 CDP though. Highly recommend the C545 over the more expensive C565 CDP. I home demoed the 565 against the 545 and found the 545 to be superior in sound quality. They are extremely different internally. What HiFi basically agreed with this assessment.

Now, on to your real question. OMG yes! The 165/275 combo is leaps ahead of the 355. The amp is far more neutral in the mids and highs and has much more articulate and detailed bass. The bass is also significantly deeper and sounds more realistic and natural. The bass is simply sumptious and will likely make many other amps sound like they are missing the last octave of bass. Not that the deep bass is overly pronounced, it's not, it's just present and more real sounding. THis combo sounds creamy smooth and is detailed, clean, and highly musical. It's not the most analytical sounding, but few similarly priced offerings are as entertaining IMO.

If you are in the USA, the 165/275 has few peers at it's price (they are more pricey in the UK for some reason). There have been two rave reviews of this NAD product from respected sources.

What are your speakers and how big is your room?

Here's what my system looked like when I had the NAD kit: http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/373792.aspx

 

[josh05]

Thanks for your quick very helpful reply! 🙂

awesome setup btw!

i'm glad this sounds like a good combo because i am in a very small part of Australia and very restricted to brands.

i'm also curious about the scale and dynamics of the amp when i went in to my local hifi shop he only had a 326BEE connected to some cheaper wharfedale bookshelf speakers and an older model NAD cd player and it sounded quite netreul and detailed but seemed to lack a little in dynamics and scale. im thinking the much more expensive b & w's should help and the fact that i would be using the pre/power amp combination?

 

[jaxwired]

You need to demo before you buy. However, I doubt you will be dissapointed. The 165/275 is a clear and obvious upgrade to the 355. You might also consider the C375 which would likely save you quite a bit of money if you don't need the separates. I believe it's basically a one box version of the 165/275 combo. You don't get separate power supplies and you don't get the benefit of separating the delicate preamp section from the power amp, but it's a big price diff...

 

[Anonymous]

I'd like to add that the B&W CM towers love lots of current, and sound best when played loud. They sound loose and undefined with weaker amps (or those with less damping).

A bigger power amp versus a midsized integrated is definitely the way to go with these speakers.

 

[josh05]

thanks for your advice jaxwired defiently going to audition the pre/power amp combination just have too hope my dealer is getting one in. its only a small business and he doesnt order a lot of stock. hopefully if i tell him i'm interested in it he might get one in. 🙂

 

[josh05]

thanks stagea i have spoken to you before in another forum and u told me this, thats why i reckon the pre/power amp combination is defiently worth it, i want to get as much potential out of the cm's as i can. Still would like to audition rotel or cambridge audio 740 series but its a 2 hour trip to the dealer.

 

[Anonymous]

I would go for the pre/power too, should last you for quite a while.

Just added a pre instead of an integrated with my power amp, and there is a lovely sound with it now.

Pre/power is the way to go!

 

[Anonymous]

josh05:thanks stagea i have spoken to you before in another forum and u told me this, thats why i reckon the pre/power amp combination is defiently worth it, i want to get as much potential out of the cm's as i can. Still would like to audition rotel or cambridge audio 740 series but its a 2 hour trip to the dealer.

Hi Josh,

Yeah, I think i remember that. I see you've upped your amp budget by quite a bit. 🙂

If you have the budget for a separate pre/power, then you should be looking higher up the price scale for your amp. The C165BEE/C275BEE would be a lot stronger than the 740A (it's still considerably stronger than the 840A).

Choose among entry level separates (like the C165BEE/C275BEE) or premium integrateds in the same price range. The higher end integrateds would most likely sound better at moderate volumes, but the high power separates will fill a big room and would give you the dynamics that the CM9s are very capable of delivering.

 

[josh05]

Thanks Stagea!

I'm going to have too listen too some integrated amps around the same price as the pre/power combination, do you think the sound would be a lot better going for a higher end integrated over the pre/power? i really want a detailed neutrel sound that has good dynamics and everyone has told me nad's seem to have a good neutrel sound.

Do you think the pre/power would deliver heaps better dynamics over say the roksan kandy k2? being 125w its not far behind in power and recieved an awesome review.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the K2 would produce a more neutral and detailed sound (of course Neutral can be quite subjective). NADs tend to have pumped up lows (at least for me), which can make things sound boomy.

The Roskan K2 is rated at 125w, which isn't that far off. This makes for a very dynamic sound for an integrated amp. NAD rates power quite conservatively though, since they measure with quite a bit of headroom.

Listen to both, then decide for yourself. 🙂

 

[josh05]

I'm really going to have to listen to a few different amps i think. Obviously the aim is to get the best sound quality i can so i have to decide really between power and quality it seems, The Primare i30 looks like a good integrated might be a bit out of my budget but i'm thinking if it sounds as good as the review says it might be worth it as it has a pre amp out so i could upgrade power in the future, the 100w it has standard would be enough too keep me going untill i got a power amp for it.