I love my NAD amp - it is a bit of budget classic after all. I have thought about changing it though sometime this year (if I survive a redundancy announcement the company I work for are making tomorrow...).
But wondering what would be a suitable upgrade (was thinking about Rega Brio 3), and how much difference I would notice I have thought about a few 'tweaks' I could make to my system.
THe NAD has pre-out / main-in connectors round the back with some pre-installed factory links (plastic connector 'tie' things with some wire/metal that connect the pre to the main). Now I have read of a person who took these out and replaced with some Vand Den Hul cable and connectors and claimed it helped with the NAD's bass sound - perhaps it's one weakness. Does this sound a likely benefit or perhaps this is a classic hi-fi placebo effect?
Also, I could upgrade my speaker cable. I have Ecosse CS2.3 driving my Epos EPS3 speakers. The cable is well reviewed, and I like the overall sound. I always thought the NAD was 'easy' on this sort of thing but is it the best cable to drive the speakers re the load/impedance? I never looked into the science of this and so don't really understand if I have suitable cable for the amp/speaker combination.
And lastly I could put some ballast into my Atacama speaker stands. But they are hefty stands and small speakers which are not driven very hard. SO do you people think stand ballast would make any difference?
Sorry for all the questions, and hope I'm making sense. If I can make any noticeable gains and keep the NAD I would prefer to do that. It's such a warm & easy sounding amp. I love it, and can't afford to waste money right now on an amp upgrade of £500 if that's what I would need to spend to better the NAD by any real margin.
But wondering what would be a suitable upgrade (was thinking about Rega Brio 3), and how much difference I would notice I have thought about a few 'tweaks' I could make to my system.
THe NAD has pre-out / main-in connectors round the back with some pre-installed factory links (plastic connector 'tie' things with some wire/metal that connect the pre to the main). Now I have read of a person who took these out and replaced with some Vand Den Hul cable and connectors and claimed it helped with the NAD's bass sound - perhaps it's one weakness. Does this sound a likely benefit or perhaps this is a classic hi-fi placebo effect?
Also, I could upgrade my speaker cable. I have Ecosse CS2.3 driving my Epos EPS3 speakers. The cable is well reviewed, and I like the overall sound. I always thought the NAD was 'easy' on this sort of thing but is it the best cable to drive the speakers re the load/impedance? I never looked into the science of this and so don't really understand if I have suitable cable for the amp/speaker combination.
And lastly I could put some ballast into my Atacama speaker stands. But they are hefty stands and small speakers which are not driven very hard. SO do you people think stand ballast would make any difference?
Sorry for all the questions, and hope I'm making sense. If I can make any noticeable gains and keep the NAD I would prefer to do that. It's such a warm & easy sounding amp. I love it, and can't afford to waste money right now on an amp upgrade of £500 if that's what I would need to spend to better the NAD by any real margin.
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