Need your opinions on amp/speaker pairings...

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the feedback, lads! Much appreciated, indeed.

I'm really torn with this decision, but right now my budget (and wife) is doing the talking. Looks like the Naim/Neat pairing is a little out of reach right now (will cost me $3100 before cables).

A used Arcam A22 is available for $750 and I may be able to get a better deal than that (it's been on the market for almost 3 months). Maybe that paired with the MA RS6 will be a decent "Plan B" for now. It will cost me over $1000 less, and that's a significant savings for me right now.

There's also a used Arcam A85 for $450...but I'm thinking the FMJ A22 will have more of that "OOMPH" that I'm looking for in the lower frequencies.

Has anyone heard NAD or Arcam driving Neat Motives?

 

[Anonymous]

I have no experience with these speaker/amp combinations, but I've heard the A85 and have some older Arcam Alpha components. I would never buy Arcam again. The thing is you can't put back what isn't there just by using bright speakers. Arcam sound boring. Combining them with bright speakers won't solve the lack of dynamics, cohesion and slam to the sound.

I've recently tested the older NAD C352 with my equipment and it sounded flat and dull, worse than my Arcam. Ok the C355 might be better, but how much?

Better to go with the Naim. Can't any bright treble issues be solved with different interconnects/cables anyway?