new amp nad c352 or c355 or sony 1200es

[lee37]

i want to replace my sony str da555es receiver for a decent amplifier just to play music.i have £400 to spend

surround sound is in a different room

is th c355 better than the c352?

what is the sound quality compared to the sony 555es.receiver

or is the sony 1200es comparable sound quality to the nads even though its a receiver?

the sony speakers are 100w rms per speaker nominal + (200w din) will the nad 355 struggle as it is only 80w rms per channel when i crank up the volume (i have never taken the sony amp past 70% vol)?

is a £400 nad amp better sound quality than a £800 sony receiver?

other components are

sony cdp x303es cd player

sony 980 qs minidisc player

sony apm 181es speakers

qed interconnect and xt450 speaker cable

see this link for info on the sony 555es as a comparison

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/1001

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lee, well in terms of using a receiver as a stereo amp, it's best to remember that the general rule of thumb is that a receiver/av amp is the equivalent of an amp which is about 4 times less in price. Therefore on that basis the C352 retailed for around 370.00, so yes it's definitely best for pure sound quality to go for a stereo amplifier. Now in terms of comparing the C352 and C355, well if you are happy to buy second hand from ebay, then I would say go for the C352, I can't really hear a difference between the two amps so it comes down to buying new or buying second hand. I own the NAD C352 bought second hand off ebay and I am very happy with my purchase, I think it's an excellent amp and since I bought it for around 200.00, it makes it a bargain to.

Also the NAD will never struggle at 80 watts per channel

in fact I find that just over 9 o clock on the volume control is very loud!, don't worry about power, the ND has it in abundance.