Replacing my trusty NAD 314 amp - possible on the cheap?

[admin_exported]

Afternoon all,

Many moons ago I studied What HiFi for a year and then on my 18th birthday my Dad took me to Richer Sounds to spend the money that was burning a hole in my pocket.

I came away with a Technics SL-PS670d CD player, a NAD 314 amp, and Mordaunt Short MS25i floorstanders.

At the time (14 years ago) they were all award winners, with possibly the cd player being the slightly weak link. Anyway, the nad is now crackling away in the right channel and I'm led to believe a repair is probably going to cost more than the amp is worth. Problem is I'm skint (like most people) so can't afford to spend much on a replacement.

Richer have the Cambridge AZUR 340a for 120 notes - I'm very tempted. But I've got two concerns; firstly will the Cambridge get near the performance of my old NAD, and secondly will it be a touch too bright if I'm listening to mostly metal and heavy rock?

Bearing in mind my very limited resources (could possibly stretch to 150) any comments and suggestions will be gladly received.

 

[d_a_n1979]

IMO eBay will be your best bet

An Arcam Alpha 9 integrated amp sold yesterday for less than £150 so maybe have a look at some of those

Other amps to consider, IMO, would be:

NAD C320BEE
Arcam Alpha 8R
NAD C325BEE (for sale on another well known HI & AV forum

Rotel RA01

 

[the record spot]

Check around on Gumtree in your local area. Some good stuff turns up there for often surprisingly little and in good nick. Sort the wheat from the chaff though.

If you'd like to go secondhand, there's a Cyrus Straight Line amp at Bartlett's in London for £150. Ask there, they might let you try it out at home for a week or so - you'd need to pay for delivery and return of course, but for the money, it's a great price. Many people apparently preferred it to the Cyrus 3i of the day, no remote, so none of the motorised circuits that came with that, hence a better and cleaner design internally (apparently).

Sansui AU-217, expect to get this for less than £50. Terrific little amp; got mine for £33 all in including serviced and delivered. Bears many of the same characteristics sound-wise of the 717 I use just now. I still have the 217 and would put it up against any of the current crop from today. Not so many inputs but a good phono stage and if multiple line inputs are your thing (you have a limit of three including the tape-out with the 217), then look elsewhere. One you can listen to, like many of the Sansui range from the mid-late 1970s, for hours on end.

 

[Anonymous]

my vote, as always would be for a Pioneer A400. The amp is a similar vintage to the one its replacing but is very well built so it should last for many years to come. You can pick up a mint example for around £100 on ebay.
i cant recommend it enough - ive got two myself!

 

[johnnyblue]

I replaced my Nad 314 at Christmas with a Cambridge Audio Azur 640a V2 and I definitely wouldn't advise the 340a as you will find it seriously underpowered. I was very surprised by the fact that the Nad is pretty much as powerful as the 640a despite being 30w as opposed to a claimed 75watts. On the plus side of the 640a is the fact that it has revealed more detail at the top end of most recordings.On the negative side, this has meant that some stuff is very harsh at the top end at higher volumes.I believe from what I've read that this applies to all CA amps, certainly at the budget end.