Is NAD 320bee a match for MA RS6? My Cambridge 340a sounds a little light and thin, particularly at low volumes, and I was hoping to find some love at a similar price range. Anyone tried this match?
Thank you for the comments Carlos -- the more I read about NAD the more I feel an across the board audition is in order (320bee, 352, 372). If only I could change amps without my wife noticing!
Hi Colin, i have heard Nad 352,Rotel 1062 and Marantz (forgot the model no - not 7200) drive RS6, to my ears Rotel was the best option. May be because it has tighter bass compared to the NAD which compliments very well with the RS6 slightly loose bass. Please do listen to the Rotel - RS series combo, if you can even a RA03 or RA 02 if not 1062. - its better than the Rotel B&W combo mentioned more than a few times at many places (to my ears - great synergy).
NAD is awesome try for atleast 352 very identical sound to 320bee but more dynamic and better control- but to my ears Rotel - MA combo is more than a match.
Thanks very much for the advice -- how did you find the combos below in regards to the highs? A friend of mine has the rotel 1062 with b&w 602.5s and I find the presence lacks a bit of weight and the highs sound quite hard. Can you define what you mean my "loose" bass?
hi Colin, I wish you heard the same amp with either 602 s3 or even 603 s3 for weight and scale - i am saying this as i personally find 602.5 the weakest of the whole 600 series . Regarding highs - however its very important to get the cables right, Rotel has a very slight tendency to tilt towards upper freq and so does the 600 series (603 being the warmest of the lot), i tried quite a few but the best match were Kimber 8tc , Audioquest type 6 and type 4 in the same order. which goes a long way to tame the highs . But once you have everything sorted like cables and interconnects - you are in for a treat. Also may i ask what source and interconnects you are using. If you found your friends combo bright then may be rotel B&W might not be upto your taste and NAD might be a good option asuming your taste is on the opposite side ie a nice warm sound. However having said that Monitor audio RS6 has a much smoother treble and makes a very nice combo with the rotels. I was impressed with RS6s highs and mids but the bass was not as firm and solid as i would like it to be (hope this helps). But was much better with the Rotels for my ears. There are quite a few members here who have much better skills at wording there thoughts.... hopefully they are on there way.
The RA-1062's upper mid-range is clinical and very unforgiving with less than perfect source material. On the other hand its lower-mids and bass are incredibly rich and dynamic. I found out the hard way that matching it with bright speakers will result in listening fatigue. I was under the impression that MA were on the bright side of neutral...
Even i fail to understand logically - i was expecting the same with B&W 602 and rotel 1062 as both have tendency to lean very slightly to the bright side however they match very well and make great music together - once the cabling and interconnects are right. Same with the MA RS series - slightly bright but very smooth Treble much smoother than the B&W 600 series. The dealer insisted to listen to the Rotel MA combo - To my ears were fantastic - logic ?? unknown.
I agree with saurabh about the right cables. I spent more than I ever thought I could on some Merlin cables for my C542 cdp to a C162 pre to C272 power amp that drives B&W 602S3's. The mids are so clean, the highs very detailed and precise and non fatiging and they also gave the bass such excellent control. The 602.5's are nothing more than 601's in a large box and are a most unnotable speaker imho. I don't know if Colin is still around, but if so, you have been given good advice on this thread, but remember it's your ears.
Thanks everyone for the great guidance! I apologize for the lack of reply, I have been unable to get to the board lately.
I am going to try to convince my friend to let me borrow his 1062 as I would like to hear it with my speakers in my room - but I will have to bribe him with good scotch!
I have not really experimented with cables, just using no-name 12g OFC -- I admit I have a hard time spending significant money on the cables, but I may (price permitting) try the combos suggested above.
I hardly want to admit my source -- but it is the dreaded ipod, with some music in apple lossless (and some not...). I realize this is a problem, garbage in garbage out etc etc, however my music is almost exclusively digital now and recovering the source (i.e. cds) would be a huge pain, so I am going to make the best of this source for now.
I appreciate he guidance very much, and will report when I have had a chance to try the 1062, and with luck, the 320 and 352 as well.
On a very tight budget - try Audioquest type 4 cable though type 6 would be better. would be interesting to know more from your side. And same like MR - i have tried too many cables before getting to them. At onn point i was about to give up.
