Musical Fidelity => NAD. Is it a good idea?

[BLASTO]

Hi Guys,

I have a Musical Fidelity A5.5 connected to thiel CS1.6 floor stands.

In an attempt to improve bass on this setup, I started testing out with the obvious choice => NAD.

I borrowed the NAD C325BEE from a friend and tested it out in my setup in the weekend.

Below are the observations compared to Musical Fidelity.

1) There is definite boost in bass. The sound is more enveloping but not 3 dimensional.

2) The expansive sound stage of Musical Fidelity is completely gone. It shrunk into half a size everything else being same.

3) Liveliness is replaced by increased attack and dynamics.

4) Transients in the low frequencies increased while the transients in HFs decreased in the same time. I don't know how.

Is it wise to think that the higher end NADs (C375BEE for eg) will have bigger sound stage and same bass performance? For me the biggest difference is missing the expansive sound stage.

Is there some company which I should be looking at for Bass performance of the NAD along with expansive sound stage of the Musical Fidelity? Will the higher end NADs match the sound stage of musical fidelity?

Overall it is a downgrade as expected but will higer end NADs improve on those aspects?

In short, What will be difference between a C325BEE and C375BEE? Will it be only power or there is improvement in sophistication too?

Thanks,

 

[longshanks]

NAD does make some very good electronics and their amplifiers are always easy to listen to and very forgiving and warm.

Musical fedility starts of as being a bit more high end in terms of how they sell their products and from what ive heard of them they have always sounded to my liking,they sell amplifiers like the titan which costs around 50k$ and people buy and use them so they must be doing something to make people spend that kind of money.

But overall i suggest you forget the brand and go for the sound that you prefer on a long term,if a 50$ amplifier sounds better than a 5000$ amplifier in my system i would hands down buy the former with no second thoughts.

High price does not always mean better sound.

 

[arj]

Blasto,
what is the CD player/source you use ?
I would suggest try to hear the same music at any other FMs house who has a good system to fix a reference point. Bass etc are very subjective and also depends on the Music content and the music source and untill you get an idea as to which of the two systems is mrore truthful. you may be on a never-ending goosechase !

Based on just your above observations, i would never change the Musical fidelity as any system which gets a good soundstage is perhaps not doing anything too wrong..and getting better bass at the expense of a sounstage is definitely not the right way !

I doubt of you will get anything much different from the higher end NAD. If within your budget you could check out the Krell amp on sale too..

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

NAD is a brand I've always respected, whereas MF is a brand I've always wanted.


Just thinking aloud... there is another approach you could take to this...

Your aim is to change the tonal balance, or flavour of the music. Why not look at something that is designed to do exactly that? A couple of years ago, member Vortex (thevortex?) posted about the Behringer DEQ2496. This is a monster gadget which you can use not only for Eq, but for room correction too. He was very happy results, and I think he was using some high-end gear too. What's more, for what it is, it is not greatly expensive.

Hoped-for result... You don't have to change the well-respected amplifier or speakers. You get to adjust the sound balance in infinite ways including transparent. You get to build in room correction too. Quite a sophisticated package

 

[BLASTO]

But overall i suggest you forget the brand and go for the sound that you prefer on a long term,if a 50$ amplifier sounds better than a 5000$ amplifier in my system i would hands down buy the former with no second thoughts.

High price does not always mean better sound.

I kind of know.

I am hoping that someone would help me make that decision by providing inputs on the difference between C325BEE and C375BEE.

If I would have compared the C375BEE directly, I would have made a decision already. Brands don't matter as you said.

 

[BLASTO]

Blasto,
what is the CD player/source you use ?
I would suggest try to hear the same music at any other FMs house who has a good system to fix a reference point. Bass etc are very subjective and also depends on the Music content and the music source and untill you get an idea as to which of the two systems is mrore truthful. you may be on a never-ending goosechase !

I have MusicHall A25.2, Rotel RCD 991 and now building a full digital setup consisting of ESI Juli@ -> Musical Fidelity M1 -> Amp -> Thiel CS1.6. I have tried with all of them.

The thiels are very revealing and points out flaws in every component in the chain.

The USP of the musical fidelity is, high details retrieval coupled with an expansive sound stage. Bass is strong and tight but not pronounced.

I am looking forward to getting soft and engaging bass performance along with the characters of the musical fidelity.

Based on just your above observations, i would never change the Musical fidelity as any system which gets a good soundstage is perhaps not doing anything too wrong..and getting better bass at the expense of a sounstage is definitely not the right way !
I doubt of you will get anything much different from the higher end NAD.

I was kind of hoping higher end NADs will address the issues with lower end ones. Else what is the use of higher end versions?

If within your budget you could check out the Krell amp on sale too..

Srini has the same speakers as I do. And he is selling the krell.

 

[srinisundar]

Srini has the same speakers as I do. And he is selling the krell.

Somehow when i have decided to buy Thiel i have corresponded earlier with sidvee when he has written about demoing about some high end thiel with audio people in HFV. Based on his comments i have gone ahead.

Since i am totally into tube amps cleaning the racks so krell is up for sale. On the look out for Tube amps seeing Cayin drove the thiel with itz limited power with ease decided to go with tube amps. Got an PM from Sidvee assuring that Quick silver mono's will drive the thiel perfectly took a plunge after discussing with Rajiv and final flavor was done with Lyrita DHT Pre.

The reviewer of Krell described it is as giving "audiophile bass" which somebody has to hear with my Thiel and tell whether it gives an audiophile bass which blasto expects. Taste matters

May be my humble suggestion is to get hold of Sidvee one day and get defined about bass and further suggestion to tune your system to your taste. You are lucky to have Sidvee an good reviewer and an audiophile in your city.

Regards

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

now building a full digital setup consisting of ESI Juli@ -> Musical Fidelity M1 -> Amp -> Thiel CS1.6.

Once you get your music onto a PC, you can adjust the playback to be as you want it very easily, and you can do it with tools ranging from something almost as simple as bass/treble knobs to something as complex as a full graphic equaliser.

Here's mine, adjusting for my ears. It is very approximate, as I'm very much a beginner with this tool, but the blip, for instance, was some high percussion that I actually can't hear at all without eq. Of course, no room-correction tools here, but hey, this is even cheaper than the Behringer box: it's free



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[captrajesh]

The USP of the musical fidelity is, high details retrieval coupled with an expansive sound stage. Bass is strong and tight but not pronounced.

I am looking forward to getting soft and engaging bass performance along with the characters of the musical fidelity.

Apologies but unable to comprehend what you are saying. Your choice of words (those highlighted) are contradiction each other as per my limited understanding. Could you kindly elaborate?

 

[mpw]

blasto,

there will be a difference between the 326 and 375. Increased power will lead to increased grip on the proceedings.

But its not the C375 that you should be looking at but the C275 ( power amp ). They say the C275 has a much better finesse while the C375 is feature loaded. the thing why i point you to the C275 is that it is a power amp only.. ( ie do one thing but do it well funda )

I hope you get a C375 or C372 or a C275 as a loaner to experiment with..

BTW.. i did not understand what is missing in your current system. I recall the detail with which the Thiels were selected. Are they coming up short ? How is their positioning ? A few pics would be nice.. ( if you have a link to those .. please point us to that )

I suppose the MF and the NAD are completely different beasts in that they may offer a different sound altogether.

Would it be true ( in a general sort of a way ) to assume that NAD owners would find MF short on bass front ?

mpw

 

[Shivam]

I have used a Musical Fidelity CD player with NAD C375 BEE and had got the best of both the worlds. MF was musical and enveloping and NAD gave me a good dynamic sound.

 

[BLASTO]

blasto,

there will be a difference between the 326 and 375. Increased power will lead to increased grip on the proceedings.

But its not the C375 that you should be looking at but the C275 ( power amp ). They say the C275 has a much better finesse while the C375 is feature loaded. the thing why i point you to the C275 is that it is a power amp only.. ( ie do one thing but do it well funda )

I hope you get a C375 or C372 or a C275 as a loaner to experiment with..

BTW.. i did not understand what is missing in your current system. I recall the detail with which the Thiels were selected. Are they coming up short ? How is their positioning ? A few pics would be nice.. ( if you have a link to those .. please point us to that )

I suppose the MF and the NAD are completely different beasts in that they may offer a different sound altogether.

Would it be true ( in a general sort of a way ) to assume that NAD owners would find MF short on bass front ?

mpw

At MPW,

It has to do with matching too. There was a time when I still had the jamo speakers running with the musical fidelity amp. You would be hard pressed to fault anything with the bass.

Musical fidelity is actually an amp in the warmer side of things. The NADs are still warmer and as I mentioned, shows greater dynamism in low frequencies with the thiel. In other words, NAD is thumping while MF is not. It spreads out all the frequencies in a wider sound stage.

Thanks,

 

[BLASTO]

Apologies but unable to comprehend what you are saying. Your choice of words (those highlighted) are contradiction each other as per my limited understanding. Could you kindly elaborate?

I will try to put it in more readable format sometime.
But, Does the reply to MPW, answer your query?

 

[BLASTO]

Moved back to MF amp today after 4 days with NAD.
Dropped the plan to move immediately.

Thanks,

 

[alankar1977]

totally agree....

 

[arj]

Good decision. Would be interesting to hear on what did you felt did not work out.


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[Audio_Freek]

Moved back to MF amp today after 4 days with NAD.
Dropped the plan to move immediately.

Thanks,

This thread was awesome,hyeah: Very funny too

Matching the Speakers for AMP is being more tough than getting best match\partner for marriage these days for ppl like us

There is saying :
The bridegroom on his marriage reception would feel looking the bride's friends "God Damn, where were these beautiful girls when i was looking to get married" ,

But he will live happily with that girl

So most of us have same feel, after purchasing the Hi-fi Stuffs and later visit to any audiophiles home

Friends above comparison, just for fun as we cant Update Wife's later, after we feeling , ahh some thing is really missed

 

[captrajesh]

Bass is strong and tight but not pronounced.

I am looking forward to getting soft and engaging bass

Your choice of words (those highlighted) are contradiction each other

NAD is thumping while MF is not.

Does the reply to MPW, answer your query?

You seemed to indicate that the MF does not have pronounced Bass which is not to your liking but also state that you are looking for a soft (less pronounced) bass. In your reply to MPW, you stated that NAD has thumping bass whereas MF doesn't. That was/is my confusion.

From my limited listening to NAD sound, I found it to be having bloated bass. I'm glad you moved away from it. Thiels definitely deserve better amplifier.