To chime in this long outdated thread, my upgrade thread started in 1979 when at the age of 11, I moved with my family to a new home where the previous owners left their Pioneer rack HiFi there, namely a small receiver, a turntable and speakers.
In 1985, I upgraded the receiver to an integrated amplifier Harman Kardon PM-650, and the spaekers a year later to Allison CD-7 (8" woofers and nipple-shaped paper tweeters.
Much later, in 2000, I was loaned a tube amp, Audion Sterling, a single ended EL34 one at that, and I upgraded the speakers to a pair of cloned Scanspeak set-up.
During the years 2001-2016, I changed from integrateds to separates, and entered the realm of tube amps and vintage/antique speakers. Now my rig is Nakamichi CA-7A, Marantz 8b/McIntosh MC240, and JBL 4320 stacked fours.
Last year, I bought an NAD 302, then another NAD 306, and finally I got myself feeling in love with the NAD sound, and bought some receivers lick 7020, 7155, 7175, and also Pre/Tuner 1700, 1155 pre, and a bunch of their old cassette decks.
I imagine the NAD 304 was a product in between the likes of 302 and 306 so my impression on my NAD 302/306 may be relevant to the 304, too.
Sufficient to say, paired against my other more expensive amps, I tend to like the sound of higher end NAD receivers like the 7155 and 7175, and these are best driven by my tube pre-amps such as Mcintosh C-11 or C-20, and Audible Illusions 3 or 2D.
My usual setup for cable TV and movie watching is NAD 1700 as preamp, NAD 7155 as amp, and my JBL 4320 stacked fours. When I want to lusten to some serious LP and SACD/CD, I move in my Nakamichi CA-7A preamp (or any other tube preamp I have), and my trusty Leak TL\50+ (KT-88 tube amps).
I am saying, NAD gears are so good, I live with them on a daily baisis along with my higher end pieces and I am happy about their sound all the time.
Terence
