not sure why you're looking to bridge amps, but of the options you've listed above i'd go with the nad 270/370, which are gain-matched. personally, i'd just go with the 370 itself, which is extremely powerful (i think 120w/c?) and quite good sounding--i owned one back in the day.
Bridged NADs vs. Rotel Ra - 1062
Hello,
I am new in this music technology field, so I wanted to ask
your advice and opinion :)
I am buying amps did some research and form my budget ~(350 eur)
I found these options:
1. Bridged Nads , power amp and amp Nad 2400 and 3020a
2. Bridged Nads, power amp and amp c270 and c370
3. Rotel Ra-1062
Ar these options good? What would you choose from these?
Or maybe you would choose neither of those, and know some
better option :) ?
My music is : classic rock, rock , blues rock, metal.
Any advice/observation would be really helpful!
I would be really grateful for your help! 🙂
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- 22 posts total
Thank you for your insights! I dont need that much power or loud sound, I care more about quality of music, I will take it in account! I have no knowledge about amps, my journey just begins. So I asked in local facebook hi fi group about amps. And got offered bridged Nads, until then I didnt even knew about bridged amps. So I went to check local classified ads and found bridged NADs for sale that matches my budget. That is the only reason Im looking for bridged NADs. So I asked here should I go for bridged Nads or something else like Rotel Ra 1062. If not bridged Nads I found these in similar price range: Nad c355bee Though Nad c356bee is little bit over my budget. I could try negotiate the price If it would be the best option.
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@mistermonitors the NAD and Rotel units are both value integrated units from around 15-20 years ago. Nothing wrong with that, both brands have a solid reputation. Rotel for value, their claim to fame is they are solidly built, punch above their weight class by always striving to deliver more value per dollar. NAD is a bigger brand that offers products in various price brackets with some value products all the at up to some higher end gear. I wouldn’t buy one of these older units and bridge them into mono’s, you can but you’ll likely lose more than you’ll gain. The NAD C372 should be a nice option for you, it will likely drive most speakers, NAD has been in the space for a long time producing great products, when this originally launched was a unit that did everything well. If you go the NAD or Rotel route, don’t spend too much on them, they retailed between $600-800 when new back 20 years ago. If you can snag one for a $100-200 that’s in good shape, tremendous value if you are going to use it, not much value on the used market. If you wanted to go with a modern integrated there are some good options in the $1,000-2,000 range but that’s a big jump from what you are looking at. If you went with a more modern integrated you might not really gain much in performance but you would potentially gain a unit set up for a more modern set up incorporating streaming / digital. |
I have owned a couple of NAD C356BEEs, still have one. I believe them to be a good budget integrated amplifier. The C356 was preceeded by the C355 so the 356 would have less years on it. As others have indicated I would stay away from bridging amplifiers. Use stereo mode. Just stay away from hard to drive speakers. |
Pretty much what @mesch said. While bridging amps isn't necesarily bad in and of itself usually, it can be if the speaker load is unstable or hard to drive. I had a pair of Hafler DH-220s that I ran in bridged mode to drive a pair of ESL speakers. Sure, great power but something sounded "off". When I decided to use just one channel of each amplifier for each channel the difference was quite audible! There was much more detail and clarity and dare I say even warmer sound. Yes having extra power is nice (440 wpc bridged vs 120wpc non-bridged) but depending on the speaker it can be problematic. Of course buying speakers that are efficient and easy to drive helps a lot. Happy listening. |
- 22 posts total