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Recommendations: poor college kid; NAD?

I have always been into music and movies, expescially when it comes to home theatre. That should be the first thing i say: I am looking for this more for Home Theatre than pure music. That said, I was looking online for a receiver, when i ran across a Denon THX Dolby Digital, etc, etc that got my heart pumping. In the computer lab where I work (and where I was veiwing this piece of machinery), a teacher came up and was telling me about the system he has built thus far, and then recommended NAD to me as a high quality, low frills reciever. I checked out their website and found something with THX, but still that looked like an excellent receiver. What I am wondering is if you guys have any advice on a nice receiver that will support what I want to do, which is mainly watch DVDs. I would prefer if it had that "optical digital input," since from what I hear that is the best way to transport the information, but i might be wrong on that too. Any advice you guys have would be great! thanks!
nateziarek
trelja
3,223 posts
 
I looked at the reviews @ AudioReview.com. If there is one adjective to describe the people's feelings on NAD, it would be "glowing". I looked at many a model, and saw VERY little in the way of negativity. I saw only one person with a problem, and he routinely used to throw it in the back of his car. This is remarkable, considering the amount of products and reviews contained therein. Their regard of the products are higher than mine. As for me, I experienced NO problems in 13 years, the amp was always flawless. I used it to drive some difficult speakers REAL hard, during auditions, parties, etc. Sound was always very, very good. Check the reviews yourself. Like I said, go for it!
john_l
782 posts
 
heh heh, heh heh... he he said NAD.... Seriously, you can't go wrong with their equipment. Also check out parasound, adcom, sonographe (my fav), and rotel. The adcom 555mark2 is a really nice amplifier. That stuff goes for 100-300 per component, and it's pretty good. Make sure you listen to all channels. Equipment sometimes gets noisy with age.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Taking the "Poor" student to heart, if the NAD blows your budget; for a well made, good sounding Home Theater receiver that won't break the bank, pick up an Onkyo.
timo's avatar
timo
610 posts
 
I have an NAD 304 integrated amplifier for sale that is PERFECT electrically, mechanically, physically and sonically. Check Audiogon classifieds under Amplifiers, solid state. This unit will serve you well on a budget.
p_mmk
70 posts
 
Nate, I started my love for audio as a sophomore in college and really got into it because of Home Theater. I'm now 29. I found as I got more into it, I became much more critical on two-channel than HT because when watching movies, you get drawn into the movie and not always listening to the soundtrack. My personal advice would be to start with a decent powered receiver save your budget and GET THE BEST SPEAKERS THAT YOU CAN AFFORD for the front left and right. Before anyone bites my head off, I do believe the whole system us important, but do believe for someone starting out speakers will make the most obvious and enjoyable difference. (Remeber he's a POOR COLLEGE KID)As you get more into it, you'll develop your critical listening skills, then you can start upgrading. Some of the receivers you may wish to consider are NAD, Onkyo, Marrantz, Yamaha, or even Sony. Depending on your budget, I would even consider going to a Best Buy or Cirucuit City ( I can hear the people gasping) I started out with a Pioneer(don't laugh) pro-logic that I still have in my second system, and it was a great sounding system for college. Now I have what even the die-hard audiophiles would at least consider a respectable system. Quite frankly, when I started I probably couldn't tell the difference between a receiver and an amp/pre combination, until I started listening ALOT. Now you change any part of my system I could tell you the difference. Bottom Line: nice speakers will make the biggest difference for you IMHO. (Just make sure the reciever can handle the load of the speaker.)
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