Jolida JD102CRC

A preamp? I wouldn't be better off getting a power amp and using the NAD as a pre?

I agree with zd542. With your budget a preamp will most likely give you the greatest improvement. I just purchased a Jolida fusion DAC PRE that is only a 100 bucks over your budget and I like it just as much as my spereate tube DAC and tube preamp that I owned that cost almost 4x what I paid for the Jolida.

Also I have owned a jolida 202a and at the time had a Peachtree Nova. I preferred the nova in both sound quality and flexibility.

"08-06-14: Greatwhitebat
A preamp? I wouldn't be better off getting a power amp and using the NAD as a pre?"

Its a matter of opinion, but I would definitely say no. Generally speaking, the weaker the signal, the bigger effect the electronics have on it. Looking at your NAD, its a good, all around component for the money. But at that price point, the preamp is definitely going to be the weaker of the 2. Designing a good active line stage is much more difficult, and usually costly, than an amp for the same money. If you start upgrading components like your source and amp, but leave your current preamp in place, newer, more revealing components, combined with your 1C's, will easily show the weaknesses in your NAD preamp. Actually, in your system, the amp is the last thing I would upgrade.

If you are new to audio, info like this surprises people most of the time. For whatever reason, components like speakers and amps seem like the most logical things to upgrade. Nothing could be further from the truth. All the components are equally important. If you mess up just 1 piece, you can easily ruin the sound of your whole system. And if there is 1 component that is most responsible for not getting the best out of your system, the preamp is it; by far. Too many people overlook it. If you read through some of these threads, you can see signs of it everywhere. Someone will complain of their system lacking in some way, and they are now trying cables, tubes, line conditioners, etc.. to fix the problem. In most of those systems, the preamp is usually part of, or even the whole problem.

Other than that, you are just going to have to hear it for yourself. If you know anyone that has a CD player with a volume control, or even a passive preamp, see if they will lend it to you. Just remove the 2 solid core jumpers on the back of your NAD and plug directly into the power amp section. You should hear a big difference just removing the preamp from the system altogether.

"Also I have owned a jolida 202a and at the time had a Peachtree Nova. I preferred the nova in both sound quality and flexibility. "

This makes me just want to get a peachtree and be done with it. It would solve my need for a DAC as well.