NAD C370 with Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's


What do you guys think of this combo? Should I go for a used C370 for around $400 or a new C320BEE for the same price? Is the C370 overkill ?? How big of a difference is there between the two? Should I be wary of buying a used amp??

Any other good used recommendations around or less than $400 that would match well with these spearkers?

(Heard good things about Auido Refinement Complete but I think it's just beyond this price range)
bobcuzi
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Or the new digital amps reviewed in Stereophile for $159 stereo integrated. Plus they're new.
Tarsando,

I've now read two post were you mention the $159 Digital amp reviewed in Stereophile. I'm not a Stereophile subscriber, so could you please just give the name of the amp? Or are you trying to sell Stereophile Magazine with this teaser?

Enjoy,

TIC
I ran a C370 with Diamond 8.3s a few years back in a budget system (with a NAD CD player originally, then a Rotel RCD-1070). this would be a similar sound to what you'll get from the C370 and 9.1s, though the 9.1s are likely to be more detailed yet have a smoother top end than the 8.3s but have less punch (floorstanders versus standmounts).

the C370/Diamond combination was an extremely good budget set-up. the C370 is big, powerful and smooth sounding for a budget amp - which is a good compliment to most modern speakers which (to my ears) are voiced with too much top-end emphasis.

I my opinion the C370 is very, very good. one afternoon, I spent some time with another stereo hobbyist switching the C370 in and out of system running Totem Hawks, and Audible Illusions tube preamp, and a good CD front-end. the comparison amps were a Bryston 3B-ST and a hybrid Counterpoint NP100 (a superb amp). Honestly, the NAD wasn't embarassed. It was obviously not as good, but it by no means sounded lousy by comparison or made either of us say "yeah, that's no good" Instead we were saying "wow, the NAD sounds good"

So for upgradeability reasons I'd go with the C370 instead of the 320 (more power and better ability to drive difficult loads gives you more flexibility with future speaker purchases - and the voicing of the C370 (big and smooth) probably makes for easier compatibility with more speakers too.

I'd suggest maybe stretching the budget a little bit, because the C370 can be paired with very good speakers without embarassment. Maybe something like Monitor Audio silver 8i's on the second hand market, or their Silver S6's. I've heard that match-up (NAD C370/monitor Audio) and it's spectacular budget sound
I just recently sold an NAD 370. I ran it with the MA 8is for about a year and the combination was not good. The combination could produce nice sounds, but not music. I think MAs of that time period are best matched with Musical Fidelity equipment of the same period. As usual, YMMV. The NAD is nice and the amp section is better than the pre-amp.

Good luck,

Briang,