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Old NAD or newer high powered Denon?

I am currently running a NAD 3020 in my main system. I love the amp. When paired with my Sequerra MET7's it sounds great. I also have a pair of Vandersteen 1C's and I am thinking that the NAD's don't have enough power to drive them. I am getting relatively poor sound quality out of the 1C's with the NAD. It closed in and not very dynamic (when compared to the MET7's). I have heard the 1B's in the past and they sounded amazing which is why I initially purchased them.

So my question is: would I gain anything in terms of sound quality of I purchase a higher powered more recent model Denon or am I just hearing the differences between the MET7 and the 1C's?
hifibear
hifibear OP
17 posts
 
Thanks for all of your comments.
@Tmsorosk - What do you think I need to drive the 1c's properly?
It's clear that I don't have the equipment do drive them properly now. Do I need to put in another $1000 or so?
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,475 posts
 
..of the 2 I vote for NAD
ths364
181 posts
 
I would agree that you need more and better power. I had a pair of the Vandersteen 1b and they weren't happy with the NAD 7125. The Harman Kardon 655vxi or the Luxman Rx 103 drove them very nicely. The 655vxi was 90 watts and the Luxman was 70 or 90 watts. Much better all around over the NAD. A McIntosh 4100 would also work well, another option would be to run a power amp using the NAD as a pre-amp (if it has pre-amp outs).
hifibear OP
17 posts
 
@Ths364 - so how did the sound change when you changed amps?
I am toying with the idea of using the preamp of the NAD and just getting a quality 100 WPC amp of some type.
loomisjohnson
1,949 posts
 
i really like that 3020, too--assuming you don't want to spend big bucks on a major upgrade, i think your idea to add a power amp is sound. maybe something like an 80s hk or nad, which you can find for a couple hundo. i'd also look at adding a dac to your server; lots of recs on these pages for whatever your budget. good luck.
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