Advice on Budget System?

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful responses. After reading your posts, I was very, very tempted to snag one of the Audio Refinements for sale on this website, but I decided to go with the NAD for a bit more power. Not only will this amp be driving full-range speakers (not now, but soon, I hope), but I tend to play music a bit loud so I can listen to it as I move around the house.

Not sure if that was the right decision, but no one outright dissed the NAD, and I got a terrific deal on a new one. So I should be able to resell it at a very small loss if I end up with buyer's remorse.

I realized that I had to make a decision quickly, because once I decided to make a purchase, I was not going to stop obsessing over it and get any work done until I made a decision. Anyone else ever have that problem?

The Complete is much more powerful than the 320BEE.
Regardless of stated output the Complete is very beefy.
The NAD is very good though and I think it will work well for you.

Good luck!

All of the amps which you are considering, and which other posters have suggested, seem like good prospects. I would suggest you listen to as many as you can. Speaking for myself, I once purchased a small integrated amp. I auditioned a number of readily available amps, including Rotel, Arcam, and NAD. I was just entering the audiophile world at that time and I was surprised at how different they sounded. I ended up purchasing a Creek. It sounded the best to me from among the ones I auditioned.

Hi everyone,

I received the Cambridge Audio 540C CD player last week and the NAD C352 integrated yesterday. No surprise, the CD player was a major and immediately noticeable improvement over using the Toshiba DVD player for music CDs--more open, detailed, natural. An awesome upgrade.

The NAD also has some major advantages over the Marantz A/V receiver for music. Extended bass, sharper highs and upper midrange, and much more natural sounding. However, the sharpness gets a bit fatiguing. It's not "bright," really, but just more assertive on some notes, if that makes any sense.

I'm still breaking in the NAD, so I'll hold off on a final judgment, and I think some decent RCA cables might make a difference, too. (I'm using some $8 cables I had lying around until I can get some better ones.) Even if I end up trading it in, it's interesting and exciting to hear sound from my CDs that I never noticed was there before.

The bass from my VR-1s is so sweet now that I may not need to trade up to the VR-2s. But of course, that impulse won't last very long . . . :-)

After some experimenting with budget cables, I achieved excellent sound with
the NAD C320BEE using the following: Signal Cable Analysis One (basic) speaker
cables and Better Cables Blue Truth/Silver Serpent interconnects. I had
originally started with Radio Shack mega cables, but they deadened the sound. I
still prefer the Music Hall with the NAD, but the Cambridge Audio is an excellent
player (I have an Azur 540 DVD player paired with an Outlaw receiver) and
should pair off pretty well. Give the NAD a little time to break in and you will be
pleased.

Regards, Rich