http://nadelectronics.com/reviews/Stereophile-Reviews-C375BEE-C565BEE
Sam Goes NAD
A colleague called the other day to ask for some advice he wanted to pass on. Could I recommend an integrated amplifier to go with a pair of Quad ESL-2805 electrostatic speakers? The amp should be readily available from a "real company" and sell for a "non-crazy" price.
I surprised my colleague when I suggested the NAD C375BEE stereo integrated amplifier for $1299, plus $199 for the optional PP375 onboard phono stage. Some audiophiles will cheerfully pay more than $1299 for a 1m pair of interconnects. With the NAD C375BEE, you don't need interconnects between preamp and power amp.
The price was crazy not crazy expensive, but crazy cheap. How could Sam or my colleague suggest a $1299 amp to go with a $9500 pair of speakers? My colleague was looking for a more serious suggestion one that would cost somewhere between $6000 and $10,000. His tone suggested that he was in no mood for one of Sam's jokes.
But this wasn't a joke. The Quad ESLs and their successors respond to a gutsy solid-state amp that can grab these otherwise staid speakers by their speaker terminals and lift them from the floor to rock'n'roll, or max out Mahler, or shake the floor with Shostakovich. Most of all, the Quads which themselves are quick, clear, and clean love an amp with balls on call that can deliver sudden bursts of clean sound.
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Even as it is, with too many features, the C375BEE at $1299 is a competition crusher. Before you spend more, audition it. If you agree, write me at
samtellig@gmail.com. If you disagree, write me. Tell me I should join NAD.org: the National Association of the Deaf. (Gad, I'm sounding waspish today. Full of venom). If you're on a tight budget and thought you had to compromise on sound quality and power
maybe you don't.
To borrow a word from Kal Rubinson, I think an audition is mandatory. Make a BEEline to your NAD dealer now.