C.A. vs NAD vs Marantz

Hi, yes the CA amp has a protection feature wherein it lowers the volume if it thinks clipping will occur. It also has other protection mechanisms (read about CAP5 protection) that strengthened my decision as I prefer caution. I do not listen to my music very loud and so I have not experienced the feature kicking in. I do not expect to ever play my music at what people refer to as "party levels" so it was not a consideration for me. If you are keen on higher levels of power you should look at 640A V2 as well as NAD C352.

Unfortunately I do not recall hearing Paradigm speakers and so cannot comment. However I am happy you had that "moment of bliss" as I like to call it when you discover the sound you are after. Who knows, this may be the combination for you. Just take care when you are auditioning to account for the room treatment of the demo room as well. Also consider how well the brand is represented here in India so you don't have trouble getting service in future. Have you listened to any of Monitor Audio's speakers yet? The Bronze series bookshelf may be slightly above your budget but do listen to it, they are very good speakers esp for rock.

Based on what you have told me so far, it sounds like NAD+PSB may be right for you. What did you think of the sound?

my review of nad+psb
what i liked about nad+psb sound was the wide sound stage it created (cud be the right placing of speakers at lakozy showroom). when i closed my eyes and heard the small psb alpha b1's, i genuinely felt that the whole room was filled with sound... and lakozy showroom is pretty big that way (almost twice as big as my bedroom).

another thing i liked was the warm tone. its biggest plus side what i feel is that it will never lead to listening fatigue (esp of rock music with heavy distirted rythm guitars in mid-rage, which, if are too sharp will lead to listening fatigue). the downside of warm tone according to me is (percieved) loss of detail or clarity.

previous to nad+psb, i had auditioned marantz+polk monitor 40 and i must say i was impressed with the depth, punch and clarity. i cud really feel that the sound was coming from deep inside the speakers and it sounded very clear and solid. but i felt if i had to listen to 192kbps bitrate ac/dc songs for long, with their heavy distorted rythm guitar sound, i surely would feel the listening fatigue.

all that said however, i feel auditioning also is a skill acquired over a number of listening sessions. Nad+PSB was one of my early auditions this clarity v/s warmth concept (dunno if its right or wrong) i have learnt after many recent auditions (jamo with marantz; wharfedale diamond 9.1, 9.2 & paradigm focus, each with yamaha stereo amp and nad). guess will have to audition nad+psb once again ;-)

i have experienced nad to be a powerful amp (bright) and thats why i guess it drives the warm psb's so well. however the combo is expensive.

also i have learnt that it is better to not audition stuff beyond one's budget, esp speakers, cos after listening to expensive ones, one may not like those that fit into one's budget. i did that with paradigm focus @ 18k and hence i did not like wharfedale d 9.2 @ 15k (luckily jamo e825 @ 24k was only as good as polk monitor 40 @ 14k). hence i have not yet checked out monitor audio or b&w.

have read reviews that CA is a laid back amp with warm tone (do u feel this to be true). so am wondering if i pair up ca with bright speakers like polk, i cud get the clarity & depth as well as the warmth.

i have not been able to audition ca so far - which showroom did u audition ca?

also ca i beileve is far more cost effective than nad - nad 325 bee (50w) is 23.5k and ca 540a v2 (60w) is 18k

any pitfalls u can advise me on buying the speaker pieces kept for demo in showroom? u see the paradigm focus is now a discontinued model. the dealer is awaiting latest models to arrive post which he cud be selling off the only focus pair lying with him at a discount.

thanx,
vilfy