I took my NAD C320 amp with me for auditioning the Jamo C405 after hearing someone in the forum state that they can drive floor-standers.
Well they don't!
These speakers are marked at 89db and max input power of 150w into 6 Ohm. The NAD simply failed to deliver against these speakers.
Below is the sound I heard. Far from the NAD signature.
The Bass was good, Midrange was flat, hi-frequencies were only Ok. Soundstage was completely absent. Very very narrow. Frequencies were all present but mixed up in lots of places. The speakers went to very high volumes however.
In short, There was no excitement at all!!
For a minute I thought whether these were my amps at all.
hyeah: Asked them to replace them with the 100w Marantz and the full body of the music was back again. I asked them how much the amps cost, any the reply was a wopping 80k!!
I asked them whether they made the port connections correct with my amp, and it was correct apparently. I almost decided that the amp does all the magic by now. But they claimed it is because of the lower power of the amp rather than the superiority of the marantz.
I asked them if they had lower priced marantz amps which I can try out. They dint have any. But the sales guy asked me to demo the sherwood 100w amp (5505) which costed 14k just to prove his point that the difference is due to the wattage more than anything else.
Having read not so good comments with the sherwood, I carried out the audition without much (any) expectations.
Now, Oh boy they sounded great. I mean GREAT. The NAD was left behind in the dust. Almost same signature to the marantz. The sales guy had "I told you" kind of look on his face instantaneously.
In short, The combo was great. Almost >95% as perfect as the earlier combo wrt imaging and soundstage. So these beasts need 100w atleast to drive them to the fullest inspite of 89db sensitivity mentioned. Again, Numbers don't mean anything.
Other possibility is, these speakers DO NOT pair well at all with the NADs. Unfortunately I would know only if I had access to higher watt NADs which they don't have.
So, whoever thinks watt has nothing to with frequency response or overall sound reproduction, there is a chance that you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, there is frequency responce, thump, loudness and everything BUT the music did not have soul. Imaging, soudstage and seperation went in for a complete toss. The was sound but no music. Or there is a possibility that the NAD and Jamos are enemies.
hyeah:
P.S: He also had a 100w * 5.1ch sherwood amp which was quoted 19.5k that he provided for demo. 1 word - Horrible.
Seriously, are the 5.1ch amps in this range any good at all for stereo? It was complete chalk and cheese comparison when compared with a sterio amp from the same company costing 5k less. (or to put in perspective 25% less)