Here is a brief non-audiophile review on a new budget setup I acquired.
My quest for this system is recorded in this thread Thx to all those who responded on that thread.
This is my first baby step towards a dedicated stereo system, having been promoted from a PC based 2.1 Creative-Cambridge Soundworks speakers + subwoofer. It was enuf for my early teenage days with enuf thuds and boomz which even worked well as a mini HT system those days. Now I thought I needed something for a more matured listening with emphasis on clarity and details.
My current setup is as follows:
NAD 325BEE
Monitor Audio BR2
WDTV Live media player ( for playing FLAC and high quality MP3 )
Zero DAC
Belden 1313A speaker cables with Canare banana plugs
Belden 1505 IC with Canare RCA plugs
Stock optical cable that came with DAC
The following components are available, but havent connected and tested yet.
- Harman Kardon DVD 25 ( This is an old DVD player which I have back home, comes with 96 KHz/24-Bit DAC and can act as excellent CD transport )
- Klotz GY107 IC + Neutrik plugs ( To be used as IC for CD player )
Due to lack of space and AV rack/speaker stands, placement is not optimal,
The recommendation from the shop was that for a listening distance of 8-10ft, speaker shud be 2 m away from amp and atleast 2 ft above the ground. So I need to take care of this in my new house.
I had few anxious moments before the setup as I couldnt get a chance to audition the amp-speaker combo together. I had to audition and buy them separately from difft shops. Although I liked them in their own respects ( actually it was love at first listen for br2), I wanted to audition the combo once before buying.. but.. just had to trust the reviews from others saying that the NAD and BR2 combo goes well and hope that same holds true for my case too. But once set up and fired, all my doubts were laid to rest and how !
Here is my impression after about 10-15 hrs of listening. I am not an expert to comment on whether a speaker sound is clinical or coloured or does it produce timbre of the instruments or tonal quality at the right note or not,
so just take these as scribbled notes of a casual listener.
Currently I dont have CD player with me now, so my sources are FLAC's for english and 320 kbps mp3's for hindi/tamil songs.
Volume was most of the time at 8 o'clock and occasionally at 9 o'clock ( as recommended during runin period ). All other controls in default position.
I started with usual suspects - eagles, pink floyd, scorpions, dire straits etc.
For first time listening, it was good. Nice bass, good separation and clarity. But at the end of the day, I was feeling something was missing somewhere and the sound couldve been better. My wife also commented the same.
Thanks to HFV fellow members ( which makes this site great btw ), I read about few tips to improve the sound. I did these things
1. Bought a DAC and connected to WDTV via optical out.
2. Remove the company provided strips for preout and mains behind the amp and replace with a proper cable ( I replaced with a daiso RCA cable, but planning to buy a good jumper cable same quality as my IC )
3. Set WDTV output to digital instead of stereo. ( this was in audio/video setting which i hadnt noticed, though optical output of WDTV was still working ) Digital output made sense as I was connecting wdtv -> optical -> dac -> rca -> amp -> speakers
( 4. TODO - to replace the metal plates for binding posts with a quality
jumper cable - still havent done, work in progress. )
Now there was a noticable difference in the sound. Felt the sound was more open and clear as though some muslin cloth covering the speakers has been removed now. Now I feel the sound is more appealing than before and as per my liking. I replayed all the songs and definitely the experience was one notch higher.
First thing that I was impressed was the soundstage and clarity. Even with a less than optimal placement of equipments, I could feel the vocals coming right from the middle on top of amp ( and not from sides ) and instruments coming from the sides with excellent clarity. The minutest of details was being heard clearly - an echo of the voice somewhere or a step on the cymbal etc. The vocals were sounding nice and at the right tone. Excellent lows ( first track on Dark side of the moon ), no boomy bass, just the right amt of bass, highs were good and not crackling. Overall there was good depth and authenticity to the sound.
Then I switched over to ARR and Harris Jayaraj songs. Boy! was I impressed or not. It was a immersive feeling to listen, be it 'Hosanna' or 'Nenje Nenje' or 'In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein' These are just 320 kbps mp3's, but pbbly DAC was playing its part here.
Each and every sound was being delivered at the right time at the right proportions and at the right note..sweet vocals, richer strings and, percussions, thumping bass when reqd and subtle nuances which ARR or HJ adds to their
songs which can be heard only on headphones, but now they are very much evident. So overall a very impressive listening session.
To complete the test, I played few jazz numbers ( Louis armstrong - what a wonderful world ), western classical ( Brandenburg concerto ) and slow songs like lionel ritchie's Hello. The sound was as impressive as before and equally performed well in these genre of songs.
With so many components like amp, speakers, cables, dac working together, it was difficult for me to identify who played their part well. Each other component matched well i suppose and produced wholesome sound.
But I must say BR2 speakers are monsters in disguise. Although they are in same price range( btw, br2 was running some offer when i bought ) as that of Wharefale diamond 10.1 ( which incidentally was my choice before ),
BR2's are in a different league altogether. They look good( have got walnut colored one ), built solid ( evident from the sound it produces when you knock on it. moreover seems like made in england rather than china which was a pleasant surprise if that really matters ) and performs like an all-rounder to me, be it vocals or instruments or the punchy bass, fast numbers or slow numbers, does justice for all. Highly recommended!
And the dark horse in the setup in my opinion is the NAD amp. Looks can be deceptive. But it sits quietly in the middle and does its job well. Period! Much has been said about how good it is... definitely worth the money!
I got 325BEE in titanium grey and it is not one of the good looking ones when compared to marantz or CA. 326BEE looks slightly better and I was told its not much difft from 325 except for IEC power socket. Whatever optimization it has gone under, I was advised it is not evident for casual listening and hence not worth the extra dollars
I was told that BR2's need atleast 3 months of run-in period due to its metal tweeters. Belden cables also need a run-in and sound better after some usage. So it is just the beginning and I can imagine things shud definitely be better once the speakers and cables run-in period is over.
Now I am in the process of sourcing good recording CDs on amazon and collecting few legal FLACs on the net.
Coming to flaws, for my newbie ears there is nothing i can highlight at this point of time. But on thinking hard, what might be missing is the more natural sound.. like a live concert Like some ppl say they can even identify whether singer is near to mike or not or they can hear the hand movement on guitar strings while strumming. But only a high end ones like dynaudio can go to such depths i suppose.
But otherwise, its money spent well and most importantly satisfies my expectation!
My quest for this system is recorded in this thread Thx to all those who responded on that thread.
This is my first baby step towards a dedicated stereo system, having been promoted from a PC based 2.1 Creative-Cambridge Soundworks speakers + subwoofer. It was enuf for my early teenage days with enuf thuds and boomz which even worked well as a mini HT system those days. Now I thought I needed something for a more matured listening with emphasis on clarity and details.
My current setup is as follows:
NAD 325BEE
Monitor Audio BR2
WDTV Live media player ( for playing FLAC and high quality MP3 )
Zero DAC
Belden 1313A speaker cables with Canare banana plugs
Belden 1505 IC with Canare RCA plugs
Stock optical cable that came with DAC
The following components are available, but havent connected and tested yet.
- Harman Kardon DVD 25 ( This is an old DVD player which I have back home, comes with 96 KHz/24-Bit DAC and can act as excellent CD transport )
- Klotz GY107 IC + Neutrik plugs ( To be used as IC for CD player )
Due to lack of space and AV rack/speaker stands, placement is not optimal,
The recommendation from the shop was that for a listening distance of 8-10ft, speaker shud be 2 m away from amp and atleast 2 ft above the ground. So I need to take care of this in my new house.
I had few anxious moments before the setup as I couldnt get a chance to audition the amp-speaker combo together. I had to audition and buy them separately from difft shops. Although I liked them in their own respects ( actually it was love at first listen for br2), I wanted to audition the combo once before buying.. but.. just had to trust the reviews from others saying that the NAD and BR2 combo goes well and hope that same holds true for my case too. But once set up and fired, all my doubts were laid to rest and how !
Here is my impression after about 10-15 hrs of listening. I am not an expert to comment on whether a speaker sound is clinical or coloured or does it produce timbre of the instruments or tonal quality at the right note or not,
so just take these as scribbled notes of a casual listener.
Currently I dont have CD player with me now, so my sources are FLAC's for english and 320 kbps mp3's for hindi/tamil songs.
Volume was most of the time at 8 o'clock and occasionally at 9 o'clock ( as recommended during runin period ). All other controls in default position.
I started with usual suspects - eagles, pink floyd, scorpions, dire straits etc.
For first time listening, it was good. Nice bass, good separation and clarity. But at the end of the day, I was feeling something was missing somewhere and the sound couldve been better. My wife also commented the same.
Thanks to HFV fellow members ( which makes this site great btw ), I read about few tips to improve the sound. I did these things
1. Bought a DAC and connected to WDTV via optical out.
2. Remove the company provided strips for preout and mains behind the amp and replace with a proper cable ( I replaced with a daiso RCA cable, but planning to buy a good jumper cable same quality as my IC )
3. Set WDTV output to digital instead of stereo. ( this was in audio/video setting which i hadnt noticed, though optical output of WDTV was still working ) Digital output made sense as I was connecting wdtv -> optical -> dac -> rca -> amp -> speakers
( 4. TODO - to replace the metal plates for binding posts with a quality
jumper cable - still havent done, work in progress. )
Now there was a noticable difference in the sound. Felt the sound was more open and clear as though some muslin cloth covering the speakers has been removed now. Now I feel the sound is more appealing than before and as per my liking. I replayed all the songs and definitely the experience was one notch higher.
First thing that I was impressed was the soundstage and clarity. Even with a less than optimal placement of equipments, I could feel the vocals coming right from the middle on top of amp ( and not from sides ) and instruments coming from the sides with excellent clarity. The minutest of details was being heard clearly - an echo of the voice somewhere or a step on the cymbal etc. The vocals were sounding nice and at the right tone. Excellent lows ( first track on Dark side of the moon ), no boomy bass, just the right amt of bass, highs were good and not crackling. Overall there was good depth and authenticity to the sound.
Then I switched over to ARR and Harris Jayaraj songs. Boy! was I impressed or not. It was a immersive feeling to listen, be it 'Hosanna' or 'Nenje Nenje' or 'In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein' These are just 320 kbps mp3's, but pbbly DAC was playing its part here.
Each and every sound was being delivered at the right time at the right proportions and at the right note..sweet vocals, richer strings and, percussions, thumping bass when reqd and subtle nuances which ARR or HJ adds to their
songs which can be heard only on headphones, but now they are very much evident. So overall a very impressive listening session.
To complete the test, I played few jazz numbers ( Louis armstrong - what a wonderful world ), western classical ( Brandenburg concerto ) and slow songs like lionel ritchie's Hello. The sound was as impressive as before and equally performed well in these genre of songs.
With so many components like amp, speakers, cables, dac working together, it was difficult for me to identify who played their part well. Each other component matched well i suppose and produced wholesome sound.
But I must say BR2 speakers are monsters in disguise. Although they are in same price range( btw, br2 was running some offer when i bought ) as that of Wharefale diamond 10.1 ( which incidentally was my choice before ),
BR2's are in a different league altogether. They look good( have got walnut colored one ), built solid ( evident from the sound it produces when you knock on it. moreover seems like made in england rather than china which was a pleasant surprise if that really matters ) and performs like an all-rounder to me, be it vocals or instruments or the punchy bass, fast numbers or slow numbers, does justice for all. Highly recommended!
And the dark horse in the setup in my opinion is the NAD amp. Looks can be deceptive. But it sits quietly in the middle and does its job well. Period! Much has been said about how good it is... definitely worth the money!
I got 325BEE in titanium grey and it is not one of the good looking ones when compared to marantz or CA. 326BEE looks slightly better and I was told its not much difft from 325 except for IEC power socket. Whatever optimization it has gone under, I was advised it is not evident for casual listening and hence not worth the extra dollars
I was told that BR2's need atleast 3 months of run-in period due to its metal tweeters. Belden cables also need a run-in and sound better after some usage. So it is just the beginning and I can imagine things shud definitely be better once the speakers and cables run-in period is over.
Now I am in the process of sourcing good recording CDs on amazon and collecting few legal FLACs on the net.
Coming to flaws, for my newbie ears there is nothing i can highlight at this point of time. But on thinking hard, what might be missing is the more natural sound.. like a live concert Like some ppl say they can even identify whether singer is near to mike or not or they can hear the hand movement on guitar strings while strumming. But only a high end ones like dynaudio can go to such depths i suppose.
But otherwise, its money spent well and most importantly satisfies my expectation!
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