Should I buy Integrated AMP or Power AMP?

[SR_1972]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
I have a NAD C388 hybrid DAC with a pair of KEF Q950 floorstanders + a SONY blueray disc player for music CDs.
I am interested to enhance this setup and looking at few products like Accuphase, Boulders, Luxman.
Should I look for an Integrated Amp or Power Amp? I like the integrated amps fm Accuphase. Is it a right thing to do?
Will NAD C388 works well with Accuphase Amps?
Also, are there any dealers/showrooms for these products in Bangalore, Karnataka, India? Would like to hear them out before I make a decision.
Any info/help/advice much appreciated. Thanks for Ur time.

 

[nvnaveen]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
I have a NAD C388 hybrid DAC with a pair of KEF Q950 floorstanders + a SONY blueray disc player for music CDs.
I am interested to enhance this setup and looking at few products like Accuphase, Boulders, Luxman.
Should I look for an Integrated Amp or Power Amp? I like the integrated amps fm Accuphase. Is it a right thing to do?
Will NAD C388 works well with Accuphase Amps?
Also, are there any dealers/showrooms for these products in Bangalore, Karnataka, India? Would like to hear them out before I make a decision.
Any info/help/advice much appreciated. Thanks for Ur time.

Hi as per me any day integrated processing compare to separate will have difference n it all depends on ur listening taste n location …
U trust ur ear n see if u feel satisfied with integrated amp or u require more dynamics then go for PA.
As u r in Bangalore u can check indiqaudio they have both integrated class A amp dual mono amp n class AB dual mono PA as well u chk demo n see what best u like ..
Contact Mr Amit he is owner n can guide u better for ir requirements
<deleted contact>

 

[Bloom@83]

Hi as per me any day integrated processing compare to separate will have difference n it all depends on ur listening taste n location …
U trust ur ear n see if u feel satisfied with integrated amp or u require more dynamics then go for PA.
As u r in Bangalore u can check indiqaudio they have both integrated class A amp dual mono amp n class AB dual mono PA as well u chk demo n see what best u like ..
Contact Mr Amit he is owner n can guide u better for ir requirements
Amit-+91 70322 92587

I find it amusing that in every post of yours for amp suggestions you promote only this one name. Irrespective of whether the OP is looking for entry level Marantz or hallowed products from Boulder or Accuphase.

 

[jenson]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
I have a NAD C388 hybrid DAC with a pair of KEF Q950 floorstanders + a SONY blueray disc player for music CDs.
I am interested to enhance this setup and looking at few products like Accuphase, Boulders, Luxman.
Should I look for an Integrated Amp or Power Amp? I like the integrated amps fm Accuphase. Is it a right thing to do?
Will NAD C388 works well with Accuphase Amps?
Also, are there any dealers/showrooms for these products in Bangalore, Karnataka, India? Would like to hear them out before I make a decision.
Any info/help/advice much appreciated. Thanks for Ur time.

Those are some big names...and bangalore is a great place to demo them..

 

[arj]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
I have a NAD C388 hybrid DAC with a pair of KEF Q950 floorstanders + a SONY blueray disc player for music CDs.
I am interested to enhance this setup and looking at few products like Accuphase, Boulders, Luxman.
Should I look for an Integrated Amp or Power Amp? I like the integrated amps fm Accuphase. Is it a right thing to do?
Will NAD C388 works well with Accuphase Amps?
Also, are there any dealers/showrooms for these products in Bangalore, Karnataka, India? Would like to hear them out before I make a decision.
Any info/help/advice much appreciated. Thanks for Ur time.

What is your budget ?
most of the names you have given are at least 2-3 times the price of your speakers which would not be a great match unless you change your speakers and even if you do so your DAC will become the constraint

The principle of building a system is 1. Get the Speaker for your room 2. Amp which can drive your speakers well and 3. the Best source you can afford.

I have heard folks being happy with Quad, Exposure, Nad..and most british amps. IF you are ok with Indian Brands, you can add Acoustic portrait as well since Indiq has already been mentioned

Each person has different tastes and almost everyone has ownership bias hence please do your own research before buying !

 

[Pratyush J]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
I have a NAD C388 hybrid DAC with a pair of KEF Q950 floorstanders + a SONY blueray disc player for music CDs.
I am interested to enhance this setup and looking at few products like Accuphase, Boulders, Luxman.
Should I look for an Integrated Amp or Power Amp? I like the integrated amps fm Accuphase. Is it a right thing to do?
Will NAD C388 works well with Accuphase Amps?
Also, are there any dealers/showrooms for these products in Bangalore, Karnataka, India? Would like to hear them out before I make a decision.
Any info/help/advice much appreciated. Thanks for Ur time.

As the Amps in consideration are very expensive so you need to take baby steps as a wrong choice will leave you extremely disappointed. Few questions that will help others to help you better:
1) Room size
2) Budget (already asked)
3) Listening style

You might be better off using a power amp to push your KEFs to their full potential as your DAC already has several Line ins and Pre outs. In order to assess the synergy in your environment and with your existing chain, see if any Bangalore FM can loan you their Amp for a day.

 

[nvnaveen]

I find it amusing that in every post of yours for amp suggestions you promote only this one name. Irrespective of whether the OP is looking for entry level Marantz or hallowed products from Boulder or Accuphase.

HI Bloom@83- I'm not promoting/marketing any brand as i have my own job to do. i have clearly mentioned saying trust ur ears & demo this amps also as he is in Bangalore . I have seen n listened this amps n felt one good one to demo if u buy or not buy left to individual.
i don't wanna make any recommendation to any & here this forum have rights to talk or discuss what u feel at least .
So pls don't take any comments here someone is branding or promoting its their own choice .
If we really wanna point we do on each post done here so lets not go to pointing at each other ..lets move on reading & take what u like live what we dont.
i hardly post here FYI only very rarely i do posts....

 

[insane79]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
I have a NAD C388 hybrid DAC with a pair of KEF Q950 floorstanders + a SONY blueray disc player for music CDs.
I am interested to enhance this setup and looking at few products like Accuphase, Boulders, Luxman.
Should I look for an Integrated Amp or Power Amp? I like the integrated amps fm Accuphase. Is it a right thing to do?
Will NAD C388 works well with Accuphase Amps?
Also, are there any dealers/showrooms for these products in Bangalore, Karnataka, India? Would like to hear them out before I make a decision.
Any info/help/advice much appreciated. Thanks for Ur time.

The Kef Q950 cannot be paired with Accuphase, Boulders & Luxman.
You have to be on the Kef R series at least for these amps. Look at upgrading your speakers first then the electronics.

Cheers.

 

[SR_1972]

Friends,

Thanks for your inputs.

Some details from my side.

a) room size is 20x22 feet
b) Yes am aware of the budget and understand these are expensive products
c) Listening taste - retro English mostly - BoneyM, Abba, Def leppard, Dire Straits, Micheal Jackson, Elton John, George Michael, Stevie Wonder, Eagles, Tracy Chapman, Toni Braxton and the likes + Indian Hindi and Tamil retros.
c) Had a look at Indiqaudio but in their website I didn't find any mention of the brands am following.
d) When i bot KEF Q950, in addition to the fact that Keff Q950 matched my listening taste (blind tested almost 8 brands before i decided to buy Keff), I took note and dealer advice on these specs in Keff Q950 technical sheet for future upgrade - Impedance 8 ohms / Amplifier requirements 15-200W.

Guys honestly, I just looked at Keff specs at a surface level when i was looking for suitable Amp in Accuphase or Boulders or Luxman.. for example, in Accuphase A75 Amp model it says 'rated for 60 W in to 8 ohms'. Since Keff Q950 says 15-200W amplifier requirement as a range, i assumed it is fine to pair this 60W Amp to my speakers.

If time permits, pls help me on this request - how to qualify the right Amplifier specification matching to certain speaker specification? if there are any link to good reading material, pls share. i will do some study myself too.

Thanks again for your time.

 

[terrible]

I'll give you my two pence. I own a Boulder 866 with a DAC. I started out looking for Accuphase but got different prices from different folks. The stockist who has Accuphase, Marben; I have a strong dislike for him. So I gave up on Accuphase. However, if @essrand helps you to buy this, you might get a good deal on it. They are excellent amps.

On the Boulder 866, I have it paired with Spendor D 9.2. The amp is very neutral with a great soundstage and the separation is just very very good. Initially, I had these installed in a very large, untreated living room, where I was about 12 to 14 feet in the centre with another 25 feet behind me. Despite the listening conditions, I found the soundstage and clarity excellent. Now I have it in a much smaller untreated space, where I am 10 feet away with 2 to 3 feet behind me and the amp+speakers sound amazing even at low volume; again the soundstage and clarity are amazing. Except the soundstage gets a little disturbed if I move too much left or right; space issues.

 

[aljojohn]

Without upgrading your spreakers there is no use buying high end amps, atleast need a dynaudio stuff for accuphase...

 

[arj]

Guys honestly, I just looked at Keff specs at a surface level when i was looking for suitable Amp in Accuphase or Boulders or Luxman.. for example, in Accuphase A75 Amp model it says 'rated for 60 W in to 8 ohms'. Since Keff Q950 says 15-200W amplifier requirement as a range, i assumed it is fine to pair this 60W Amp to my speakers.

If time permits, pls help me on this request - how to qualify the right Amplifier specification matching to certain speaker specification? if there are any link to good reading material, pls share. i will do some study myself too.

BTW What is your Budget ?

Published specs do not really give much information directly and there are so many factors eg Sensitivity of the speaker every 3 dB increase means it needs half the power OR Room Size. every 3 M increase in seating distance needs double the power etc

What is not given are other factors like the power variation by frequency/impedance , the impedance curves as the impedance of a speaker also changes by frequency of music, the damping factor and how it matches to the speaker etc etc

But all this is too complicated and what you really need is 50W+ of amplification for you speaker as given by the specs and my guess is even with 30W your ears will Bleed , hence most amps above 50W is more than enough for you

 

[Soulsatisfaction]

Keep it simple. Integrated will be good enough. Acoustic Portrait from Indian brands. Imported there are many. Get trapped only if you have dedicated room and good chain of rest. Otherwise you won’t get much difference. Choose between loudness and sweetness.

 

[manek]

Friends,

Thanks for your inputs.

Some details from my side.

a) room size is 20x22 feet
b) Yes am aware of the budget and understand these are expensive products
c) Listening taste - retro English mostly - BoneyM, Abba, Def leppard, Dire Straits, Micheal Jackson, Elton John, George Michael, Stevie Wonder, Eagles, Tracy Chapman, Toni Braxton and the likes + Indian Hindi and Tamil retros.
c) Had a look at Indiqaudio but in their website I didn't find any mention of the brands am following.
d) When i bot KEF Q950, in addition to the fact that Keff Q950 matched my listening taste (blind tested almost 8 brands before i decided to buy Keff), I took note and dealer advice on these specs in Keff Q950 technical sheet for future upgrade - Impedance 8 ohms / Amplifier requirements 15-200W.

Guys honestly, I just looked at Keff specs at a surface level when i was looking for suitable Amp in Accuphase or Boulders or Luxman.. for example, in Accuphase A75 Amp model it says 'rated for 60 W in to 8 ohms'. Since Keff Q950 says 15-200W amplifier requirement as a range, i assumed it is fine to pair this 60W Amp to my speakers.

If time permits, pls help me on this request - how to qualify the right Amplifier specification matching to certain speaker specification? if there are any link to good reading material, pls share. i will do some study myself too.

Thanks again for your time.

Allow my 2 cents to be part of the options :

Get a good integrated, better to get a good integrated with a built in dac. Try the higher end Denon amps if you can. Integrated+Dac allows for peace of mind on the dac to amp matching angle. Your current dac and amp will help cover some costs.

From the KEF’s that I have heard for years now, their UniQ drivers scale well with a scaleup of electronics by a level Or even two. Demo it with a better amp at home and check it out. My gutt says it should work.

Or

Buy an amp + speaker combo like quad etc and get the house sound of a brand without the hassle of matching. Ofcourse your current speakers+dac+amp will help buying a new set.

 

[rwnano]

Old Harman kardon AVR were discrete amps. You can look for them if they are suitable. High current capability too. Heavy transformer

 

[MaSh]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
I have a NAD C388 hybrid DAC with a pair of KEF Q950 floorstanders + a SONY blueray disc player for music CDs.
I am interested to enhance this setup and looking at few products like Accuphase, Boulders, Luxman.
Should I look for an Integrated Amp or Power Amp? I like the integrated amps fm Accuphase. Is it a right thing to do?
Will NAD C388 works well with Accuphase Amps?
Also, are there any dealers/showrooms for these products in Bangalore, Karnataka, India? Would like to hear them out before I make a decision.
Any info/help/advice much appreciated. Thanks for Ur time.

A matched preamp + poweramp is the best of all worlds no matter what. Going separates adds to the bulk but also adds to the flexibility. You can swap out every individual component that you feel does not go well or want to upgrade. If you have the space and the budget, go for a matched Preamp + Power amp combo with a dedicated DAC.

MaSh

 

[Bloom@83]

A matched preamp + poweramp is the best of all worlds no matter what. Going separates adds to the bulk but also adds to the flexibility. You can swap out every individual component that you feel does not go well or want to upgrade. If you have the space and the budget, go for a matched Preamp + Power amp combo with a dedicated DAC.

MaSh

For dedicated stereo , this is what I’ve been enjoying for long and believe is the best option.

 

[powerslave]

Just buy an amp which is good enough for your current speakers, it will extract the most from them , deliver good music and will be lighter on the wallet. Committing to an amp >5 lakh INR for your current speakers could mean a major upgrade in future , let's say in future you upgrade your speakers you will then either have to find speakers as per your amp (a bad compromise IMO) or you will end up upgrading the amp as well.
Now if you are committed to say Accuphase/Boulder or similar in that league and are sure that it will always remain in your system , go ahead with purchase but remember an amp however expensive and good can only make so much difference to how a speaker produces music.
If I were in your place with say 8-10 lakhs to spend (a good accuphase will be in that range) , I would first upgrade my speakers , those KEFs can't do justice to integrateds from Accuphase.

 

[rwnano]

A matched preamp + poweramp is the best of all worlds no matter what. Going separates adds to the bulk but also adds to the flexibility. You can swap out every individual component that you feel does not go well or want to upgrade. If you have the space and the budget, go for a matched Preamp + Power amp combo with a dedicated DAC.

MaSh

Preamp and power amp means a discrete amps?

 

[MaSh]

Preamp and power amp means a discrete amps?

No, I meant two separate components, a preamplifier and a power amplifier.

MaSh