URGENT Advice required : PowerAmp

[cmsajith]

I am looking for a poweramp to drive my Quad22L2.
Options i could find are :
- Used NAD C270 + NAD C160 or NAD C162
- New Quad 909 + Pre(??)
- New Musical Fidelity 3.2
I am more incliened to NAD as it will be costing me less than 45k and quad requires a high end pre to get the max out of it and the MF 3.2 costs more than a pre-power setup(?). Will the NAD can give the best out of quads or say the best mids and details.. with a good grip and depth in low freq? Is there any other better combo? For the time being i will be using Caiman as PreAmp (2v rms with 1K ohms impedence).

 

[cmsajith]

Thanks audioengg. for ur comments..
How much the vfm arcam or promithious costs? Also how much a good passive pre to pair with 909? I am open to go for 909 and will be using caiman as a temporary soln and go for a passive pre later? What are the pros and cons of a passive pre over active?

Also please suggest the best pre to pair with c270 to get the max from it.

 

[iaudio]

cmsajith,Are you finding the Nak re10 insufficient to drive your Quads?
I think Dr. Bass is selling a Yamaha Pre in the classifieds section. But I guess you must have checked that out.
Titus

 

[cmsajith]

cmsajith,Are you finding the Nak re10 insufficient to drive your Quads?
I think Dr. Bass is selling a Yamaha Pre in the classifieds section. But I guess you must have checked that out.
Titus

Not exactly. It was a temporary solution for my quads. I was planning for a pre-power combo, now trying to pull the string somehow

 

[jai1611]

I had ordered a Promitheus TVC preamp directly from the company. Ended up costing me a bit over 25k including customs. Never heard the Quad 909 so cant comment on how it works with the pre.

 

[Sidharth Trehan]

@ cmsajith
I have Quad 99pre + 909power with 11L2.
They work for me farily well, but am moving beyond the norms and getting a passive volume control unit (a passive pre, as some call it) after suggestions and detailed discussion with Audio Engineer (ex-Quad company and a Quad user since decades) and also Mr. Viren Bakshi of Lyrita.

Hv read about both Axiom and Promitheus, they have fine reviews for them but i am getting my passive unit from Mr. Viren Bakshi of Lyrita Audio.

Rest, there are more tips AudioEngineer has pointed which i shall seriouly proceed with post the passive unit comes in.

I suggest y search the forum by 909 and u will find lots of posts by AudioEngineer. Read the full thread to get a perspective.

Cheers

 

[odyssey]

I willbe biased so take it for what it's worth. Since you are in Bangalore you can check out both the Odyssey amps as well as the Usher r1.5 amp (close to a threshold stassis 4). The former will have more transparency while the latter has a warmer mid range. I have customer who have moved from the quad 909 to the usher amp
cheers
[email protected]

 

[arj]

@ cmsajith

Hv read about both Axiom and Promitheus, they have fine reviews for them but i am getting my passive unit from Mr. Viren Bakshi of Lyrita Audio.

Really great to hear. Would you know the details of the design ? is it TVC based or resistor based ?

 

[Sidharth Trehan]

I willbe biased so take it for what it's worth. Since you are in Bangalore you can check out both the Odyssey amps as well as the Usher r1.5 amp (close to a threshold stassis 4). The former will have more transparency while the latter has a warmer mid range. I have customer who have moved from the quad 909 to the usher amp
cheers
[email protected]

Sajith,
Do look at Ushers too, they hv a good repute as well. Hv not heard them but u can, since u hv a place to audition as suggested.

Brgds

 

[malvai]

I am afraid the Usher amp is miles from the Threshold Stasis SA/4e in every respect barring looks.. Sorry but the Usher sounds much rougher! The SA/4e is probably the best amp in that entire Threshold line & also Nelson Pass's full out job.

+1 to this! I have had the misfortune of listening to this only once (its a misfortune, precisely because because I could listen 'em only once!)...

 

[odyssey]

Hi Arup
I haven't had the good fortune to listen to them both side by side or do the comparison, I am only saying what NP himself said/confirmed. Now that I think about it, I will have to check whether it was the stassis 4 or some T3xx or some such series. I will post when I have found that post by him. The R1.5 is much lower biased than the threshold.
Malvai, where did you hear this? I am curious if this is in India?
Cheers
sridhar

 

[malvai]

Hi Arup
I haven't had the good fortune to listen to them both side by side or do the comparison, I am only saying what NP himself said/confirmed. Now that I think about it, I will have to check whether it was the stassis 4 or some T3xx or some such series. I will post when I have found that post by him. The R1.5 is much lower biased than the threshold.
Malvai, where did you hear this? I am curious if this is in India?
Cheers
sridhar

Yup! India... At a friends place (a shippie), who since, has moved his base to Malaysia... Taking his gear with him.

 

[cmsajith]

More confused...

Anyways, how much the Odyssey and Usher amp costs?

 

[odyssey]

Hi Confusion is ok, most people are there are opinions, as you can see we all have it. What you need to determine (and technical specs is a first level filter), is what you and only you like, not what I or Malvai or Arup think is better. All we can do is to give you choices to try out. Be clear what you want, not which brand, that comes later. Narrow down to some choices and try them out, trust your ears and choose what you like. You are not repeatedly going to eat in a particular restaraunt because I say it's good, similarly, since you have to listen to the amp everyday, you will have to trust your ears

cheers
[email protected]

 

[marsilians]

You are one lucky person to own a SA/4e! I did not even envision someone in India having one of these - it's my ignorance coming through....apologies. NP laid his mark forever on the amp landscape with this design.

Totally agree re: the Chinese knockoffs of some truly groundbreaking amps like the Treshold or Krell or Alephs is total blashphemy. Whats funny is that even the knockoffs are priced reasonably high around the $1500 range.

Though I do not have personal experience, the owner of the audio store I used to work many many summers ago had a Nakamichi that used the STATIS design and he was very happy with it.

 

[buswal]

will I get a chance to audition threshold sa 4e in India. Any lead...

regards

 

[Sidharth Trehan]

Funny it may sound asking, but is Mr. Nelson pass ...the founder od Pass Labs?

Have been reading about Pass mono's, they have a feedback on musicality similar to Quads. Anyhow.

 

[arj]

@ < anm >; < arj >; < buswal >; < gvenu >; < hifipal4all >; < malvai >; < Rajiv >; < rikhav >; < soundofmusic >; < iaudio >;

Thank you all for your appreciation of the great Analog legend!
Once again, my sincere thanks!

AE, the mans not just a genius but someone who wants to develop the audio community as well from the way he is supportive of the audio community and not getting into the pure wealth generation business...this is one quote on him id like to share

Unusually for a leading figure producing commercial equipment, Pass has also long been very supportive of the DIY audio community, by way of published articles (Notably in "The Audio Amateur") and schematics of out of production models on the Pass Labs site and more recently the First Watt site. Extremely unusually for such a noted figure, he is readily contactable and frequently interacts directly (if tersely) with audio hobbyists individually: all of which hobbiests are extremely grateful for and for which he is held in very high esteem. His nickname among the DIY audio community is "Papa".

More here.. Nelson Pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[tharun]

100% Arj....

Quite a while back, I had quoted "Papa Nelson" which he's fondly called...
Yes, we all like money but to Nelson, he wants the music enthusiasts (who unfortunately don't have very deep pockets) to enjoy quality music one way or the other - hence he freely publishes as much as possible to the worldwide community while also interacting with them on a daily basis to get them going.

Has one of the largest DIY and audiophile fan club around...

Hats off to Papa-NP for his everlasting efforts :clapping:

And you should be called " Papa Arup " :clapping: The Nelson Pass of India.

 

[cmsajith]

I am editing my signature with QUAD 909. It reached me today early morning and it is still in my car. Need to rush to house to set it up.

Thankyou all for your suggestions. I am going to use it with my Caiman Pre for the time being and researching on the feasibility to replace the Caiman Volume Pot with DACT CT2 stereo 10K pot along with other good pots. Else I will be keeping it as an external Volume control \ Passive Pre. Special Thanks to Viren Bakshi for answering my queries.

Where can i source DACT CT2 pot (Corson Bangalore doesnt stock it now, but the DACT website says they are the distributor in India.).