Cambridge Audio Azur 540A VS. NAD C320 BEE

[Tons of Fun]

If "Tons of fun" who knows technical stuff on CA is correct, you will need a more powerfull amp.

Or with my sales hat on, he needs more sensitive speakers

[Walker]

Hi All,
I played many different types of music yesterday and came to the conclusion that it’s a great amp for well recorded music but it shows NO MERCY for a lot of older cd’s. It’s incredible how it went from great to awful. For example “Who’s Next” (The Who): I’ve never heard this cd so poorly (same with Queen, Joe Jackson and a lot of other older cd’s).
I’m used to the (older) HK sound witch puts a good camouflage net over poorly recorded cd’s. On the other end, well recorded cd’s sound excellent. I played some Tosca and Kruder & Dorfmeister and I was very happy.
The volume issue doesn’t bother me, I just turn it up more.
I'm definitely not going to sell my B&W's and I don’t think I will sell the CA anytime soon.
My conclusion so far: Great amp for well recorded music but imo not an all-rounder.
Walker

[noddin0ff]

Walker,

Good news! I sympathize. I'm slowly upgrading with remastered CD's (Look Sharp!, e.g.). Try to remind yourself that its not that poor CD's sound bad, it that good ones are allowed to really shine, something your HK wasn't doing...

Cheers!

noddin0ff

[Walker]

Noddin you're right I will remind myself.
Does the remastered Look Sharp sound a lot better cause my old Look Sharp (and I'm the man) sound horrible.
W.

[topspeed]

Noddin you're right I will remind myself.
Does the remastered Look Sharp sound a lot better cause my old Look Sharp (and I'm the man) sound horrible.
W.

Walker, you've got good taste in music my man. Check out JJ's Jumpin' Jive if you haven't already. Remastered on Amazon for $10.99 and a helluva fun disc.

Enjoy!

[Peter_Klim]

Or with my sales hat on, he needs more sensitive speakers

I second that!

Unless you loooooooooooooove the way the speakers sound (Q wise, not SPL wise).
But if your lesser-brand-old-amp had the same or less power (can't recall what you wrote) and played louder, that makes NO sense as to what's going on with the CA.

Have you ever told us what happens when you crank it up til it starts to distort - is it to your liking? Is it loud? What position is it at?


Maybe you need, dare I say it...an EQ? ...Wait, on your HK, did you use the tones controls alot? Maybe that's why your not happy w/the CA's lack of UMPH!

Some people, including me, may know what equipment is "good" but that doesn't mean we know what we hear sounds "good" and what doesn't (I haven't auditioned enough to know what is super good. But mostly I have not auditioned live and "unplugged" "musicians" to know what live music sounds like. So I usually listen to vocals to determine what sound like the person is right in fron of me). I mean honestly, if we all truely knew what the "best" sound is, we would less likely, in "many" but not all case, ask someone elses opinion on what to get.

Case in point, my brother still "thinks" Bose 301's (that he returned) sounds better than his Silver series Monitor Audio speakers (that I picked up for him as a replacement). CLEARRRRLY he is wrong! So what I am saying is that maybe you are opinion of the sound the CA delivers is of a lesser quality than your other amps. If you listened to the source of the music (a live performance w/o loud speakers and amplifiers), then you would understand that the CA sounds more like the real thing than the HK?

Please do not be offended. I'm only stating a possibility of what is going on.

How bout trying the amp on a friends sytem?

[Walker]

Hi peter,
The onkyo I used is 2x 100 and the hk is 5x75. I know the ca is better than the other 2 (both receivers), I can hear things I did not hear before. I think I just expected to much of this amp but it's a fine amp and very affordable.
I do believe my B&W speakers are in another league and I will upgrade amps in the future. I bought these speakers recently after a lot of research, forums and try outs and I'm sure they are the right ones for my taste.

I do hear a lot of live music and don't expect to come close to that kind of sound with a budget system.
I guess the quest for better is not over … hooray.
Thanks for your reactions,
W.