As I mentioned on a previous post I've been using an early NAD 7020 receiver to drive early KEF 104's for many years, with which I have been completely satisfied, quite cynical about why anyone would want more powerful gear to listen to classical music as I rarely turned the volume over 12 o'clock. I'm a retired musician so I do have ears!
A friend is returning a pair of B139's (100w model) I gave him when I got the 104's 20 years ago, so intrigued by the German dipole (http://www.tech-diy.com/Dipol-Subwoofer.pdf), and not wanting some enormous TL, horn or BR, I'm in the middle of constructing a sub woofer using these and a LP active filter.
Where's this all leading? To power the subwoofer I picked up a NAD 3150 on eBay with crook phono input (Aust$100). I don't need the phono but I do need to replace a slightly problematic speaker relay and while I'm in there, on Web recommendations, I'll upgrade/renew 25 yo e/caps in power supplies.
While I was waiting for these parts I thought I'd use the NAD 3150 on the KEF 104's. WHAT A REVELATION!! Unbelievable bass response from an 8" with passive radiator and the midrange and treble so clear and crisp. I can't stop wasting hours listening to them. Just heard Holst Planets/BBC/Andrew Davis - so exciting. Piano music is so lifelike. Singers untiring. The 3150's brighter top end suits the smooth (over subtle?) T27 tweeters to produce wonderful percussion.
Oh dear, that was a very expensive bargain. I can't just use it to drive a bloody subwoofer - it's too good. I'll need another 3150 or 2150 to drive the subwoofer, or maybe two so I can bridge them, or three so I can run 5.1, or four so I can run 7.1......
One often hears advice to always spend first on good speakers as the weakest link, and I was lucky to already have good ones (if somewhat unappreciated driven by the NAD 7020) but I'd never realised how much a good amp helps to control them. The NAD 3150 must have been as much of a revelation in it's day as the 2030 was a few years earlier.