Macca's Lash Up 2: Lash Harder

[walpurgis]

Put a meter across speaker terminals and see what happens when other speakers are running. There'll be a measurable current due to the resonance. It can be negated to a lesser extent by putting unused speakers face to face, then any resonances tend to cancel.

[Marco]

Any sign yet of the Tannoys?

Marco.

[Macca]

Put a meter across speaker terminals and see what happens when other speakers are running. There'll be a measurable current due to the resonance. It can be negated to a lesser extent by putting unused speakers face to face, then any resonances tend to cancel.

Yep I have the IMF TSL50 face to face for that reason but I still think the volumes of air being moved are so small as to be swamped by that from the driven speakers and general room effects. Maybe in an acoustically perfect room it might matter a little.

[Macca]

Any sign yet of the Tannoys?

Marco.

No not heard anything. Although now I've got this system back on song I'm less bothered.

I'll contact him again in the New Year, see what's up. Looks like I'm going to be waiting a while for the Yamaha NS1000Ms too. But what can you do?

[Marco]

Lol - I'll give him a nudge next week, if you like. I need to ask him about something else anyway

Marco.

[Macca]

Sure, go ahead if you see him.

[walpurgis]

Yep I have the IMF TSL50

I didn't know you still had them, always liked those.

[Macca]

Needing a re-cap, got all the new caps just not got around to it. The bass on them is something else, it has the same weight and scale as you get with big Tannoys or JBLs.

I think they'll be excellent when fully renovated.

[Marco]

Sure, go ahead if you see him.

Will do, mate

Marco.

[Macca]

Noticed on the ASR forum the other day that there was a test of the NAD 320BEE 'budget level' integrated amp that came out back in 2003. It got a bit of a 'meh' result, but when the power amp section was tested alone it measured much better, on a par with the Accuphase E270 which costs about a million pounds and is close to the top tier of the amps tested so far.

I took a look on eBay and there were several C320BEEs up for sale on BIN and one on auction, which was fortuitously ending in a couple of hours. Completed listings indicated they tend to go around the £140 mark. I was interested in seeing if it really could compete with something up at the Accuphase level of price and reputation, so thought I'd have a pop at it just out of curiosity.

Yes, I do this stuff so you don't have to

I won the auction with a bid of £103, plus a tenner for delivery.

It turned up last Tuesday so I took out the pre/power links and hooked it up as a power amp only, fed straight from the DAC. NAD did these in black and silver, this one is silver, I suspect the black ones will go for a bit more money as I think 'budget silver' from the early 2000s era looks really cheap and tatty.

The case and buttons are adequate, the volume knob is a nasty chunk of cheap plastic, but I'm not going to be using that and this is about performance not looks. Would you believe an amplifier that came out in 2003 would have binding posts that don't accept banana plugs? No, me neither but here you go. Luckily I had some adaptors handy.


Here's a pic of it all hooked up:



It's no Accuphase in the looks department, let's face it. But what about performance?

Well, I have to say this is one of the best power amps I've ever had in my system. Not the best, but for £114 delivered it's beyond a joke. Superb clarity and tone, sweet-sounding - gets the harmonics right in the way so few solid state amps manage at any price.

Can't fault it in the bass either, maybe a little soft compared to a Krell but not enough in it that you'd really think you were missing out. It has the detail but it's also relaxed and easy to listen to.

Is it as good as an Accuphase? Well can't really say, only ever heard one Accuphase amp and that was very good with similar qualities to those I describe above, but I don't have one here to do a back-to-back with so that'll have to remain moot. But if you are looking for a decent second-hand power amp on a tight budget, this is it.