Anyone compared NAD and Cambridge Intergrateds?

I used to own both the Cambridge 540A v2 and the NAD C326BEE.

They're both very nice budget amps, and I don't think you could go wrong with either.

The packaging and chassis on the Cambridge look nicer, but the NAD has slightly higher quality parts inside (bigger power supply caps, relays instead of IC switching, etc).

I think the audible differences between the two are overstated and are mostly a result of the one real difference I did notice, namely, that the volume controls track quite differently. In other words, put them both at the 9 o'clock position, and the NAD was much louder than the Cambridge. By the 12 o'clock position, they were closer in loudness. I think this alone explains a lot of the sonic differences being attributed to them, ie, people are hearing level differences more than actual sonic differences.

Fair enough Tobias. I didn't mean to call out anybody personally; I was merely stating that the two amps seem to me more similar than different - at least with the speakers I listened to them on. Now, to a large extent, the differences may only be apparent with certain speakers that are either very revealing or difficult loads to drive. Also, I only compared at moderate levels; the differences at high levels would likely be greater than what I heard.

Yeah the volume is a little jumpy on the NAD. Trying to nail down a desired volume when listening at low levels can be difficult. One quick push of the volume control and you go from too quiet to too loud....

Actually I found the Cambridge had somewhat similar "jumpiness," but it wasn't quite so touchy at low volumes.