Nak PA 5MMKII Bellles 150A HR Rotel RB 1070? Which one


I am looking at three different amps in my area and price range. Say $250 to $450  Belles 150A Hot Rod, Nak PA5 MKII, Rotel RB 1070. I have a Rotel RC 1070 preamp so that is why the Rotel is in the mix. Cables are  all Analysis Plus and speakers are either Vandersteen 2C or  Infinity RS 2.5s.  I owned Rotel gear 2001 -2006  (before I moved on to a perfect but soul less digital Bel Canto) and always thought despite its flaws the Rotel  gear was pretty musical.  I have heard it said in  more then one spot the RB 1070 is a bit more clinical then the older stuff but who knows what cables were being used  Have never heard a belles and have not heard a Nak since I worked in the biz way back then.  Any synergy issues here with the Rotel preamp.? which by the way i think is better then the early 995 and 990 which were also good but more veiled.

The question also is this stuff going to outdo my Music Hall A 50.2 integrated? No slouch in itself.
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Showing 1 response by shoresaudio

I briefly had the RB1070 in my system and could not wait to get rid of it.  I dislike that sterile, lifeless sound.  It had no "balls" whatsoever.  I went a week or two without turning on my system.  Hated it.  I used it to temporarily replace another older amp that started acting up, and got it as a hand-me-down so fortunately, no money lost.  

The Nak PA-5 was originally a Nelson Pass Stasis design (same as the Threshold S-series power amps). Properly maintained (it would need a cap upgrade by now), it would be a good bet.  The "II" version is still basically the same but has had a couple of minor modifications done by Nakamichi.  The PA-7 is even nicer but you're looking at $750 or more for a clean example.  It runs on the warm side, but easily drove any speaker I threw at it.