Review: NAD 3155 Amplifier


Category: Amplifiers

I bought this integrated amp a while back, in my first "hi-fi" setup, along with a pair of Polk Monitor Jr. 5s. They were both used, together the combo was $300. With the Polks, the NAD struck a wonderful balance. This integrated had plenty of power, and together, the combo sounded very nice and easy to listen to, with fantastic bass and a rich midrange. This tonal balance is significantly due to the warm-sounding polks. This combo was fantastic, and made me happy until I got the upgrade bug. With the B&Ws, the NAD sounded somewhat grainy and compressed, the two did not mate nearly as well, but the NAD didn't destroy the nice open sound of the B&Ws, just compressed it somewhat. The array of controls (mute, bass/treble eqs, loudness, a bass enhancement switch) may have contributed to its less than stellar performance with a more revealing speaker, but with the polks I never noticed a problem... The speaker connectors were not very pretty, allowing only bare wire, and that looked quite foul, as 12 awg would barely fit. Its a shame, I bet that a little more care would have made this integrated a good deal better... but as its a lower-end model, there is no surprise that some corners had to be cut. This amp worked like a champ, though, even after having been exposed to fire-extinguisher chemicals.

For someone with easygoing, easy to drive speakers, this little integrated is great. I imagine it would also be fantastic for a tweaker, but for the "true", revealing, high end, this amp would likely be a waste of one's money.

Associated gear
Polk Monitor Jr 5
B&W DM 605 s2
Sony cd player
PC sound card

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badman
Heloo!
I had the chance to listen to the NAD 3155 for a cuple of weeks. In my opinion it is a great integrated amp. I used it along with infinity reference 61i speakers, and they just sounded beautiful. Clear mids and hights, fantastic and fast bass. Also it had a lot of power. The speaker just sounded great even at very high volumes. I think this is a very god integrated amp, and it worth its money.
Go to the following web site, scroll down the list of older NAD models, and click on the listing for detailed product information. They don't have the 3150 listed, but do have info on several other models which were produced during the same period.
http://www.nadelectronics.com/support/productinfo_framset.htm
Hi Badman,
I just bought a NAD 3150 and saw your posting regarding the 3155. Are they similar? Do you know of any site which lists early NAD amplifiers? Thanks.
Skip Magnuson