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Preamp to Pair with NAD M23

Hi everyone,

I recently got a NAD M23 to replace an Adcom GFA-555 that I've been using the past 10 years.  I am using a Bryston 11B as a preamplifier currently along with an Arcam irDAC to drive a pair of Kef 104/2s.  Overall, I am pretty happy with the sound but am curious about newer preamplifiers.  The sound stage and imaging with the NAD is definitely an improvement to the Adcom especially at lower volume levels.  I have been looking at the Benchmark HPA4 as a potential replacement and using the Bryston as a phono preamp.  For anyone with experience with any of these components would a major upgrade or more of a lateral move as I understand that Bryston and Benchmark are both known to be fairly neutral.  Any other suggestions are welcome as well.  Thanks.

 

Andrew

teetrain
docroasty's avatar
docroasty
82 posts
 

I'm using a cary audio slp-05 into the Nad m23 and am enjoying it a lot. the cary looks great, sounds amazing and is also dead quiet. wasn't a big fan of the stock tubes, so plugged in a set of NOS sylvania 6sn7 tubes and they're much better indeed. ordered a set of atma-sphere class d monoblocks out of curiosity and waiting on them to arrive. 

soix
11,233 posts
 

@docroasty Love to hear your impressions of the Atmasphere amps once they’re settled in.

baemer93
2 posts
 

Old thread alert….but @teetrain, I am taking receipt of the MZ2 to pair with my M23 today.  Any more thoughts you can share on this pairing?

 

appreciate the input!

 

-B

bdalessio's avatar
bdalessio
9 posts
 

@docroasty How are those atma-sphere class d mono-blocks comparing to the NAD M23?  I too have the M23.

docroasty's avatar
docroasty
82 posts
 

@soix @bdalessio 

sorry for the late reply, Soix. must have missed that post!

I'm still using the Atma-sphere monoblocks and enjoy them very much. i've since sold the Cary SLP-05 and am alternating between the Axiom II preamp with Walker Mod and Hattor Big preamp into the Atma-spheres.

they're very quiet with no background hiss (which is important for me as i use the setup with headphones; Susvara, Abyss, Immanis etc). fuss free amps, and i like that there isn't any "click" when the amp turns on. The NAD M23 otoh has a loud click after the soft startup which can be a bit jarring with the headphones on the head.

overall less power than the NAD M23, but more than enough for my use case scenario. for the bells and whistles, the NAD M23 has the 12v trigger and adjustable gain, which are both nice to have. sound wise i think they're both pretty similar up top but i think i have to give the low end to the NAD M23. the NAD has a very nice heft to the low end.

I did have an Apollon Purifi 1ET7040SA amplifier for a couple of weeks but preferred the Atma-Spheres as they seemed a bit more transparent but at the same time having better low end than the Apollon. I felt the Apollon was a bit more upper mid to high leaning, which wasn't to my preference.

i'm using 2x Cardas Clear Reflection power cords into the monoblocks. haven't experimented with other cords. i do have one minor gripe with the Atma-spheres in that the chassis is somewhat oddly sized; i can't place two monoblocks side by side on my rack.

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