Congratulations that your dream become true. NHT 3.3 is fantastic speakers. I bought a pair when NHT discontinued them and love them. At beginning, I paired them with a Denon 4800 due to limited budget and they sound pretty good. But apparently something is missing. Then, just like you, I bought an Aragon 8008 power amp and use Denon 4800 as preamp, but no gain except the hum due to lack of ground in AC plug of Denon receiver. Now I have built whole system. Here is the list:
Transport: Theta Data II
DAC: Theta Pro Basic II
Pre: Audio Research LS15
Amp: Aragon 8008 MkII
All monster cable and I am thinking about DIY cables including XLR. Right now I am using only RCA.
It sounds way better than before. NHT is a little bit bright to some audiophile. Seems the tube preamp cured that problem a lot. Vocal is not lean at all. Mid-range is also more transparent, no forward at all. The bass is much more rich and extend even lower with the transport.
For your setup, I feel you put pretty much effort on power amp, but not the source and preamp. The rule is garbage in garbage out. Considering the price tag of new 3.3, Yamaha receiver is apparently not a good match, and Adcom is not the same level too. Biamp will only add more input power unless you have crossover right after preamp.
So I would suggest you consider your budget, buy some used equipement and let them feed your 3.3 instead of receiver.
BTW, the designer of 3.3, Ken, said NHT was using Aragon to test their 3.3, I guess it is 8008ST.
Transport: Theta Data II
DAC: Theta Pro Basic II
Pre: Audio Research LS15
Amp: Aragon 8008 MkII
All monster cable and I am thinking about DIY cables including XLR. Right now I am using only RCA.
It sounds way better than before. NHT is a little bit bright to some audiophile. Seems the tube preamp cured that problem a lot. Vocal is not lean at all. Mid-range is also more transparent, no forward at all. The bass is much more rich and extend even lower with the transport.
For your setup, I feel you put pretty much effort on power amp, but not the source and preamp. The rule is garbage in garbage out. Considering the price tag of new 3.3, Yamaha receiver is apparently not a good match, and Adcom is not the same level too. Biamp will only add more input power unless you have crossover right after preamp.
So I would suggest you consider your budget, buy some used equipement and let them feed your 3.3 instead of receiver.
BTW, the designer of 3.3, Ken, said NHT was using Aragon to test their 3.3, I guess it is 8008ST.