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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