If you don't need a phone stage, the Audio Refinement Complete Alpha works really well the Vandersteen 1cs. I previously had a Nakamichi SR-4A hooked up to them, but the Audio Refinement Complete is much smoother. |
conrad johnson CAV50: one of the finest amps regardless of price. |
Nad 362BEE integrated amp. Sounds good - may not be the last word in resolution, but for <$500 it has great musicality and energy. Really enjoy this system very much. (Nad 545 BEE CD, squeezebox with Theta Pro Progency DAC, Tributary cabling and Chord interconnects). |
Well, I know it's almost three and a half years since this thread was initiated, but I somehow linked to it now. My Vandersteen 1C's have been getting along just beautifully with my Rogue Audio Cronus integrated amp since December 2007. Great synergy between the amp, speakers, analog and digital front ends (click on my system), with an extremely musical presentation. I love the way everything works together, and for my ears, in my room, it's a winnig combination. The Rega P3-24 table and Exact 2 cartridge seem to jive perfectly with the Cronus' built-in phono stage, and it's a great way to listen to records.
What else are my fellow 'Goners using to drive the Vandersteen 1C's ? |
Yeah, if you know you're going to be into vinyl for the long haul, then investing in a nice cartridge makes sense (since you can always take it with you if/when you move up to a nicer table). At this point, I think a new cart. would equal your best bang for the buck. It might be useful to find out what the Nak delivers in terms of gain and what it's looking for in terms of impedence. If you can find this information, you might want to start a new thread in "Analog" asking for specific suggestions. |
Would it be a bit wiser to perhaps try a new cartridge before trying a new turntable?? Once upon a time I used Grado, but they happen to make an awful hum when used with Rotel...so my local dealer wasn't suggesting much other than Ortofon as a replacement.
It's certainly possible that it's not the Nak's fault. The few things I've read around here suggest that it was/is a quality piece of gear. |
You might get more bang for your buck by taking your 1000$ and getting a better turntable and cartrige and hanging on to the Nak for a while. A grand should get you something like a Rega p25 w/ a nice mm cart. on it. Though if you're set on a new integrated, I'd second the Rega suggestion made above. 60w Mira's can be found here at audiogon for around 700. Good luck and have fun. |
My apologies for not giving a bit more details about the setup. It's certainly nothing fancy - the Rotel has an Ortofon cartridge, and it's just a run of the mill Sony SACD player. Speaker wire is typical 12-gauge. Doesn't seem like this gear would make vinyl sound "underpowered", though.
The Nakamichi is supposed to be about 40 wpc. Loudest levels for vinyl for me would be at about 11 o' clock. Trust me, I don't like ear bleeding levels. Room size is about 11' X 15', and I have to put the Vandersteens on the shorter side - they're probably about 8 feet apart.
I do have JM Lab Chorus 725 speakers in another room (which have three 6.5" woofers a piece), so I could try them with the Nakamichi to see if they provide something in the bass department that the Vandersteen's don't when listening to LP's. Although the JM Lab cost roughly twice as much, I just love the phase/time coherence of the Vandersteens, and that's why I want to keep my turntable matched up with them.
Whatever integrated anyone may suggest, I would defintely want it to have the phono stage already built in. |
Theunderlyingtheme, I don't know much about and have never owned a Nacamichi amp but from what I could find on the web your amp puts out 45 watts per channel. My Cayin puts out 35 watts per channel and I never go over 12 o clock on the volume and that is very loud for me, but this is in a small room 20X13X7. I think there is somthing else going on because as Walkman stated ," I never experienced that with mine". My suggestion would be to repost your question but give more details such as size and layout of the room, cartridge, cd player, ic's, speaker wire , how loud you like to listen, music, etc. You may be trying to get to much out of them and the amp is clipping . It could be a number of things. I'm not saying I have the answear but there are alot of knowledgable people on this site who I'm sure could help you. Good luck. TG |
Wow, vandy's "in your face." I've never experienced that with mine, and have had them for 6 years now. I use a sim audio I-5 (ss) amp, and listen to rock, acoustic rock and trip hop. Interesting. Different strokes...
- walkman |
Let me address my response, (especially to Kehut and Tsugury) about Vandersteen 1C's and amps. I ran a post similar to the above about a month ago. Unfortunately my "experience" with these speakers driven by Musical Fidelity X-150 integrated is moving toward the negative column and here is why. First, it might just be that this speaker does not take well to SS amps, even ones priced about $1000-1200. On the positive side, the sound is extraordinaryly dynamic, but also congested and at times to "in your face" and the highs are often edgy. I realize it could be my set-up, but I think I know enough about about audio that the problem seems either speaker or amp related. I recently played two old favorites from my CD collection and the sound did not make me smile. One was The "Last Waltz" by the Band. It was almost unlistenable on my cuurent setup, especially the wonderful Doctor John tune "Such a Night"----this was not the case with other speakers like B&W, Green Mountain, and even the noble Large Advent which i have owned!!! Also, I played the "gold" Mobile Fidelity reissue of of "Layla"---not a great recording in its original form., but it still sounded better on other speakers I have owned.... If I go with a "tube" integrated, I don't want "flea" power meaning 35 RMS or less which seems anemic to me. So, again, I request the membership to suggest some "tube" amp options with more watts than above and also consideration of decent to good phono stage. I also own some vintage vinyl... Finally, Maybe, I just bought the wrong speaker for my (diminishing) audio needs; that is, should have spent more money for either the Vandy 2C's, or gone in a different speaker direction. Though, I was trying to economize and get the biggest bang for my buck by buying thw 1C's Thanks to all, Jim |
My local dealer uses Rega power with Vandies...even the Brio would be a good match...I heard this combo...very impressive....regardless of price...and the Brio has a decent phono stage...much better than curent Rotel... |
The Primaluna PL2 40W UL KT-88 amp is a sound choice around your price used. They dont come up too often and hold their resale..but it has a wonderful sound and can drive most speakers including Vandy's well. The PL1 35W EL-34 based amp would likely do as well. But the Two will boogie like the big boys with refinement. Make sure you have a quality Phono stage..that most important to get your vinyl sounding good and get the best from your integrated.. The PL2 also has an optional MM phono stage built in if you need that. Best of luck! |
here are a couple of my sugessions...........
meridian 551 with phono stage....650-800 used,
bryston b-60 with phono...800-1000, |
I'm listening to a pair of 1B's with a Cayin TA-30 right now , plenty of power and I'm very pleased with the sound of Vinyl and CD's. I would highly recommend a tube integrated as they didn't impress me when I heard them with a SS amp. That said they are not a speaker which you will get really heavy bass from as they don't go that low. You also might want to list your turntable setup as that may have something to do with it.
TG |
