Yamaha NS 5000 w/ NAD M33

Do not hear the NS5000 as being towards the clinical side of neutral. It is slightly warm. My Magnepan LRS+ is brighter. I am considering the SimAudio because it is brighter than my CODA #16 for the NS5000. 

Echoing some of what @waytoomuchstuff mentioned about dynamic contrast, dropping the room’s noise floor as much as possible is the first step to improving perceived dynamics, i.e., takimg care of that noisy hvac, buzzing things, rattling walls etc. Then, treat the room followed by grippy electronics. (The alternative is to keep cranking it up into hearing loss).

Talk to Poes Acoustics, Acoustic Fields, Grimani systems, etc on how you need to get that drywall, studs, etc done before tossing panels in a room.

Speaking of electronics, some guys like it loose. If you fall in that category, can’t have your cake and eat it too...

Agree with others here, adding room treatment and a sub will help, but those speakers merit much better electronics, trade the NAD in or sell it and get a Boulder 866 or even better a Gryphon Diablo 333. I have heard those speakers more than once and even at shows they always impressed me no matter the electronics though those woofers need a low impedance amp with high current to sound their best. 

Agree with the quality of amps used with the NS5000. The NAD is not in the best choice. I would take a Benchmark AHB2 mono over the NAD for about the same price, even though it was my worst performer on the NS5000.

With regards to the current or power of an amp I have to disagree on what is needed. I just finished a shootout with 3 amps,

- stereo Benchmark AHB2 (100 | 175 | 192 @ 8 | 4 | 2) (off memory)

- CODA #16 (150 | 300 | 600 @ 8 | 4 | 2)

- Sanders Magtech (500 | 900 @ 8 | 4)

All 3 of these amps drove the speakers to acceptable levels. The bass was incredibly articulate on the AHB2. The AHB2 is the weakest power wise of these 3 amps and the CODA is the strongest. One could argue the bass was the best with the AHB2. My friend, who dislikes the AHB2, even said this to me on the Stones Sympathy for the Devil track. My takeaway is that the NS5000 is not that difficult to drive even though it has that huge woofer.

The AHB2 sadly came out last in the overall test, I wanted it to win. The AHB2 had a slightly smaller soundstage and some fatigue in the top and mids with my gear. I am very sensitive to this, and others may not notice. I may be able to eliminate that with a warmer DAC, but the issue was not there with the other 2 amps.

Now if you want to stay in a "budget" price range the Sanders Magtech is an excellent choice for the NS5000. My used Sanders was $4k from Sanders with warranty and is excellent in many ways. Now if I had not heard the #16 on the NS5000 I could be very happy long term with the Sanders. The Sanders is miles ahead of NAD M22 V2 that I had in the house long ago. 

I also tried my modded Peachtree GAN1 (Class D 200 @ 8) and it was too weak to drive the NS5000 nicely. Though I will try this again as a stopgap tomorrow. I may sell the Sanders and AHB2 to raise cash for a more expensive amp. 

Given my taste for a neutral sounding amp fo the NS5000, that suggestion of the Boulder amp is interesting. The Diablo would be too warm for me. A SImAudio North Collection is what I think would work the best for my ears, but I have only heard the old lineup. My CODA #16 is an amazing amp, but I like it better on my Magnepan LRS+ speaker (spectacular pairing with Holo Serene preamp + LRS+). The LRS+ is nowhere comparable to the NS5000 but the #16 takes it to another level of goodness. The Sanders comes pretty close to the #16 on the NS5000.

I was deciding on whether to sell my AHB2 tonight, so I hooked it up to the Holo Serene preamp and the Benchmark DAC3B. I put it through the RAAL T1-1b amp interface box and listened with the RAAL CA-1a headphone.

That fatigue I had on the NS5000 system with the AHB2 is not evident on the phones. A very surprising result. I am keeping the AHB2 for the RAAL, since it sounds so good. I am even using a silver headphone cable from RAAL.