Looking for Reasonably Priced Integrated Amp For Nautilus 802's - Recommendations Please

radioactive

radioactive

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I have a pair of B&W Nautilus 802's which I will be buried with. I love their sound - but they have been driven with expensive gear and I just don't have the room, or budget anymore. I started driving them with an MC303, then a pair of MC601's, then a Boulder 1010 and more recently a pair of Halo JC1's, which are very dependent on preamp plus I don't have room for these beasts with a preamp and DAC.

I'm looking for recommendations for a Integrated Amp that can drive these well, either with or without an integrated DAC. Ideally a good sounding unit that can be driven via Roon would be perfect, but I know that might break the bank. So price-wise, looking for something under $3,500 or thereabouts - used, not looking for anything brand new. I was thinking something like my NAD M10, but I don't know it will drive them or have good synergy. So I'm looking for advice on units to research or try out. What do you recommend?

For those looking at my signature block, all the gear associated with the 802's is either gone or going away (for various reasons) and I'm in the process of a major change in my big system. All my resources are going there and these will serve as a nice 2nd room system for enjoyment, but not critical listening or anything like that. FWIW, I love the M10 with the Dyn's - really good synergy and sound. So I'm not a Wilson/Boulder Zealot.
 
radioactive said:
I'm looking for recommendations for a Integrated Amp that can drive these well, either with or without an integrated DAC. Ideally a good sounding unit that can be driven via Roon would be perfect, but I know that might break the bank. So price-wise, looking for something under $3,500 or thereabouts - used, not looking for anything brand new.
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I happened to be talking to someone about Roon Ready all-in-one units in the same price range just the other day. (I assume by integrated DAC you mean line-level analog outputs, since a Roon Ready integrated amp would need conversion to analog even if it only has speaker outputs.) Two options you could consider are the Lumin M1 and the discontinued Auralic Polaris.
 
Hegel 190 perhaps? SimAudio 340. Lumin M1 is also a good choice.

Sim has shown a lot with B&W.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
NekoAudio said:
I happened to be talking to someone about Roon Ready all-in-one units in the same price range just the other day. (I assume by integrated DAC you mean line-level analog outputs, since a Roon Ready integrated amp would need conversion to analog even if it only has speaker outputs.) Two options you could consider are the Lumin M1 and the discontinued Auralic Polaris.
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I mean integrated Amp...possibly one that has a built-in DAC that is "Roon Ready" and performs RAAT Streaming - my example of the M10 is what I'm talking about. I don't want just a Roon Ready DAC only. This is why I posted in the Integrated amp section. It's not a deal breaker that it doesn't have a DAC built-in if it's a good Integrated unit, but it would be nice. The less pieces of gear the better.
 
The Lumin M1 is an integrated amp. I own one and it’s great.
 
Looking up on the Lumin as we speak. Thanks. Also, has anyone head the Line Magnetic Audio LM-518IA? I've been toying with tubes and this one keeps coming up. The warm up period and cool down period seem daunting though. Plus, I'll still have to get a network enabled Roon-Ready DAC. I'd like something I can completely control via my Roon App on my tablet to include turning it on and off and controlling volume.
 
The Lumin M1 fulfills all your requirements. It draws only 14 watts while running, thanks to it’s Class D topology. I use mine in a secondary system but have experimented with it in my main system in place of my Accuphase/A1 combo. It’s surprisingly good. Read the reviews on Six Moons and Sound Rebels.
 
RE the Lumin: Think it will drive Nautilus 802's (original Nautilus series not the Matrix) ok? The reviews are great. Looks like a nice unit that meets all my needs. Just a bit concerned about power? I don't crank it by any means, but I do turn it up moderately every now and then, but not crazy loud by any means.
 
Much will depend on how big your room is as well. Your signature indicates the B&Ws are in an office system. How big is the room? I have a Hegel H190 in a secondary system (small/medium sized bedroom about 11x13 with 10 foot ceilings) driving Ohm Microwalsh Talls (not particularly efficient - 85db) and it is plenty of power and sounds great. It's my room to hear/compare things from different sources. The Hegel has an ethernet connection to play files from the NAS. I just moved an Oppo 103D in there and for now have it connected to the network and connected to the Hegel via analog (for now). I also have a small fanless PC running JRiver with a Wyred4Sound USB to Coax converter with the digital coax connected to the Hegel DAC.
 
Aside from the dac, I don't see how you could go wrong with one of the newer Luxman Integrateds. Even my baby 505 has driven any speaker I tried without issues.
 
radioactive said:
RE the Lumin: Think it will drive Nautilus 802's (original Nautilus series not the Matrix) ok? The reviews are great. Looks like a nice unit that meets all my needs. Just a bit concerned about power? I don't crank it by any means, but I do turn it up moderately every now and then, but not crazy loud by any means.
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Independent of maximum volume, based on what I know the M1 will be able to drive your 802 speakers. But you can use something like the SPL Calculator to determine if it will provide sufficient volume.

Also, I believe the M1's power specifications are based on maximum output at low THD, whereas some other products will list maximum output at 1% THD.
 
Another option is the NAD M32. It’s got more wattage but in my opinion, the sound quality of the Lumin M1 is superior. In my system, I usually listen to the M1 at between 4 and 7 on the volume scale (out of 100). I agree with Mr. Neko that it’s rated very conservatively.
 
radioactive said:
I mean integrated Amp...possibly one that has a built-in DAC that is "Roon Ready" and performs RAAT Streaming - my example of the M10 is what I'm talking about. I don't want just a Roon Ready DAC only. This is why I posted in the Integrated amp section. It's not a deal breaker that it doesn't have a DAC built-in if it's a good Integrated unit, but it would be nice. The less pieces of gear the better.
Click to expand...

You mention the NAD M10 but possibly not enough grunt for your big speakers. Great little box of tricks but I'd take a careful look at the brand new M33. It does all the M10 does but more and better. More power from a Purifi-based Class D amp and more choice of inputs and other features. A bit above your budget (£3999 list price in UK inc 20% VAT) and not yet available new let alone used.

Oly mentioned the M32. I have one and it's a great bit of kit. Get it with the optional BluOS streaming card and you'll have an excellent all-in-one. These will be available at good prices as owners (like me) will be upgrading to the M33 as soon as it hits the high street.

Lumin M1 - I'll take a look myself but I suspect its Class D module (at least 5 years old) won't be up to Purifi quality and 60 watts may not be great with your speakers. The Lumin's 60 watts would be fine for my 107 dB speakers though, so I'll give it consideration.

Edit - No I won't consider the M1. It's just too old (Class D is improving more rapidly than anything in audio) and offfers so little by way of inputs. No digital imputs apart from Ethernet and USB for sticks only. No analogue, no optical or HDMI (for TV etc) and no AES/EBU. No headphone out and no remote. I'll stick with NAD M33 as my likely upgrade.
 
Another consideration with NAD is Roon certification. The M32 is certified while the M10 and M33 are not. Today was the deadline for enabling non-certified end points. There’s a separate thread here on AS about Roon vs. equipment manufacturers. Seems like both sides are entrenched in their respective positions and there’s no clear end in sight. The big loser in this battle is the consumer.
 
Oly said:
Another consideration with NAD is Roon certification. The M32 is certified while the M10 and M33 are not. Today was the deadline for enabling non-certified end points. There’s a separate thread here on AS about Roon vs. equipment manufacturers. Seems like both sides are entrenched in their respective positions and there’s no clear end in sight. The big loser in this battle is the consumer.
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Did you participate in the NAD M33 webinar by any chance? One question was about Roon certification. Aparently it's in the pipeline and a formality. In the meantime it's reported that Roon works perfectly in the M33 as it does in M32 and M10.
 
Yes I was there for the webinar. I heard what NAD said but I’ve also been following Roon’s statements on their forum. As of today, if you were to try to enable an M10 or an M33 for the first time, you would not be able to use the device with Roon.
 
Oly said:
Yes I was there for the webinar. I heard what NAD said but I’ve also been following Roon’s statements on their forum. As of today, if you were to try to enable an M10 or an M33 for the first time, you would not be able to use the device with Roon.
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Hi Oly

Just today, I wrote this on another thread on this forum:

It's stated here that the NAD M33 is yet to be certified but the M32 already has been - for years.

The basic M32 (or M12 preamp for that matter) has no streaming ability unless the BluOS module is added. So, presumably it's the module that is Roon Ready and certified. What's to stop the owner of an M33 (when they become available and assuming no certification) from adding a BluOS module to his M33? The device would have 2 streamer modules (one built-in) but that's surely no problem as they'd each be identified by the software and Roon could respond to the BluOS module and ignore the built-in streamer.

I ask because I'm planning to get the M33 but already have the BluOS module that I could remove from my M32 / M12.

I've also written to NAD today asking basically the same questions - Is the M33 yet compliant and would it become so by adding the already compliant BluOS plug-in module? Peter
 
Peter - I also am interested to hear what NAD has to say about your proposed work-around to the Roon problem on the M33. Please let us know when you get a reply. I also own an M32 so this is relevant.
 
NekoAudio said:
Independent of maximum volume, based on what I know the M1 will be able to drive your 802 speakers. But you can use something like the SPL Calculator to determine if it will provide sufficient volume.

Also, I believe the M1's power specifications are based on maximum output at low THD, whereas some other products will list maximum output at 1% THD.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's an eye-opening calculator. In addition to calculating the SPL level at your ears, it is a nice reminder that trying to reproduce concert-level volumes at home would affect one's long-term hearing in a negative way.

Peter Lie mentioned an online SPL meter app that you can bring up on the phone. It will be interesting to compare results.

Thanks for the link, which I will be bookmarking for sure.
 
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