Nad c 298

Will be interesting to see what changes he makes if any to the amp he releases under his company name as opposed to the other two already on the market that he worked on. The Aura preamp is a long time coming.
 
Wyred4Sound. Ej was on the development team that designed the new GAN amps from LSA and Peachtree. He is supposed to be releasing an amp under his company's name along with the Aura preamp which is the upgrade to the STP-SE.

Aura pre & power
 
I think W4S has great potential and inching towards the upper end of audio but I cannot get past his styling and aesthetics. His styling is to low and mid gear as D’Agostino is to super high end. This is just my opinion so no bashing me.


Jack said:
Wyred4Sound. Ej was on the development team that designed the new GAN amps from LSA and Peachtree. He is supposed to be releasing an amp under his company's name along with the Aura preamp which is the upgrade to the STP-SE.

Aura pre & power
Click to expand...
 
Jack said:
Wyred4Sound. Ej was on the development team that designed the new GAN amps from LSA and Peachtree. He is supposed to be releasing an amp under his company's name along with the Aura preamp which is the upgrade to the STP-SE.

Aura pre & power
Click to expand...

All not surprising since LSA is owned by Walter who is in constant contact with EJ. EJ has also built many Peachtree products over the years.

The Aura is a big step forward in design and layout, but EJ definitely likes that general design/look and getting him out of that will take some serious doing :), although the new design is definitely not the same as the old one and definitely moving towards a little more conventional. The metal that he is doing the center section in is very nice with three color choices.
 
While I would agree that cosmetics may not be EJ's strong suit at the pricing point he chooses to work with I would much rather he put the money on the inside than on the outside. His purpose built casework is sufficient for me and many others. I've owned an STP-SE for seven years and keep it around as to me it is like a Swiss Army knife preamp. Works with everything no matter what the amps gain numbers are.
 
I have never been thrilled with Wyred's look, but I agree, quality and performance in most important. The STP-SE is a very good pre-amp and if I were going to hold onto any unit as a back up piece it certainly would be the one.
 
Jack said:
Ej was on the development team that designed the new GAN amps from LSA and Peachtree.
Click to expand...

I would be shocked if EJ did not design virtually 100% of these amplifiers. He has been working on his own in house modules for years (the NextGEN Statement amplifier was 100% in house design and built, for example). Maybe a little cash influx helped bring it to fruition :dunno:.

Walter purchased LSA to be his own house brand. Knowing Walter I can guarantee you he had no part of the actual design of the amps, other than maybe a little input on the look.
 
Good grief, Peter Madnick has been involved with almost every hifi electronics company at one time or another.

Jack said:
Probably true. Reports were that Peter Madnick of Audio Alchemy/Elac was involved in the process too.
Click to expand...
 
I wouldn't be surprised other than knowing EJ is a micro manager :D.

Back to the NAD. The past couple days I have been trying the Hattor in pure passive mode. It seems to work very well with the NAD with the tubes out of the line. One of the great things about the Hattor is that it works with or without the tubes on! I would say in passive mode it seems to work better than when it was matched up with any of the other amps I have used with it.
 
Surprising as I would have thought the tubes would have helped with the KEF's and every Class D amp I ever owned benefited from a tube preamp. The STP-SE was close but tubes were always better.
 
It works very well with the tubes, but also seems to be very good in pure passive mode... better than others I have had, but in most situations it is better with the tubes engaged.
 
Maybe it's just me but any "SS" amp Class D or otherwise always sounds better with tubes in front of them. I may break down and try another Purifi or GAN based amp after the first of the year but for now looking forward to another un-needed pair of new to me speakers to play with.
 
I usually enjoy a couple tubes in my pre-amp (hybrid designs, such as the Hattor or ARC that I had) but I have definitely come to the conclusion that I am not a fan of tube amplifiers. As for GAN I think I will wait to see how it matures a little. I would like to see some others companies offering it, not to disparage LSR or Peachtree, just saying. The final decision for me to try a Purifi was when I learned that NAD and T+A, among others, are supporting it.

What speakers you getting Jack?
 
When I first heard Audio Alchemy I was impressed, not sure why the line isn't taking off better. The 2nd time I wasn't so impressed so my assumption is matching with other gear is important.
 
So I finally got a brand new pre-amp from my home town company. I really enjoy the McIntosh C49. Amazing flexibility, very usable and easy to integrate into the system. The McIntosh trigger works perfectly with the NAD!

I had been thinking about a McIntosh amplifier just to get the full Mc stack.... but dang... this NAD amplifier is amazingly good. There certainly are fancier amplifiers out there and in its price range, but you would be hard pressed to find a better performer for less than two to three times its price. Yes, it is that good!
 
I see the M23 is up on the NAD site now. Really kinda want to try this. Super duper happy with the Enleum, but you know how it is... FOMO gets the better of you. The M23 is a beautiful looking machine. And I love tech. And one of the best systems I heard at the FL expo was Class D (not sure if Purifi/Eigenkat). If I find a way to trial one I likely will. Then again I really truly want to get my hands on an Aavik now too....
 
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