Best Amp for Quad 11L? Nad vs Rotel vs Marantz vs CA

Hi dedeora,
The Wharfdales 9.1 should sound better with the NADs.

The Quad 11L are more neutral.Sometime last year 'What Hifi' recommended the 11Ls with a Roksan Kandy MkIII set up.I have personally not heard this combination for myself but I can see why they would have made that recommendation.

While you are at it ( and Manek should love me for this ) why don't you check out the Aritas by Cadence.I have heard them with the Roksan Kandy and I was very impressed.

I think Supreme must be waiting for the RA-03 to come in, which is why he is probably not stocking the RA-01/02.

NAD is by far more popular than Cambridge, so it's no wonder that the dealer/s will try and sell you that.In fact I remember this one time at Lakozy, there was this salesman who was trying his level best to convince me that NADS were better than the Roksan Caspians.So don't go by what the saleguys have to say.BTW why not try the Cambridge Azurs 640 with the 11L.

Also have you heard the Castles series, I could give you the contact of the dealer in Mumbai if you like.

Utimately the kind of music you listen to will dictate your choice of system.

Happy hunting
Cheers

yeah krish...for that I like you but the arita's may not fit in his budget since he is looking at 11L.

Seriously....though the roksan kandy III is a fine amp, the caspians are even better...dont let anybody tell you otherwise. Nad maybe people recommend becuaseits now a tried and tested product, safe to sell.

Beware of dealers with their own Agenda's.

Manek.

Ddeora,

I spent about 6 months hunting for an amplifier last year during which time I looked at the Denon PMA 655, 1055, Rotel RA-01, CA-540A and finally NAD 320BEE.

NAD was always no.1 due to its fantastic reputation for being musical, decent power and specifications etc. But, before I got there, I had the Rotel RA-01 for sometime.

Unfortunately since I am still awaiting my target speakers, I had heard them through some generic speakers. The sound of the RA-01 compared to the NAD is more clinical and clear, but in no way is it bright etc. The bass is weighty and you can feel the depth.

In the build department, I can assure you that the Rotel is ahead. Solid!! It also has the usual protection circuitry built in. They don't bother to advertise these things. Since getting the NAD, I have been able to spot the differences on the build front. Sound wise you need to decide for yourself.

I researched the Quad 11 last week. TNT Audio has couple of good reviews. Most reviews point to the fact that the low end of Quad 11L is less and may not suit music genres like rock and techno. But classical, vocals etc are absolutely fine.

Cheers

Dont quite agree with tnt there.....
Actually western classical music is best heard on a speaker with extended range and not on limited range bookshelves......that 100 piece orchestra has varied instruments which go really low and larger speakers are recommended so that the crecendo's are well conveyed and the music has a bit of weight...

Devout Western classical music fans should also have a decently hefty amp as well to drive the speakers. I have very often heard speakers and amps sounding congested due to lack of power as the orchestral music is very difficult to render and amps go through a realy rough time on large orchestral works.....sure test for the amps current capabilities.

Manek.

yups i second that! classical really is a tough test with the dynamics and bursts and quiet passages. no other genre of music has so much power and inbuilt glory.

by the way manek how do your aritas handle the load? pretty well i'd guess?

The Aritas handle classical music very well....with quality amplification like the va1.0 or the integra/rowland, enligtened audio etc I have heard them on they dont congest at all.

The one good thing is that they dont try and play stuff which is not in their range, they are rated at 45hz at
+-(3db) so there is usefull bass until -6db which may take them a bit lower.

The only time I do feel quality floorstanders are required is when I play malher 2nd symphony, 1st movement, the heavy bass section has a lot of weight on floorstanders and sounds a bit light on the aritas but that is expected. They definately play this piece better than the other speakers I have heard of this size and many floorstanders in the business costing twice the amount.

Not much to complain about in the mids and highs, their cabinets are extremely rigid, damped and well made...just need smooth, good quality amplification.

Manek.