Best Match for NAD 7400?

plainoledave

I am debating between the rtia5 vs. the a7. I have a 15x20 room I will be listening to these in and I will not be using a subwoofer. My amplifier is 100 wpc continuous with 370 wpc dynamic output. I want to use all the amps power without overworking it. I tend to like to use my bass & treble settings to "hot rod" my music, i.e. I don't use the tone defeat button. Any thoughts are appreciated. I primarily listen to rock (buckethead, zappa, zeppelin) but like my bass at times. I'm leaning towards the a7's.

Kex

If you're intent on not using a subwoofer, the RTi A7 does seem tempting, because of the lower -3dB frequency response limit (35Hz vs 40Hz for the A5), and the presence of the woofers to deliver it, which the A5 model does not have. I've had great results pairing NAD and Polk Audio, so I think it's a really good match on principle, since NAD amplification seems to really push out the most tight bass from some of the bigger Polk speakers, that some other equipment has failed to reveal in my experience. In fact, I'm leaning toward something that dips below 40Hz myself for two channel listening, either with a NAD integrated or some other setup.

You won't "overwork" the NAD with those speakers, they're only rated at 8 ohms, and 89 to 90dB efficient, and I've worked NAD gear much harder than that without any sweat.

That said, there are some who would suggest you would be better served sticking to the RTi A5, and adding something like a sealed subwoofer to handle the low end. Personally, for music (vs. Home Theater), I'm not convinced by this argument at this point. YMMV.

Welcome to Club Polk BTW! You seem to be off to a very nice start.

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!!

Those NADs have tons of headroom so I'd even think about the Rti-A9s I like them better than the A7s, personally I think they are better for 2 channel music if you have the POWER. The A7s are fine for HT though. I agree with Kex...no sub....move up. The A5s have limited bass end....I'd say that my M70s can match and exceed their bass output quite easily, and they are a lower series!

cnh

plainoledave

Thank you both for the welcome and the advice. I talked to P.A. tech support twice about this and they stated I may not be able to drive the a9 with this amp? I really want the 9's but I don't know if I can drive them. One of the people I talked to told me I was "pushing it" trying to drive the A7's with this amp. Personally, I think the 7400 would tear the a5's to shreds if I didn't run the soft clipping.

I really am opposed to the subwoofer thing mostly on principle and would rather spend the money moving up from an a5 to an a7. I am currently running a pair of r300's that I bought off ebay for $75 with this amp. They were fine with my 304 (35 wpc) NAD but I found this 7400 and now want to see if I can get the cops over to my house.

Throwing a monkey wrench in this whole equation, I have acccess to what appear to be a nice pair of SDA2 for $200 obo. Would I be better off with those?

plainoledave

I forgot to mention, I'm even entertaining getting a matching NAD 2400 amp and running the receiver and amp bridged to run a set of speakers. I think that's about 200 watts into 8 ohms. That would sufficiently drive the A9's?

Kex

Dave, I'm surprised that C.S. would tell you that, since it's widely understood that NAD uses high current and conservative ratings, unless you are in a huge room and listening at deafening levels, or there is some other reason that might be a cause for concern. Personally, I really don't think your pushing it at all, and just about everyone who has tried NAD before in this forum is going to agree. Maybe you should explain exactly what you told C.S. since they know their stuff and don't ever spout off suggestions in a random fashion.

The 7400 is an old style receiver, so it's more akin to an integrated perhaps. That model does not seem to have an information sheet on the NAD website (it's currently being completely modified from top to bottom, so it may be a temporary absence), but most of those older NAD models had tons of headroom. Certainly, adding a 2400 might be interesting to try, and if you didn't like it or didn't think it added that much to the performance, they probably sell for $150-200 all the time (just check the AudiogoN website or eBay for a few weeks to confirm/refute this), so you wouldn't be stuck with it if you thought you didn't need it.

I agree with cnh: you should really consider the A9's if you're not getting a subwoofer. Depending on what type of music you like to listen to most, however, you might still need to try a decent subwoofer before crossing it off the list for good (and decent subwoofers are not cheap, especially for musical priority IMO).

In any case, the NAD will not damage your speakers by any means, and your speakers will not damage the NAD. I have driven NAD gear very hard for extended periods and I don't even need to engage the soft clipping function. That remark you made about getting "the cops over to my house" has me somewhat concerned however. The 7400 should play loud with huge dynamics and tight bass to levels that are too loud for most people: 85dB(A) when measured with a SPL meter - which is very loud for music in particular. After 90dB(A) you are risking permanent hearing damage. Short bursts above 90dB(A) are nothing to worry about, as long as they are short (measured in seconds, not minutes). Use common sense, or you might run into problems, with or without an external amplifier.

There was an interesting discussion in this old thread with different opinions, including those from the 200w/ch crowd. There are plenty of us here who think that a NAD that claims a mere 50w/ch can outperform some amplifiers where it really counts, even when the latter claim to output 200w/ch. The legendary RT1 makes some interesting remarks toward the end of the thread as well.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55251

Best of luck. Don't overthink it, and remember: those speakers are only rated 8 ohms, and are also very efficient, so not a difficult load for any 2 ohm stable NAD.