New NAD T163
McLoki
Posts: 5,231
Well after about a year and 1/2 of waiting, I finally have replaced my Onkyo 777 avr with a new Pre\Pro. Here was my criteria -
Had to be cheap. (under 1 grand would be nice) With the new formats still coming out (HD-DTS, HD-DD, HDMI 1.3, etc.) it is really not that great a time to drop a ton of money on a preamp. With that in mind, I wanted something that would fill my needs, last at least 3 years, and not cost a ton. (and hopefully I would be able to sell it for what I have in it.)
Had to sound good. I thought the sound from my Onkyo AVR was pretty good until I made the fatal mistake of asking Opus to bring over his pre-amp to let me listen to it (Opus owns a Rotel 1066). As I remember, the sound was very realistic and almost holographic. The steering between channels was great and the clarity was just awesome. It made everything I listened to on my Onkyo after that point something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed... (oh well, happens to the best of us)
Nice to haves would have been a tuner, Balanced Outputs, Trigger outputs, Multiple Zones, variable bass management, support for at least Dolby Digital IIx (even though I only run 5.1)
What I ended up with was a NAD T163.
The price was definately right (about $100 less than I could get a 1066 for, $300 less than an Outlaw 990, and $500 less than a Rotel 1068) (all used or B-Stock prices).
The sound I am still trying to decide on. I will know more as I get used to it and after Opus brings over his 1066 for comparison. It is very clear and the channel steering is much better than my Onkyo was. To be honest, I dont think it was as good as I remember the Rotel being, but that may be an unfair comparison as it was a long time ago I heard the Rotel.
I was worried about noise with the pre-amp as I have read reviews of clicks, pops and ground loop issues with early versions of the T163. Since I was purchasing used, I did not know how old it was. I am glad to report that it appears to be dead quiet. Acutally much quieter than my Onkyo was and I didn't think it was bad. Even cranked you have to be within inches of the tweeter to hear the faintest hiss. No buzz issues at all.
I am still getting the channels dialed in. I couldn't find my SPL meter anywhere so I had to make an emergency run to Radio Shack tonight to pick up another one. I dialed in all the channels using DVE and that seems to have helped the channel steering alot. The bass is much better than my onkyo was, so I have a feeling that I will need to be making some adjustments to my BFD before the bass is dialed in as flat as I can get it.
Two channel sounds very good. (once again, it is light years above my Onkyo, so will have to wait for the Rotel to get a decent comparison, but for my system - I am liking it alot.
Surprizingly, the radio is very good and sounds much better than you would think. It is not as good as a CD input, but pretty close.
Also for Non-Critical CD listening and for radio playback, the NAD - EARS dsp mode sounds really good. It is my default analog playback setting.
Home theater (about 80%-90% of my systems use) is nice, but not as much of an upgrade as I was hoping for. As I said, I am still dialing things in - so bass response and channel steering will get better as I go, but I am still not at the holodeck level. Hopefully Wingnut will pass her D2 off at a good polk price when the D3 comes out, but either way I know this will not be my final processor....
It is much better at level control and dialog as music does not overpower the system now (it sounds much better integrated into the movie sounds) and dialog is much easier to understand. I will post back with specific examples as it gets more play time.
For now - for the price I paid, I am very happy with the upgrade. I am sure the Preamp is worth $1500 but I would not be happy with it at that price. For under a grand though, it is a good deal.
More later but I have to get the kids to bed..
Michael
Had to be cheap. (under 1 grand would be nice) With the new formats still coming out (HD-DTS, HD-DD, HDMI 1.3, etc.) it is really not that great a time to drop a ton of money on a preamp. With that in mind, I wanted something that would fill my needs, last at least 3 years, and not cost a ton. (and hopefully I would be able to sell it for what I have in it.)
Had to sound good. I thought the sound from my Onkyo AVR was pretty good until I made the fatal mistake of asking Opus to bring over his pre-amp to let me listen to it (Opus owns a Rotel 1066). As I remember, the sound was very realistic and almost holographic. The steering between channels was great and the clarity was just awesome. It made everything I listened to on my Onkyo after that point something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed... (oh well, happens to the best of us)
Nice to haves would have been a tuner, Balanced Outputs, Trigger outputs, Multiple Zones, variable bass management, support for at least Dolby Digital IIx (even though I only run 5.1)
What I ended up with was a NAD T163.
The price was definately right (about $100 less than I could get a 1066 for, $300 less than an Outlaw 990, and $500 less than a Rotel 1068) (all used or B-Stock prices).
The sound I am still trying to decide on. I will know more as I get used to it and after Opus brings over his 1066 for comparison. It is very clear and the channel steering is much better than my Onkyo was. To be honest, I dont think it was as good as I remember the Rotel being, but that may be an unfair comparison as it was a long time ago I heard the Rotel.
I was worried about noise with the pre-amp as I have read reviews of clicks, pops and ground loop issues with early versions of the T163. Since I was purchasing used, I did not know how old it was. I am glad to report that it appears to be dead quiet. Acutally much quieter than my Onkyo was and I didn't think it was bad. Even cranked you have to be within inches of the tweeter to hear the faintest hiss. No buzz issues at all.
I am still getting the channels dialed in. I couldn't find my SPL meter anywhere so I had to make an emergency run to Radio Shack tonight to pick up another one. I dialed in all the channels using DVE and that seems to have helped the channel steering alot. The bass is much better than my onkyo was, so I have a feeling that I will need to be making some adjustments to my BFD before the bass is dialed in as flat as I can get it.
Two channel sounds very good. (once again, it is light years above my Onkyo, so will have to wait for the Rotel to get a decent comparison, but for my system - I am liking it alot.
Surprizingly, the radio is very good and sounds much better than you would think. It is not as good as a CD input, but pretty close.
Also for Non-Critical CD listening and for radio playback, the NAD - EARS dsp mode sounds really good. It is my default analog playback setting.
Home theater (about 80%-90% of my systems use) is nice, but not as much of an upgrade as I was hoping for. As I said, I am still dialing things in - so bass response and channel steering will get better as I go, but I am still not at the holodeck level. Hopefully Wingnut will pass her D2 off at a good polk price when the D3 comes out, but either way I know this will not be my final processor....
It is much better at level control and dialog as music does not overpower the system now (it sounds much better integrated into the movie sounds) and dialog is much easier to understand. I will post back with specific examples as it gets more play time.
For now - for the price I paid, I am very happy with the upgrade. I am sure the Preamp is worth $1500 but I would not be happy with it at that price. For under a grand though, it is a good deal.
More later but I have to get the kids to bed..
Michael
Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
Post edited by McLoki on
Comments
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Glad to hear you are happy with it, looking forward to hear it myself!
I wish I could get the wife talked into letting me grab a Anthem D2, I brought it up the other day and all she did was laugh and ask if I was crazy? Doesn't hurt to ask, but it sure would be nice!
Mike
