New NAD 326 BEE Owner -Disappointed Help


I've browsed the used gear for sale at the Audiogon site, but never posted a new topic. I'll be brief.

I bought an NAD 326 BEE in late 2009 from an authorized dealer. I just got around to hooking it up, since the controls on my NAD 3140 need cleaning. Problem is...I hate it!

I LIKE the sound of the 3140. Sure, the sound is a bit muddy, but I like warmth, so I've put up with it's shortcomings. But the 326 BEE is wimpy. I've got the bass set at about "7" on a 0-10 scale. At this setting, it's comparable to around a "3-4" setting on the 3140. The bass range on the 326 BEE is really disappointing.

Here's my very humble set-up:

-NAD 315 BEE CD player
-Technics SL 1200 turntable w/Shure M97 XE cart
-B & W 602 S3
-NAD 326BEE w/NAD PP2 phono preamp, (sure the Jolida JD 9A would be nice. But it won't solve the amp problem).

So, my question to the forum is, should I keep the 326 and try a pre-amp, or just ditch it for something else? Maybe a Parasound amp? I like really warm, tubey sound, but I want to stick with an integrated amp.

Thanks, John
shinealight

Showing 1 response by ahendler

A problem could be is that the 326 is a 50w per channel amp and the 3140 is a 300w per channel watt. This may be what you are hearing. Also an amp that has sat for so long really needs to be broken in. The bass should improve with time but the power differences especially in bass power might be the problem.