Amp rec needed for Quad 21l2

Marty,

I would say the Creek is very neutral and accurate, but perhaps a bit dry. The Naim is all balls and PRAT - heavy on the foot tapping quotient, but not the most precise device out there. I think of the Naim as the solid state amp for tube people who still crave overt musicality but seek a bit more boggie and low end bite, while the Creek would never be confused with tube gear to the tube-tuned ear - if that helps.

Ever since the dawn of the Nait integrated, it has been a special sounding unit - but some of the older ones, at least the Nait 3's and maybe the early 5's, don't have RCA jacks and will require a converter for Naim's preferred connectors. The 5i and 5i(talic) have RCA jacks. Naim also suggests using their speaker cable which is impedance matched with their amps, but I think good quality cables 8ft. or longer should work fine. YMMV.

One last point. If you happen to see one available used, jump on it.

Thanks -- that is kinda what I am going for. I love the richness of tubes, but given my current setup (our main living room), I can't really get the volume loud enough to get the bite, boogie, and good juju. Would a solid state, like the Naim, be able to get PRAT at a lower volume than tubes?

I find Naim musicality to extend to lower volumes, but this depends on your speakers as well. I honestly can't remember how the Quads sound at lower volumes - but I don't recall a significant loss of low end presence at low volume as can sometimes happen with sealed box speakers.

PS - Naim actually says this about their speaker cable:

"NACA5 is our multi-strand loudspeaker cable, consisting of two separated 4mm square conductors. Its design is optimised for use with Naim amplifiers and loudspeakers by ensuring that its capacitance, inductance and resistance are entirely compatible."

Impedance is not the proper concept applied here...

Well, it looks like Naim my be tricky -- there are no Nait 5i for sale now, and I'm not terribly thrilled about having to replace my speaker cables, since Naim does not allow spades.

Of the other options, what do you think would work best? FWIW, I listen almost primarily to jazz (80% piano or sax-based, 20% vocals).

Thanks -- Marty

In the same general price range as the Naim new or used:

Exposure 2010S
Cambridge Audio Azur 840A v2
NAD C-375BEE (have not heard but good reviews)
Rega Mira 3
Peachtree Audio Nova
Rotel RA-1520 (have not heard this either).