Help with Amp Replacement

Bought new amp… pretty impressed

Hello,

I recently decided to "beef up" my listening equipment and have to that end have added some new gear. I currently have a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic ,a Pro-Ject Xpression Carbon turntable, Tannoy mx3 speakers and a Denon AVR 2311ci.

I want to replace the Denon with a 2 channel amp and move the AVR to the living room to replace the old Yamaha that's currently down there.

Here are the names of the gear I have been considering:

Creek Evolution 50a (I'd have to special order it without hearing it)

Naim Nait 5si (At the limit of what I want to spend, might be overkill compared to the gear I have)

Myryad Z240 (Never heard of it until 2 days ago when I walked into a stereo store, sounded very good)

Xindak 6950 (Used for a decent price but crazy heavy at 60lbs)

As you can see I have quite a varied list of amps. I'm going to be getting a listening test of the Naim, Myryad and Xindak this coming Thursday.

Any thoughts/suggestions based on the gear I have?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Bueller? Anyone?

I've decided to remove the Xindak from the potential buy list for a couple of reasons. My listening room already gets warmer than I'd like in the summer and from what I read this thing is practically a space heater. I also have concerns about getting it repaired if anything went wrong with it.

I'll be getting a demo of the Naim Nait 5si and the Myryad Z240 in a couple of days. It's easy to find reviews and user comments on the Nait 5si, not so much with the Myryad. I'll let you know how it goes.

Also consider the Rega Brio-R. Quite a number of prople prefer it to the Nait. Especially the late model Naits.

As it happens the dealer also sells Rega so I'll make sure to hear that as well, thanks Art.

I'm enjoying my NAD C165BEE/C275BEE pre/power combo. I'm using a separate phono stage, however. Haven't really tried the built-in yet.

Quick update, I bought an amp. Not what I expected to buy either. Let me explain…

I went to a stereo store (Stereo Passion here in Ottawa) to hear the Myryad Z240, Naim Nait 5si and Rega Brio-R. I brought some vinyl and we started on our way. First up was the new Beck album on the Naim Nait. Sounded very nice indeed! I was liking what I was hearing so we moved on to some Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children. Again, very nice sound. After a few tracks we moved on to Jaga Jazzist - Bananfluer overalt. Overall very nice sound.

Switched out the Naim Nait with the Myrad Z240. Hmm, just as nice as the Naim, maybe a bit nicer. A little more laid back. Go through the same 3 LPs and so far I'm thinking "I'll take the Myrad for$700 less thanks".

Before we got to the Rega Brio-R, Steve (the guy giving me the demo says "Before you decide you need to hear the used Xindak 6950 we have over there" I said I already took that off the list because of it's size, heat, and potential repair problems" He says "we can look after repairs if anything happens". I reluctantly agreed to hear it.

All I can say is "jaw-dropping". The other amps weren't even close. It was like someone took away a blanket that had been hanging in front of the speakers. After listening to the same 3 LPs it was obvious what I needed to do.

As I'm writing this I'm enjoying bass that I had no idea my speakers were capable off, crisp highs and more power than I can use without the wife getting angry. I have the volume on 12 right now listening to Tycho - Awake (Mac Mini - Audirvana - USB out to Cambridge Audio Stream Magic - RCA out to Xindac 6950) and it's as loud as I dare without waking the neighbours

If you can't tell I'm a happy guy right now. Big thanks to Steve at Stereo Passion for taking 2 and a half hours with me yesterday and selling me something he thought I'd like rather than something they make the most profit on.

Cheers,
Chris

Congrats on the new amp. :thmbsp: It's always a treat when you find something you like that much.

Congratulations! Another story that proves what sounds good to you is what you should buy, specs be damned!

Thanks, I decided before going to audition the amps I was not going to let brand names influence my decision.