First of all thanks for that post, it puts things into perspective for me.
Secondly, with the Nad I know i'll be getting a killer amp as well as preamp.This is what has me sold on the Nad thus far. For an incremental jump in price I get a nearly future proof option. If for example somewhere down the road I move into a bigger listening space (which I hope
) with the Nad the option is always there to add an external amp. This is not an option with the Panny, in fact it would defeat the whole purpose of using digital amplification wouldn't it? Assuming the external amp is an analog unit.
The NHT's by nature seem to be a laid back type of speaker and I love their sound, even when powered by the Onkyo. So, I am not affraid to go to a laid back amp only because I like the laid back sound.
NorwegianDawg,One thing I didn't quite understand was when you mention "There is a point of diminishing returns as well. Buying a pair of little bookshelf speakers costing $500/pair and matching them with a $20,000 amp...IMHO makes NO SENSE! So again as JCD said, given your equipment you may or may not hear any differences." Do you think the Nad is perhaps too much amp for the SB-2's? When I hear my Sb-2s or even see them, I hardly think of them as ordinary bookshelf speakers with 6.5" drivers. I think of a very refined, smooth, laid back, and nearly holographic speaker that requires more power than the typical bookshelf speaker to "sing" as some say...
I put this system together, assuming everything would work as intended. It does for the most part, but I did make a mistake by going with the cheapest option for amplification and now I am paying the price for it. Id rather buy too much amp than not enough amp this time around so as not to make the same mistake again...
