Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo seeking help with speaker/amp choice

I am looking for help in narrrowing choices for a 2 channel stereo set-up. The system will be in a 15x20x9 room that opens to another similar sized area. I am not really interested in maximum volume listening, but I do want substantial volume capability for a variety of music styles. Great sound at conversation levels and slightly higher is the primary goal.

From reading the forums, I am leaning toward M60's, but I guess that M22 with a sub is also a possibilty. This will be primarily a music system, not HT.

I am looking for input on selecting an integrated amp in the range of the NAD C352 (80 watts) or the Rotel 1062 (60 watts) or maybe a Marantz PM7200 (95 watts). Are these adequate to power the M60's? Are these integrated amps substantially better than these same companies' receivers in the same price range? I would like your feedback on these amps or any others you think would be a good choice for my set-up. Thanks in advance for your help.

In reply to:

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The system will be in a 15x20x9 room that opens to another similar sized area.

From reading the forums, I am leaning toward M60's, but I guess that M22 with a sub is also a possibilty.

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I think Alan will suggest the M60s here... the room may be a bit large for a pair of bookshelves.

Bren R.

Bob,

I have the Nad C352 and I love it. I have it paired with the M60's and I'm extremely happy with the sound. The 352 has gotten good reviews from What Hi-Fi and others on the audioreview website. The 80watts is probably underrated and I believe it will be plenty for a room you are describing. I am not an audiophile but I have learned alot on this forum. These people are very helpful so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth.

For two channel, NAD and Rotel are generally the two big names that will continue to come up again and again. I think you'd be happy with either. Personally I think the Rotel stuff just looks a lot nicer. I don't like the look of the NAD stuf.

I too suggest the M60's for a room that size.

The other nice thing about M60s without a sub is that setup is real easy -- just put 'em in the right place and you're done. I went from M2 to (M2+sub) to M60... in hindsight the M60s on their own were the way to go. For home theater it's a different story, of course.

Have you considered the HK receivers instead of an amp ? I was running my M2s and M60s off an older HK 3270 with great results, not sure how the amp in a newer (3480) would compare with the NAD or Rotel integrated amp...

Thanks for the replies. I don't want to make this too difficult, so I have so far only been researching NAD and Rotel, but I am wondering if there are other comparable brands in the same price range.

Check out this HK 2 channel reciever.A friend of mine has one and it seems to be a fairly good one.