Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Comparing NAD 753 with and without power amp 370

I have had a NAD 753 for a few years happily driving M60s. Amp supposedly has 70w per channel.

My neighbor is giving me an old nad 370 integrated amp with 120w per channel. I can use this as a power amp connecting pre-outs from 753 to pre-ins for 370.

3 questions
If you are listening to an amp rated at 70w for 5 channels, do you get more than that in two channels if you are listening in stereo? Which might mean this idea wouldn't give me too much benefit anyway

I am trying to set things up so I can compare the two set-ups as easily as possible. Is there anything bad about connecting the 753 Front outputs to one set of m60 posts and the 370 front outputs to the other. Only one amp will be driving at any given moment?

Don't think I can switch with a flick of a button - will have take pre-outs from the 753 and manually direct then back into itself or into 370 - can't think of better option.

Any opinions welcome - I mainly care about having the best possible set up for stereo music while still having 5 channels for music.

Thanks for reading.

1. I would expect 100W/channel in stereo. After all, it is a NAD and NAD rates its equipment very conservatively.

2. Don't do it. There's no telling what the internal circuitry of the NAD is. The other amp could, for example, end up shorting the signal through its power supply capacitors.

3. There is no question 3.

Opinion: free power? Go for it!

Do you feel that you are taxing your NAD 753 to the point that you are clipping or running out of power? Do you play so loud that you feel you are not getting the full dynamic range the speakers can deliver?

There is very little point in switching something that is not broke. If I was you, just to answer the curiosity, I would try hooking up the M60's to the NAD370 (directly) with some source material that you know and like and listen. The problem is Psychoacoustics that you will hear what you think you want to hear. The reality is if you could properly blind test the two, you would be splitting hairs to hear any difference between the two units.

You will be making something far more difficult and adding in more complexity than is needed for a net result of probably ZERO. I'd say just don't bother.

Thanks for the replies - I always find a lot of intelligent views on this website.

I did listen to the 370 on its own - and it sounded great - especially for something 'free'. But then I went back to the 573 on its own and it made me realize again how much I liked it - and that there wasn't much I could criticize.

The whole thing also made me realize the joy of 'just listening' carefully to music again - rather than just mulit-tasking and doing other things at the same time.

And as space actually is an issue in a Manhattan apt it became a no-brainer to pass the 370 to a more needy friend.