I recently bought the avr 130 and returned it because I could get the 230 for just a bit more. However I have come across the NAD 742 for 150 dollars less than the AVR 230.
I thought the AVR 130 sounded great and only bought the 230 for 10 more amps and the few extra features. The NAD seems to get good reviews as well, but when I spoke with an authorized dealer he said they only put out 10-15 amps, while the H/K 230 puts out 35.
Perhaps Hawk could chime in.
I have two athena asf1 floors and two axiom mt22ti's for surrounds.
I wouldn't worry too much about the current rating, I don't think NAD generally publishes these values for all their receivers but I would bet 10-15 is not accurate for the T742.
I have a NAD T742 and an older HK AVR30 (rated at 40amps) and both have plenty of power for my speakers but I would say the NAD has more power. They do sound different, so like James suggests, just pick the one that has the sound you like better.
The NAD 751 is 40 amps according to NAD brochures - so though the 742 is not as powerful, it is almost certainly much more than 10-15 amps, perhaps closer to 30 amps. I found the NAD sound more refined and sweeter - prefered it on music but the HK rocked on HT.
Anonymous
Posted on
You either paid full price for the HK or got a hell of deal offered to you on the NAD. I had narrowed it down to those two and bought the HK 230 for just about the exact opposite offer you came across. HK for dirt cheap. The HK was easy to set up, I have barely cracked the manual. Both of those should power your Axioms just fine.
Clayton
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Man oh man, I have never been as happy as this sonically in my life. When I bought my vintage h/k 730 last year I was floored, awesome dual transformer power.
When I bought the h/k avr 130 two days before Christmas, I was impressed. Clear and good definition in the soundstage. However, when I turned the NAD 742 [twenty five minutes ago] on with dsp enhanced stereo with Pink Floyd's Time, Sheep, Echoes, One of these Days and Another Brick in the Wall, I kept getting up and moving around. Man does it sound good, I can not stop smiling. Sounds much better than in the store, sorry Sting.
All that power and punch and warmth from the vintage h/k is present and then some. The NAD is amazing. The Athena FS-1 floorstanders never sounded this good with the vintage h/k and the Axiom's fill the mid range to high end sonics that the FS-1 can not quite reach. WOW.
Power.
I just need a center channel now and then I am complete. I did get a good deal on the NAD. $549 Canadian = $426 American. Plus they gave me the HTR 2B remote, looks better than the original remote for the receiver.
I paid $599 [Canadian] for the AVR 130 and could have gotten a hundred dollar credit but instead bought the 230 for a hundred dollars [$699] more during a boxing week sale here in Canada, but never received it as it had not been shipped yet. Over the last two days I had been researching just for fun. It seemed like the two that were more to my liking were the Marantz 5300 and the NAD 742. I cancelled the order last night after finding that deal.
The NAD sounded fuller and I went with that and saved a hundred and fifty bucks in the process.
There are so many details that I did not even hear with the 130 that I hear now, its awesome.
I totally understand why Hawk and so many others fly the NAD flag.
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