Gobs of clean power. Can power any (reasonable) speakers with ease. Excellent tonal control. Class A power at low levels.

None, heavy if any..but how often do you need to move it..

Previously using a NAD 312 integrated (2x25w/ch)to power my speakers (Dynaco A25)which worked great. Then I hooked up the 2200 amp to the pre-out of the 312 and my speakers came alive with authority. Soundstage opened up with an incredible difference. The control of the music is phenominal up and down the frequency range. This amp will stay with me for a long time. A big nod to NAD for simplicity and putting the money in quality..

Dynamic Headroom

O/P Relays

Great amp for the money. Usin one for my mains and one for my surrounds. Need third for my centre channel as my bridged 2150 can't keep up with the 2200s.
Sound quality is very good and consistent. Replaced O/P relays with new one rated at 20 amps contact current. Really hepled out the bottom end and mid bass. The gradual detereoriation over the years was apparent.
If anyone has a line on a 2200 for sale please let me know.
Mark

Similar Products Used:

2150

Power to spare, rock solid transformers, smooth output, musical clarity, warm (for solid-state)

output relays

I used to work at a high-end audio store and of all the amps I was able to listen to, this one beat all solid-state equipment hands down. This was the closet thing to tube amps AND had amazing power in its back pocket. I never could afford a new one but I found one used through the newspaper and bought it for less than 1/2 price.

From the start the channels would cut out at low volume. A few relays later and this beauty is forcing me to close my eyes and imagine a soundstage with depth. I'm using Paradigm speakers which like to be driven med/hard and this amp is really overpowered for the application.

This amp is stable to 2 ohms and though it will get hot, protection circuitry is designed to keep it from cooking the tiny bits inside. Mine has never cut-out from overheating mind you. Two inputs (lab & normal) are not the standard either. The lab inputs allow all frequencies to flow through, which work well when matched with NAD pre-amps. The normal inputs attenuate the super-highs/lows to prevent instability.

The output is smooth and flat and near distortion free. This is one clean amp. Pick it up and you will find quality in the components. Yes, its heavy. I've had mine since '88 and have never considered another amp. I have even managed to stave off surround sound until I can afford the NAD THX equipment. Get a nice used one and you will find it palatable to the ears as well as the wallet.
5 stars - for its performance
4 stars - prone to relay problems

Similar Products Used:

NAD 1600 preamp/tuner
NAD 3300 (int. amp)

Brute power! Very transparant - exceeds it's 100 watt power rating by far! Bridgable, and NAD doesn't make em like this anymore!

No detachable powercord, and some models make your speakers pop when you turn the amp on/off. However, there is a modification -that can be performed to get rid of it for around $80.

The 2200 is from NAD's "golden years." I was told by one of the mechancics at the "NAD Service Bench" that this amp easily puts out 135-140 watts into 8 ohms even though it is rated at 100pc. Compared to my high end EAD Powermaster 500, 5 channel amp, the NAD 2200 rivals it for power output, and the EAD costs $1600. However, the EAD has better build qaulity, 5 channels instead of 2, and has a more refined, lush, warm and laid back sound. The 2200 has a warm, laid back mid range but can be a little bright in the highs at very high volumes. Then again, my speakers are of bright character so with more laid back speakers this may be unoticeable. I'm using mine to power my surrounds but it could easily be the "main" amplifier in a system.

The 2200 seems to be superior to today's NAD amps, and is well worth $250-$300 if you can find one used in good condition. It amazing that an amp that sold for $500 in 1986 still can sell for up to $300 14 years later. But it features qaulity parts and construction so one probably can't go wrong.

Associated Equip.

EAD Powermaster 500(bi-amped)
EAD Encore pre-pro
NAD 2200
Pioneer DV-525 as a DVD/Transport
Monitor Audio Silver Series speakers, ans ASW-210 sub
Harmonic Technology Powercords, interconnects, digital cables.
Custom House Interconnects
Analysis + Oval 9 speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Radio Shack PA Amp, Denon 3300, and EAD Powermaster 500.

I've owned a 2200 (and 1155 pre) since 1986. The equipment has "lived" in 4 countries and seen lots of miles. In all my time with this amp, I cannot say it's ever let me down. About 3 months ago, I decided to upgrade my speakers. After hearing a pair of Dynaudio 1.8's, I could not believe my ears (but was told by the sales rep that my NAD would not drive them sufficiently). After a short drive home (with demo speaks in back), I was dazed and confused at what I heard. To my amazement, the 2200 was driving these babies quite "sufficiently". In fact, it nearly took my breath away. I immediately returned to the store, bought the 1.8's, and have been rediscovering my music ever since.

After hearing what the Dyn's did for my music, I'm now debating whether to upgrade my amp. I've been looking and listening to Bryston, Meridian, Chord, Proceed, Naim and others. While I do perceive a difference between these products (of which I like the Proceed most), my choice is keep the 2200 or fork out the dough for the Proceed. If I keep the 2200, I'll have to find a second unit and bridge. Has anyone bridged and do you have an opinion on the level of performance improvement I can expect. Hmmmm.... $300 for a used 2200 or $3250 for a 250W Proceed. Tough decision. Opinions encouraged.....

Sounds great, Tight bass

Achilles Heel: Relays, and their connection to PCB

Thanks for recommendations and info here everyone, I love this amp when connected to PSB Stratus Bronzes and driven by the pre-out of a NAD T-760 A/V receiver.

About the relays: When I got my 2200, the output was cutting in/out. Checked output relays, and touching them revealed they were indeed ticklish.

Got ready to replace them, figuring I'd encountered the infamous 2200 relay problem. But first I wondered if it was just a cold-solder joint on the main board, somewhere in the vicinity of the output relay. Poked around on the lower (solder) side of the board - sure enough, the relay's solder joint to the PCB (not the relay itself) was faulty. Re-soldered the joints in question, and she sounded great with no cut-outs.

Also noticed that since the big speaker binding posts are soldered directly to the main PCB, this can cause flexing of the main PCB when making speaker connections over years of amp use (or bumping the posts during installation). Be careful with these posts, they can weaken joints on the main board.

Moral of my little tale? If you experience cut-outs, check the joints around the relays before you spend your money on replacing the relays. If you're taking the amp to a repair guy, make sure to point this out. It's easy to assume that the relays are faulty.

BTW, I'm quite sure my relays are the original ones.

Similar Products Used:

Other NAD stuff

powerful, high headroom

can be blown up, doesn't have rackmounting ears

I spotted this unit behind the counter of a pawn shop. When I asked about it, the guy said it was broken, and that a tech had told him it would cost too much to fix. So I took it home for $50 Canadian, and checked it out. A couple of output transistors and their emitter resistor were blown, so I replaced them. To my relief the amp worked, and has survived driving the 8 ohm 15" mid/high cabinets at several all-night raves. Lately it's spent more time running the main speakers in my home theatre. I can't imagine anyone needing to bridge this amp for home use, except maybe to drive a subwoofer, or with very inefficient (or 16 ohm) speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Carver M1.0t

Bought this big momma for $50 from a used vinyl shop that was going out of business. The sound was cutting out at low volume, but seemed to get better as the amp warmed up. Turns out there was nicotine buildup on the protection relay contacts (reason #823 why you shouldn't smoke). I cleaned these and now it works perfectly. Needless to say, I'm glad I took the risk.
My previous unit was a Yamaha RX-360 receiver, which I used to think was pretty good. Well, I still think it's pretty good, considering its price (~$200 new) and the convenience factor. But the 2200 is an entirely different beast. The amp just grabs the speakers by the nape of the neck and shakes the crap out of them. I haven't seen the specs, but this may be due to a higher damping factor than the Yamaha. Or maybe its the Power Envelope feature, which I know nothing about. The bass--out of the same dinky Polk S4 speakers (don't laugh!) I used with the RX-360--couples with the room and your internal organs, leaving you with the palpable sense that you are actually in front of a musical performance, rather than several rectangular-shaped black boxes churning out sine waves. Many others have spoken of the experience of having a veil lifted when going from lower-mid-fi to upper-mid-fi and higher. Well, I had the same experience. Midrange and lower-treble is excellent; it handles the soprano of one of the most challenging recordings I have (Gregorio Alegri's _Miserere_ by A Sei Voci on Astrée E 8524; 1st track) with ease. But most importantly, it sounds natural.

It also produces startling results with Messiaen's _Turangalila Symphony_ and _Concert À Quarte_ (both on DG by Chung, and both of demonstration quality if you haven't heard them). The soundstage literally seems to go beyond the boundaries of my tiny room, w/out a DSP (I can see why the purists eschew them). Also, Simon Rattle's recording of Mahler's 2nd (on EMI) brings tears to my eyes when played on this thing. Unfreakingbelievable. For jazz, this sucker smokes, filling the room with huge sound and even the smoke from the Blue Note or Kimballs East (owing to the nicotine buildup on the heat sinks!) ;^) For good old rock and roll, it sounds great, but honestly, the older recordings (Stones, Beatles, whatever) sound like crap to my ears on most hifis. I can't help it--I really prefer the newer digital recordings, which blow my mind (esp. DG's new 4D process, which eliminates as many black boxes as possible between the microphones and the digital recorder. You owe it to yourself to listen to these awesome recordings).

I can't speak for the high treble, since 1.) I really can't hear freqs. above 16K, and 2.) because I don't have a decent pre. In fact, I don't have any preamp yet (I ordered an AMC 1100 from Sound City for $99), and am driving this thing with a Sony Discman with its cheesy headphone pre--and it STILL beats the stuffing out of the Yamaha. I'm thinking about getting a passive stepped attenuator (when I can afford it, which won't be soon) from DACT, Creek, or Goldpoint, which is supposed to be much cleaner sounding than any active pre; tho w/out the bass response of a solid state or the 'je ne sais quoi' (and hassle, and expense) of a tube pre.

Note: It seems to get pretty warm when idle. Perhaps that's just the bias current? Or maybe part of the PE technology?

I'd appreciate seeing postings from folks who own/have owned this amp, as well as any specs. Since I cannot compare this amp to anything else besides the Yamaha, and since most of the ratings on this site are probably inflated, the 2200 gets 4 speakers. If you get it for what I paid for it, it gets 9.

I have had this amp for about 10 years and it still rocks the house something fierce! I also had an Adcom 545 and dumped it in favor of this amp. This amp is smooth and rich in it's presentation. The Adcom is very harsh. My speakers still are the Polk SDA-2 and my preamp is an Adcom 555. It has done much damage to my Polk speakers- I've had to replace tweeters and midbass units several times. A friend of mine tried this amp too and he just loved it even though he has much lower caliber speaker system. It is conservatively rated at 100 watts per channel into an 8 ohm load and 150 into a 4 ohm load. The amp also has 6 db of headroom. Go figure how many watts that is! I've seen several of these on auction at www.ebay.com from time to time- if you're looking for a solid amp that thumps you can get these for around 200 or so. I got mine for $330 at the px overseas and that was a bargain I just counln't pass up, glad I didn't! I was compairing it to the Adcom 545 and the Sumo Polaris, and the looks of the Polaris were, and still are awsome, but both amps just don't have the steam(headroom) this NAD has. It also can be bridged for mono and you'll have one super amp! Or get two and bridge them, WOW, I can't imagine what that would sound like! I give this amp 5 stars! I wish someday I could upgrade my speakers to Maggies or Vandies, but that is another dream.

warm sound, lots of head room, bridgeable.

watch out for cold solder joints on turn on relays

This is a great amp. I have owned a total of six over the last 8 years. I still have three. In a spare room, I have each amp bridged. The amps run JBL L-220 speakers (power hogs) and a non powered Velodyne subwoofer. The amp's headroom give an ability to run fairly low spl speakers at high levels. Sound is warm and frequency response is more than adequate. They should have an 8 ohm load when bridged. In stereo mode they get along on four ohms ok. My experience is however, that eight ohm loads even in stereo mode are best. Watch out for cold solder joints that show up with age on the safe start relays. If you have problems with one side working sometimes and not others just take your soldering iron and reheat or flow more solder on the pins of the relays. For certain music I just love the sound of the old JBL L-220's and although I would say this set-up which includes a tubed preamp is # 4 in the house and is not used on a daily basis, the amps are, for the money, just about the best thing going in the used market. If I only had four or five hundred dollars to spend on amplification I would not hesitate to buy a couple more of the 2200's. They are at their best when bridged and when driven with a really warm tube preamp like the New York Audio Labs Minuet in A or the Sarabande, the little 2200's mimic the sound of amps costing thousands of dollars (even used).