NAD components tend to be lush, rich, and musical sounding. They err on the side of sacrificing air and detail for warmth and musicality.

Rotel components tend to be bright, thin and detailed. They tend to err on the side of air and detail sacrificing warmth and lushness.

Pick your poison. Both are good and both are imperfect. Figure out what you can live with and which aspects are more important to you.

Perfection is very subjective. I can only recommend the amp/preamp that do things that I like. So, take my recommendations with a grain of salt. This is what I find important and you can decide whether that meshes with your thinking:

I like warm, liquid presentation. I am hypersensitive to bright, screechy or sibilant components. I am willing to forgo detail in lieu of musicality, fluidity and emotion.

The products that I would look at would be:

Rega Mira - an integrated amp, which is extremely musical and profoundly beautiful.

Cary SLP-88 - This preamp is no longer in production, but you can find it on Audiogon for under a grand. Whereas it's not nearly the last word in transparency and air, it is liquid, warm and compelling.

B&K amps - powerful, rich, deep and muscular. These amps will handle your speakers really well. You will hear no shrill, the bass will be deep and the music will flow.

Adcom - All the Adcom components are a tremendous value for the money. You just can't go wrong with them.

Musical Fidelity X series components - a bit bright for my tastes, but very detailed and airy. Go for the A5 series if you have the money. A5 is more refined, more neutral and ultimately, more musical.

Good list Alex. I also like a warmer, but not mushy, presentation and to that list I'd add the Creek 4140SE, or for less $ the Creek A30i. Creek and Rega have always shared a certain afinity for less is more designs that deliver a lot for the money. Until recently I always had Creek integrateds and they really performed like champs for many years at a stretch.

Creek is a good choice as well. I forgot to list it. Creek makes some of the most neutral components for the money. Fantastic products and fantastic value.

I haven't heard Creek specifically with Paradigm 100's, but I have heard Creek driving Monitor audio speakers and I have heard Paradigm 100's driven by Anthem electronics.

Whereas I couldn't go out on a limb and swear that there's going to be magical synergy between them, I am fairly confident that you would like what you hear from the Paradigms being driven by any of the above components. The only reservation I would have would be with the Musical Fidelity X series, given that it's a bit on the bright side. Other than that, I would be comfortable buying any of these with the Paradigms for myself.

Hi, I'm going to piggy-back on this thread, since the Creeks are in discussion here. I'm building a budget system for my small 1 bed. And was thinking about a used Creek or an Atoll 80. Can anyone comment/compare the two? Haven't heard Atolls yet, but seems like people's opinions on them vary widely... Thank you!