Some days back I played around with my setup, Naim 32, 110, 101 and snaps for the tuner and pre. bc1 speakers, streamer and a Thorens for the records. 110 is #7xx and recapped, 32 is #8xx and untouched. Sounds nice, very nice indeed.
The volume pot of the nac is strange, very small changes up to 12 o’clock, useful area until 15 o’clock and then quick to full throttle. Not linear, not logarithmic but a good channel linear old fashioned Alps. Works very well with the 110 when you got used to it.
But….this nac should be great for sensitive amps like a quad ii/303 or the leak stereo 20. My 20 has been sympathetically rebuilt by classique sounds and is a reliable great performer.
Guess what, 32 and 20 are best friends now. The strange volume pot is perfect for the sensitive poweramp. Also bc1 are very happy campers now, this really sounds awesome. Not that 110 was a bad choice but with 20 it’s so airy, fast and detailed.
The bc1 are 1975 vintage but with ceramic drivers. Instead of the 3uf the bass is coupled with 2uf. The tweeter has 1.5uf instead of .33uf/.47uf. Planned was to recap the crossover. One supertweeter open circuit but a nos available. But hey, this sounds so fun that fiddling around with the crossover might be by the book but not that fun anymore.
For my taste the leak plays best with Mullard, first ecc is a long plate valvo.