NAD C 338 vs Rogue Sphinx - two hypex integrateds

[differenceclouds]

I'm looking at new integrated amps, and the fuss about hypex boards has intrigued me. Both of these are integrated amps with a phono stage, several line stages, and a headphone amp, and both use Hypex UcD modules, but they seem to have different goals. The DAC and bluetooth on the NAD would probably be nice to have, but these aren't really concerns for me as far as deciding which one to get. Truth be told, if I get either of these, it will be the first amp I've owned less than 20 years old. Also, the 50wpc of the NAD is plenty for me. I just want a good integrated with a headphone amp and phono stage. The Sphinx has a tube preamp, which isn't something I would normally be interested in, but people seem to like it a lot. Both tout FETs on the output stage, which is interesting to me, as to my knowledge this isn't a requirement for the Hypex switching boards (but correct me if I'm wrong).

Overall the Sphinx has sort of captured my interest to a great degree, but NAD seems like a very dependable company. Neither of these products have been reviewed on this site, but they seem to be the cheapest hypex board integrated amps around. I'm a bit lost in class D land tbh, so any other affordable integrated amp recommendations to further confuse me would be appreciated.

By the way, I'm currently driving an old pair of Sequerra Metronome 7s in a near-field setup, if you're curious. I'm using an old Rotel RX-950AX integrated amp, which is a truly decent item that I will keep around, but I want a bit more clarity.

 

[Hilltop]

Would like information on the Sphinx also. As far as i can tell, its got the most grunt 8 to 4ohms in the price range.