The NAD could be special.

When comparing amps, people inherently listen for detail and bass. That’s your first test. Underpowered amps always have weak bass.

Then play vocal music. Nature sounds (waves especially). Complex music with strings. Listen for harshness in the highs. Cheap amps will sound harsh and thin.

Klipsch especially. I don’t know about other brands. Amplifiers have far more exaggerated specs TBH.

If you want to go balls deep into Shoegaze, check out “I was a Teenage Shoegazer”. It’s exactly what you described.

Speaker wattage means nothing. Chances are, you can blow out the speakers with 15W of (continuous) power. But there’s 10 different ways to rate power so that sentence means nothing.

The only metric worth reading is the sensitivity. Under 87db/1m/1W, you should consider a bigger amp. Of course brands like Klipsch rate their speakers like children and lie on the specs. Fortunately, Klipsch speakers are usually easy to power and sound bright (which helps with low volumes).

After chasing the hobby like an idiot, the Samsung EO-IA 500 felt like a FOMO killer to me. They actually fit the ear and stay securely. The sound is good enough! Not too bright, the mids are clear (V shaped earphones never fail to disappoint) and the bass is kicking. Yeah, the Samsungs are muddy at times. But that’s a small sacrifice I’m willing to take, considering that everything else is perfect.

For serious listening I have Closer Acoustics OGY speakers. It doesn’t get more transparent and clear than that.

I always get back to Kurt Vile, no matter what. I dig his attitude.

Pink Floyd has a squeaky clean production with great dynamics. So the sky is the limit as far as speakers go. Get the biggest and best speakers you can afford.

With psychedelic indie rock (Of Montreal, MGMT, Toro Y Moi) with loads of compression you’ll want speakers with stellar midrange. I find that cheap exciter drivers mounted on plywood sheets sound incredible (watch the world’s greatest speakers YouTube video). I am currently using a single driver speaker (Closer Acoustics OGY) and it’s even better but the price is steep.