NAD C268 Power Amp $900 For One, $1800 For TWO!
80×2 Stereo, or 300×1 Mono!
Brand new is NAD’s DYNAMITE C268 power amp. C268 is an audiophile’s dream in many ways. NAD obviously thought long and hard about what to include in C268 and made smart choices. Here we go!
First and foremost, C268 is a Hybrid Digital amp. This is a D design like no other. Rather than using a digital switching design, C268 uses NAD’s patented ANALOG switching design to warm up the sound. This and a wise array of parts choices (like no caps in the signal path) results in C268 being remarkably smooth and tube like, without the hassle of dealing with tubes. You’ll love C268 for its mellow, musical flavor. It stands above its similarly priced competition in this regard.
NAD is known for enormous headroom. NAD’s Power Drive circuit inverts phase and eliminates phase distortion. The result is a cleaner, less harsh sound- and an amp that will be more forgiving than the average bear when driven hard. Audiophiles have raved about NAD’s proclivity for “soft clipping” from day one.
C268 is rated 80×2 but peaks at approximately 300w! Think Michael Jordan instead of “the other guys.” Many 200×2 amps peak at 201 and don’t like low impedances. NAD is comfortable with low impedances so there’s not a speaker out there it won’t drive. C268 can drive any speaker in our house nicely. That includes 4 ohm towers from Bryston and Maggie panels. You might very well
be thrilled and DONE with a C268 with YOUR challenging speakers.
As much as C268 is a work horse, what if you want MORE? After all, $900 isn’t crushing money on today’s hi-fi market. What if you want to open the wallet another notch? Just buy another! Instead of running 80×2, you’ll now have 300×2! Yup, for $1800 you’ll land with 300×2 of massive power, strong headroom and the ability to drive a complex impedance. There’s more.
C268 supports balanced and single ended operation. It has a variable input volume control which allows it to work in many an application. How about bi-amping? What if you have a very low or high output preamp? How about zone 2? Got a passive sub? C268 also has audio out to loop to
another amp. C268 has a ground lug on the chassis in case you have ground issues to over come.
You can even add a C268 to the NAD C368 integrated amp ($1000, 80×2 or 300×1). If you own a C368 or are considering one, C268 provides an obvious and affordable upgrade path! How smart of NAD to allow bridging on C268 AND the C368 integrated amp.
There is a lot of competition in the amplifier market. NAD has just thrown down the gauntlet as
perhaps THE point of diminishing returns performer in a power amp, while also providing you an
easy up grade path with the monoblock option!
