NAD has been the premier manufacturer of affordable integrated amps for a billion years.
The punch line to the “WHY NAD?” question is always POWER and stability. Power yields better dynamic range and impact in your music. Most integrated amps are lucky to hit their ratings. Imagine taking a shower with low water pressure. Now double that with NAD. NAD’s new Hybrid Digital designs are best of breed. NAD uses its Asymmetrical Power Drive technology. It’s an analog amp with low impedance stability and outstanding headroom.
NAD integrated amps slug quite a bit above their weight due to NAD’s patented Power Envelope, Power Drive & Soft Clipping circuitry. They have no problems with low impedances. NAD integrateds peak at approximately double their rated RMS power. Think Michael Jordan jumping ability while the other guys have lead weights in their shoes and can barely get off the floor or achieve RMS claims. Hence NADs sound more dynamic and are comfortable adding subwoofers or additional speakers at speaker (or line) level. What is especially exciting about the current line up is the logical choice of useful features- to go with this class leading amount of testosterone.
NAD also has a secret weapon in the design of its integrateds. The tone controls are sagely designed to be eminently useful! The bass control hinges at 40 Hz. The treble control hinges at 10kHz. NAD provides a +/- 6dB swing in adjustment. The bottom line is, the controls are at just the right frequencies and range of alteration to tune up your sound. The other guys famously turn over their controls at mid bass and mid high frequencies. If you barely turn them – it’s too much!
C328 $600: 50×2 (Dynamic Peaks 100×2!)
(2 3/16h, 17 1/8w, 11 ¼ d)
This diminutive integrated sets new standards even for NAD. You effectively have 100 w/ch at your disposal. C328 will do a good job with virtually any speakers you connect. Come hear it with Magnepans if you want to test me!
Features:
-High quality MM phono input
-Two RCA analog inputs
-Has on board DAC with 2 OPT and 2 Coax inputs
-Bluetooth
-Sub out
-And don’t miss this valuable feature- a bass EQ control to give you a 7dB bump at 50Hz, very
helpful with modest shelf speakers in particular!
C3050 $1400: 100×2
(4 1/16h, 17 11/16w, 14 5/16d)
C3050 is NAD’s new, vintage styled integrated. When NAD opened shop in 1972, one of their first integrateds had this cool styling. Since retro is in style now, NAD decided to bring this look back, with a very modern product under the hood.
It has NAD’s typically gutsy amp with UcD design with big headroom. It has a pre out/ main in loop, and an additional single sub out. It has spks A-B. It has MM Phono, Bluetooth and a built in DAC with a single OPT and Coax input. It also has HDMI eArc. You’ll want this if you are after clean performance with a vintage aesthetic. It also features NAD’s MDC modular platform- so you can add some additional features down the road. Oh, how about these 1972 meters?!
C700 $1500: Streaming Integrated Amp (80×2)
(3 3/16h, 8 5/8w, 11 5/8d)
NAD’s new C700 is a super star! It is an integrated amp with built in Bluesound streamer for only $1500.
C700 isn’t a cute little hub for background music. C700 is a real hi-fi component that can drive some very substantial speakers. The preamp/amp combination of this unit is basically the same as NAD’s C368 that sells for $1200 alone. When you buy the Node streamer for $600, C700 saves you $300.
The amp section of C700 is a sports car. It uses the Hypex UcD design to evade the age old problem of using mismatched output transistors- which create a harsh sound. C700 sounds delightfully clean, open and airy, with no grunge.
C700 can drive a wide array of speakers on its own. Unless you’re driving hungry speakers at waumpus volume levels, you could well be DONE by having C700 drive your system by itself!
In C700 we have a creatively designed product that makes sense for almost everyone.
C700 checks so many valuable boxes that no matter what your hi-fi is right now, you might want to carve out a spot in your house for a C700. If you are streaming at less than the stratosphere, you can’t beat C700.
I’m not saying you should replace a big stack of separates or a state of the art integrated with C700. But for almost anything less, it can fill the bill. Let me count the ways.
Most importantly, C700 streams Tidal, Qobuz and other high echelon streaming services. You’re not limited to compressed services. If you have a spot in your home where streaming is the main source of music, please consider C700.
It has a very nice 5” screen to show you cover art. It’s fun! Nothin’ wrong with that.
It has an NAD 80×2, Hypex UcD amp on board which sounds solid and open. This amp is no punk. It is basically the same amp as used in NAD’s C368 integrated. Its bass is ample, though not thunderous or sloppy. C700 is an ideal match with far more speakers than you’d expect.
It does a fabulous job with wonderful speakers like Brystons – made in Canada with 20 year warranty. It drives any of the Klipsch models with ease. Ya can’t beat it with Heresy 4 or Forte 4 in particular. It even does a solid job with the more demanding Magnepans.
To do better than C700 you will have to invest over a grand more and buy multiple components.
C700 isn’t even limited to high efficiency speakers because it has a preamp out. You can run C700 into the power amp of your choice (NAD C298 for ex). You maintain all the luscious functionality of C700 while attaining the Niagara Falls power- if you wish.
We have a dem set up in the shop where we can run C700 into a wide variety of speakers. We can quickly show you the improvement a gutsy NAD power amp will yield. It’s an AB comparison that you’ll hear instantly. If you want to plunge for an additional amp because you have speakers and a listening room that will merit it- great. But I’m here to tell ya, C700 performs very well, and you may well be DONE with it driving your speakers!
Let’s take this a notch further. When Naim and some of the higher end guys started with mucho more expensive one box solutions several years ago, I brought some in to try. The Naim actually sounded good. The 50×2 on board amp was solid. BUTTT, the streaming feature hiccuped and drove me CRAZY! We did all the updates. They had all kinds of tricks and treats to try to make the streamers hold signal. But they DIDN’T WORK! I have even been to customers’ homes who own CURRENT editions of products like the Unity Atom ($3300, 40×2) and they still don’t stream without coughs and sputters. Folks, making the component is just the start. You have to have support staff to keep it running. NAD/Bluesound has proven to be the best at it!
NAD C399 $2200: 180×2 (Dynamic Peaks 360×2!)
(4 3/4h, 17 1/8w/ 16d)
NAD C399
C399 is NAD’s new, top of the line integrated in its Classic Series. C399 features more power and a cleaner amp design because it uses nCore technology. Its little brothers above use Hypex UcD, not nCore. It isn’t quite an M33. That’s in another class (and price). But if you’re after an integrated with muscle and smoothness for about $2k, C399 is your integrated.
Since when is more of a good thing too much?! C399 acts like a 300×2 amplifier, meaning, it can drive literally any speakers quite well. Our view is that as you allot your cash, C399 might allow you to buy conspicuously higher end speakers than you had planned on. If you thought you needed an amp for $3-4k, since you’ll love C399 for much less, that lets you throw a thou or two more into speakers where you’ll really hear it!
C399 CRUISES with the superb lines of Bryston and Magnepan speakers. Dynamic contrast and acceleration are downright thrilling!
We’ve run C399 into Magnepans with great success. Maggies are more hungry (86dB) than the average bear. We’ve run C399 into the Brystons, which run 88-90dB. Once again, C399 is easily up to the task and can throw around orchestral crescendos and impact with ease. The proof in the pudding is that C399 will impress you with some of the finest speakers in our industry, like Amphion (!) despite being downright reasonable in price.
Features:
-High quality MM phono input
-Two RCA analog inputs
-Has on board DAC with 2 OPT and 2 Coax inputs
-Bluetooth
-Sub out
-Pre out
-Speakers A/B
-MDC input slots
NAD M33 $5000: 200×2
(5 1/4h, 17 1/8w/ 15 5/8d, 41 lbs.)
M33
The new Masters Series integrated is the first on the planet to employ the Eigentacht amplifier design. It is a design NAD builds to suit. It doesn’t buy modules off the shelf. Distortion levels are almost immeasurable. M33 is impedance invariant meaning- it has the same great sound from watt 1 to 200+ ! If you drive it hard it won’t get upset and scream.
M33 has a built in streamer so it can be a one box solution for many customers. Sign up for Tidal and away ya go. It does high end Bluetooth, has phono MM&MC and a headphone amp. M33 offers a true high end integrated/streamer that pushes the edge of the art in each envelope.
Here’s the untold story of amp specs. NAD doesn’t cheat. It’s conservative in its ratings. When NAD rates M33 at 200×2, that means, at 200×2 it will still meet its distortion rating of .00069%. Virtually all competitors claim their power AT CLIPPING, meaning 1%. Just look at Stereophile’s amp MEASURMENTS in their reviews. The numbers are buried in the fine print. Many amps don’t reach their power ratings AT ALL.
Almost all of them that do ARE CLIPPING when they get there. NAD remains cool, calm and collected.