NAD OWNERS THREAD

[Kumar442244]

Hello FMs,

Could not find any thread related to NAD and hence initiated one so that fellow FMs can be benefited.

I have been using NAD C326BEE for over 2 months now and pretty much satisfied with the performance. However, Lately, was getting inclined towards TT and hence have decided to go for an entry-level TT from Marantz to satisfy the initial urge and see if this urge is temporary.

After having done my initial research, came across that my amp doesn't have an inbuilt phono stage. Can anyone please advice how do I go about it? Would i need an extra attachment something like below or is there any hack available.

https://www.hifimart.com/nad-pp-4-phono-preamplifier.html?search=nad&description=true

Kindly advice.

Lets use this thread to adress issues related to NAD amp/AVRs if there isnt one already.

 

[plasmoid]

Check if the Marantz turntable you are planning to buy has a built in phono preamp. If yes, then you don't need an external unit like the PP4. You can connect your turntable directly to one of your C326 BEE line inputs(AUX). If you need an external phono preamp you can probably reach out to FMs on the WANTED section. I did the same a few years back and got a second hand NAD PP3 at a fraction of the selling price. Its a great preamp for someone just getting into vinyl. Am still using it without any problems.

 

[Kumar442244]

Thanks, Plasmoid.

M looking at the below option.

Since M a newbie to TTs and have very scarce information on it, could you please advice if below would be a decent entry level TT? or would you suggest something else?

https://www.hifimart.com/marantz-tt...qualizer.html?search=marantz&description=true

 

[plasmoid]

Thanks, Plasmoid.

M looking at the below option.

Since M a newbie to TTs and have very scarce information on it, could you please advice if below would be a decent entry level TT? or would you suggest something else?

https://www.hifimart.com/marantz-tt...qualizer.html?search=marantz&description=true

Since you opened this thread on NAD amplifiers, we are going a bit off-topic...its better you open another on in the phono/turntable section for advice on an entry level turntables. There are lots of other threads there you can go through. In the meantime I will PM you answering your question.

 

[Kumar442244]

Agree that we are going off topic. Will certainly explore existing threads for answers.
Thanks for the help.

Will reply to the pm.

 

[reubensm]

Nice thread for NAD users/fans. Its high time we had one for NAD.

The C326BEE belongs to a series of NAD amplifiers which are perhaps, their most popular series after the 3020. The C320, C325BEE being the others in this line of specs.

However by the time the first one in this series, the 320 came out, the world had fallen out of favour with vinyl and hence this series did not include a phono stage. Nevertheless, NAD had graciously left a "disk" input option on there for vinyl lovers who could add on an external phonostage. In my opinion the NAD PP series phonostages are quite good and convenient but are a bit over priced when purchased new (in my personal opinion). You could try the following options:

1) since you mentioned entry level, buy an entry level TT with an inbuilt phonostage. These phonostages are also quite entry level but sound decent and can drive any of the inputs on the NAD C326BEE. Most entry level TTs come with inbuilt phonostages, the reason being, these are quite popular with enthusiasts who are starting off or trying to find their feet in the world of vinyl, hence likely to have more modern amplification equipment (that would be more digital oriented, without phonostages)

2) Go for the NAD PP series, simple plug and play option. The newer models have an inbuilt DAC as well which give you the option of digitizing your vinyl.

3) Get yourself a CNC phonostage. These cannot be purchased in assembled form unless a forum member is selling his/her assembled one. You'll have to get yourself a kit and get it assembled (I am sure one of us can help you with that)

4) you can try a low-cost mass market phonostage like this one

All the very best.

 

[Kumar442244]

Thanks, Plasmoid and Reubensm for giving the much-needed insights on PP and TTs.

Will be traveling to Europe in April 2nd week and hence I have kept the thought of buying from India in a cold closet for the time.

While looking out for an affordable TT on amazon.de and taking Plasmoid's suggestion into consideration, came across REGA_PLANAR_1.

Will get this for around 30K INR from Belgium.

Kindly advice on the selection also some technical specifications that I should be looking at (Akin: MM/MC/Belt drive/Tone-arm - manual/automatic etc).

If I go for this TT, would I still have to buy a PP stage (an amateur's question)?

Mod's/Experienced Members: Should I post this message elsewhere?

 

[plasmoid]

Thanks, Plasmoid and Reubensm for giving the much-needed insights on PP and TTs.

Will be traveling to Europe in April 2nd week and hence I have kept the thought of buying from India in a cold closet for the time.

While looking out for an affordable TT on amazon.de and taking Plasmoid's suggestion into consideration, came across REGA_PLANAR_1.

Will get this for around 30K INR from Belgium.

Kindly advice on the selection also some technical specifications that I should be looking at (Akin: MM/MC/Belt drive/Tone-arm - manual/automatic etc).

If I go for this TT, would I still have to buy a PP stage (an amateur's question)?

Mod's/Experienced Members: Should I post this message elsewhere?

Good choice. Rega Planar is a fully manual belt drive turntable. You will need an external phono preamp for this. The Schiit Mani gets a lot of praise on the forum.

Also since you getting into vinyl, you might need a few accessories -

1.Record brush for cleaning the dust off your records before playing.
2.Wet brush - for wet cleaning records or if you wish to spend some more, a record cleaner- https://www.amazon.com/SPIN-CLEAN-STARTER-RECORD-WASHER-SYSTEM/dp/B002UKSZUU It is mandatory to clean your records for good sound quality. (Lots of instructional videos on youtube)
3.Stylus gauge( to set tracking force if you have to change to another cartridge in the future)

The above accessories are much cheaper and easily available abroad so you might as well pick them up when you get the chance. Will write back if anything else comes to mind. Am sure the experts on the forum will chime in too.

 

[Kumar442244]

Hello NAD owners,

Hope you are doing good and enjoying nad components.

I recently ran into a slight dissatisfaction lately as I can feel that the amp has developed a very warm sound signature which is keeping me from savouring music.

My source is Google Chromecast audio playing from saavn pro.

Equipment: nad c326bee/Dali z3/ bic pl200/ Amazon basics speaker cable.

Any suggestions/ improvement tips?

 

[reubensm]

the "warm sound" is NAD's signature sound - what genre of music do you listen to?
Your amp may have burnt in. How old is it, and are you the first owner?

 

[Kumar442244]

Hello rubensm,

The amp is 2.5 months old and I am the first owner.

Even I think that this has now burnt in properly.

Thought that the bright dalis would compensate for the warm nad signature.

I majorily listen to pop both English and Bollywood, jazz and occasionally hip hop.

Could it be amp speakers mismatch that I am experiencing?

Currently, not in a state of changing the equipment. If at all needed, will try upgrading the speakers but that's not gonna be anytime soon.

Plz advice.

 

[audiopro]

Hello rubensm,

The amp is 2.5 months old and I am the first owner.

Even I think that this has now burnt in properly.

Thought that the bright dalis would compensate for the warm nad signature.

I majorily listen to pop both English and Bollywood, jazz and occasionally hip hop.

Could it be amp speakers mismatch that I am experiencing?

Currently, not in a state of changing the equipment. If at all needed, will try upgrading the speakers but that's not gonna be anytime soon.

Plz advice.

The nad Amp has a warm sound without air. It's characteristic of nad. It has a lot of body which makes it sound good and powerful compared to other entry level amps from marantz that focus on less body but more air.

If you are steaming then don't expect much on the treble region as the sound is compressed.

How have you mounted your Dali speakers? How far are they from the back wall? Make sure the tweeter is at ear level and that the speaker is brought away from the rear wall to reduce unnecessary bass heaviness which would further reduce the highs.

Otherwise you are describing a standard nad sound, especially true of their entry series.

In the future move to a dynaudio Emit 10 or a focal chorus bookshelf. If will give you much better sound, even with the nad. Spend once and be happy rather than keep getting stuck on loops.

 

[Kumar442244]

Thanks audiopro.

I really like the imaging and full bodied sound produced by nad and hence I chose this over other entry level amp. No complaints there. Just wanted to know if I can improve the highs a bit.
I have placed Dali on the TV unit and is good 1 feet away from the rear wall and the tweeter are a ear level.
Speaker upgrade wud certainly be the last option.
Apart from the ones u mentioned, I also have psb b6 in mind but will have to shell ~85k for that which I am not ready as of now. My nad audition was on psb b6 and was totally floored by these beauties. But the price tag u know....

 

[reubensm]

Yes, that's the NAD signature sound for you - very warm, laid back and not aggressive at all. From all the NADs I've owned or listened to, some of the earlier NADs featured BASS EQ or Loudness Controls. These NADs were more aggressive. The more modern ones are less aggressive and smooth. Most NAD users listen to their NADs with tone-defeat as well. I use a 3020 amplifier which has a loudness control. If the loudness is turned off, one gets the signature NAD sound. With the loudness on, the bass attach and highs improve. I always play it with the loudness on. The C32x series of NAD are famous for their sound dimensions. Free flowing sound, warm and natural sounding. The sound gets warmer and smoother, and stereo dimensions increase with burn in. In my personal opinion, a NAD requires about 60-80 hours of burn in to bring out its signature and about 4-5 years of working (regular listening) for it to reach its peak. But these are my personal opinions based on my experiences with various NAD amplifiers. And for the record, I have never owned a NAD from new. My experiences are based on pre-used NADs and recapped NADs.

I have used a supplementary tweeter with each channel for improving highs. You can actually do this with a few bucks. Get to your corner store, get hold of 2 small low cost tweeters and connect each one in series with a 10mfd capacitor each. across each speaker. Your highs will drastically improve without literally any investment. You can vary the capacitance with 1 mfd, 2.2mfd and 4.7 mfd capacitors if your supplementary tweeters sound too loud If you have a couple of old tweeters from a car entertainment unit, these would work as well

Don't change your current speakers, NADs are designed to drive a variety of speakers. You'd almost surely experience a similar sound signature with most speakers that you would try.

 

[Kumar442244]

Wow, that's a nice workaround. Could have never imagined if this was even possible.

Will certainly need ur help in mounting these tweeters once I have them.

Thanks for a wonderful piece of advice. Will certainly save me my hard earned money.

 

[jmascreen]

I had just listened to hotel California by Yao si ting. Source is a flac file played from my pioneer bdp180 via schiit multibit dac to nad c320 to my diy TL speakers. I didn't felt any of the frequency is missed.

I would suggest you to borrow a decent CD player and audio CDs and try out and see for any improvements

 

[audiopro]

Thanks audiopro.

I really like the imaging and full bodied sound produced by nad and hence I chose this over other entry level amp. No complaints there. Just wanted to know if I can improve the highs a bit.
I have placed Dali on the TV unit and is good 1 feet away from the rear wall and the tweeter are a ear level.
Speaker upgrade wud certainly be the last option.
Apart from the ones u mentioned, I also have psb b6 in mind but will have to shell ~85k for that which I am not ready as of now. My nad audition was on psb b6 and was totally floored by these beauties. But the price tag u know....

If the speakers are directly on a cabinet your getting a lot of bass from the cabinet too. Isolate the speaker by using small pieces of Blu tack below each corner of the speaker. And try and move them further away from the rear wall. Try 6 inches at a time.

The Emit and Focus are better speakers than the B6. Much better in my opinion. Emit is more balanced while the Focal is more airy with less weight but very musical. Start with isolating the speakers first and then hear them.

Your

Hello rubensm,

The amp is 2.5 months old and I am the first owner.

Even I think that this has now burnt in properly.

Thought that the bright dalis would compensate for the warm nad signature.

I majorily listen to pop both English and Bollywood, jazz and occasionally hip hop.

Could it be amp speakers mismatch that I am experiencing?

Currently, not in a state of changing the equipment. If at all needed, will try upgrading the speakers but that's not gonna be anytime soon.

Plz advice.

Your nad doesn't have much power. To help it play loud it has a feature call soft clipping which when enabled will compress the highs when you play loud which is anything beyond the 9 or 10 position. Make sure your soft clipping is disabled so when you play it loud you will know by distortion.

Going ahead get a better speaker and if possible in the very long run a much better amp. You will quickly outgrow any amp in the under 1L space. You could also cheat a bit to get more output from your nad by using a speaker with higher efficiency like the Audio Note AX series. It should be much cheaper than the psb as well.

 

[Kumar442244]

If the speakers are directly on a cabinet your getting a lot of bass from the cabinet too. Isolate the speaker by using small pieces of Blu tack below each corner of the speaker. And try and move them further away from the rear wall. Try 6 inches at a time.

The Emit and Focus are better speakers than the B6. Much better in my opinion. Emit is more balanced while the Focal is more airy with less weight but very musical. Start with isolating the speakers first and then hear them.

will certainly try this and see if this helps.

 

[Kumar442244]

Your


Your nad doesn't have much power. To help it play loud it has a feature call soft clipping which when enabled will compress the highs when you play loud which is anything beyond the 9 or 10 position. Make sure your soft clipping is disabled so when you play it loud you will know by distortion.

Going ahead get a better speaker and if possible in the very long run a much better amp. You will quickly outgrow any amp in the under 1L space. You could also cheat a bit to get more output from your nad by using a speaker with higher efficiency like the Audio Note AX series. It should be much cheaper than the psb as well.

Hello Audiopro,

I generally dont go beyond 11 o'clock on the dial for which 50 WPC seems more than sufficient.

Will explore how soft clipping works once M home tonight.

Sure will consider this up gradation may be after an year from now.

I had just listened to hotel California by Yao si ting. Source is a flac file played from my pioneer bdp180 via schiit multibit dac to nad c320 to my diy TL speakers. I didn't felt any of the frequency is missed.

I would suggest you to borrow a decent CD player and audio CDs and try out and see for any improvements

Have played a FLAC file through sony BDP through 1 TB HDD. Still the same. Have reduced the bass and kept the treble at max which is making it a bit enjoyable.

All i am concerned with is the improvement in highs a bit, otherwise, i am more than happy with the amp.

 

[nn_in]

Hi All,
Thank you for all the NAD posts and valuable information.

The 316BEE runs almost any spkrs and recently auditioned it with PSB imagine B and Imagine XB in Bglr.
8Ohms/90db sensitivity would be great.
Source is Ipad/Saavn pro >Dragonfly DAC>316BEE>Triangle bookshelf. I do understand my source is a limitation.

Planning to have a second pair of spkr setup .
Looking at HFM as thye have a wide range of offers (except DALI i think)
QUAD S2
Dali3
Monitor Audio Bronze 2
Monitor Audio Bronze 1
PSB Alpha B1
Wharfedale Diamond 225
Castle Knight2
Quad S2
Wharfedale Diamond 11.2 Bookshelf Speakers
Wharfedale Denton Anniversary ed.

Any suggestions folks can offer in Rs50k-Rs75k range.Anybody auditioned QUAD S2 with NAD 316BEE ?