DesmoDave Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I had the opportunity to borrow one of the new NAD C390DD integrated DAC/amps for the long weekend and I have to say that I 'm mightily impressed with pairing of the two unlikely bedfellows. I mean every Klipshorn owner is at some time expected to aspire to a 2 watt SET of impeccably obscure origins fed by the latest DAC du Jour and an eye watering price tag attached. A (relatively) cheap integrated can't seriously foot it in this space, can it? I have had my Klipschorns since 1994 and owned a few amps over that period (Brystons, Quicksilver, Sonic Frontiers and Plinius) and heard other amps drive them as well. My experience has been that the KHorns are hard to pair well as they tend to be so revealing that you need to get the match right or they will expose anything and everything (both good and bad) the amp has to offer. I was therefore not terribly optimistic that this experiment would end well despite the extremely positive feedback this new NAD amp as been generating on the interwebs. All the blurb about the end to end digital signal processing (well at least until the output stage) brought back memories of how CD sound was supposed to be 'perfect' and we all know how that went. Anyway, I plugged it into my PC running JRiver connected to a NAS brimming with FLAC files (using a very un Hi Fi USB cable I had in a draw), NAD drivers installed themselves and away I went. It really could not have been any simpler. The sound is wonderfully transparent and neutral and frankly I think the NAD sounds better than anything I have ever used before (note that I am saying it is the best I have heard not the best thing in the entie known universe). The treble was not in the slightest bit harsh or gritty and indeed it seemed far more effortlessly detailed than my Quicksilver. It was the neutrality of the sound, the simple balance and 'rightness' of the tone that struck me most. It seemed to be able to do a great job on far more recordings than I normally find. Whereas the KHorns can sound fantastic on one track and awful on another the NAD made a great fist of almost everything I tried. When I did get around to trying my favourite test tracks today not only did the NAD sound fantastic but I noticed I was able to play them to silly reference levels without the sound falling apart. I just want to play everything louder now! I played it from around 11am until 11pm just using the JRiver '100 Random Songs" option on Saturday and never found it in the least bit fatiguing. I know from bitter experience that this is often not the case and the KHorns will certainly let you know if this is not a happy match. Instead, I was fallingin love with my speakers and my music all over again. In addition to the neutrality and openness of the tone I loved the sheer quietness of the NAD. This is a 150 watt amp that makes not a peep or hiss on my KHorns. Blackness. Silence. This is possibly part of why the NAD sounded so good, it presents the music against a very quiet backdrop which seems to add to the vividness of the presentation. The unit itself is well made, discreet and (frankly) non descript. It exudes none of the hand-made-by-a-Zen-master-on-top-of-a-mountain cachet of more 'niche' offerings. This is not a piece of trophy gear with which to impress (or baffle) your friends. What it does offer is an extremely strong value proposition for anyone looking for a first rate digital solution to provide everything you need to fill the gap betwen PC and speakers. Job done-tick. I have been exploring all sorts of options myself to make the leap to computer based music and although there are always better (and more expensive) options there is nothing that comes close to the value of this NAD. I am confronting all of my 'audiophile' prejudices and snobbery as I sit here in front of the NAD amp. I mean, it just doesn't seem possible that a mainstream manufacturer can prodice a genuinely innovative piece of kit that is superbly functional, easy to use and sounds awesome for so little cash. Every self respecting audiphile loves to mix and match and explore and tweak in search of system synergy. It just doesn't seem right that you can grab something off the shelf of your local dealer and leap to the top of the (mid price) class. I am seriously close to buying it. At US$2600 it is frankly a bargain. (I can still indulge myself by trying out how an Audiophilleo 2 works on the front end and of course try a few USB cables that have a better pedigree than the one off my printer!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 DesmoDave, A belated welcome to the forum. You have composed a wonderful review of the new NADC390DD integrated/DAC amp. Probably not a better pair of speakers to give that baby a run with. As you mentioned, the Klipschorns will bring out the best and worst that you can offer them. From what I have read about this NAD amp, it is as neutral as neutral gets. I am seriously close to buying it. At US$2600 it is frankly a bargain. With the accolades that the wonderful NAD Masters Series M2 integrated/DAC($5999.99 msrp) has received, you knew NAD could produce and offer a "lesser" product more affordable to the masses. I have seen them for sale for as low as $1995.00 which really would be a heck of a bargain. http://www.elegantaudiovideo.com/c=4DefXc9MRA1IcWBbf8ZMvWDSt/product/ND0001/NAD-C-390DD-DACAmplifierBR.html Thanks again for your very descriptive and somewhat humorous take on what appears to be one fine piece of gear. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted June 3, 2012 Moderators Share Posted June 3, 2012 Welcome Very nice review, it was fun to read. [Y] Isn't it great when you run across something that just surprises you it works so well. There are so many different combinations in this hobby you just never know, until it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Welcome to the dark side. [H] Thanks for the entertaining write-up. It appears that you finally got a taste of what all the fuss regarding the decade-long trend in digital amplification is about. It's nice to see NAD come off their high horse and offer a more reasonably priced version of their digital direct amp. The 44 lb. M2 simply wasn't competitive at $6000 when a 10 lb. $300 Panasonic XR could accomplish the same thing. FYI - A new USB cable won't do anything to improve the sound. P.S. - If you do buy end up buying it, be careful, because listening to these amps on the Heritage speakers is the equivalent to crack-cocaine for music lovers. Very addictive. You may find yourself spending considerable time parked in front of your system, engrossed in the sound. You've been warned. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tblake10 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks for an interesting and informative review. At a crossroads with my system myslef, so especially helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tblake10 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 DesmDave, a question: were the volume increments fine enough with the khorns using the remote? If the volume increments are too large, that can often be a problem with the khorns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesmoDave Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Good question!, I know I have struggled with some manual volume controls that are far too sensitive for human control without the use of beta blockers to steady the hands. The NAD remote was actually fantastic. I didn't really want to make that point for fear of appearing either lazy or frivolous (there are probably people on this forum who have never owned a remote controlled amp and it would be bad manners to flaunt such features). I personally haven't had one for my stereo for more than twenty years!. But enough of this hair shirt stuff - I love having a remote! - there, I said it!. And the NAD remote is extremely good. It is a pretty generic plastic thing easily lost among all the other remotes on the table but the volume control is very very good. Apparently even the voume control is a 35 bit digital creation to avoid introducing anything other than a 1 or a 0 into the signal path. The amp displays the gain as -75dB>-10dB in 0.5dB increments etc as you go towards full volume in a seamless linear (logarithmic?) fashion. I was able to control the volume perfectly well. Actually, the only problem I had was that the volume tended to creep up to anti social levels as I was positively giddy about this new fangled digital amp thingamy. It is probably my inner adolescent speaking but I love it when my teenage kids tell me to turn down the music! As any responsible father will understand that they really ought to know what London Calling sounds like at 110dB SPL before THEY get old too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesmoDave Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Quiet_Hollow you are sooooo right. I am on that slippery slope and gather speed fast. I have never heard the M2 and it was always going to be way too spendy for me. The C390DD is what I can afford and I really hope that this is a product that brings this technology to the attention of music lovers everywhere. I have it for one more day and although the sun is shining and I have things I need to do I am already pushing the kids out the door so I can get a hit of digital music - just a few more tracks you understand, maybe an hour, definitely no more than two. Before five. And maybe some more later tonight.... BTW, one more thing I like about it is the NAD has a sub out. I hope to add a decent and musical sub to the mix later this year and it makes that task easy for me. I think they even offer an electronic crossover and automatic EQ analysis capability to help properly blend the unit into the overall sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 - just a few more tracks you understand, maybe an hour, definitely no more than two. Before five. And maybe some more later tonight.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 So......................will Klipsch have one of these digital dreadnought (pun intended ~ dread not) (or something similar) hooked up to something for us to listen to at the pilgrimage? I'm starting to get interested in this. Seems kind difficult to comprehend that a single unimposing reciever-like product can in one fell swoop replace all the racks of analog gobbledeegoop in my present setup and improve the sound quality to a whole new level as well. This just might be a very welcome change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I've been using one of the smaller NADs for a long time. I just wanted to have one new piece of equipment but my other stuff is older tubes etc. I would say the NAD does many things right. I'll always give a NAD a listen. Some of the technologies they use are very interesting. Now there are several tube amps I like better but the NAD is pretty cool and delivers well beyond what you would expect out of the boring looking black box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I've been using one of the smaller NADs for a long time. I don't think that is what Dave is talking about. This is a fully digital amplifier. It IS the smaller one of the two they now make. This is something completely different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I've been using one of the smaller NADs for a long time. I don't think that is what Dave is talking about. This is a fully digital amplifier. It IS the smaller one of the two they now make. This is something completely different. I got it mixed up with another model number. I've been researching this one. It is interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 I was inspired by DrWho's signature which reads "Crown, Active and Horns" I used to be a Crown fan of sorts and still have a number of Crown amps. After all the recent discussion regarding class D and class T amplifiers I decided to take a look at what Crown is currently offering. They now make quite and array of power amplifiers and it took some time to figure out what is actually their "flagship" product due to the variety of recommended applications. I finally decided that the I-Tech HD series looked like it might fit the "flagship" criteria. In doing so I came across one of their white papers on the subject. http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/amps/137234.pdf Basically what I'm getting at, is in this document there is a discussion of general transistor operation in audio amplifiers and the various class of amplifier operation. What is says is basically an admission that good old fashion class A amplifiers are (can be) the most distortion free of all amplifier classes and "are generally considered to be the most accurate of all classes in low to moderate power ranges". So, it seems that good old fashion high efficiency horn-loaded systems that don't require much power, paired with class A amplification can result in the highest sound quality, lowest distortion. And that brings us back to another point ~ that many, if not most of the advances in amplifier design are aimed at other things than "better" sound quality. These are products that are intended for professional applications which high power output, reliability, and ease of configuration in larger more complex systems intended for things like sound reinforcement to very large audiences are required more than absolute fidelity of the highest order. "just some food for thought" [*-)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesmoDave Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 I am replying to myself here (which is a bit weird) but I just wanted to post a link to a review of the NAD C390DD as I think it makes some of the same points I make just better. http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2012/07/nad-c-390dd-powered-dac-amplifier-review-part-1/ I do believe we are seeing a sea change in amplification technology and based on what I have heard thus far I say we should welcome this as real progress (as opposed to a gimmick). Regards All, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 After seeing this post, and more than a little discussion on the subject in general with Quiet Hollow (Tom), I finally got around to auditioning a NAD C390DD in my system. This amp is a paradigm changer. Possibly, as they say "The End of Days" for linear analog amplification. I like it. A lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 01010111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 01110101 01101101 00100001 57:65:6c:63:6f:6d:65:20:74:6f:20:74:68:65:20:66:6f:72:75:6d:21 Welcome to the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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