Great sounding amp!
Written: Mar 23 '01 (Updated Mar 23 '01)
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Pros: Excellent sound, simple and elegant design, less expensive than fancier audiophile brands like Mark Levinson
Cons: A bit more expensive than mainstream brands like Sony and Kenwood, don't care for remote
The Bottom Line: Excellent sound quality. A good value among quality amplifiers. The remote is a bit annoying, but buy this amp because it sounds great and it's a great value.
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| marcman's Full Review: NAD C340 Amplifier |
Why I bought this amp
I bought this integrated amplifier around two years ago when I decided that it was time for me to have a quality stereo system (before that I was a poor student and owned more mainstream stuff). I wanted a system that was more enjoyable to listen to and I also wanted a system that would let me accurately monitor and hear details in some of my own musical tinkerings. This was the first piece of my new system I bought and although it seemed a tad expensive at the time, I've never regretted the purchase. The quality of sound that I now enjoy makes the purchase price insignificant and I also know that this piece is going to bring me enjoyment for many years.
Other equipment in my system
At the same that I bought this amplifier, I bought a pair of B&W DM602 S2 bookshelf speakers and a Sony ES 5-disc CD player. The salesperson sold me expensive Transparent brand speaker interconnects to hook the amp up to speakers. I am using Monster Cable to connect the CD player to the amp.
Basic characteristics
The NAD C340 is an integrated amplifier, meaning that it has a preamplifier and power amplifier, but no tuner, in one box. It is a solid-state amplifier, so if you're addicted to tubes, you'll be better off looking at the more expensive brands. This amplifier is powerful and I don't think I've ever had to turn the volume knob past 1/4 to drive my bookshelf speakers.
"Soft clipping" feature
I use NAD's "soft clipping" feature (engaged with a button on the BACK of the unit) for safety. In theory, this helps to protect your speaker from damage should you drive the amplifier into clipping. In practice, I don't listen at very loud levels, but I keep this feature on for the extra safety.
A simple, elegant front panel
This amp's front panel has a very sparse and simple design. Unlike mainstream Sony and Aiwa stereos that attempt to cram the front panel with blinking lights and colorful bar graph displays, NAD takes a different approach. The front panel is a plain, matte gray and there are a limited number of buttons, LEDs, and knobs. No flashy displays. Just a simple, elegant design. You've got a nice big volume knob, balance control, bass and treble controls (just 2 knobs -- no graphic EQ), a "tone defeat" switch (takes the bass and treble controls out of the signal path for purer sound), the source selector buttons/LEDs, the soft-clipping LED, 1/4" headphone jack and the power button. That's about it.
"Tone defeat" feature
In theory, the "tone defeat" is supposed to offer purer sound by taking the bass and treble controls out of the signal path. I don't find the sound any cleaner in this mode and my bookshelf speakers could use a bit of a bass boost on most music so I tend to not use the "tone defeat" very much, although it's interesting to toggle it on and off to see how much difference the NAD's tone controls make.
Excellent sound quality
Sound quality is excellent. Worlds better than my previous mainstream systems. The most obvious and easy to explain differences are imaging and details. I notice the panning of cymbals and guitars to the sides a lot more. I also hear things that I never heard before -- an acoustic guitar track over there, a more pronounced hi-hat, things like that. It just sounds better. This of course is the main reason I love this amplifier.
The remote control is annoying
My only complaint about this amplifier is the remote. It's weirdly shaped (not rectangular) and has small rubbery buttons that have a tendency to get stuck. I found this to be quite annoying, because the buttons would often get stuck pressed and then the remote's batteries would go dead overnight. I went through a few batteries this way. Now I'm careful when using the NAD remote, although I often avoid it in favor of using my universal remote (beware that it is fairly hard to find a universal remote that can actually control NAD amps -- I have no idea why but check the back of the remote's package carefully before buying). The other slightly annoying thing about the amplifier is that you can't control the power from the remote. Oddly enough, there's a power button on the remote but the documentation states that the power button is meant for controlling other NAD equipment; not amplifiers though. On the other hand, the remote control has a MUTE function, but the amplifier doesn't have a button for this feature.
Conclusion
The remote, however, is a minor annoyance and this amp's great sound quality more than makes up for its shortcomings.
I liked this amp so much that my roomates and I bought another one for our living room stereo.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 350
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Epinions.com ID:
marcman
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Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 33 members
About Me:
If I was writing for my dinner, I'd be a heck of a lot thinner.
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