NAD 50 Anniversary C 3050

[pablolie]

I received my 3050 LE this morning. It does hav the links connecting Pre-Out to Main In.

Congrats - let us know your impressions!

 

[dougi]

I received my 3050 LE this morning. It does hav the links connecting Pre-Out to Main In.

Great! Still waiting for mine. There has been a change of distribution for nad here in Oz, causing delays.

 

[Middle America]

Listen Up is shipping mine this week. Their communication through the minor delays has been great. I’m excited to hear everyone’s impressions.

 

[mr-audio]

My review of 3050 LE
Review of NAD C 3050 LE

Background

I’m a long time mid range audiophile, which means I prefer gear that ranges between $500 and $5000 and I look for good overall esthetics, great sound, and a good value. I have an original NAD 3045 integrated amplifier that I bought in college. I also own a new M10V2 and a C700. I bought the 3050 for obvious reasons…nostalgia and replacement for a Yamaha digital receiver in my basement driving a set of Klipsch Forte IIs. I received unit #72 btw.

Impression

Visually and tactilely, I have to say unboxing the 3050 is underwhelming. It’s pretty light, thinner than it appears in print, and the wood grain enclosure is not very attractive, being too light and wide grained. The speaker selection knob was a bit loose (I’ve seen this comment in another review), and the balance knob was not centered(grrrrr). Furthermore, the buttons have no movement, and the LEDs are WAY too bright. Not a great start. Functionally I was disappointed they don’t have a ‘Line Out’ but I understand why.

Those aspects aside…it’s a better look than most of the starkly boring physical designs NAD uses. The new 398 and 399 being perfect examples. You might as well put those in a closet. The VU meters are nice of course, the volume knob an appropriate size, and the NAD/BluOS process worked fine. Setup was easy (I’m wireless and it pulled the info from my iPhone), and using the BluOS app as usual is something that is very beneficial. They DO have a ‘Pre- Out’ so you could replace the amplifier with another if you choose.

A review of the Blue OS app would take too long but suffice to say when it works it’s very good in my opinion. Occasionally it seems some users have bugs or network setup issues that are very difficult to get rid of, but I’ve been pretty lucky. Having said that, two thing I noted most in using the 3050 are: It did seem to import some of my signin information for certain services, but it cannot import any of the presets that I have on the other units. So if you like that feature you have to laboriously re-enter everything. It seems not being able to copy/sync presets across units is a really dumb feature miss. But you can easily log into one unit and select a present, then move the music to another unit, so an easy workaround exists.

All in all the look is good, but could have been executed better.

Listening

Listening tests are always vastly subjective so I’ll just say I liked it compared to the unit it was replacing and its equivalent to the other NAD gear I own.

While the prior Yamaha N803 sounded great, the NAD 3050 seemed to have a bit more warmth, depth, and bass. I liked the clean sound of the Yamaha but immediately felt I preferred the sound of the 3050. (Interestingly, I have previously tried the C700 in this setup and felt it was closer to the Yamaha but that was also a test only at LOUD listening levels where I matched DB.)

Bottom line, I deemed the sound the 3050 produced in my particular setup slightly but nicely improved over the prior (good sounding) Yamaha N803 and at least on par…if not slightly warmer then, the C700. I did not compare to the M10.

Other options

Besides the other NAD gear mentioned above, some streaming amplifier options you could get include the NAD C368-BluOS for $1749 with 80/ch, the NAD C399-BluOS for $2600 with 180/ch. Both are the boring front panel designs.

There are other streaming receivers and integrated amplifiers to consider, but I wanted to stay with the BluOS ecosystem and glad I did…its great to play with one system and move music to another room/NAD system when I want.

Summary

Pluses:

• A nice look that is much more interesting than the ‘black box’ format so many companies (including NAD) use...If you are a vintage fan, the look is very attractive.
• Very nice sound...About as expected from current NAD technology
• The BluOS is what it is...a big benefit for those invested

Cons

• Quality of some build points could be improved...Don’t lift it or touch it and expect to be impressed
• That wood veneer will need dark oil applied
• Put some fogged tape over the LEDs.

 

[pablolie]

My review of 3050 LE
...

Thank you so much for chronicling your early impressions! Definitely looks awesome in your environment. Would love to see it go head-to-head against the classic 3045 (which by the way was my dream amp so, so long ago! :-D).

 

[dougi]

My review of 3050 LE
Review of NAD C 3050 LE

For a design that encourages physical interaction it is dissapointing those aspects are not so good. I am still waiting for mine. I am almost tempted to give up and change my order to a Yamaha R-N2000A but DIRAC>>YPAO stops me. Speaking of DIRAC with it, have you set that up yet? If so, are you able to describe setting it up with the supplied microphone (via USB on the C3050 I believe?) vs your own microphone via a PC? I assume you connect a PC w DIRAC to it, and you tell DIRAC which microphone to use once it detects the C3050? I have used DIRAC with my MiniDSP Flex.

 

[mr-audio]

For a design that encourages physical interaction it is dissapointing those aspects are not so good. I am still waiting for mine. I am almost tempted to give up and change my order to a Yamaha R-N2000A but DIRAC>>YPAO stops me. Speaking of DIRAC with it, have you set that up yet? If so, are you able to describe setting it up with the supplied microphone (via USB on the C3050 I believe?) vs your own microphone via a PC? I assume you connect a PC w DIRAC to it, and you tell DIRAC which microphone to use once it detects the C3050? I have used DIRAC with my MiniDSP Flex.

I’ve done DIRAC with my other NAD gear but Have not used w the 3050 yet. Maybe someday I’ll try.I’ve only used the supplied version, which does not include some frequencies. I found it laborious and worse…did not sound good. I used the supplied mic, which is easy. So you mileage may vary. Bottom line….Some folks swear DIRAC is great. But Not me.

 

[fcracer]

Just finished setting up the NAD C3050 LE. Damn, this is one heck of a good looking amplifier. Couldn't resist taking some pics of it. I hope NAD and other manufacturers continue with more vintage styled products. I'm dreaming of a Masters series NAD using retro styling with aluminum and wood...

 

[mr-audio]

That does look great on that table and with those speakers. Nice!

 

[dougi]

Sigh, still waiting for mine. What intrigues me is what modifications to the basic UcD102 design to get more power out of it. In one of the C3050LE threads here, someone posted a link to a German review of it on the NAD Germany website. It clearly shows what looks to be a UcD102 rather than UcD180 module as the basis. The 102 is only supposed to produce 60W/8 ohms 100W/4 ohms continuous. NAD rates it as 100W continous into both and the review measured 125W continuous/8 ohms 184W/4 ohms. NADs peak current spec is 20A/1 oh,/1ms where the 105 datasheet states 6A under not specified conditions. What could they have done? Different switching FETs, higher voltage rails? Why would they bother when they could just have used a different module?

 

[Mr. Widget]

Sigh, still waiting for mine.

Good Luck!

This thread made me curious so I reached out to our rep and the 3050 LE sold out quite early. The non LE versions are just shipping now and with the BlueOS card installed are identical to the LE except for the wooden case. They are also $100 less expensive here in the US.

 

[fcracer]

Sigh, still waiting for mine. What intrigues me is what modifications to the basic UcD102 design to get more power out of it. In one of the C3050LE threads here, someone posted a link to a German review of it on the NAD Germany website. It clearly shows what looks to be a UcD102 rather than UcD180 module as the basis. The 102 is only supposed to produce 60W/8 ohms 100W/4 ohms continuous. NAD rates it as 100W continous into both and the review measured 125W continuous/8 ohms 184W/4 ohms. NADs peak current spec is 20A/1 oh,/1ms where the 105 datasheet states 6A under not specified conditions. What could they have done? Different switching FETs, higher voltage rails? Why would they bother when they could just have used a different module?

I think NAD must be one of HypeX’s largest clients. Can’t think of any other company that uses their products across so many units and at the volumes NAD shifts. I assume HypeX have made a customized specification for NAD, given their volumes.

 

[fcracer]

Sigh, still waiting for mine. What intrigues me is what modifications to the basic UcD102 design to get more power out of it. In one of the C3050LE threads here, someone posted a link to a German review of it on the NAD Germany website. It clearly shows what looks to be a UcD102 rather than UcD180 module as the basis. The 102 is only supposed to produce 60W/8 ohms 100W/4 ohms continuous. NAD rates it as 100W continous into both and the review measured 125W continuous/8 ohms 184W/4 ohms. NADs peak current spec is 20A/1 oh,/1ms where the 105 datasheet states 6A under not specified conditions. What could they have done? Different switching FETs, higher voltage rails? Why would they bother when they could just have used a different module?

I found a video review that zooms into the UcD modules and you’re indeed right that it’s a UcD 102 V1.

Rather disappointing and may be the reason some testing has shown it doesn’t even hit the 100w / channel specification that NAD has published at 0.03% distortion.

Soundstage tested at 93w / channel which is uncharacteristic for a company that regularly exceeds its marketing specifications

 

[dougi]

I have finally received mine, some 6 months after pre-paying for it! Setup with the DIRAC full licence it sounds nice enough, and pretty convenient.

I see the Stereophile measurements are also out, where they seemed to measure it at a different volume setting to Soundstage! (0dB pregain vs 12dB). Results "good enough".

GAIN: With the quite low preamp gain (default setting in BLUOS is 0dB) you certainly have to turn it up a lot. I have never run an amp with a volume control that high. It rather makes the volume LEDs pointless as they are all lit up most of the time. I have a large room (>12m x 8m, 4m to LP) and it has enough power for me. Listening typically 5W at most. I also run it as a preamp into a seperate ARC VSi60. Plenty enough gain for that as well.

BLUOS and factory reset bug: It seems that it stores BLUOS file shares in the amp, so if you need to delete one, doing it in the app will do nothing. You have to factory reset the amp. Even then, BLUOS favourites are still kept! I have let NAD know.

GLITCH: Just now it started to get crackly on the phono input, in a digital way, not analog. Switching to line and back fixed it. Hmmm, perhaps some ADC<>DSP clocking issue.

 

[fcracer]

I have finally received mine, some 6 months after pre-paying for it! Setup with the DIRAC full licence it sounds nice enough, and pretty convenient.

I see the Stereophile measurements are also out, where they seemed to measure it at a different volume setting to Soundstage! (0dB pregain vs 12dB). Results "good enough".

GAIN: With the quite low preamp gain (default setting in BLUOS is 0dB) you certainly have to turn it up a lot. I have never run an amp with a volume control that high. It rather makes the volume LEDs pointless as they are all lit up most of the time. I have a large room (>12m x 8m, 4m to LP) and it has enough power for me. Listening typically 5W at most. I also run it as a preamp into a seperate ARC VSi60. Plenty enough gain for that as well.

BLUOS and factory reset bug: It seems that it stores BLUOS file shares in the amp, so if you need to delete one, doing it in the app will do nothing. You have to factory reset the amp. Even then, BLUOS favourites are still kept! I have let NAD know.

GLITCH: Just now it started to get crackly on the phono input, in a digital way, not analog. Switching to line and back fixed it. Hmmm, perhaps some ADC<>DSP clocking issue.

There was a firmware update to fix the gain issue. What firmware are you running? With the latest firmware, the volume control is more “normal” and doesn’t need to be cranked. I’m not sure if the gain change was at the preamp level or at the amp so YMMV.

 

[dougi]

There was a firmware update to fix the gain issue. What firmware are you running? With the latest firmware, the volume control is more “normal” and doesn’t need to be cranked. I’m not sure if the gain change was at the preamp level or at the amp so YMMV.

Yep, the latest! Not so bad with digital sources. I did confirm with my rme that the volume level is exactly equal to the analog gain. My firmware can go to +12 if you set the max volume that high. Which sounds correct.

 

[dougi]

I posted a thread about investigating the meter and input/pre-out overload behaviour on the C3050 if the info is useful to anyone.

 

[killdozzer]

What is the non limited edition of that model?

You've probably found it yourself, but it's the BlueOs vs no BlueOs:
From Audioholics:

While BluOS high-res multi-room music streaming and Dirac Live were included in the limited-edition version, they’re optional on the regular C 3050, to be added via the same slide-in BluOS-D streaming module used in other recent NAD products, such as the C 389 and C 399.

 

[killdozzer]

I like the amp, but it kinda ruins it for me to see it's not the top tier Class D that NAD has at its disposal.

 

[Snoopy]

I like the amp, but it kinda ruins it for me to see it's not the top tier Class D that NAD has at its disposal.

Bothers me also and it's like 2000 euro with the blueOS module. For that money I imagine there are nice AV receivers with room correction