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NAD M33 Streaming Amplifier Review

Vinylover

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You have hit the nail on the head, I think. Lots of people here have that speaker and most of them will say it needs a subwoofer. Luckily, the M33 had that capability.
A good place to start: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/kef-ls50-bookshelf-speaker-review.11144/
Thanks for the reply, yes, I considered keeping the LS50 and adding a subwoofer, but I feel the M33 could be better partnered with something up the ladder, just wondering what the other M33 owners were using with it. I am afraid adding a subwoofer could detract on the soundstage department...
 

Thalassophile

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Hi all, first post on this forum. I bought an M33 last November in the United States, and to date have had no issues, other than some finicky behavior with BluOS, but I believe a lot of that has to do with my Mac and Apple's file sharing weirdness. I have a smaller listening space in an apartment that is a sonic nightmare, which is one off the reasons I wanted to purchase the M33. Native Dirac was a huge draw, and it did not disappoint. My barometer for accurate sound production is a good pair of cans, well recorded music that I know intimately after decades of listening, a clean DAC and proper amplification. The M33, with Dirac engaged, put everything in its proper place, with superb imaging and spot on tonality. My speakers are custom 4 Ohm bookshelves, slightly on the warmer side, and sound exactly as they should. I did adjust the target curve more to my tastes after two weeks of critical listening, research and experimentation, which is part of the fun of this hobby. The "standard" Dirac curve is most certainly base shy, as has been acknowledged by many for years now. That said, it is the best room correction I have used to date, and the implementation on the M33 worked wonders for my room. I can only imagine the frustration of those who received defective units, you have my sincerest sympathies. I wonder if owners started posting their respective serial numbers, would patterns emerge? Where and when were the faulty units assembled, shipped and then sold?
 
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pogo

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Thanks for the reply, yes, I considered keeping the LS50 and adding a subwoofer, but I feel the M33 could be better partnered with something up the ladder, just wondering what the other M33 owners were using with it. I am afraid adding a subwoofer could detract on the soundstage department...

This is probably due to the high damping factor of the M33.
Depending on the setup, a high damping factor can sound bass arm at first. The truth is that a high damping factor can better guide a bass driver, i.e. more accurate reproduction. A low damping factor can lead to a washed-out bass area that sounds more intense and is perceived differently depending on the taste.
 

Bigbeat99

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Hi, is anyone using the M33 with a vintage jbl, maybe with big woofer? what do you think about this couple? could be a good friend of a couple of 4343?
 

pogo

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Hi, is anyone using the M33 with a vintage jbl, maybe with big woofer? what do you think about this couple? could be a good friend of a couple of 4343?

Big Woofer should be no problem for the M33 with its high damping factor. Here are my loudspeakers, excellent driven by the M33:
Referenz.png

Extract from special print (1988)
 

Bigbeat99

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thanks for the feedback!
Do you think they are fine even if they are studio monitors? I've just some concern of too neutral chains .. theoretically it is possible to emphasize some frequencies with the Nad m33, do you think they can be a good match?
 

pogo

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Using Dirac Live in the Full Version, you can emphasize some frequencies. I think, they can be a good match:)
 

direstraitsfan98

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Hi, is anyone using the M33 with a vintage jbl, maybe with big woofer? what do you think about this couple? could be a good friend of a couple of 4343?
All vintage JBL have a lot of mechanical cone dampening of the driver and don’t need very high dampening factor amp. What’s more important is output current and you want a very amp with good peak ampere current. The big JBL woofers can ask for a good amount of juice at times. Ps. I love big beat, such an unexplored and largely ignored genre of music. Blasting some chemical brothers on vintage JBL is a match made in heaven
 

Jofjeld

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Hi.
I’ve just got my hands on a M33. I’m experiencing some issues... first of all, when a subwoofer is enabled in the menu, it’s making an audible distortion sound in the speaker tweeters. Is that something someone else has experienced? Test song : Freya Ridings - Lost Without you.
Second thing is that Dirac can’t centre the stereo image.... More than one measurement also ruins the bass response measured with Rew before and after..
 

fcracer

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Hi.
I’ve just got my hands on a M33. I’m experiencing some issues... first of all, when a subwoofer is enabled in the menu, it’s making an audible distortion sound in the speaker tweeters. Is that something someone else has experienced? Test song : Freya Ridings - Lost Without you.
Second thing is that Dirac can’t centre the stereo image.... More than one measurement also ruins the bass response measured with Rew before and after..
Hi there,

For the stereo imaging issue, how are you measuring the Dirac readings? Are you plugging the supplied microphone into the M33 or your laptop? I had a similar issue and the root cause was my M1 MacBook was changing the source input from the external microphone to the internal one. Attaching the microphone to the USB input on the M33 solved that issue.

All Dirac measurements after making that fix resulted in perfect stereo imaging. Dirac says that the key is to get the first measurement perfect with the supplied microphone pointing up using a sturdy microphone boom and with the microphone positioned in the center of your head in the exact main listening position.
 
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Hi.
I’ve just got my hands on a M33. I’m experiencing some issues... first of all, when a subwoofer is enabled in the menu, it’s making an audible distortion sound in the speaker tweeters. Is that something someone else has experienced? Test song : Freya Ridings - Lost Without you.
Second thing is that Dirac can’t centre the stereo image.... More than one measurement also ruins the bass response measured with Rew before and after..
Can you post the measured frequencie-curve before/after?
 

pdxaudio

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Hi.
I’ve just got my hands on a M33. I’m experiencing some issues... first of all, when a subwoofer is enabled in the menu, it’s making an audible distortion sound in the speaker tweeters. Is that something someone else has experienced? Test song : Freya Ridings - Lost Without you.
Second thing is that Dirac can’t centre the stereo image.... More than one measurement also ruins the bass response measured with Rew before and after..
Yes, I just tested the same track on my M33 and it definitely has some audible distortions with subwoofer enabled.
 

Jofjeld

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Yes, I just tested the same track on my M33 and it definitely has some audible distortions with subwoofer enabled.
I am in contact with Nad support, and my local dealer. I now know of 3 pieces of M33’s in Norway with this problem, and now 4 with you.
Nad support haven’t had any reports of this issue before I contacted them, which makes me believe people don’t hear very well Or; don’t use subs...
Also, try Ellen Krauss - the one I love. especially these slow songs with female voices are problematic. I do notice it on many other tracks too, but it comes more forward as general noise/ bad recording - which it is not...
 

Jofjeld

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Hi there,

For the stereo imaging issue, how are you measuring the Dirac readings? Are you plugging the supplied microphone into the M33 or your laptop? I had a similar issue and the root cause was my M1 MacBook was changing the source input from the external microphone to the internal one. Attaching the microphone to the USB input on the M33 solved that issue.

All Dirac measurements after making that fix resulted in perfect stereo imaging. Dirac says that the key is to get the first measurement perfect with the supplied microphone pointing up using a sturdy microphone boom and with the microphone positioned in the center of your head in the exact main listening position.

Thank you for the info. I have been using a pc for the measuring. That may be the problem hence your experience. I use a Umik-1 for measuring, but that will also work directly connected to the m33. You can upload the cal file there I believe. Although, I’m not going to do any more measuring before Nad has given me a good answer regarding Crossover-Gate. Nad support seems to have one guy at work, answering only 1 mail pr day. He’s answers is also as auto generated as you would expect with Siri or Alexa. He doesn’t seem to believe my/our problem, And asks me about which streaming service I use, and if I’ve tried to update my device....
 

SIY

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Thank you for the info. I have been using a pc for the measuring. That may be the problem hence your experience. I use a Umik-1 for measuring, but that will also work directly connected to the m33. You can upload the cal file there I believe. Although, I’m not going to do any more measuring before Nad has given me a good answer regarding Crossover-Gate. Nad support seems to have one guy at work, answering only 1 mail pr day. He’s answers is also as auto generated as you would expect with Siri or Alexa. He doesn’t seem to believe my/our problem, And asks me about which streaming service I use, and if I’ve tried to update my device....
I’d strongly recommend using the included mic, unless you have real calibrated lab mics and know how to use them properly.
 

pogo

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For all remote control users, take a look at the BLUESOUND RC1. More than just an alternative for the M33, as you can also call up your favorites 1-10 directly here (radio stations, music albums, music titles, ...).
I have just received mine;)
 
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