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NAD C 298 Power Amplifier With Purifi Eigentakt Amplification

Received my C298 today. Powerful. Sounds a bit forward and bass a little loose. Dead quiet. Will see how it sounds as time progresses.
 
EJK said:
Received my C298 today. Powerful. Sounds a bit forward and bass a little loose. Dead quiet. Will see how it sounds as time progresses.
Click to expand...
Forgive me for being blunt but it should not sound like anything. It should be as a wire with gain. The NAD product is very good and I think you are imagining stuff. :D
 
Doodski said:
Forgive me for being blunt but it should not sound like anything. It should be as a wire with gain. The NAD product is very good and I think you are imagining stuff. :D
Click to expand...

It could be that his room needs some help from RC, such as Dirac Live.
 
Yes, I forgot what website this was. In English it sounds like crap. Boxed up and shipped back to dealer in less than 24hrs.
 
EJK said:
Yes, I forgot what website this was. In English it sounds like crap. Boxed up and shipped back to dealer in less than 24hrs.
Click to expand...

I’d really like to know the rest of your setup. Doesn’t have to be exhaustive. Just the basics like preamp, previous amp, and speakers.
 
Definitely interesting to find somebody comment loose bass for the 298. This is the only amp in my arsenal that helped me understand what is going on in the bass guitar in the beginning of Daft Punk’s Motherboard song. On my other class ab amp like NAD 275, and Rotel 1582 mk2 that bass solo wasnt as vivid and much harder to follow.
 
Last edited:
ameerm said:
Definitely interesting to find somebody comment loose bass for the 298. This is the only amp in my arsenal that helped me understand what is going on in the bass guitar in the beginning of Daft Punk’s Motherboard song. On my other class ab amp like NAD 275, and Rotel 1582 mk2 that bass solo wasnt as vivid and much harder to follow.
Click to expand...
It's all about amp/speaker synergy. Works with some, others not so much!
 
I've used the C298 to drive Revel F208s for about 6 weeks now. No hum, no problems. I may even have to reduce the input gain eventually, to get more travel from my pre-amp volume knob, but that is still to be determined. The line-out connections are also handier than expected. BTW, Stereophile measured the amp, over a year go, and it is fantastic. It also has required safety certifications, which was a selling point for me, which might make it slightly more expensive than some of the Purifi assemblers commonly referred to here.

Sterophile review and measurements of NAD C298.
 
pogo said:
No, these kinds of measurements are not usually made here.
Click to expand...

I’ve seen lots of measurements here - what type of measurements are you referring to? Apologies for my ignorance.
 
I picked up a NAD C298 which was still in warranty, to replace some Hypex NC500MP mono blocks (OEM & in Ghent Cases)

The c298 is exhibiting the same hum/buzz from the PSU. I popped into the SevenOaks where it was purchased and they tested another unit they had (both around 1306 serial number) running v1.8. This had the same sound, in a fairly busy environment you had to put your ear on the unit to hear it, but it sounds like oscillation/as loud as a quite hard drive spinning. When I changed the unit to high sensitive input detection it cycled off after about 15 mins. Back on medium and no problem (not 100% sure this is the cause)

The Hypex units with the same power rating were dead silent. I have a concern that SevenOaks policy doesn't allow the transfer of warranty although the eBay selling I purchased it from was kind enough to send me the original receipt. The guy in the shop seemed to imply some noise was typical of high power amps! I didn't get to plug in the M33 to see if that had the same problem.

With mine the buzz is audible from within 1m of the unit, but is so faint you cannot hear it at listening, it's present whether there is speakers and XLR inputs or fully disconnected.

Any ideas where (UK) consumer rights does stand? I don't think its right for a £1800 amp to buzz, its sat above a fully passive music server and it sounds like there is a hdd spooling up. I'm reluctant to send it back and wait 8 weeks for them to tell me its operating normally. What warrants a defective fault or allowed noise an amplifier can make?

Just had a response from SevenOak & NAD
"I’ve spoken with our NAD engineer, and he suggests all C298 will make a slight low level due to an inductor in their switching mode power supply. If it’s only audible when you place your ear next to the unit it’s not something to worry about and doesn’t effect it’s performance."

What's your thoughts?
 
vermouth said:
I picked up a NAD C298 which was still in warranty, to replace some Hypex NC500MP mono blocks (OEM & in Ghent Cases)

The c298 is exhibiting the same hum/buzz from the PSU. I popped into the SevenOaks where it was purchased and they tested another unit they had (both around 1306 serial number) running v1.8. This had the same sound, in a fairly busy environment you had to put your ear on the unit to hear it, but it sounds like oscillation/as loud as a quite hard drive spinning. When I changed the unit to high sensitive input detection it cycled off after about 15 mins. Back on medium and no problem (not 100% sure this is the cause)

The Hypex units with the same power rating were dead silent. I have a concern that SevenOaks policy doesn't allow the transfer of warranty although the eBay selling I purchased it from was kind enough to send me the original receipt. The guy in the shop seemed to imply some noise was typical of high power amps! I didn't get to plug in the M33 to see if that had the same problem.

With mine the buzz is audible from within 1m of the unit, but is so faint you cannot hear it at listening, it's present whether there is speakers and XLR inputs or fully disconnected.

Any ideas where (UK) consumer rights does stand? I don't think its right for a £1800 amp to buzz, its sat above a fully passive music server and it sounds like there is a hdd spooling up. I'm reluctant to send it back and wait 8 weeks for them to tell me its operating normally. What warrants a defective fault or allowed noise an amplifier can make?

Just had a response from SevenOak & NAD
"I’ve spoken with our NAD engineer, and he suggests all C298 will make a slight low level due to an inductor in their switching mode power supply. If it’s only audible when you place your ear next to the unit it’s not something to worry about and doesn’t effect it’s performance."

What's your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Have you tried a DC filter for the mains? Worth trying, get it from somewhere with a good return policy is you need to return it.

ifi-audio.com

DC Blocker by iFi audio - Reduces noisy transformer hum caused by DC on your mains.

Your humming transformer is your quarterback. The DC Blocker (Direct Current Blocker) aims to reduce noisy physical transformer hum caused by DC on the mains. It’s designed for amplifiers that uses a mains power transformer in its power supply.
ifi-audio.com ifi-audio.com
 
I do not think a dc blocker will fix this I had the same problem with this amp in Sweden and I had a dc blocker already because of transformer hum on another amp
It made no differnce sent it back and brought N Core hypex completely silent
chris
 
vermouth said:
Just had a response from SevenOak & NAD
"I’ve spoken with our NAD engineer, and he suggests all C298 will make a slight low level due to an inductor in their switching mode power supply. If it’s only audible when you place your ear next to the unit it’s not something to worry about and doesn’t effect it’s performance."

What's your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Return the item, get a refund and move on.

No excuses for residual noise.
 
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