NAD C 316BEE V2 Integrated Amplifier Review

[ModLang]

Would love to see one of the value Rotel integrateds, such as the A11, get a performance assessment.

 

[amirm]

Warm during testing and/or warm at idle? My 326 runs hot most of the time.

It warmed up even during idle/low power testing.

 

[amirm]

I don’t see phone overload data. Have I missed it?

I didn't test it because i am testing the power amplifier output. Clipping test would push the amp hard so I did not run it.

 

[Count Dacula]

Sometimes when I want to show enthusiasm for a car, I expand my criteria from cars I would spend my own money on, to cars I would keep if they were given to me or won in a raffle or whatever, rather than discarded....would I use it?

This NAD is similarly situated. If I already had one or given one or Goodwill....yes, I would use it for a nice AV or mains. I liked my ancient NAD 1300, and I like the new NAD products, but don't feel like the value proposition is there at 60+ watts around $400. That's what I paid for my Vidar, and much less or equal to some receiver products we already know and trust.

I just don't see the huge desirability, despite it working nicely on popular bookshelves. Sure, it's good, but I'm looking for an amp that can be used with tower speakers just the same, as a practical matter. I'd be happy to see a more ideal entry product from NAD, but NAH

 

[pogo]

Is it possible to perform a reactive load test additionally?

 

[Narrator]

What a nice surprise to see a review of a product I've been enjoying for a long time!

I use this amplifier together with the Topping E50 DAC and Wiim Mini. It's not difficult to reach high volumes when using it with a pair of power-hungry speakers like the ELAC Debut Reference (in a 5m x 6m living room). I've never had to turn the volume knob past 11 o'clock.

 

[French Meloman]

Serious review and complete enough to get a fair idea of the product. What is nice is the consistency of the performance of this amplifier throughout the audio band. The phono stage would have been good if the noise could have been reduced by about ten dB.
The only precaution to take is to avoid letting the device heat up too much by using it to its maximum power, otherwise its reliability could suffer. Maybe also avoid speakers whose impedance curve is tortured and goes very low (less than 3 ohms). I therefore voted fine.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Thanks @amirm

This has been on a market for a while and I always wondered how it performs.

This, in particular, is incredible (while a bit high, it's so cohesive).

 

[totti1965]

I use a NAD 302 and the David Ellis 1801 Speakers in the living room for 30 years now. The Power is allways on (24/7). It runs and runs and runs. In these days the NAD Amps had K2 (and not K3) distortion domination, which perhaps make the sound a bit more Tube-like and enjoyable. Also you can split Pre Amp and Power Amp Partition in the NAD 302. It is a real Volkswagen Beatle! I am kind of emotionally bound to this amp!

Yours,

thorsten

P. S. The Ellis Audio 1801 of course just since 22 years or so……

 

[DanielT]

Thanks for the test Amir!

Actually a pretty cute and nice looking NAD. Too bad it seems to get so hot. But is it very hot? Doesn't it wear hard on the electronics? Reduced lifespan of the capacitors in it?

Those class AB based amplifiers designed by Bjorn Erik Edvardsen seem to deliver good results, so does this one:

Review and Measurements of NAD C 320BEE PWR Amplifier

This is a review and detailed measurements of the NAD C 320BEE power (speaker) amplifier. It is on kind loan. The C 320BEE is a vintage product, dating back to 2003 I think. The BEE designation is apparently a reference to Bjorn Erik Edvardsen who was one of their designers. Can't tell if he...

audiosciencereview.com

Out of curiosity, I will check what the auction for a used NAD C 316BEE ends at. About three hours left. Starting bid $80.

Edit:
No bid. The seller restarted the auction with the starting bid of $66

 

[pogo]

We tested my 310 last week and were surprised at the sound quality. Report is still in progress: Link
The 310 was only lukewarm during the test session.

 

[totti1965]

This is the unit that I sent. Thanks, Amir, for testing it! I bought this unit before discovering ASR, and what a real treat that it measures decently. I currently pair Fosi V3 monos with EVO 4.4s in my main setup, but it’s nice to know I can swap this NAD in if ever needed. I was also excited to see the headphone jack measurements, as I’m going to try it with my headphones for times when the speakers are prohibitive. Glad to see it was a good deal!

Thank you for sending this gem to @amirm ! EVO 4.4s - A Wharfedale Speaker? When did they ad the s?
By the way: I am using a Fosi V3 (Stereo Version) also - in the sleeping room, where I hear music mostly now. It is an increadibly good performer with my HobbyHifi WaveMon 182/22 speakers!

 

[jeroboam]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the NAD C 316BEE V2 integrated amplifier with phono stage and headphone jack. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $399.
View attachment 385806
The unit feels just heavy enough to not feel cheap. Controls have a nice feel and can be managed with a remote control. The rounded front is a bonus touch in this budget oriented category. Bakc panel shows nice speaker binding posts and a hard power switch:
View attachment 385807
It is basically the modernized version of amplifiers we used to buy 20 to 30 years ago with that captive power cord and such. No, I don't miss those units with the cardboard back panels and cheap RCAs.

NAD C 316BEE V2 Amplifier Measurements
I adjusted the volume control to get nominal 25 dB of gain and ran our standard dashboard:
View attachment 385808

SINAD is a mix of power supply spikes and distortion, bringing it slightly above average among all amplifiers tested:

View attachment 385809
Zooming in:

View attachment 385810

Noise performance very good, sitting where I would expect it to:
View attachment 385811

Would have been nicer if both channels produced 96 dB at 5 watts.

Multitone test shows lack of rise in distortion with frequency which is nice:
View attachment 385812

That is reflected in better than expected performance with 19 and 20 kHz tones:

View attachment 385813

Frequency response is flat and extended:
View attachment 385814

Crosstalk is again, what I would expect to see in this class:
View attachment 385815

Let's see how much power we have into 4 ohm load:

View attachment 385817

View attachment 385818

I was shocked by how much power it produced in our peak measurement so ran it again and it was the same. Very nice although the amp did go into protection after above test. Testing the same with 50 Hz still give us what the spec says:
View attachment 385820
We match spec with 8 ohm as well:
View attachment 385821

Sweeping frequencies shows very predictable response. Something we expect in class AB amplifiers but don't always get it:
View attachment 385822
Notice how it managed to go into clipping many times without clipping. Many amplifiers, especially Class D ones, will go into protection at higher frequencies. Not here.

Warm up was uneventful and unit was ready on power up:
View attachment 385823

Power off may create a pop as is typical in many amplifiers:
View attachment 385824

NAD C 316BEE V2 Phono Stage Measurements
There is no pre out so I had to measure this input using amplifier output. This combines the amplifier noise and distortion with the phono stage, making it hard to compare to dedicated phono preamps. But here we go anyway:
View attachment 385825

Fortunately that doesn't impact the frequency response measurement given the flat response of the amplifier by itself:
View attachment 385826
This is an excellent implementation!

NAD C 316BEE V2 Headphone Output Measurements
Here is our usual dashboard:
View attachment 385827
Lots of power supply noise indicates the classic implementation of tapping power amplifier output to feed the headphone jack. To reduce the total power a series 8 ohm resistor is in the path which will mess with the frequency response of any headphone that doesn't have a flat impedance. On the positive front, power output is decent:
View attachment 385828
View attachment 385829

Conclusions
Many times when I am testing an audio product, I am surprised by the data I get. Not here and I say that as a positive. This is a budget stereo amplifier from a major brand. I expect to see precisely the performance I showed above. All measurements point to competent implementation despite the low cost and typical margins these companies require to stay in business. The headphone output is a miss but that is very typical for a traditionalist design. If you want to a modestly powerful integrated amplifier using Class AB topology, you have found it in C 316BEE V2.

I am going to recommend the NAD C 316BEE V2 integrated amplifier.

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Thanks for the review Amir. You have written "notice how it managed to go into clipping many times without clipping". Presumably you meant protection without clipping not sure.

 

[amirm]

Thanks for the review Amir. You have written "notice how it managed to go into clipping many times without clipping". Presumably you meant protection without clipping not sure.

I meant without shutting down. Corrected the review.

 

[ralph]

I was shocked by how much power it produced in our peak measurement so ran it again and it was the same.

Does this mean that when listening to music with high dynamic range and moderate volume this amp would do well?

Happy to see that it performs really well - tempted to add it to my small collection.

 

[LTig]

Does this mean that when listening to music with high dynamic range and moderate volume this amp would do well?

Yes. Reminds me of the old NAD 2200 power amp which had I think up to 4 times peak power (100 W RMS, 400 W peak).

 

[Grotti]

Thanks for the review.

I have no experience with this one, but I used to own its bigger brother, the NAD C 326BEE. I liked its simplicity and ease of use, and sound was perfectly fine, but I had a couple of concerns/complaints with it.

One, it ran really hot - hotter than just about any amp/receiver I've ever owned. It didn't create any problems, but it was a little disconcerting. I definitely didn't want to put anything on top of it.

Two, a minor but important complaint I had was about the volume control pot. It was really quiet at with the knob around 7 o'clock and really loud with the knob around 9 o'clock. Just moving it a little changed the volume a lot, but then after about 9 or 10 o'clock, it was already so loud that it barely got louder. And if I used the remote to control the knob, it was extremely touchy because of this (would go from too soft to too loud with a slight touch of the volume up button). I really felt like they needed a different potentiometer with a different gain curve.

I sold relevant numbers of its predecessor and I can confirm your complaints. Nevertheless it was and is a no-brainer for the asked price. And there were nearly no defective units i can remember of. If I would be asked for a recommendation, it would still be this little amp, if there is no need for more power.

 

[Hiten]

This model has famous power envelop. But also in post #10 below the transformer one can see bulbs (2 silver cylinders) used to limit the output after few miliseconds. Kind of like output protection.
So a dynamic burst output power measurements would be interesting to see.
Thanks for measurements.
Regards.

Correction : sorry just saw peak power measurements in first post. I wonder how long it can sustain peak power ?

 

[DSJR]

I can't remember if this was being sold in a slightly earlier version in 2004 when I left retail. The bigger models in the range were hampered by one thing only really - the drab grey appearance - and if listened to honestly with eyes as disconnected as possible, were always liked a lot!

 

[AndreaT]

I have one, about twenty year-old. Solid performance on a 2.0 system for one of the plasma TVs, no complaints. It was originally bought for my firstborn, to feed a pair of Paradigm Atom in his bedroom. Thank you Amir for this excellent review.