NAD C298 Stereo Amplifier Review

[ENG]

I got two NAD C 298 which I bought at Denmarks biggest NAD seller, HiFi Klubben at a price af US$ 1.928 each. And with 3 years warrently. Remember we have 25% VAT on everything. If I were in USA I would have gone with Buckeyeamp, but it's expensive til send a broken piece to USA. Now I can almost go round the corner for a repair.

 

[ENG]

I have an NAD C368, bought them used for 500 € (Germany). Let's see how long it lasts. BTW, which Loudspeakers need this brute power?

Well, I use them at two setups. Revel F228Be and Wharfedale Jade 5.

 

[roog]

Thank you to @amirm and the member who loaned the amp for testing, its good to see the test results for this one.
being in the UK we have less choice when it comes to economic Purifi implementations. As others have said, NAD currently have a good network of dealers here and I am able to 'prod' one of these locally.

I am tempted by the Purifi class D basis of both the C298 and the M23.

 

[F1308]

Ohhhh, ohhhh and ohhhh.
I mean, look at that price.
You see ?
US $2,399.
I voted POOR, based on previous PRICE/PERFORMANCE recommendations....
I will change my vote to GREAT as soon as I can get one for less than US $ 99.99.
I mean not bad for US $ 99.99.

 

[Mtbf]

Now Topping should destroy all of the competition and put two bridged LA90D's in one case with build-in power supply.

Why would that destroy the competition? For number fetishists maybe. But for normal people?

 

[DSJR]

So many superior Purifi implementations at about half the price. How this unit gets recommended is beyond me.

Are you aware how much a retail dealer makes on top of the trade price (which I daresay many cheaper vendors are selling at using mail order)?

I swear - no criticism at all of the cheaper vendors as most seem decent people making an honest living, but bring a distribution and dealer network into it and prices will all but double in my experience...



£1749 in a UK Sevenoaks store near you! Compare that with a Naim NAP 250 - 2023 model at £5700 or therabouts (listed by Doug Brady HiFi in a very quick search)

 

[Multicore]

I was not a fan of the status LED. On power up, it turns orange. If you hit the power button, it initially goes red making you think there is a fault. But eventually switches to blue saying it is on.

Machine-to-human status communication via a coded color sequence displayed using an LED. Modern power amp designs have caught up with 1980s modems. Sorry. I have a history of being driven almost mad by engineering requirements for front-panel LEDs.

 

[Multicore]

Swell review, @amirm . I recall you had an amp review not long ago that included test results for its efficiency. Is that not something you plan to do more of?

 

[TK750]

That would indeed be a nice benefit. Too bad NAD doesn't really offer it, at least where I live. I have had no end of issues with my NAD AVR, and they don't have any authorized servicers within 300 miles of my remote location in the back woods of ... the San Francisco Bay area. And the more distant servicers they list on their website never responded to emails or voicemails. So I'd prefer to take my chances with a little company that gives a damn about its reputation.

That's disappointing, I'm sorry to hear it, good to make people aware of though.

 

[daniboun]

Are you aware how much a retail dealer makes on top of the trade price (which I daresay many cheaper vendors are selling at using mail order)?

I swear - no criticism at all of the cheaper vendors as most seem decent people making an honest living, but bring a distribution and dealer network into it and prices will all but double in my experience...



£1749 in a UK Sevenoaks store near you! Compare that with a Naim NAP 250 - 2023 model at £5700 or therabouts (listed by Doug Brady HiFi in a very quick search)

Hi,

There are two ways to look at things when you want to buy. Most major brands go through a distributor network, which involves distributor profits and marketing costs.
Some brands, such as Audiophonics, VTV etc. sell products directly, in which case: saving you the costs relating to the profits generated by distributors and marketing costs.

We have a brand of speakers in France, Récital Audio which illustrates very well what I am trying to explain
This example can be easily transposed for the rest of the audio material

This is the reason why I rarely use distributors )

 

[ocinn]

I feel like a lot of ASR readers underestimate the market of consumers who either walk into a brick and mortar store, or hire an audio firm to build a system.

Neither of those would carry or sell buckeye, Audiophonics, Etc….

For a heritage brand, common amongst retailers, with some of the best customer support on the market and no worries that the company will disappear anytime soon, it’s very nice to see them implant objectively performant modules in their design.

Sure it’s expensive, but the market for this amp and the market for a Buckeye have zero overlap. You can walk into a dealer and have this vs. some 30w 40sinad tube amp, at the same price point. Kudos for nad for a decently engineered product backed by a well known company and a great dealer network.

 

[Geert]

What strikes me the most is that the NAD C298 only partly relies on Purifi technology. Most of the design is proprietary and everything in the amp is build by NAD. I expect this to offer them a cost benefit compared to direct sales brands which mount prefab modules into casings. It's not that NAD's design and build led to an amp that objectively performs better. It probably confirms the large overhead cost of a distribution network.

 

[ahofer]

I’m a fan of the independents (March, Buckeye), they offer great value, and often are objectively better-measuring. Even more importantly, they offered reasonably-priced implementations of the newer Hypex and Purifi modules while the big brands were still using the older ICE and hypex modules.

I’m sure I can’t hear the difference between a lot of these amps. Once you get to the n252 and up, we are really just talking power, features, and reliability/ease of repair. The latter can be hard to judge, but having a brand like NAD on the label is comforting. If I hadn’t had an opportunity to get the NAD cheaper, I’d have gone with Buckeye’s final Purifi implementation. I do like the signal trigger on the NAD. My amp here is hidden away, and it is convenient not to have to turn it off and on.

 

[JeremyFife]

It's a very nice amplifier.

Does seem expensive though, and there have been comments about NAD reliability although to be fair I haven't seen anything definitive (more to do with software perhaps?). Stops this from being an attractive option even though it measures nicely.

 

[roog]

Having bought, (admittedly used) and still using a prestige UK brand power amplifier, Naim, the NAD looks like good value! Especially as the NAD is not only more powerful, I have no doubt it measures better, takes up less room and uses less power!

 

[PJ 1]

Great review Amir. But, I don't get why so many criticize these brands over "price point". How many Buckeye companies would there be without NAD and others pushing for advancements in class D technology? I mean, do we really think that Buckeye (as great as people say they are) is what is driving Hypex and Purifi to develop their product lines? How about just power on your system, give a wink at your wallet, and enjoy a healthy hobby. Jeez.

 

[restorer-john]

I think I'll stick with A/B until the Heathkit era ends

I got the same feeling looking at the posted pics of the NAD's guts. Kind of a Jimmy's science project look about it. Fisher Price- My First Amplifier.

But, the SMPS appears to be bespoke, as are the input, output and amp docking boards. That said, I'll stick with my battleship build class AB amplifiers for another few decades.

 

[MaxBuck]

I'm very pleased to see these results for the amplifier I own.

 

[restorer-john]

And NAD continue to implement designs where each amplifer is running out of polarity with the other channel (since 1983/4), simply to improve power supply modulation to enable a cheaper PSU, but having little to no effect in the real world and causing a whole bunch of other problems .

 

[PJ 1]

I'm very pleased to see these results for the amplifier I own.

Congrats! It looks like a great product! I'm looking at their M17 V2i and M28 for my living/tv room and their M33 for 2 channel to pare with Perlisten R7ts.