NAD C298 Stereo Amplifier Review

[SiamXIII]

Will there be any benefit in replacing Topping LA90 with this amp, to drive Kef R3s in 3x5m room?

 

[ahofer]

Will there be any benefit in replacing Topping LA90 with this amp, to drive Kef R3s in 3x5m room?

see my answer in the M23 thread. More power could make a difference with an 86db speaker like the KEF. +3db requires a doubling of power, and the efficiency measure is taken at 1 meter, I believe.

Sensitivity is on the money with respect to company spec if you look at mid frequencies. Deep bass though is lower at around 80 dB so amplification requirements will be significant.

KEF R3 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the KEF R3 stand-mount (bookshelf) speaker. It is on kind loan from a member who sent a pair to me at great cost (they come two in a box). The R3 costs US $1,999 for a pair. The R3 is an example of superb industrial design by KEF: It oozes...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[martin900]

I'm uncomfortable with why you would make such a comment here without any supporting evidence.
Do you see something in the build quality that you lead you to that conclusion? It's easy to throw stones,
harder to pick them up.

Personally I find the amp overpriced for what it is, you can do as well for half the money from Buckeye.

Yes and I get tired of having to explain it every single time. NAD is built with the cheapest possible electrolytics, very often placed strategically close to heatsinks to shorten their lifespan even further so that the device breaks down. These devices are built to fail, guaranteed. Same goes for resistors for example, mostly underrated which results in high operating temperatures.
I've had about 15 NAD amps from the last 30 years here, same trash all the time. Just to tell you a few: C352BEE wrong transformer because they were lazy and took a transformer from a bigger model having to drop the voltage quite drastically over resistors, therefore you get extremely hot parts that fail. C370 has class-A modules enclosed in cans running hot and which contain tiny electrolytics (again C-tier chinese caps like Lelon, G-Luxon and such), every one fails, I serviced them. C375BEE same story, undersized parts, drivers run extremely hot, electrolytics fail, atrocious soldering quality.

The Masters series is no better, runs hot and fails quickly, which is a major shame because they do sound good, but simply die prematurely.
Audiolab and Cambridge from recent years seem to suffer similar fate (same OEM?).

The 90's models (MONITOR serie) have decent caps (a mix of A/B tier like Elna + TEAPO) but suffer from corrosive glue while they already KNEW darn well that glue will be eating components over time as it did with Sansui.

See the first 2 failure points on the C298: small electrolytic close to the white part in the top right corner. If it's a resistor, they know this part will run hot, heatsinking a resistor is not really common. Another one is the way the bridge rectifier is touching the cap next to it, this could be a production problem, though.
Also notice C-tier caps everywhere but on the output modules.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Yes and I get tired of having to explain it every single time. NAD is built with the cheapest possible electrolytics, very often placed strategically close to heatsinks to shorten their lifespan even further so that the device breaks down. These devices are built to fail, guaranteed. Same goes for resistors for example, mostly undersized which results in high operating temperatures.
I've had about 15 NAD amps from the last 30 years here, same trash all the time. Just to tell you a few: C352BEE wrong transformer because they were lazy and took a transformer from a bigger model having to drop the voltage quite drastically over resistors, therefore you get extremely hot parts that fail. C370 has class-A modules enclosed in cans running hot and which contain tiny electrolytics (again C-tier chinese caps), every one fails, I serviced them. C375BEE same story, undersized parts, drivers run extremely hot, electrolytics fail, atrocious soldering quality.

The Masters series is no better, runs hot and fails quickly.

The 90's models have decent caps (a mix of A/B tier like Elna + TEAPO) but suffer from corrosive glue while they already KNEW that glue will be eating components over time as it did with Sansui.

Also M3 (I think?) having many problems with defective display as well. And you need the display to be able to navigate the menu for tone controls etc.

 

[martin900]

M3 is another rotten apple, yes the displays fail and they also have those encapsulated Class A modules.

 

[ENG]

I have had NAD C399DD for more than 10 years. No problems. A year ago I bought an exhibition model of NAD M22 V2, no problems. Two years ago I bought 2 peaces of NAD C298 (open box) and no problems.

 

[daniboun]

Indeed .... It smells of planned obsolescence from NAD. However, the made in the USA is not better....remember the episode with Premium Audio and their Mini GaN amp whose passive heatsink fly over the components...

 

[musicforcities]

Yes and I get tired of having to explain it every single time. NAD is built with the cheapest possible electrolytics, very often placed strategically close to heatsinks to shorten their lifespan even further so that the device breaks down. These devices are built to fail, guaranteed. Same goes for resistors for example, mostly underrated which results in high operating temperatures.
I've had about 15 NAD amps from the last 30 years here, same trash all the time. Just to tell you a few: C352BEE wrong transformer because they were lazy and took a transformer from a bigger model having to drop the voltage quite drastically over resistors, therefore you get extremely hot parts that fail. C370 has class-A modules enclosed in cans running hot and which contain tiny electrolytics (again C-tier chinese caps like Lelon, G-Luxon and such), every one fails, I serviced them. C375BEE same story, undersized parts, drivers run extremely hot, electrolytics fail, atrocious soldering quality.

The Masters series is no better, runs hot and fails quickly, which is a major shame because they do sound good, but simply die prematurely.
Audiolab and Cambridge from recent years seem to suffer similar fate (same OEM?).

The 90's models (MONITOR serie) have decent caps (a mix of A/B tier like Elna + TEAPO) but suffer from corrosive glue while they already KNEW darn well that glue will be eating components over time as it did with Sansui.

See the first 2 failure points on the C298: small electrolytic close to the white part in the top right corner. If it's a resistor, they know this part will run hot, heatsinking a resistor is not really common. Another one is the way the bridge rectifier is touching the cap next to it, this could be a production problem, though.
Also notice C-tier caps everywhere but on the output modules.

Have not inspected any masters series products.

My point was that the NAD brand name does not mean higher build quality than off the shelf purifi modules, or well built components by smaller outfits. I would rather have standard modules in some ways than super customized ones by NAD.

 

[MaxBuck]

I've had about 15 NAD amps from the last 30 years here, same trash all the time.

So why did you keep buying them?

 

[fcracer]

I have had NAD C399DD for more than 10 years. No problems. A year ago I bought an exhibition model of NAD M22 V2, no problems. Two years ago I bought 2 peaces of NAD C298 (open box) and no problems.

I think the key with NAD products, especially the older hot running products is to keep them well ventilated. I had a C390DD for seven years without issue. I sold it to a friend that put it in a cabinet. Within one year, a cap expanded and the amplifier wouldn’t turn on. Fortunately it was reparable by NAD and cost a shockingly low ¥300 or $42 to repair including labour (in Beijing).

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I have had NAD C399DD for more than 10 years. No problems. A year ago I bought an exhibition model of NAD M22 V2, no problems. Two years ago I bought 2 peaces of NAD C298 (open box) and no problems.

That doesn't make the ones with problems go away though. Good for you you haven't had problems. I avoid them on the used market for the above reasons. I'm not quite sure I don't end up spending more money than I earn.

So why did you keep buying them?

Maybe he repair amps huh?

 

[Ludovic Alexandre]

Today , NAD have (by far) the best streaming app : blueos. No competition..

Hardware is not the whole story

 

[daniboun]

Today , NAD have (by far) the best streaming app : blueos. No competition..

Hardware is not the whole story

Right )
If your NAD amp breaks down, it's a double sentence) No amp no BlueOS)

I am teasing )

 

[SiamXIII]

Right )
If your NAD amp breaks down, it's a double sentence) No amp no BlueOS)

I am teasing )

This is the main reason, I hesitate to buy Kef LS50 Wireless II

 

[Snoopy]

Today , NAD have (by far) the best streaming app : blueos. No competition..

Hardware is not the whole story

blueOS a good Streaming app?

 

[musicforcities]

I’d pay the NAD premium for safety.

Like NADs “special” IEC sockets that lack a safety ground pin? I have two 130-170w nad amps that came with such a socket. Looks just like a normal three prong iec socket and takes any standard three wire iec plug until you look closely and realize there is no earth pin. Not sure how they get away it except by “double insulating” the power connection a thin plastic shroud but I still don’t think it as safe as a proper earthed connection. The power supply board is fused but even then I’m not convinced it would protect like a circuit breaker. like there is a ground loop issue in the design they are trying to avoid. Yet I found no ground issue when I swapped the stock sockets for normal earthed sockets and tied the chassis to the safety earth with a bolt, star washer and duplex nuts and sanded off paint and any finish on the inside.

The amps sound great and have tons of power and headroom. That’s why I keep them in spite of such things. And I got them proposed before my little 325bee integrated started having issues (less than five years after purchase). And I’m good enough with solder to swap caps out. Except that nad pcb are so cheap small traces tend to lift off or disappear when repairing. I would be very hesitant to buy a NAD AVR—too complicated and tightly packed— and would need to do some heavy research before investing in expensive class d amps like this one or the masters.

Now if NAD was selling $300- $500 class d amps. Or even $1000 class d amps. But the the premium here seems is for dealer networks etc, not engineering.

 

[C. Cook]

$2400 + tax. No thanks. Overpriced and the chassis isn't even as nice as the Apollon Amir reviewed more recently.

 

[MaxBuck]

blueOS a good Streaming app?

I think it's excellent. It certainly beats both the Qobuz and Idagio native apps IMO. But obviously user interface is an amazingly individual thing; one person's "great" is someone else's "crap."

 

[Timcognito]

blueOS a good Streaming app?

Its been good but stagnate for 5 years. An upgrade is scheduled for October but it slipped once already. Roon is better but $15/mo. BluOS is lifetime with any device. Devices get expensive for multi-room. Many seem happy with much less expensive WiiM devices and UI.

Much information on BluOS here.

https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/community/topics

 

[Vigovsky]

Good and reasonable review of NAD C298.