NAD M10 Streaming Amplifier Review

[curiouspeter]

Mine is connected to a 2020 model 65" Sony 950H via optical now. I can't use the HDMI because the TV periodically sends the signal the M10 auto sense function looks for, then the M10 switches input to the TV when I'm using it for Tidal or whatever. I can disable the auto sense on the M10 but that makes it not friendly for my wife to 'just watch TV'.

Wow. Good to know.

Are you able to control the volume of the M10 with the TV remote at least?

 

[Dj7675]

Anyone using the M10 with a TV through HDMI?

Is it reliable? Which brand/model TV do you use?

I use the M10 via HDMI/ARC and it has worked perfectly for me. Volume control works fine, the only issue is when you increase/decrease the volume, it can go up/down in increments of more than one And a little laggy. But it does work fine but I can see it be a bit of an irritant to some. This is used in a living room and works well here for Apple TV 4K/dish network/Roon.

 

[curiouspeter]

I use the M10 via HDMI/ARC and it has worked perfectly for me. Volume control works fine, the only issue is when you increase/decrease the volume, it can go up/down in increments of more than one And a little laggy. But it does work fine but I can see it be a bit of an irritant to some. This is used in a living room and works well here for Apple TV 4K/dish network/Roon.

Cool. Which TV do you have?

I think the TV volume scale and the one on the amp rarely matches, hence the increment/decrement issue. This also happens to my Sonos amp, which is working flawlessly otherwise.

 

[iLoveCats]

Wow. Good to know.

Are you able to control the volume of the M10 with the TV remote at least?

I had to program the remote to the M10. With the HDMI the TV remote controlled the volume automatically

 

[Dj7675]

Cool. Which TV do you have?

I think the TV volume scale and the one on the amp rarely matches, hence the increment/decrement issue. This also happens to my Sonos amp, which is working flawlessly otherwise.

Visio
Funny, I had the Sonos amp as well. Would have kept it but Dolby material didn’t play properly for me. Extreme loudness/bass issue. Not an issue with the M10.

 

[keith_h]

Back to my original point. Numbers are interesting but how does it sound? And what's it like living with it? Surely that's the most important thing.

https://audioxpress.com/article/fre...-m10-masters-series-streaming-amplifier/14206

 

[Dj7675]

Back to my original point. Numbers are interesting but how does it sound? And what's it like living with it? Surely that's the most important thing.

https://audioxpress.com/article/fre...-m10-masters-series-streaming-amplifier/14206

In my situation, I have it hooked up to a pair of Revel F226be's in our living room. It has sounded very good to me. But I may not be the best one on "how it sounds". It is based on a well established, well designed hypex module and tests seem to show nothing out of the ordinary. For reference, I have 2 other systems ... one with an MC252 powering some JBL 250ti's and another system with C208s powered by an NAD M27. I haven't attempted to do any testing of different amps on the same speakers as they all sound really good. I would be very surprised if I could tell the difference in any of them.

 

[keith_h]

There's the thing, they all sound really good to you the listener.

I managed to get to a blues festival over the weekend. Live music mocks the notion of hifi (fancy cables, unicorn tears, distortion curves, maximum power, ideal listening environments, all that stuff) but sounds great. You're not evaluating the equipment, just enjoying the music, just the way the artist intended because they are producing it right in front of your eyes. And it sounded great. That's all that matters no matter how you make your noise.

 

[iLoveCats]

Back to my original point. Numbers are interesting but how does it sound? And what's it like living with it? Surely that's the most important thing.

https://audioxpress.com/article/fre...-m10-masters-series-streaming-amplifier/14206

It sounds fine. I can't imagine anyone complaining about that aspect. To me its whether or not you can use all of its features. I think if this were in my listening room I may not like it as much. I have mine in the main living space. Its my TV sound, internet radio, podcaster and Tidal source. I have a use for it at all times of the day every day.

 

[Raiders4life12]

Anyone using an m10 with hdmi arc and have popping sounds when switching inputs on the tv?

 

[Jorgitok]

Has anybody figured out if we will have FULL access with the M10, and an iphone, to the coming Apple Hd feature?

 

[pablolie]

i am currently testing out an M10 and debating what to do.

until recently, my system consisted of Squeezebox Touch > Benchmark DAC2HGC > NAD M22 > KEF Reference 1.

i decided to go more minimalist and i like red speakers, so experimented with Squeezebox Touch > NAD D7050 > KEF LS50 (red) + Velodyne sub.

i decided i missed nothing, honestly.

the M10 adds convenience (i could eliminate the Squeezebox Touch, but really don't want to) and looks cool. i already get the cool artwork on the Squeezebox Touch screen, so it's a bit superfluous. what i really wanted to see was if the M10 would an extra layer of insight and transparency to the music.... and IMO it doesn't. compared to the D7050, in my environment (which doesn't benefit from extra watts), the sound is the same... and if i had to pick only one it'd arguably be the D7050... and the M10 has occasional hickups that are strange... occasional slow to none responsiveness that requires an inexcusable restart... and i'd worry about continued support for Spotify Connect, since this was a feature that was disabled on the D7050 while the Squeezebox ecosystem still continues strong on integration.

i also brought back the KEF Reference 1s from semi-retirement (I am about to put them on the market, may get Paradigms) to see if I was missing something and nope, pretty much all stayed the same.

my takeaway is to keep things simple and think about it as a software front end that will stay very dynamic.... services like Spotify will keep messing with their API, audio companies like NAD may not keep their old product lines updated with API changes hence separation makes sense. Something like the open Squeezebox system keeps updating the software even though the product line hasn't been sold forever. NAD didn't bother with the D7050 which doesn't forebode well for the M10, and come on, that's a $2.7k brick in your system if the support for online service doesn't keep up.
The fact that processor load interferes with measurements (as shown in this review) is also questionable.

I like the integration of DAC and amplification... even as far as thinking that acitve speakers with build in DACs may be the future... but I think expecting your do-it-all streaming-DAC-IntegratedAmp to keep up with changes is expecting too much.

As I write this, I have decided to sell the M10 and see what's next. A masters version of the D7050 without integrated streaming services would probably be a cool thing.

PS: i should add you should disable the auto-on feature on the D7050 which is garbage and regularly forces you to deal with the useless touch sensitive touch power button (what were they thinking). the D7050 is power efficient and the on and off messes it up (as it may do with the M10, i wonder if the hickups are because coming out of power saving mode)...

 

[keith_h]

NAD/Bluesound provides frequent updates to the BluOS which powers it so its unlikely that your concern is going to be an issue. I've not experienced the sorts of operational issues you describe I wonder if your BluOS is up to date. My M10 is out of sight in a cabinet, never touched by hand and works flawlessly with a mobile device to drive it. Much like a squeezebox on steroids.

Had you considered Bluesound Node as a candidate for the way you like to operate, rather than NAD?

 

[pablolie]

NAD/Bluesound provides frequent updates to the BluOS which powers it so its unlikely that your concern is going to be an issue. I've not experienced the sorts of operational issues you describe I wonder if your BluOS is up to date. My M10 is out of sight in a cabinet, never touched by hand and works flawlessly with a mobile device to drive it. Much like a squeezebox on steroids.

Had you considered Bluesound Node as a candidate for the way you like to operate, rather than NAD?

i think my preference is to keep the constant updates and programmed-in obsolescence away from my core audio equipment - separation makes sense in a world of changing APIs. Even Apple doesn't support its iPhones and iPads forever, so i doubt Bluesound will. That level of integration IMO is doomed. who wants a top line amplifier that loses its integration appeal after 3 years?

I can safely predict in 3 years the M10 will stop supporting integration with your favorite stream service (just like the D7050 did) because of platform obsolescence (old processor etc) and is that really something you want from your nearly $3k? plus the well-documented current occasional yet super annoying responsiveness issues.

To me a device like the M10 means well but has unrealistic built-in design goals, you can't be everything at that level. come on, we need a new laptop every 4 years or so at best. it tries to do something that is impossible to achieve in our world of changing and ever more demanding software. I don't want to be forced to upgrade my core amplification platform as often as i do my laptop, thank you very much...

 

[keith_h]

i think my preference is to keep the constant updates and programmed-in obsolescence away from my core audio equipment - separation makes sense in a world of changing APIs. Even Apple doesn't support its iPhones and iPads forever, so i doubt Bluesound will. That level of integration IMO is doomed. who wants a top line amplifier that loses its integration appeal after 3 years?

I can safely predict in 3 years the M10 will stop supporting integration with your favorite stream service (just like the D7050 did) because of platform obsolescence (old processor etc) and is that really something you want from your nearly $3k? plus the well-documented current occasional yet super annoying responsiveness issues.

To me a device like the M10 means well but has unrealistic built-in design goals, you can't be everything at that level. come on, we need a new laptop every 4 years or so at best. it tries to do something that is impossible to achieve in our world of changing and ever more demanding software. I don't want to be forced to upgrade my core amplification platform as often as i do my laptop, thank you very much...

Fair point. Although this is the way things are going, and its very convenient while it works. The other option is as you said have a traditional amplification core without any smarts and just change the front end devices from time to time.

This means that streaming active speakers are potentially off the shopping list as well unless one is prepared to turn over systems every now and then to keep pace with new technology and standards.

I think the difference with M10 is BluOS which is on many devices not just M10. It is a product in its own right which has ongoing development which in turn leads to regular releases of updates. Its quite conceivable that services not yet considered could become available in future. Plus what we are seeing now are products that have integrated technologies, best of breed amplification at different price points, BluOS, Dirac etc rolled up into one device. It's a smart approach and would be foolish to plan in obsolescence into these sorts of devices.

BTW, my travel laptop is about 8 years old and works great. The only hiccup is it doesn't have ac wireless native, easily fixed with a cheap ac dongle.

 

[Puddingbuks]

i am currently testing out an M10 and debating what to do.

One of the benefits of a M10 is Dirac. Have you tried that yet? Can make a huge difference in many cases.

 

[pablolie]

One of the benefits of a M10 is Dirac. Have you tried that yet? Can make a huge difference in many cases.

Don't get me wrong - the M10 -and I said it- sounds phenomenal. I did set up the Dirac functionality. Didn't seem to make much difference in my environment. I have a pretty good environment.

 

[pablolie]

BTW, my travel laptop is about 8 years old and works great. The only hiccup is it doesn't have ac wireless native, easily fixed with a cheap ac dongle.

100% agree that laptop performance breakthroughs stopped a long time ago. Intel's new processors still run at the exact same geometry they did when the I7-7700 was performance king in 2017. They try to sell advancements that in practice don't do much. I am typing this on a Thinkpd X250 that -with Ubuntu- keeps going super strong. And I could prolly run Win and it'd make no difference.

But a general purpose computer of course is different from a more specialized platform. Device vendors tend to customize their Android etc based devices for "differentiation" and then have too much to chew on supporting different device generations with the inevitable (and probably avoidable) yearly upgrade cycle. So they typically cut off support after 3 operating system upgrade cycles or so. And when you integrate with people like Spotify or others... they keep changing their API. So the longevity of the integration in my opinion is an issue.

I love the elegance of the M10 here and now, love the Hypex core tech... I'll keep observing the ecosystem.

 

[PeteL]

I can safely predict in 3 years the M10 will stop supporting integration with your favorite stream service (just like the D7050 did)

I don't think it's a safe prediction, I'm not familiar with the D7050, but my Bluesound Node N100 was released in 2014, that's 7 tears, and absolutely no problem supporting all the updates in services but also in BluOS functionalities. Why do you feel the M10 is different?
Edit, I can't find the right information, os the D7050 streaming based on BluOS? I can't find the information but if not you have your answer why it's not supported.

 

[pablolie]

I don't think it's a safe prediction, I'm not familiar with the D7050, but my Bluesound Node N100 was released in 2014, that's 7 tears, and absolutely no problem supporting all the updates in services but also in BluOS functionalities. Why do you feel the M10 is different?
Edit, I can't find the right information, os the D7050 streaming based on BluOS? I can't find the information but if not you have your answer why.

Every operating system eventually stops supporting a certain hardware platform. It will happen. i do have a very capable Samsung S10+ I got in 2019. It runs Android 11 now, but Samsung will probably not support Android 12 on it. It always eventually happens.