• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

NAD M10 Streaming Amplifier Review

gofry

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
29
Likes
14
Hi Quick question:
Just about to buy a nad m10v2 (and possibly replace my hegel h95):
I want to use the nad as the amplifier for my fronts in a hometheathre setup
Yamaha -»RCA pre -out -» Nad
Can I set the analog in volume level as fixed aka HT bypass? I have not found the answer anywhere :(
 
Last edited:

pogo

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2020
Messages
1,239
Likes
382
The level is not so much the problem, but the intended BluOS restriction of 50ms, which your surround decoder cannot compensate, see also here for the M33: Link
A C399 should work without any problems and can also be upgraded with a BluOS/Dirac Live modul.
 

gofry

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
29
Likes
14
The level is not so much the problem, but the intended BluOS restriction of 50ms, which your surround decoder cannot compensate, see also here for the M33: Link
A C399 should work without any problems and can also be upgraded with a BluOS/Dirac Live modul.
Thanks. That's the other thing I was afraid of...same as with the arcam sa30
 

vagon76

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2022
Messages
9
Likes
0
Hello! I bought m10. It's not bad. I like Dirac, dac isn't bad too, power amp is worser. Ergonomics of the Bluos is top! Everything in generally is very well.
 
Last edited:

Mikey1

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2021
Messages
6
Likes
6
I've enjoyed my M10 as a desktop system for 2.5 years. Powered off after work and the next day it powered up but no sound. Checked different inputs, etc. Nothing.

Took it to a local NAD Authorized repair center and they replaced the amp boards and power supply under warranty. Warranty bill was around $400 for parts/labor and took about 3 weeks. It was plugged in to a big APC backup/surge protector, no outages or power spikes according the the APC PC utility.

I hope it lasts. Anyone have similar issues?
 

iLoveCats

Active Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Messages
258
Likes
292
Location
USA
I've enjoyed my M10 as a desktop system for 2.5 years. Powered off after work and the next day it powered up but no sound. Checked different inputs, etc. Nothing.

Took it to a local NAD Authorized repair center and they replaced the amp boards and power supply under warranty. Warranty bill was around $400 for parts/labor and took about 3 weeks. It was plugged in to a big APC backup/surge protector, no outages or power spikes according the the APC PC utility.

I hope it lasts. Anyone have similar issues?
Mines dead after 3 years and 1 month, no warranty support. Will try and replace the caps on the amp first. Then trash it. Started as stuttering on all inputs. Now no output. I wouldn't tell anyone to buy this thing. Mediocre performance for top dollar, poor support and no warranty help. I can't think of a single NAD or bluesound product that is really worth buying. NAD and bluesound are beat on price and performance by someone at every product. With their poor support, you might as well buy everything from Chinese companies with no US presence where you already know you get little to no help but at least you are paying less than half for the product.
 

NiagaraPete

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
2,185
Likes
1,953
Location
Canada
Looks like another NAD epic fail to me. The hdmi problem should have given it the headless Panther.
 

EJ3

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
2,153
Likes
1,661
Location
James Island, SC
I, as a big owner of what is now considered 'vintage' NAD gear (6 NAD 2200's, 2 NAD 2100's, & a NAD 4300 TUNER).

I personally (although others may) would not recommend any NAD gear made in the era after NAD was sold in 1999 to The Lenbrook Group of Pickering, Ontario, Canada, in spite of Bjørn-Erik Edvardsen (“Erik”) [also known as BEE] continued involvement.

A little history:
Bjørn-Erik Edvardsen (“Erik”) was born in Bergen, Norway, at the end of World War II, the son of a captain in the merchant navy. He himself boarded a ship to cross the North Sea to pursue his studies in Electronics at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Erik’s UK centred career began at ITT KB, known at the time for their transistor radios, and he then moved to Dolby Labs. Erik was involved in the very early demonstrations of Dolby noise reduction in cinemas in New York and London, initially with a recording of “Speed Merchants,” a documentary about the lives of Formula One racing drivers, and then with the very first film soundtrack with Dolby, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.

Erik left Dolby Labs to join Acoustic Research (AR), first in England, before moving with them to Boston, Massachusetts, where Erik carried out research in the areas of acoustics, digital audio delay, reverb and speaker/room equalization and developing turntables, amplifiers and receivers. The area was then a hotbed of electronics and hi-fi companies, with the leading technical university, MIT, just across the river in Cambridge, and also the home of the Boston Audio Society, an influential forum hosting prominent experts from industry, academia and the audiophile world.

Thus began what was to be a long career working together with Marty Borish, then President of the speaker company, Acoustic Research (AR). Marty recognized and nurtured Erik’s creative talent and the rest, as is said, is “NAD history!” When AR decided to shelve plans for a range of hi-fi electronics and a worldwide group of AR distributors began a cooperative to develop their own brand (New Acoustic Dimension –“NAD”) in 1972, the time became right for Borish and Edvardsen to move to London and become the first two full-time employees of NAD. Marty, as President, worked from his attic, with Erik as Chief Designer/Head of Engineering using a small spare bedroom as his design lab.
 

Rottmannash

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 11, 2020
Messages
2,968
Likes
2,604
Location
Nashville
My 2 old NAD 3140s are still going strong- bought the 1st one new around 1979 or 80. Also my Bluesound Node 2i is a great product that works as designed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EJ3

NiagaraPete

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
2,185
Likes
1,953
Location
Canada

iLoveCats

Active Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Messages
258
Likes
292
Location
USA
Wow, you really don't like Lenbrook products, do you?

Did they shoot your dog or something?
I spent thousands, had a problem and they keep clearing the ticket without helping me. Would you blame someone with that situation for having a poor attitude?

There's a similar sentiment on the Topping PA5, no help from Topping. Very annoying and wrong, BUT it's only $350. The M10 is now $3000. That's a lot.
 

Dj7675

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
2,116
Likes
2,781
I spent thousands, had a problem and they keep clearing the ticket without helping me. Would you blame someone with that situation for having a poor attitude?

There's a similar sentiment on the Topping PA5, no help from Topping. Very annoying and wrong, BUT it's only $350. The M10 is now $3000. That's a lot.
I have an M10 V1 and it has been working fine, but I have had contact with NAD support on this and a few other items and it does not inspire confidence. DId you try getting any help from the dealer you purchased it from?
 

Mikey1

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2021
Messages
6
Likes
6
I have an M10 V1 and it has been working fine, but I have had contact with NAD support on this and a few other items and it does not inspire confidence. DId you try getting any help from the dealer you purchased it from?
Purchased online from an authorized dealer. I'd either have to send it in or find a shop. Fortunately, there's an authorized shop local so I chose to take it in myself. I did have to provide the purchase receipt - I had forgotten the Master series had a 3 year warranty vs the typical 1 year.

I've also had dealings with NAD on a defective C298 that wouldn't power on via 12v trigger out of the box. Crutchfield replaced it, no questions. Also some issue with the M10 that I can't recall that was fixed on a firmware update.

I forgot to mention that I was getting audio from the pre-outs. I'm not sure why they changed the power supply other than a precaution.

Until recently, I had an original 3020 from the early 1980s that needed a volume pot that I couldn't find.
 

iLoveCats

Active Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Messages
258
Likes
292
Location
USA
I have an M10 V1 and it has been working fine, but I have had contact with NAD support on this and a few other items and it does not inspire confidence. DId you try getting any help from the dealer you purchased it from?
I bought it from an authorized online dealer. The closest service centers are Wisconsin and Illinois. Support wants me to pay to ship and pay to diagnose it. I'm not doing it. It should be warranty. I've already moved on and purchased $1500 worth of recommended products from here and some software that handily beats NAD at half the cost and maintains functionality.
 

MaxBuck

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 22, 2021
Messages
1,515
Likes
2,115
Location
SoCal, Baby!
I bought it from an authorized online dealer. The closest service centers are Wisconsin and Illinois. Support wants me to pay to ship and pay to diagnose it. I'm not doing it. It should be warranty. I've already moved on and purchased $1500 worth of recommended products from here and some software that handily beats NAD at half the cost and maintains functionality.
Just as an FYI, I had to pay the shipping charges to replace my dead Topping D30Pro during the warranty period.

Online shopping presents a whole bunch of unanticipated problems from time to time.
 

iLoveCats

Active Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Messages
258
Likes
292
Location
USA
Just as an FYI, I had to pay the shipping charges to replace my dead Topping D30Pro during the warranty period.

Online shopping presents a whole bunch of unanticipated problems from time to time.
Yes but the D30pro is $400 and the M10 is $3000 and says Masters on it. I would expect to have to pay and jump through hoops on something cheap, not on something that says Masters and is 7 times the cost. Also 1 month out of warranty? Come on, I was fighting it all year to finally get a hard fault. Doesn't matter I'm done with their products.

I have a Topping D90SE, Topping PA5 and a raspberry pi streamer that's running circles around the M10. I thought the loss of Dirac would be a problem. It is not. At this point I think Dirac on the M10 was mostly correcting for the M10's lame DAC. On my subwoofer there's a parametric EQ and combined with the high voltage (compared to the M10) on the Topping D90SE RCA outs, the sub has never sounded better. Topping PA5 amplifier has a second analog input that I'm using for my phono preamp. Thats perfect because that does not include the sub which I had to manually turn off with the M10.

This whole Topping and Raspberry Pi setup costs half the M10 and performs at an instrument grade level on paper and in person. Volumio allows for the same BluOs phone control you have on the M10. This setup is a 10/10, 5 stars and cheaper, the compromise is 3 boxes instead of 1.
 

curiouspeter

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Dec 30, 2020
Messages
623
Likes
396
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
This whole Topping and Raspberry Pi setup costs half the M10 and performs at an instrument grade level on paper and in person. Volumio allows for the same BluOs phone control you have on the M10. This setup is a 10/10, 5 stars and cheaper, the compromise is 3 boxes instead of 1.
Room Correction is worth at least $1000-2000.

Also, HDMI ARC is very convenient to use.

I will always prefer Lyngdorf over BluOS though.
 
Top Bottom