(Warning: long post)
Given my experience with NAD in the past and more currently the M10V2, (and C700, and C 3050 LE), I thought it was time to give a broad review of my experience with the M10 V2 in particular. I’ll divide my comments into four sections.
- non-amplifier aspects
- packaging and ease of use
- sound quality
- overall fit/finish/quality
- reliability
1. Non-Amplifier factors: The first thing to note is that any real audio system experience is first impacted by speakers, then room acoustics, then the quality of the source, then the quality of the amplification. The first three have a much greater impact than the amplifier itself. This doesn’t negate comparing amplifiers at all. But it’s critical to remember that if you want better sound, you have to look at these other aspects first before you obsess over differences between various amplifiers. In my own case I have five different system/rooms but one location is a basement with terrible acoustics...will buying a different amp really make the most difference? No.
2. Packaging: Without a doubt, the biggest advantage of the NAD M10 is packaging in terms of a) physical size, b) the number of features that are included, and c) the BluOS interface. It’s probably the best overall package on the market today. Now you may not NEED or even WANT this level of modern 'all-in-one' and easy to use packaging, but it is clearly an area of focus for the M10 and it succeeds very very well. My top favorites are: very compact and attractive physical packaging (cannot be said about most other NAD products, which are boring at best). Wide variety of Music Services supported and the interface is pretty good. Nice standby and auto on capability so it starts up when your source starts. And finally the BluOS software which is highly capable, includes the ability to control lots of amp features, even send support requests, and is supported with Mobile/PC/Mac clients (a rarity in the industry). Negatives: there's only two negatives I can see in this product. One is the lack of a phono input. But that's not a game changer because if you're really serious you can buy an external phono preamp. The other is the BluOS quality. Yes it’s a very functional piece of software and a great user interface to interact with all the various music services and features you have. However it can suffer from some occasional glitches. It's not a deal breaker I don't think but more attention to building a reliable piece of software would be welcome. This is especially true if you have multiple players throughout your house. You might have issues connecting to one or the other of them occasionally for example.
3. Sound Quality. I think it's hard to argue that the M10 does anything other than very very good reproduction. It's widely recognized as a very neutral sounding amplifier (as is the whole NAD range by the way). It certainly has low enough distortion and noise to satisfy the vast majority of audiophiles. It also has enough headroom to avoid clipping when you do play it loud. Negatives: the main complaints I've ever heard about NAD (And they generally are pretty few ) are that the tone of their amplification can be so neutral as to be not engaging. Some people really prefer a Marantz sound or Yamaha's crispness or a Macintosh tube sound. But that's more of a situation of your preference for the coloration. You'll see very very few complaints that NAD colors the sound or doesn't live up to clean representation of the sound. One other comment. Some people swear by the Dirac room correction, but not me. I've tried it with two different sets of speakers and never thought it was better sounding. I also thought it was a pain to set up because they want so many test points. I also think that including it only for the lower frequencies and asking for another $100 to get the full correction, after you paid $3000 for the M10, is ridiculous. But when it comes to Dirac its definitely true that 'to each his own'.
4. Overall fit/finish/quality. I'd give this area high marks in the physical presentation of the unit. Especially the V2 has a great screen. The aluminum and glass chassis is extremely attractive and professional. The connections in the back look great. The included remote is very nice as well although I don't use that much. Even the physical packaging/boxing is very high quality...Apple level packaging. Negatives: not any really for the M10. However my C 3050 LE has some niggling things I think should not exist.
5. Reliability. This is a really important, but elusive factor. I have many pieces of audio and PC gear that last decades. Generally older electronics seemed to break early or never fail. I still have my original NAD 3045 from 1978! I have PCs and Macs and routers and even some iPhones that are 10-20 years old. Negatives: But the M10 is a question mark. There are reports of units that just go dead. Mine did after only a year and a half. It was covered under warranty and easily replaced by Crutchfield, but real question is how long will this level of packaging last for most consumers. If you pay $3000 for an M10 and it just dies one day that seems unacceptable. . How long will the M10 last? Maybe more of a question is: do modern electronics have an inherently lower lifecycle than older electronics? Is buying an M10 inherently different than buying a Marantz 40N or a Yamaha or McIntosh?
Well that's my 2 cents for today. Just wanted to get that off my chest. ;-)
