NAD M23 Stereo Amplifier Review

[Rja4000]

The NAD Masters series have maintained a very good resale, have proved reliable as far as I know and they've maintained the matching aesthetic for the last 20 years. I remember when I first saw the series in 2003/4 and figured, this is a game changer for NAD as long as they stick to it. They did.

But it should possess all those attributes at the price.

Except the M51, which got a bad review from Amir. I have one. It still sounds great enough for my ears. But resale value took a hit.
No hard feelings Amir ;-)

Seriously, I find NAD offer quite interesting : BlueOS is very pleasant for daily use (I use it for years, with a mix of NAD and Bluesound), DIRAC is a clear added value, and now Purifi modules with improved PS.

What could one want on top?
Lower price, sure.
But I purchase mostly second hand. ;-)

 

[Sokel]

What's so different with Nad's power supply to get that performance?
That's really great,I would grab it in an instant if I wanted an amp!


Thanks Amir!

Edit: the insides,very different PSU.

 

[PuX]

so unless one needs 400W at 4Ohm, it kind of looks like Benchmark AHB2 is just better? and cheaper.

 

[Billy Budapest]

lot of clean power, handles tough loads, cosmetics are good, price is not silly. Ticks all the boxes.

Agreed, except for price which has been subjected to a huge markup for pretty cosmetics and the “Master Series” name. Knowing NAD, they will release an almost-identical version of the amp in a plainer box and charge half the price in their regular “black box” series.

 

[JohnnyNG]

Wow, nice. I don’t think I’ve seen a 19+20 kHz test up to 50k into a 1ET400A. Looks very clean and should make everyone happy.

 

[ENG]

Agreed, except for price which has been subjected to a huge markup for pretty cosmetics and the “Master Series” name. Knowing NAD, they will release an almost-identical version of the amp in a plainer box and charge half the price in their regular “black box” series.

What about NAD C298 ?

 

[Blockader]

NAD needs to learn from designers from topping. Not worth the money for that level of sinad.

Can you hear -120db distortion? Almost all distortion products of the amp is below -120db. This amp is transparent. SINAD here is noise dominated. And the noise floor in your room is higher than the noise floor of this amp.

Listening Test

www.klippel.de

If you think you can hear -120db distortion please take this test and share the results here. Color me surprised if you can hear -50db distortion 3 times in a row with music. Le(x) is IMD hearing test. IMD is easier to hear, take IMD test if you want.

Better SINAD does not translate to better perceivable performance all the time.

 

[VQR]

You do not know what you speak about. That’s a poor legacy of that pointless SINAD chart that is taken as a quality measure by unqualified crowd.

It seems quite a few people aren't applying what SINAD would mean here physically.

102 dB SINAD @ 5 W means you'd need a 95 dB @ 1 W efficient speaker to maybe hear noise with no music playing. This is assuming your speakers are even that efficient (they're not) at all frequencies, not just the oft quoted efficiency @ 1 kHz. Given how clean the noise floor is, I doubt you'd hear anything in this case, especially when A-weighted to compensate for hearing sensitivity. Even putting your ear up to the drivers probably won't reveal any audible noise!

Combine all that with SOTA power, load independence, a beautiful chassis, and actually effectual custom PSU: we get a FIFA Pink Panther any day of the week.

 

[PeteL]

Be really interesting to see this against the C298,other than a really really nice case what extra do you get?
Unfortunately way to far to send you mine.

Here are some measurments. Indeed it's quite close. It's in the fine details, tiny improvements everywhere but may not make any difference, likely inaudible. Tiny bit less power, slightly earlier rise in distortion in 8 ohms. Maybe a difference in longevity by generally going with better parts and cooling, but it's just a guess and you wouldn't see this in these tests anyway.

NAD C 298 power amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 4: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

 

[PeteL]

Nice to see Canada is now officially a soccer (football?) country. (If ASR says so it's official right?)

 

[Billy Budapest]

What about NAD C298 ?

Bingo!

 

[AndreaT]

Excellent product, steep price when compared to other Purifi based offerings. You pay more for looks and dealers. I wonder about the “bridge mode” mono power because I spot a switch for it in the back on Amir’s pic.

 

[Dmitri]

It's pretty clean hey Pavel? Could be an amp to tempt us to the dark side?

Oh dear god I love this post!

 

[tonapo]

Thanks @amirm for this review!

This has been on my list for a while now to pair with my RME ADI-2 DAC and Kef Reference 1 speakers. I have been looking at the class d offerings in the UK, but I really want the warrenty + low gain etc so I have been waiting for this. I have also had the C298 on the list. I might demo one or both.

 

[MZKM]

So far our tests have been with resistive loads of 4 and 8 ohm. Let's add reactive (capacitive/inductive) load into the equation including going down to 2 ohms:

Wow, this thing is so load independent! I don't think I have tested an amplifier this good so far.

Looks like we got our answer as to why EPDR is not relevant for Class-D, which is good news!

 

[Mnyb]

Cool excellent however the lower tier c298 actually has variable input sensitivity.
Amp should at least have some gain settings imho , this totl product omits that feature ?

 

[dogmamann]

Can you hear -120db distortion? Almost all distortion products of the amp is below -120db. This amp is transparent. SINAD here is noise dominated. And the noise floor in your room is higher than the noise floor of this amp.

Listening Test

www.klippel.de

If you think you can hear -120db distortion please take this test and share the results here. Color me surprised if you can hear -50db distortion 3 times in a row with music. Le(x) is IMD hearing test. IMD is easier to hear, take IMD test if you want.

Better SINAD does not translate to better perceivable performance all the time.

So what’s the point of rejoicing when toppings dacs are having 120db. In 2023, everything should have 120db min as a standard

 

[Redwine]

After being a member here for some time now, and with interest been reading all the reviews, I would say waste of money, unless you really want the design.

 

[GD Fan]

so unless one needs 400W at 4Ohm, it kind of looks like Benchmark AHB2 is just better? and cheaper.

I'd have thought the Buckeye Purifi would be a closer comp.

 

[AdamG]

Great review Amir.
In the future, could you add the dimensions (H x W x D) of the amplifiers you review ?

Surely all that information is provided on the NAD Web site. Do we really need to add work to Amir’s plate for providing information that is readily available elsewhere?

Someone had to say it!